I always like your Factor sponsor reads. Now excuse me for replying off topic, but there is an explanation for the shipping containers at the Walmart. Many department stores have undersized warehousing and if their inventory control is out of control they often resort to this ~cheap warehousing solution. It's not ideal, but until a renovation happens it's a lot cheaper than a renovation. And warehouse space is low on the pecking order in a reno, in favor of retail space.
If you're ever roadtripping on the west coast, the West Coast Green Highway is a joint project between the coastal states that maintains continuity of charger availability from BC to Baja; so no worries about being stranded from border to border. They also have a country-wide map of where every alternative fueling location is; EV, Biodiesel, etc. Super useful.
It's a night and day difference. And the superchargers work absolutely perfectly with the Polestar 2, I've canceled my EVgo and EA subscriptions as the Tesla charging subscription is more than enough
I used to work at a full service gas station when I was a kid and you just reminded me of an old lady who used to come in and fill her car up… all 23 cents worth of gas. You read that right, 23 cents. She would do her little errands and then fill her car up… the mileage was a trip of about 2-3 miles, if that and then fill her car up. She came in one day and the car took almost 4 dollars, I looked on the ground to see if was leaking gas, she laughed and told me she had to go to her daughters house to pick up something. And no, gas wasn't 25 cents a gallon, it was during the end of the has crunch and just the beginning of the unleaded days and it was about 78 a gallon. It was a K car, one of the first production cars to take unleaded, there were several others but I don't remember them all.
@@david78212 Cheaper than having to replace the fuel pump and cleaning the fuel tank, which requires you to drop the fuel tank while keeping the fuel in the car's fuel system inside the fuel lines.
The footage of you pulling up to the chargers really adds something. Thanks for going to the effort of driving up to the charger, setting up a camera, driving away and then returning to film your arrival.
@@jwalster9412 I was referring to the first two instances. You must’ve been referring to the rest. The following timestamps feature footage of the car driving into the parking lot (which cannot be preformed by simply backing into an adjacent space): 4:31, 8:25 The following timestamps feature either back-ins or pull-outs that could’ve been preformed by pulling into an adjacent space: 18:41, 23:05, 24:52, 25:32, 27:56, 28:14, 28:57, 31:18, 34:03, 34:52 They probably just got tired as their trip progressed. I can hardly fault them for that.
Yup, kinda glad I sold my bolt and went car-free. I'm gonna wait a few more years, save money, and wait for the whole EV situation to sort itself out. It's improving quickly which is a good sign!
I really don't mind the slow charges as long as I'm not trying to drive across multiple states or something. If it's just one or two DCFCs needed for a trip it's a nice break with a meal, and the car is usually ready to continue before I am.
@ yeah. I’m looking at going from around Syracuse, NY to around Toronto, ON, and that’s fine. But I’m looking to do another trip from around Syracuse, NY into South Carolina, and… no. I don’t mind a four hour trip stretching into five, but a 12 hour trip stretching toward 17 is a bit much.
I'm just imagining her coming out of her house with her car keys, noticing the empty space where her car should be and just shouting "ROBERT!" into the air.
help your mom out, their are downloadable updates you can install to update the map functionality, especially for chargers... assuming she doesn't have OTA updates... I too have a '22 EV6
Malls and stores are great locations IMO. Rest rooms, meals or even just snacks, typically extended hours with people around. That is the ideal situation to me when traveling. As a local, sure I think fast charging at my mall is silly. I would actually prefer L2 for people who might not have home charging but are parked for hours on end. Hotels also should be L2 for the overnight charge up.
I disagree. You need fast charging at a mall. It's perfect for 15-45 minutes it takes to buy groceries. Even 50kW fastcharging is not ideal (adding only ~30% for TM3 in 30 minutes). L2 is mostly useless for anything less than one hour and I wouldn't consider it for anything less than a full feature film. There are only 2 reasons I would plug it in the L2 (11kW) charger at a mall - going to a cinema and using it as an EV-reserved parking spot.
I stayed at a hotel with free L2 chargers some years ago. It was perfect for our rented Tesla. We'd park for the night and plug it in and forget about it until we left in the morning. Like charging at home. No apps or credit cards needed either.
the reason the Tesla app always starts in Africa is because 0°,0° lat/long is in the middle of the Gulf of Guinea. I'm guessing that every time it needs to show you a map, it initializes a new one at 0°,0°
'cause rotating drum memory is so expensive and hard to implement on a cell phone, that storing the few bits needed to remember your last location was descoped from the project...
Now this explains why an app I use, not related but still primarily requires GPS, when I just opened the app, it'll always start off at Africa before it fixates on my actual location.
Walmarts are not especially scenic, but they're open late, have public bathrooms, and invariably have _some_ kind of food option inside them (even if that's just buying a box of granola bars). It's a reliable consistent baseline option for charger amenities, even if it's not much more than that. I'd take that over a mall that closes at 7pm, a hotel, or some random charger off by itself hanging off the end of an empty park-and-ride any day.
@@benroberts2222 I'm guessing the hate is the expectation that patrons of Wal-Marts won't respect EV charging stations. If the parking lot is full and the EV stations are the only free spaces, you'll have ICE parking in them. That's my guess.
I think a big part of the hate is that chargers at places like Walmarts and hotels have a greater tendency to get ICED out (having a gas/diesel car park in the spot and block Access to the charger) though it's less and less likely especially given that a lot of places are starting to be ready to tow them away pretty quick
They put Superchargers in hotel parking lots because hotels have *lots* of spare electrical capacity. They have to be able to support all their guests blow drying their hair at the same time, but since that practically never happens, they have plenty of spare capacity to share with a Supercharger station. Contrast with some place like a gas station, which doesn't really pose great electrical demands and so isn't likely to have much excess service. Similar arguments apply to malls and industrial parks. Basically, DC fast-charging stations are built where electrical grid capacity is plentiful (read: cheap), not necessarily where amenities are plentiful.
Yep. 20 rooms x 4 floors is 80 rooms. The hotel I was staying at last week had "1875 Watts" on the side of the hair dryer. That's 150kW on the nose if everyone used theirs at once, then add in AC units, elevators, any laundry services, and baby, you've got excess power available.
I learned that HP laptops have a charging utility that, in a predetermined time period, will turn off the charger and run solely off the battery, down to 15%. You cannot change the percentage. When it's on, that's what it does. Apparently for compliance with some japanese regulation, to reduce the net power draw of everyone coming into the office at the same time in the morning.
I was so excited when I first got my nacs adaptor from Cadillac for my Lyric. I rushed out and tried it out. It worked flawlessly. But I've never used it since on a real road trip. I just picked the kid up from out of state for the thanksgiving break, had to charge 3 times round trip, and didn't need to use Tesla's network once. I even have made peace with EA's phone app and didn't have a single problem with EA's chargers. I think things are getting better all the time. Thanks for this test, Aging Wheels.
My wife and I drove from Seattle to San Francisco earlier in the year with a rented Kia Niro EV. Have to say, it was an amazing trip, and was not at all hampered by it being an EV. We had great range, charging stations were easy to locate and were never full. We ended up driving nearly 1700 miles throughout the trip and only spent $260 on charging. Considering the rental company (thrifty) wanted $1100 for a gas powered vehicle, and only wanted $600 for the EV, it was a no brainer for us.
In Australia the EV option is about double even for a Nissan Leaf. The difference between the range and the distance between cities is so great that you can barely make it two cities away. It also nearly doubles your trip time. Not an accident. The rental cars are for people who specifically want an EV and are willing to pay double plus public charging not because of economics
My teenage son and I took a similar trip from DC to Boston in February to do some college tours. Our trip, also in a Kia Niro rented from Thrifty, was smooth and without issues. Very nice! But I prefer my ‘21 Tesla Model 3 SR+, my poor man’s Tesla. 😄Been on many road trips with that car!
