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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday March 15 2018, @12:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the move-it-when-you-are-done dept.

Motor Trend magazine has passed 15K miles with their long term Chevrolet Bolt test car. The latest report http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/bolt-ev/2017/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-review-long-term-update-6/ discusses charging away from home and work -- availability and use of Level 2/3 chargers in and around Los Angeles.

I've used public chargers from several companies, including ChargePoint, EVgo, Blink, and EV Connect, but a cursory internet search turns up at least 15 providers operating in the U.S. Every single one of them would prefer you sign up for a membership and download their app, but every one I've tried also allows for guest use. There are perks for membership, including better rates, quicker payment, and quicker activation at the charger, but the real benefit is not having to deal with guest access. At minimum, it requires entering a credit card number either online or through their app, which you'll have to download. At worst, it requires calling the customer service line, waiting on hold, then reading them the charger's ID number and your credit card number over the phone. Some EVgo stations I've used have credit card readers, but every one I've found hasn't worked. Prices vary wildly as the charging networks generally let the owner of the station set the rates. Some charge a flat fee, some charge by total time or electricity used, and others do both.

(discussion of the author's experiences over the 15K miles including trips that required charging at the destination and also airport runs with the Bolt full of people and luggage)

I've waited to address public charging until my time with the Bolt is nearly up so I could provide as complete a picture as possible. Here in Southern California, where EVs are popular and public chargers are fairly common, public charging is workable if mildly inconvenient. So far, the number of chargers seems to have mostly kept pace with the popularity of EVs, but we're already seeing lines forming at Tesla Superchargers. As EVs become more common, the public charging network is going to need to grow at the same or better pace to keep up, and whether that happens is anyone's guess. If electric cars are ever going to be ubiquitous like some people predict, we're going to need a lot more chargers, and we're going to need them everywhere, at nearly every parking space, so people who can't charge at home or are running low can top up. That's going to take a lot of investment from a lot of people, and it remains to be seen if supply keeps up with demand.


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  • (Score: 2) by Nuke on Thursday March 15 2018, @11:59PM (3 children)

    by Nuke (3162) on Thursday March 15 2018, @11:59PM (#653192)

    With electricity, every house-hold or commercial building already have that [infrastructure]

    My house does not have a road facing socket for charging passing strangers' EVs, nor the credit card (or whatever) reading facilities for them to pay for it. Moreover, my house lights dim when I turn the sink water heater on; hate to think what charging an EV will do. Nor is there room outside my house for strangers' cars to park; in fact here in the UK there are very few publically available places to park these days that are not already parked-in, other than at supermarket car parks and motorway service areas - which is in fact where EV chargers are starting to appear, so I don't grasp your problem. Most other "commercial buildings" do not have enough space even for their own workers, and if they did they would not welcome strangers' cars for security reasons.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @12:55AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @12:55AM (#653223)

    > Most other "commercial buildings" do not have enough space even for their own workers,

    This is one of the biggest differences between UK and USA, in terms of what I've seen when driving around--outside large city centers. Most places in USA you are not allowed to build a commercial/industrial building unless you provide sufficient parking -- this is tied into many local zoning codes. Often the parking lots must also include ponds to hold the runoff they create, and may even have to be broken up with plantings for better appearance.

    In UK, you hang onto your old buildings (nothing against that) with the result that you suffer greatly limited parking.

  • (Score: 2) by arslan on Friday March 16 2018, @02:31AM

    by arslan (3462) on Friday March 16 2018, @02:31AM (#653296)

    It doesn't have to be your house. The council can built it much like how they build parking ticket dispensers, not sure how the suburb councils work in the US, but that's how they work here in Oz. Of course folks that _do_ want to built it can, i.e. they may be net positive in their household power generation. Many options.

    I just don't see why we need to replicate the old gas/petrol design.

  • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday March 16 2018, @03:15AM

    by RS3 (6367) on Friday March 16 2018, @03:15AM (#653331)

    I'll bet you won't be surprised to hear that in the US, we do residential electricity in a big way. 240V @ 100 A is minimum, and most new houses and upgrades go with 200 A, and more and more they're doing 2 200 A panels. Yes, 240 V x 400 A = 96KW. We don't like our lights dimming.