As a fellow Polestar 2 Performance owner (whose A2Z NACS to CCS adapter came in literally 3 days ago) this is the most oddly relevant video to me you could have possibly uploaded.
I've done SoCal to NC, SoCal To Washington State to Virginia, SoCal to Florida, etc. (all Tesla) Lots of SoCal to east coast really. I did stop at a few EA stations because the SC stations in those locations are dog sh*t and need to be replaced (and I think have been recently). Frankly, they worked well enough (and this was 2022 and 2023). I'm glad to see it's better now.
Oh! The supercharger at 35:55, I stopped there with my cousin in her Tesla Model X! I too was pleasantly surprised by the canopy! We shopped at the Whole Foods while we waited for it to charge and then continued on our drive back to Atlanta. We too were confused where it was as we approached.
I work in this industry designing for public charging experiences. This is a great crash course example of the situations users might encounter and I shared the video with the team.
Others are chiming in that personal safety is a huge issue for a lot of these locations, apart from amenities access. I know R&D can’t solve locations, because it’s about real estate and excess distribution capacity, but the absolute best stations I’ve been at were through gas station networks in the Midwest who set up deals with EVGo and other CCS networks.
Please provide canopies (with a solid back wall if possible for better wind protection) and windshield washing stations and garbage cans. Thanks for sharing this with your team. EV chargers are really in odd locations and at least the EA and Walmart pairing allows for access to snacks and a restroom.
I'd also like to suggest a method of protecting the charging cables from being cut. This is a huge issue in Seattle and I feel like all it would take is a locking cage around the cable that opens with the app or with tapping a credit card. Seems like the cost of implementing that would be a lot less over time than constantly replacing the cables at several hundred dollars each.
"This is not representative of a normal EV road trip, I'm going to be stopping at nearly every charger." Pretty normal for my 114 mi range Mini Cooper SE.
Perhaps he should have said modern "proper EV." EV's like your Mini or the Leaf or Bolt, etc. are either using charging technology from 10 years ago or are meant for city driving only with their very short range.
@@junehanzawa5165 my bolt EUV can do 250 miles comfortably from 78% depending on the trip I might need to stop once on the way, and once coming back, but that’s still from 78%
@@RodorWuff The Bolt has a pretty good range. Their issue is their charging technology from 2015. Meaning their 55kW max charging rate when most EV's are now doing around 150kW or more. With more than half of new EV's doing well in excess of 200kW. And a growing percentage are doing above 300kW.
@@junehanzawa5165 oh yeah, the limit is dumb, but the battery capacity is 65 so 50 to 55 kw charge rate is comparable to my friends R1S on a 350 fast charger
I know you're joking, but sadly it happened IRL! There was a viral video not a long time ago, where someone try to report other car driver for 'stealing' electricity out of tesla supercharger, just because he's coming in with a Chevy Bolt 🤦
Still not going all in on an EV but I am super happy to hear that they are way more viable than just 1 year ago. While watching this video I was imagining someone driving a model T Ford around in 1910 visiting gas stations and raving that just one year prior they had to stop at pharmacies to buy gasoline in 1 gallon tins and now there are pumps selling gas in bulk.
To be fair, Tesla has been this good since 2015. It has always been "plug and charge" with no hassle, no app needed. Also, for all Tesla cars sold from around 2014-2017, Superchargers were free to use, forever.
The shipping containers in the walmart parking lot are probably all the Christmas decor and probably some of the smaller black friday things (like towels, socks, and some toys), the back room just doesn't have the space for that amount of surge. Source: I've done my time in retail at the holidays. At my job they would start showing up mid-late october.
I did 18 years with Kmart, and layaway was always a pain in the ass! As an assistant manager (over Sporting Goods, Automotive, Hardware, and Toys{!}), I was usually the closest manager to layaway and, as such, spent a LOT of time looking for packages at Christmastime. Basically, working in management in a big box retail store was a sure way to destroy any Christmas spirit you might have had. And listening to the same Christmas carols over and over during what could easily be a 14 hour day is enough to drive anyone insane!
@@mbirth IKR? According to media, these things are exploding by the hundreds every day. But God willing, in a couple of months these death traps will be illegal :-) /s
This is why normal people park in the wrong stalls to charge. There is so much confusion about charging that they just don’t bother to learn. They have to 1. Know their friggin car which they don’t 2. know what rate the charger can produce 3. Know if the charger is derated 4. Know if the charging is limited by the cable 5. Know if the charging is temperature limited 6. Know if charging is SoC limited 7. Know the charging standard their car accepts 8. Know if charging is shared between stalls. jeeeeeeeez
Yeah, I've seen so many bolts parked at 350kw stalls and 400v or 800v cars parked at lower capacity ones as a result. Also seen a number of people charging past 80%. Some are obviously Uber drivers, who don't know any better, and often I ask people and they don't know that it's not optimal. I've run into the rare person who said they were doing a roadtrip but I tried to tell them that still only going to 80 percent is better with more frequent stops.
It's this reason plus many others that makes EVs a government mandated fad. I am glad there are enthusiasts, like on this channel. EVs will have to get as simple as putting the standard nozzle in the tank and my 3 choices of fuel are basically the same. Most people can't keep up with the tech.
Calling something a fad because there hasn't been enough government regulation to make it decent is the epitome of Conservative policy currently. They could mandate a spec minimum, mandate these take cash or credit with no discounts for app purchasesand this would be just fine.
The law should dictate that every single one of these must accept cash, credit and then they can do whatever app thing separately. They should also be forced to have the same prices for all 3 options.
@@BeefIngotcash? Nonsense. I've used automated fuel pumps and none of them accepted cash, because it's just silly to expect them to empty a cash container on a daily basis plus it would encourage theft.
@@jochenstacker7448 You can pay with cash at most fuel stations. What you describe is an outlier, and one that shouldn't exist at that. Also, are we really pretending that vending machines don't exist?
I was just talking to my co-worker about your trip from last year, mostly regarding how the infrastructure wasn't there yet. SO glad you revisited and things are much better!
Ahh the default 0,0 location, otherwise called Null Island. Possibly the code doesn't call for the GPS location early enough/fast enough at startup, defaults to 0,0, and then gets the actual data from the phone about where it is.
Where I work we have a customer account system that has an appet that's supposed to show the customer address on google maps, but it omits the "-" from the longitude coordinates so all our customers appear to be scattered throughout Kazakhstan lol
The needing apps to recharge is still a stumbling block that needs to be eliminated. Requiring an app or subscription for anything on a vehicle needs to be eliminated. I travel through cell phone dead zones on a regular basis and want everything to work the same with or without coverage. I also want the possibility of anonymity, which you can get close to with ICE if you only pay with cash so your movement and usage can't be easily tracked.
Governments in the Western world are getting increasingly autocratic so I bet they'd love us to all switch to EVs. It would make it so much easier to see where we've been... or prevent us from driving by disabling our access to charging stations.
Totally agree… any gas stations that tried requiring an app would quickly go out of business… it’s one of the things that will continue to impede mass acceptance of BEVs until it’s removed entirely as a requirement to charge … I use RFID cards supplied by EVGo and Chargepoint, and they start charging immediately and flawlessly every time … EA needs to offer these also, and so does Tesla … of course, flawless plug-and-charge is the ultimate need but that requires poor people to have charge accounts, so manned pumps with cash option must always be an option like at gas stations
This is the main thing that’s bothered me with charging. I publicly charged twice in 2024. There is a folder on my phone with several charging apps that I never use, but don’t delete because I may need them someday. All have my card stored on them just waiting to be compromised. Having the app option is nice, but shouldn’t be mandatory. It just adds confusion and complexity to something many drivers don’t understand fully yet. Hopefully as more competition comes in, people will choose the chargers you don’t have to have an app for, and card readers become more and more standard.
We have been able to pay for fuel at a gas pump by swiping our credit cards since the late 1990s. Its a relatively painless experience now, especially with EMV Tap to pay. Why EV charger companies seemingly can't set that up is mind boggling.
My guess is they want you to download the app to use the data they gather in-between charges. That can help them figure out where people go to find new locations for chargers. And of course they can sell the data as well. Gas stations know you are going to come to because they have been on that corner for 100 years.
Speaking as someone that lives in Silicon Valley, techbros want nothing more than to "innovate" or "reinvent" in every single field because they think they have all the answers. Removing the credit card reader streamlines the look of it while completely destroying the functionality. Same as basically all appliances now coming with touch panels with as minimal text as possible, even though they're less reliable and less usable while being significantly more expensive.
idk about others (laziness) but for tesla the network was originally tesla only and the car comunicated with the charger and you got billed automatically so no need to even swipe a card. of course that has now changed with third party access. (though apparently third parties can set up that same billing system when using superchargers which is interesting)
It's for data harvesting and to try to lock you into a specific network to avoid giving a ton of apps your personal info. There's no other valid excuse.
Since last year I have bought my first EV (and first car just for me), a 2020 Bolt, it's a shame the Bolt isn't being produced anymore. I took it about 700 miles on a trip to the eclipse and it performed well, I only charged at Electrify America chargers and had no problems, although it influenced the routing. As a bonus we stayed the night in Albany and drove to Utica for Steamed hams.
Right? Like everyone fast charger and even L2s have them. Then again, what can we expect from the company run by a meme thief edgelord who's children hate him.
Not only that, but a lot of people already have their credit card on the phone itself. Since it seems that you need an EV account on your phone, billing should be automatic.
No, it would be better if all chargers would accept some google maps payment or something. What you're proposing is adding a point of failure. Unless you think chargers will work when the Tesla servers are down, just having an approval from a bank?
@@MrOsiz Yes? That's how gas stations work. There's no need to have the tesla app if you can just pay with a card. Let's stop locking things behind apps, kay?
Timely video for me. Yesterday, we drove our 2021 Bolt across the state of Michigan. The Chargepoint app told us the Brighton charger was working - nope. So, on to Novi and an EA charger - all four used. We were on a timeline, so we went to our event. After, we headed to a Chargepoint and both were used. One guy had just pulled in. I'd had enough, and drove to the nearest Tesla supercharger - 35 miles away. We pulled off the highway right as the Bolt gave us "propulsion power reduced." Got to the supercharger in Livonia, and all were used. We pulled into a Tesla charging spot as soon as one opened....and could not charge because the cables are too short. I had to wait for one of the Tesla's next to me to leave, and then use the charger from THAT spot. Worked, but several drivers gave me a nasty look, because I was blocking a pedestal from someone who needed it. Had to stop at a Chargepoint in Ionia to make it home, no problem. So, very mixed bag. The Brighton Chargepoint has been down for months. The gas station it is at doesn't own the pedestals, but apparently they are storing the needed repair parts, but no one will come install them. Google correctly indicates those chargers are broken. Chargepoint's OWN APP says they are available - until you get there and they aren't.
The shipping containers at Walmart are a massive storage system to swap out between seasonal offerings. The Christmas pack kits are ridiculous because it comes with decor as well as toys and awful sweaters piled to the sky.
Restarting the phone being the fix makes sense. Even if you kill an app, it may not always clear out the corrupted bit of memory or cache causing the problem. A full restart of the phone cleans all of that out.
I loved that intro! Solid planning and execution.. Actually, I love all your videos.. I don't even plan on buying an EV any time soon, yet still watch them in their entirety. Hope the good experience has good engagement!
Good to see that more chargers are accepting credit cards now. It's terrible that you need an app AND an account for each different charger provider. Glad that's changing now. So much more convenient.
Too many apps is honestly the worst, my best personal experience has been at the Murfreesboro location he visited, but I’ve saved money when EA breaks and gives me a full charge for free, and while I think all chargers should have a way to “pay at pump” with maybe app benefits for having a loyalty account. What I think would be nice would be a preload card built into the car, so when you plug in and get a successful handshake between the charger and car it can pay automatically, so you only need on app or phone call to add money to your cars “card”
The tesla superchargers were designed by morons, I swear. Not only no card readers, they don't put bollards in front of them because "aesthetics" so idiots constantly back into them.
Apart from the annoyance factor if you're required to have an account and connect through an app, you could have server or internet issues, plus you're being spied on Also it opens the door for government limiting how far you're allowed to drive in a given period of time for "green" reasons and disabling your access to chargers when you hit your limit. Nothing like that is possible with an internal combustion engine
@@rdrrr the on paper simplest solution IMO would be for the cars, a big smart phone, to have built in load able debit card, so the car can “tap” at a successful handshake, and pay at disconnect.
I would like to know how much these trips cost in electricity vs how much it would have cost in fuel in an equivalent vehicle, and also the equivalent mpg / kv these vehicles achieved. But its good to see the networks becoming more mature and compatible.
Thank you for this! When I watched last year's video, I was not comfortable taking an EV road trip. Now I'm pretty sure it would be fine! You're providing a real service here!
A few minutes in, and I'm already reminded of a huge flaw in the American setup. Here (in the Netherlands) we get a charge card/keyfob which works on ALL chargers. No creditcard, no bankcard etc. This is mandated by law, that any card should work on any charger* (as far as I know at least). Rates will differ, but it will at least work. *) of course tesla chargers are different. But they are easy to avoid, as you will never need them
EU mandate really Im happy CCS2 was set as a standard from the getgo and rest disapeard Sure ChaDeMo owners dove into shit because of it but the CCS2 adapters now exist
Surely if it was mandated by law it would work on Superchargers... Presumably the competing networks negotiated a common payment system specifically to avoid this issue and help them compete against Tesla
@@bosstowndynamics5488 The thing was: they had their proprietary connector, and the chargers were on private property....so they got away with demanding you use their app. At first. I'm not sure about the current situation, due to them switching over to CCS2 as well. But as everything else works, I have avoided Tesla chargers so far.
That was great. We took most of your route in late April this year while traveling from Iowa back to Florida in our Ioniq 5. It looks much improved even from that time. We had lots of derated EA chargers.
What kind of charging price did you get on average, and what was your car's efficiency? As of my calculation, at $0,49/kWh and 200Wh/km (3,1 mi/kWh) , your 750km (465mi) trip would cost $73,50; while my current gas car doing 5,3L/100km (44 mpg) and $1,60/L ($6/gal) would only cost $63,60.
Most good EVs get closer to 4 mi/KWh and you would usually set off on your journey with a full battery charged at home with an average unit cost of around $0.23/KWh. It’s pretty standard to have an around a 75KWh battery in a new car, which should get you a range of 300 miles. So your first let’s say 250 miles would cost you around $17.25 before having to charge. Charging on route always costs more than at home as these companies are still trying to recover investment costs. You would then have to charge your car at your assumed costs for an additional 200 miles, let’s call that 60KWh. This would cost another $30 dollars, so about $47 for the trip with a decent amount of range left when you get home.
I was gonna say, I can do at least a 200 mile trip using a full charge from my home electricity, which is $0.07/kWh during the time I charge. Even on my huge, inefficient EV, that’s about $7. I can drive it pretty much all month for about $50 in electricity. Yes, it costs more to drive long distances and use fast charging than it costs to use a very efficient gas/petrol vehicle in many cases. But, I would be willing to bet it costs less to drive my 3-row, 7 passenger tank of an EV and use only fast charging than it would to drive a similar sized gas powered SUV.
In California it's cheaper to drive a Prius than an EV. Trust me, that's always been the plan. Once the nab enough people they'll jack up charging prices.
@ most charging is done at home, I doubt that they are going to jack up domestic electricity prices. Hybrid will be cheaper for longer distances, but EVs will be cheaper for shorter distances, ie anything within range of your home charging point.
When the Electrify America app freezes, you can't just close and re-open it, you have to go into settings and force stop the app. Then it will work. That's why restarting your phone also worked.
Great video. Love to see the progress in just one year. Beyond the fact that hardware was upgraded, the fact that every non-Tesla station worked rather flawlessly is a HUGE improvement
Its getting there. More range, faster charging, better cold-weather performance. If/when EVs take a leap in two of those 3, it'll really start to make sense to run an EV out here in rural wisconsin. Provided we don't blow ourselves up, I should be in one by 2030.
If you are off the beaten path, the CCS experience still sucks. I took a road trip down the coast and mountains along Oregon and NCal, chargers from 7 different companies along the way, many not working even though thier app said they were ( thats you EVCS!), hard to plan since they are often small # of chargers and you could be waiting a long time.
I want this video to do well, so engagement! Also, I bought a Polestar 2 (used, I got lucky wrt availability) when my Mazda got totaled about a year or so after your video about it, it's awesome and I have no regrets. Charging has indeed gotten better in the year I've owned it (or thereabouts) but even so was never a problem for me in my region. It is so cool to see that experience spread elsewhere, too
This is what Esther A Berg does, she has changed my life. After raising up to 60k trading with her, I bought a new house and car here in the US and also paid for my son's (Oscar) surgery. Glory to God.shalom.
I don't really understand your criticism of chargers in Walmarts and Hotels. I get that there can be better places that have conveniences like current gas stations, but at the end of the day quicker development of infrastructure by any businesses investment is better in this early era. And these businesses see these chargers as another way to gain some revenue from their idle assets. Over time, competition will change that calculus to what you prefer. But why disparage that now.
I would imagine the reason so many are at hotels is the idea that if you're going to do a road trip you'll probably want to stop and charge overnight. The more space you have for parking the easier it is to just slap down a bunch of chargers in a corner too, so malls and the middle of no where seemed like great places. I mean "great" places, but you get it.
Material choice, passive vs liquid cooling, connector ratings, there's a lot that contributes wieldliness besides just amperage rating. Tesla will do 600A+ on the V3s which are surprisingly manageable.
@@tazeat a big part of making V3 manageable is making the cable very short though, which is now biting them. @MagicalAscention is correct in that there are tradeoffs here.
@@tazeatThey don’t do 600A continuously, only for a few minutes. But that’s fine for them because their cars can’t handle that much power for more than a few minutes either.
It is my experience, too. I made two trips of 2000+ miles each, and I was pleasantly surprised to pull out to last year's charger's location and see new EA dispensers-and I had 0 issues!
One day i will, perhaps, have a Volvo XC40 Recharge. On that day, I'd love to roll on a parallel road trip with you, brother. What do you say? Wanna try it?
@@agingwheels Alec has my contact info but in general I'm also pretty easy to find on the internet. For now, Tarah and I are overseas constantly, otherwise I tend to be back East with Emily ... and I am probably going to keep the 4Runner for another year, but the EV has been on the list for a while and I will stay in touch with you about this if you like. Thanks for being such a wonderful and marvelous human And bringing joy to all of us through everything you create. It would truly be an honor and a pleasure to work on a little project like this with you at some point down the road. 💚
As a EV newbie, this video was super helpful. Some things I’ve never been sure about were shown in this video like I did not know that you can start a charger before you can get out of your car and then once it started, you can just plug it in. Simple but it’s gonna make a lot of difference in the cold winters here in Canada. It was also very comforting to see how many chargers were available on that trip. That’s my biggest worry, arriving at chargers to have somebody jump in front of me and then have to wait. In any case I always pick chargers where there’s another one down the road just in case something’s wrong there. Also love seeing the EV six in action. Might be my next car.Thanks.
Yeah, it is. Thankfully, the UK is making it mandatory to have card payment options on all future rapid (and above) chargers installs, be it new sites or replacement units
It is such a pain! I have an entire folder full of apps on my phone now. With the Bolt EV the tesla chargers are so much better than the options where I drive. Granted I sometimes have to mount the curb with my front tire to get the cord to reach.
Some chargers have auto charge or plug in charge or whatever they call it, you plug in and it recognizes your car and charge your credit card. It’s easier than filling a gas car. I do agree it’s crazy with all the different apps but I do have them because you can get discounts compared to the guest rates for credit card users.
This was a great display of charging infrastructure. However, I think the chargers should be also graded on a few other key points, that ICE drivers take for granted. 1) Bathroom availability- if it’s for customers only, charging should count 2) ability to buy a drink and a sandwich 3) an attendant - seeing the abandon parking lots a night make me realize why many women probably won’t enjoy roadtrips in an EV on their own anytime soon.
This is one reason I’m glad the Midwest now has gas station network support! They’re often on the backside of the convenience store, but often include their own squeegee and self-service waste bin. That’s very recent, in the last year or two, and illustrates how much better it is for EV travelers lately.
@@sophiatheodores7985 I just gave up on electric motorcycles for personal injury reasons, and the charging situation there is ridiculously risky! Hanging out in a dark parking lot next to a charger, without any space to avoid contact in is just not recommendable. At least the gas station support reduces that risk.
the lack of an attendant is a huge boost for actually building them, plus it's probably not too hard to just skip past night charging unless you're at a hotel or something anyway. Still a potential problem i suppose, putting them in more traveled, or visible areas would help regardless.
@@BrianTRice77- The other elephant in the room is that refueling takes 10 minutes tops in the sketchiest of locations and can be immediately stopped in an emergency. No EV can match that in terms of safety.
Australia: nearly 30M people and BEV sales are about 10% of passenger vehicles annually. There are 82 public chargers rated at 150kw or more … for the entire country
@@atrifle8364the US problem seems to be that Electrify America and others were blackmailed or bribed in to creating infrastructure without consideration of profit or sustainment. In Australia the providers worked on the assumption of sustainable business models but the risk of non-viability. Then Tritium stuck their oar in and sold a mountain of relatively cheap to buy but hard to maintain charging stalls. One side effect was that the roll out was and is much slower. Unlikely to change and Australian has a poor electricity grid already
@@atrifle8364So Americans use more energy driving around long distances. On the surface of it, it seems unusual that any company which makes money running charging stations would not want to put up more stations where people need more stations. Just saying.
I’m going to disagree with you. I think spots like Walmart are fantastic. I hate Walmart, but if I could drive to Costco, and charge while I’m there I’d be a happy happy person.
Agreed. A lot of places have a customer base that like to do the "charge while I shop" thing. Florida was a hotspot for that, where most every Publix I had been to had chargers along the side of the building.
I really appreciate this insight. Your previous video was helpful and showed the value in the tesla network. Other UA-cam channels (tfl) when showing other electric charging issues had similar issues at the time. Good to document the change.
I'll never buy a vehicle I have to download multiple apps to charge the thing. There's too much connectivity and complexity these days. Enough is enough.
This is why Tesla is/was so popular. It has always been "plug and charge" with no hassle, no app needed. Also, for all Tesla cars sold from around 2014-2017, Superchargers were free to use, forever.
most of us only visit one or two charge networks so having many apps isn't necessary. The road trip in this video is not meant to be a realistic depiction of how to road trip in an EV
Why the actual fuck do none of these chargers operate like a gas pump!?? Why do you need an app and an internet connection to buy energy from them!?? Like, gas stations are the gold standard for self-service interface! Just let people buy from a simple, on-charger HMI!
The true answer is bc Tesla chargers doing everything automatically for Tesla cars has become the standard of quality for some dumb reason (adding hella logistics issues) instead of just building off what has been working with minimal flaws for decades for gas stations
I'm tired of having to use an app for everything because so often they don't work you can't get support and frankly I'm tired of all the extra software on my phone that I really don't want. They need to have a card reader there and it needs to work. Simple. You would never go to a gas station that you could only activate the pump with your phone.
They need infrastructure in general. A covered roof, a toilet, a kiosk where you can buy snacks or pay with cash. Otherwise the guy with the gas-guzzler is refuelling in comfort, meanwhile Mr. Green is hungry, wet and needs the bathroom. Plus in some areas sitting around for 45 minutes at night is downright sketchy. A kiosk with staff and cameras would make it viable for women, old people etc.
Lots of people go to gas stations specifically because they can use their "fuel points" they accumulated from their grocery bills, which requires entering personal info. Or they go to Costco for gas which requires their membership. Frankly, if those gas stations used apps those kinds of people would be all over it
Use code 50AGINGWHEELS to get 50% OFF plus free shipping on your first Factor box at bit.ly/4dIBzjz!
"Only negative videos do well.." Ah, c'mon, Robert!! This one will be fine. It's informative. It's you.
THE WALMART SHIPPING CONTAINERS ARE FOR LAY AWAY ITEMS DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON
I always like your Factor sponsor reads.
Now excuse me for replying off topic, but there is an explanation for the shipping containers at the Walmart. Many department stores have undersized warehousing and if their inventory control is out of control they often resort to this ~cheap warehousing solution. It's not ideal, but until a renovation happens it's a lot cheaper than a renovation. And warehouse space is low on the pecking order in a reno, in favor of retail space.
If you're ever roadtripping on the west coast, the West Coast Green Highway is a joint project between the coastal states that maintains continuity of charger availability from BC to Baja; so no worries about being stranded from border to border. They also have a country-wide map of where every alternative fueling location is; EV, Biodiesel, etc. Super useful.
Seeing that this is you, Robert, we'll give you a Like from two different accounts. 😉
You seem less shouty and annoyed, so clearly it is a better experience.
It's a night and day difference. And the superchargers work absolutely perfectly with the Polestar 2, I've canceled my EVgo and EA subscriptions as the Tesla charging subscription is more than enough
"less" shouty is relative... 😉
If you take too much of the "shout" out of Robert, you're not left with much. 😲
Previous therapy sponsor might have helped?
@@ModelA I just think he has had less monkey bread lately and easier charging has made a much happier Rob.
Unlike every other automotive UA-camr (excluding you)
I used to work at a full service gas station when I was a kid and you just reminded me of an old lady who used to come in and fill her car up… all 23 cents worth of gas. You read that right, 23 cents. She would do her little errands and then fill her car up… the mileage was a trip of about 2-3 miles, if that and then fill her car up. She came in one day and the car took almost 4 dollars, I looked on the ground to see if was leaking gas, she laughed and told me she had to go to her daughters house to pick up something.
And no, gas wasn't 25 cents a gallon, it was during the end of the has crunch and just the beginning of the unleaded days and it was about 78 a gallon. It was a K car, one of the first production cars to take unleaded, there were several others but I don't remember them all.
That's PTSD from the Energy Crisis in the 70s.
Back inn the day tho 23 cents was a couple gallons of gas
It's actually a good thing to keep the tank full, keeps the tank clean and prevents crap from forming on the inside walls of the tank
@linusa2996 yup, but keeping it that full is kinda ridiculous.
@@david78212 Cheaper than having to replace the fuel pump and cleaning the fuel tank, which requires you to drop the fuel tank while keeping the fuel in the car's fuel system inside the fuel lines.
The footage of you pulling up to the chargers really adds something. Thanks for going to the effort of driving up to the charger, setting up a camera, driving away and then returning to film your arrival.
Or, he parked in a spot adjacent, set up the camera, and drove into the focus shot.
@@jwalster9412- how on EARTH does one “part into a spat”? That’s a new one. 😊
@@alexanderg117 I blame autocorrect for the weird change of parked in a spot adjacent.
@@jwalster9412 I was referring to the first two instances. You must’ve been referring to the rest.
The following timestamps feature footage of the car driving into the parking lot (which cannot be preformed by simply backing into an adjacent space): 4:31, 8:25
The following timestamps feature either back-ins or pull-outs that could’ve been preformed by pulling into an adjacent space: 18:41, 23:05, 24:52, 25:32, 27:56, 28:14, 28:57, 31:18, 34:03, 34:52
They probably just got tired as their trip progressed. I can hardly fault them for that.
“45 kW, which is just about useless.”
Yup, kinda glad I sold my bolt and went car-free. I'm gonna wait a few more years, save money, and wait for the whole EV situation to sort itself out. It's improving quickly which is a good sign!
I almost never go on long trips these days, so it’s fine for me. I haven’t used a DCFC since I got a level 2 EVSE installed at home.
I really don't mind the slow charges as long as I'm not trying to drive across multiple states or something. If it's just one or two DCFCs needed for a trip it's a nice break with a meal, and the car is usually ready to continue before I am.
@ yeah. I’m looking at going from around Syracuse, NY to around Toronto, ON, and that’s fine. But I’m looking to do another trip from around Syracuse, NY into South Carolina, and… no. I don’t mind a four hour trip stretching into five, but a 12 hour trip stretching toward 17 is a bit much.
@@notanavrageloser ouch! For that I'd probably take our ICE car
I genuinely love how much your mom supports your endeavours.
I'm just imagining her coming out of her house with her car keys, noticing the empty space where her car should be and just shouting "ROBERT!" into the air.
U can always count on yo mama
@@drunkenhobo8020even better surprise… a Trabant in its place!
@@OperationDarkside 🤔 some can.
help your mom out, their are downloadable updates you can install to update the map functionality, especially for chargers... assuming she doesn't have OTA updates... I too have a '22 EV6
Malls and stores are great locations IMO. Rest rooms, meals or even just snacks, typically extended hours with people around. That is the ideal situation to me when traveling. As a local, sure I think fast charging at my mall is silly. I would actually prefer L2 for people who might not have home charging but are parked for hours on end. Hotels also should be L2 for the overnight charge up.
I disagree. You need fast charging at a mall. It's perfect for 15-45 minutes it takes to buy groceries. Even 50kW fastcharging is not ideal (adding only ~30% for TM3 in 30 minutes). L2 is mostly useless for anything less than one hour and I wouldn't consider it for anything less than a full feature film.
There are only 2 reasons I would plug it in the L2 (11kW) charger at a mall - going to a cinema and using it as an EV-reserved parking spot.
I stayed at a hotel with free L2 chargers some years ago. It was perfect for our rented Tesla. We'd park for the night and plug it in and forget about it until we left in the morning. Like charging at home. No apps or credit cards needed either.
the reason the Tesla app always starts in Africa is because 0°,0° lat/long is in the middle of the Gulf of Guinea. I'm guessing that every time it needs to show you a map, it initializes a new one at 0°,0°
'cause rotating drum memory is so expensive and hard to implement on a cell phone, that storing the few bits needed to remember your last location was descoped from the project...
Sweeeeeet
@@eh42fellow usagi electric fan here?!?!
@@VishalDudhanibusted 😅
Now this explains why an app I use, not related but still primarily requires GPS, when I just opened the app, it'll always start off at Africa before it fixates on my actual location.
Walmarts are not especially scenic, but they're open late, have public bathrooms, and invariably have _some_ kind of food option inside them (even if that's just buying a box of granola bars). It's a reliable consistent baseline option for charger amenities, even if it's not much more than that.
I'd take that over a mall that closes at 7pm, a hotel, or some random charger off by itself hanging off the end of an empty park-and-ride any day.
Yeah I don't really get the hate for the Walmarts. I've been to worse fast chargers, like a car dealership
@@benroberts2222 I'm guessing the hate is the expectation that patrons of Wal-Marts won't respect EV charging stations. If the parking lot is full and the EV stations are the only free spaces, you'll have ICE parking in them. That's my guess.
I think a big part of the hate is that chargers at places like Walmarts and hotels have a greater tendency to get ICED out (having a gas/diesel car park in the spot and block Access to the charger) though it's less and less likely especially given that a lot of places are starting to be ready to tow them away pretty quick
They put Superchargers in hotel parking lots because hotels have *lots* of spare electrical capacity. They have to be able to support all their guests blow drying their hair at the same time, but since that practically never happens, they have plenty of spare capacity to share with a Supercharger station. Contrast with some place like a gas station, which doesn't really pose great electrical demands and so isn't likely to have much excess service.
Similar arguments apply to malls and industrial parks. Basically, DC fast-charging stations are built where electrical grid capacity is plentiful (read: cheap), not necessarily where amenities are plentiful.
Yep. 20 rooms x 4 floors is 80 rooms. The hotel I was staying at last week had "1875 Watts" on the side of the hair dryer. That's 150kW on the nose if everyone used theirs at once, then add in AC units, elevators, any laundry services, and baby, you've got excess power available.
That explains a lot and makes perfect sense, but I still don't like it
That and it wasn't' that long ago that charging your car was an overnight stay.
I learned that HP laptops have a charging utility that, in a predetermined time period, will turn off the charger and run solely off the battery, down to 15%. You cannot change the percentage. When it's on, that's what it does.
Apparently for compliance with some japanese regulation, to reduce the net power draw of everyone coming into the office at the same time in the morning.
I love learning practical explanations to weird things. It's like learning about a new world!
1. I dont live in the us.
2. I don't drive an ev
3. I don't even drive
And I watched the whole video. He does this to me
Same brother
Same...
0. You're a KKK-9.
I do drive an EV but I watched the commercial despite not owning a microwave.
Same
I drive an EV, but in Europe. Still watched.
I'm sorry you had such a positive experience, rip view count.
Yea, a real shame. Who would have expected things to go so well. There is always next time I suppose.
Yep. The army of Luddites and paid misinformation spreaders can't use it.
The anti-EV folks quickly realize that they can’t say “see I told you so” and log off
Look on the unbright side. At many places he was the only one there, so that could mean EVs are failing in popularity and adoption.
@@remyllebeau77 Ah, I knew a misinformation spreader would find something to use from it.
I was so excited when I first got my nacs adaptor from Cadillac for my Lyric. I rushed out and tried it out. It worked flawlessly.
But I've never used it since on a real road trip. I just picked the kid up from out of state for the thanksgiving break, had to charge 3 times round trip, and didn't need to use Tesla's network once. I even have made peace with EA's phone app and didn't have a single problem with EA's chargers.
I think things are getting better all the time.
Thanks for this test, Aging Wheels.
EA has been very convenient for our trips in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
My god that video must have been tedious to make. 2 identical long road trips, so much recording to edit... You're amazing.
The dueling intros was really well done.
My wife and I drove from Seattle to San Francisco earlier in the year with a rented Kia Niro EV. Have to say, it was an amazing trip, and was not at all hampered by it being an EV. We had great range, charging stations were easy to locate and were never full. We ended up driving nearly 1700 miles throughout the trip and only spent $260 on charging. Considering the rental company (thrifty) wanted $1100 for a gas powered vehicle, and only wanted $600 for the EV, it was a no brainer for us.
That's because of a glut of EVs and being a warm weather, subsidized, West coast corridor. Glad you had a great trip.
In Australia the EV option is about double even for a Nissan Leaf. The difference between the range and the distance between cities is so great that you can barely make it two cities away. It also nearly doubles your trip time. Not an accident. The rental cars are for people who specifically want an EV and are willing to pay double plus public charging not because of economics
@@atrifle8364 Totally worth it! It let us splurge a little more on other things on the trip.
@@theairstig9164 I can imagine! I would be very hesitant to do a cross country trek in Australia with an EV!
My teenage son and I took a similar trip from DC to Boston in February to do some college tours. Our trip, also in a Kia Niro rented from Thrifty, was smooth and without issues. Very nice!
But I prefer my ‘21 Tesla Model 3 SR+, my poor man’s Tesla. 😄Been on many road trips with that car!
Wow, an Aging Wheels video and Technology Connections video within the same hour? What a lucky day!
No Effort November!
I like that they actually have made an ev-related video in the past as well
And not only ev-related actually
As a fellow Polestar 2 Performance owner (whose A2Z NACS to CCS adapter came in literally 3 days ago) this is the most oddly relevant video to me you could have possibly uploaded.
FYI: "Experience I've had charging" includes a 3000 mile trip from Seattle to Boston. He knows this stuff.
Don't forget the Florida to California trip too
Kyle hosts the best nerd races. Especially considering Dave always kills atleast one battery.
"Experience I've had charging" includes like 50k miles per year in an EV with 200 miles of usable range
@@jrr851 They need to strip the charging decision making from Out Of Charge Dave. (I'm mostly kidding)
I've done SoCal to NC, SoCal To Washington State to Virginia, SoCal to Florida, etc. (all Tesla) Lots of SoCal to east coast really.
I did stop at a few EA stations because the SC stations in those locations are dog sh*t and need to be replaced (and I think have been recently). Frankly, they worked well enough (and this was 2022 and 2023). I'm glad to see it's better now.
Oh! The supercharger at 35:55, I stopped there with my cousin in her Tesla Model X! I too was pleasantly surprised by the canopy! We shopped at the Whole Foods while we waited for it to charge and then continued on our drive back to Atlanta. We too were confused where it was as we approached.
I work in this industry designing for public charging experiences. This is a great crash course example of the situations users might encounter and I shared the video with the team.
Others are chiming in that personal safety is a huge issue for a lot of these locations, apart from amenities access. I know R&D can’t solve locations, because it’s about real estate and excess distribution capacity, but the absolute best stations I’ve been at were through gas station networks in the Midwest who set up deals with EVGo and other CCS networks.
Please provide canopies (with a solid back wall if possible for better wind protection) and windshield washing stations and garbage cans. Thanks for sharing this with your team. EV chargers are really in odd locations and at least the EA and Walmart pairing allows for access to snacks and a restroom.
I'd also like to suggest a method of protecting the charging cables from being cut. This is a huge issue in Seattle and I feel like all it would take is a locking cage around the cable that opens with the app or with tapping a credit card. Seems like the cost of implementing that would be a lot less over time than constantly replacing the cables at several hundred dollars each.
I have a question: Do the chargers need to be as tall as a truck because of all the stuff they've got inside, or is that just for visibility?
@@stevethepocketyou can easy move hardware in their foundation... tall for commercial reasons and helps cooling 😅
Every time he says good news at the start of a clip I can't help but think of James may talking about dacia
"This is not representative of a normal EV road trip, I'm going to be stopping at nearly every charger." Pretty normal for my 114 mi range Mini Cooper SE.
Or pretty much any slightly older EV
Perhaps he should have said modern "proper EV." EV's like your Mini or the Leaf or Bolt, etc. are either using charging technology from 10 years ago or are meant for city driving only with their very short range.
@@junehanzawa5165 my bolt EUV can do 250 miles comfortably from 78% depending on the trip I might need to stop once on the way, and once coming back, but that’s still from 78%
@@RodorWuff The Bolt has a pretty good range. Their issue is their charging technology from 2015. Meaning their 55kW max charging rate when most EV's are now doing around 150kW or more. With more than half of new EV's doing well in excess of 200kW. And a growing percentage are doing above 300kW.
@@junehanzawa5165 oh yeah, the limit is dumb, but the battery capacity is 65 so 50 to 55 kw charge rate is comparable to my friends R1S on a 350 fast charger
Can we all appreciate how Robert sets up his tripod and camera, sets off, pulls back into the charging station, all to get a cool shot
Spot on 😂
If someone calls the cops on you for stealing electricity for your car... will you be charged?
How many kids do you have with jokes like that
Only if the cops are really amped up!
He'll be charged with battery
Yes and no
I know you're joking, but sadly it happened IRL! There was a viral video not a long time ago, where someone try to report other car driver for 'stealing' electricity out of tesla supercharger, just because he's coming in with a Chevy Bolt 🤦
Still not going all in on an EV but I am super happy to hear that they are way more viable than just 1 year ago. While watching this video I was imagining someone driving a model T Ford around in 1910 visiting gas stations and raving that just one year prior they had to stop at pharmacies to buy gasoline in 1 gallon tins and now there are pumps selling gas in bulk.
To be fair, Tesla has been this good since 2015. It has always been "plug and charge" with no hassle, no app needed. Also, for all Tesla cars sold from around 2014-2017, Superchargers were free to use, forever.
@@TonyPombo Tesla takes away free charging if they buy them
@@Nicholas-f5 They only do this if you buy it directly from Tesla. It is tied to the car, and I _think_ it remains with person-to-person sales.
The shipping containers in the walmart parking lot are probably all the Christmas decor and probably some of the smaller black friday things (like towels, socks, and some toys), the back room just doesn't have the space for that amount of surge. Source: I've done my time in retail at the holidays. At my job they would start showing up mid-late october.
Top racks in OGP are FILLED with fake trees.
I did 18 years with Kmart, and layaway was always a pain in the ass! As an assistant manager (over Sporting Goods, Automotive, Hardware, and Toys{!}), I was usually the closest manager to layaway and, as such, spent a LOT of time looking for packages at Christmastime. Basically, working in management in a big box retail store was a sure way to destroy any Christmas spirit you might have had. And listening to the same Christmas carols over and over during what could easily be a 14 hour day is enough to drive anyone insane!
They're full of reindeer antlers (or devil horns) for your Tesla! That's right, shop smart, shop S-Mart!
Or it's all the sand for when an electric car catches fire. 😉
@@mbirth IKR? According to media, these things are exploding by the hundreds every day. But God willing, in a couple of months these death traps will be illegal :-) /s
This is why normal people park in the wrong stalls to charge. There is so much confusion about charging that they just don’t bother to learn. They have to 1. Know their friggin car which they don’t 2. know what rate the charger can produce 3. Know if the charger is derated 4. Know if the charging is limited by the cable 5. Know if the charging is temperature limited 6. Know if charging is SoC limited 7. Know the charging standard their car accepts 8. Know if charging is shared between stalls. jeeeeeeeez
Yeah, I've seen so many bolts parked at 350kw stalls and 400v or 800v cars parked at lower capacity ones as a result. Also seen a number of people charging past 80%. Some are obviously Uber drivers, who don't know any better, and often I ask people and they don't know that it's not optimal. I've run into the rare person who said they were doing a roadtrip but I tried to tell them that still only going to 80 percent is better with more frequent stops.
It's this reason plus many others that makes EVs a government mandated fad. I am glad there are enthusiasts, like on this channel. EVs will have to get as simple as putting the standard nozzle in the tank and my 3 choices of fuel are basically the same. Most people can't keep up with the tech.
@@atrifle8364At least with electricity you can't choose the wrong fuel.
Calling something a fad because there hasn't been enough government regulation to make it decent is the epitome of Conservative policy currently.
They could mandate a spec minimum, mandate these take cash or credit with no discounts for app purchasesand this would be just fine.
@@itekani You can choose the wrong voltage or mix up AC and DC.
Absolutely ridiculous how you need 50 apps to connect to all of the different chargers. I would go mental
i don't even use a "smartphone"
The law should dictate that every single one of these must accept cash, credit and then they can do whatever app thing separately.
They should also be forced to have the same prices for all 3 options.
@@BeefIngot EU mandates credit card readers going forward. Cash is dead.
@@BeefIngotcash? Nonsense. I've used automated fuel pumps and none of them accepted cash, because it's just silly to expect them to empty a cash container on a daily basis plus it would encourage theft.
@@jochenstacker7448 You can pay with cash at most fuel stations.
What you describe is an outlier, and one that shouldn't exist at that.
Also, are we really pretending that vending machines don't exist?
I was just talking to my co-worker about your trip from last year, mostly regarding how the infrastructure wasn't there yet. SO glad you revisited and things are much better!
Ahh the default 0,0 location, otherwise called Null Island. Possibly the code doesn't call for the GPS location early enough/fast enough at startup, defaults to 0,0, and then gets the actual data from the phone about where it is.
Where I work we have a customer account system that has an appet that's supposed to show the customer address on google maps, but it omits the "-" from the longitude coordinates so all our customers appear to be scattered throughout Kazakhstan lol
My phone thinks I'm in Texas when using any location based service. I blame AT&T.
@@criticalevent That's quite funny😂😂
I just checked that in google maps and it put me in the ocean next to west africa.
that's fucking hilarious!
Or perhaps the other way around - it calls the GPS stack, the GPS is not yet initialized/fixed and it briefly returns 0,0 location.
Your ability to tie all these perspectives together every video and jumping back and forth brings me back every video, keep it up!
The shipping containers are where Walmart puts layaway items for Christmas or stores stuff for a new rearrangement of the store
Shit every big box does that lol
I was thinking that those could potentially be good for some added safety in case of a fire? If they have something non-flammable in them.
@@HulluJanne the fire department would have to be trained on that, and have keys, etc. i can't see this being practical to implement
The needing apps to recharge is still a stumbling block that needs to be eliminated. Requiring an app or subscription for anything on a vehicle needs to be eliminated. I travel through cell phone dead zones on a regular basis and want everything to work the same with or without coverage. I also want the possibility of anonymity, which you can get close to with ICE if you only pay with cash so your movement and usage can't be easily tracked.
@@mezzb you need a Samsung account to access any smart features on their TVs, terrible
@@mezzb I'm still fairly young and lucky to not have any subscriptions to my name and I'm gonna try and keep it that way
Governments in the Western world are getting increasingly autocratic so I bet they'd love us to all switch to EVs. It would make it so much easier to see where we've been... or prevent us from driving by disabling our access to charging stations.
Totally agree… any gas stations that tried requiring an app would quickly go out of business… it’s one of the things that will continue to impede mass acceptance of BEVs until it’s removed entirely as a requirement to charge … I use RFID cards supplied by EVGo and Chargepoint, and they start charging immediately and flawlessly every time … EA needs to offer these also, and so does Tesla … of course, flawless plug-and-charge is the ultimate need but that requires poor people to have charge accounts, so manned pumps with cash option must always be an option like at gas stations
This is the main thing that’s bothered me with charging. I publicly charged twice in 2024. There is a folder on my phone with several charging apps that I never use, but don’t delete because I may need them someday. All have my card stored on them just waiting to be compromised.
Having the app option is nice, but shouldn’t be mandatory. It just adds confusion and complexity to something many drivers don’t understand fully yet.
Hopefully as more competition comes in, people will choose the chargers you don’t have to have an app for, and card readers become more and more standard.
We have been able to pay for fuel at a gas pump by swiping our credit cards since the late 1990s. Its a relatively painless experience now, especially with EMV Tap to pay. Why EV charger companies seemingly can't set that up is mind boggling.
My guess is they want you to download the app to use the data they gather in-between charges. That can help them figure out where people go to find new locations for chargers. And of course they can sell the data as well.
Gas stations know you are going to come to because they have been on that corner for 100 years.
Speaking as someone that lives in Silicon Valley, techbros want nothing more than to "innovate" or "reinvent" in every single field because they think they have all the answers. Removing the credit card reader streamlines the look of it while completely destroying the functionality. Same as basically all appliances now coming with touch panels with as minimal text as possible, even though they're less reliable and less usable while being significantly more expensive.
idk about others (laziness) but for tesla the network was originally tesla only and the car comunicated with the charger and you got billed automatically so no need to even swipe a card. of course that has now changed with third party access. (though apparently third parties can set up that same billing system when using superchargers which is interesting)
It's for data harvesting and to try to lock you into a specific network to avoid giving a ton of apps your personal info. There's no other valid excuse.
There were no apps in the 1990s. I guess that that's why.
Since last year I have bought my first EV (and first car just for me), a 2020 Bolt, it's a shame the Bolt isn't being produced anymore. I took it about 700 miles on a trip to the eclipse and it performed well, I only charged at Electrify America chargers and had no problems, although it influenced the routing. As a bonus we stayed the night in Albany and drove to Utica for Steamed hams.
You called them steamed despite the fact they were obviously grilled.
@@cromulence Aurora Borealis?
In this part of the country?
Why'd you drive to Utica when you were already in Albany? Steamed hams are an Albany thing, you wouldn't be able to find them in Utica
@@DemoR Oh you'd find them in Utica, they just would be called Burgers there since it's an Albany expression.
Its so convenient that each of those charging stops already had cameras set up to film your arrival for you.
Yes. The chargers should just have credit card readers.
Also hurray, 40 minutes of EV charging video 🤤
Right? Like everyone fast charger and even L2s have them. Then again, what can we expect from the company run by a meme thief edgelord who's children hate him.
Not only that, but a lot of people already have their credit card on the phone itself.
Since it seems that you need an EV account on your phone, billing should be automatic.
coin slots. AND BIG CHUNKY LEVERS
No, it would be better if all chargers would accept some google maps payment or something.
What you're proposing is adding a point of failure. Unless you think chargers will work when the Tesla servers are down, just having an approval from a bank?
@@MrOsiz Yes? That's how gas stations work. There's no need to have the tesla app if you can just pay with a card. Let's stop locking things behind apps, kay?
Timely video for me. Yesterday, we drove our 2021 Bolt across the state of Michigan. The Chargepoint app told us the Brighton charger was working - nope. So, on to Novi and an EA charger - all four used. We were on a timeline, so we went to our event. After, we headed to a Chargepoint and both were used. One guy had just pulled in. I'd had enough, and drove to the nearest Tesla supercharger - 35 miles away. We pulled off the highway right as the Bolt gave us "propulsion power reduced." Got to the supercharger in Livonia, and all were used. We pulled into a Tesla charging spot as soon as one opened....and could not charge because the cables are too short. I had to wait for one of the Tesla's next to me to leave, and then use the charger from THAT spot. Worked, but several drivers gave me a nasty look, because I was blocking a pedestal from someone who needed it. Had to stop at a Chargepoint in Ionia to make it home, no problem. So, very mixed bag. The Brighton Chargepoint has been down for months. The gas station it is at doesn't own the pedestals, but apparently they are storing the needed repair parts, but no one will come install them. Google correctly indicates those chargers are broken. Chargepoint's OWN APP says they are available - until you get there and they aren't.
Chargepoint is the worse. And they *require* an app to use it
@@TonyPombo their stock is really down
Yes. That bridge from Cairo, IL into KY is terrifying, can confirm.
this the sort of consumer advice i don't even need but i found myself watching and enjoy the whole video, great work
Basically all of the bridges between Illinois and Kentucky are sketchy as heck, gotta love it
This is better investigative journalism then the entirety of automotive magazines combined.
The shipping containers at Walmart are a massive storage system to swap out between seasonal offerings. The Christmas pack kits are ridiculous because it comes with decor as well as toys and awful sweaters piled to the sky.
Restarting the phone being the fix makes sense. Even if you kill an app, it may not always clear out the corrupted bit of memory or cache causing the problem. A full restart of the phone cleans all of that out.
man, I've been watching you for 3 years and I actually learned lots of things from your vids so thank you
I learned not to buy a project bus.
@@Okurka.same
I loved that intro! Solid planning and execution.. Actually, I love all your videos.. I don't even plan on buying an EV any time soon, yet still watch them in their entirety.
Hope the good experience has good engagement!
Good to see that more chargers are accepting credit cards now. It's terrible that you need an app AND an account for each different charger provider. Glad that's changing now. So much more convenient.
Too many apps is honestly the worst, my best personal experience has been at the Murfreesboro location he visited, but I’ve saved money when EA breaks and gives me a full charge for free, and while I think all chargers should have a way to “pay at pump” with maybe app benefits for having a loyalty account. What I think would be nice would be a preload card built into the car, so when you plug in and get a successful handshake between the charger and car it can pay automatically, so you only need on app or phone call to add money to your cars “card”
The tesla superchargers were designed by morons, I swear. Not only no card readers, they don't put bollards in front of them because "aesthetics" so idiots constantly back into them.
Apart from the annoyance factor if you're required to have an account and connect through an app, you could have server or internet issues, plus you're being spied on
Also it opens the door for government limiting how far you're allowed to drive in a given period of time for "green" reasons and disabling your access to chargers when you hit your limit. Nothing like that is possible with an internal combustion engine
@@rdrrr the on paper simplest solution IMO would be for the cars, a big smart phone, to have built in load able debit card, so the car can “tap” at a successful handshake, and pay at disconnect.
@@rdrrr 😂 that’s some wack conspiracy you’ve got there.
I would like to know how much these trips cost in electricity vs how much it would have cost in fuel in an equivalent vehicle, and also the equivalent mpg / kv these vehicles achieved. But its good to see the networks becoming more mature and compatible.
You and Alec competing this morning. He dropped a short video on ceiling fan thrust after I had started yours. Choices had😊 to be made.
3:30 in and I’m hooked. Your best intro to date. Change my mind.
Glad to see things are getting better with charging!
Thank you for this! When I watched last year's video, I was not comfortable taking an EV road trip. Now I'm pretty sure it would be fine! You're providing a real service here!
A few minutes in, and I'm already reminded of a huge flaw in the American setup.
Here (in the Netherlands) we get a charge card/keyfob which works on ALL chargers. No creditcard, no bankcard etc.
This is mandated by law, that any card should work on any charger* (as far as I know at least).
Rates will differ, but it will at least work.
*) of course tesla chargers are different. But they are easy to avoid, as you will never need them
In America every state can create its own rules so they would all have to agree, a bit like how the EU works.
@@Syntax.error. Yep. We all have to agree on so many things it's counter productive.
EU mandate really
Im happy CCS2 was set as a standard from the getgo and rest disapeard
Sure ChaDeMo owners dove into shit because of it but the CCS2 adapters now exist
Surely if it was mandated by law it would work on Superchargers...
Presumably the competing networks negotiated a common payment system specifically to avoid this issue and help them compete against Tesla
@@bosstowndynamics5488 The thing was: they had their proprietary connector, and the chargers were on private property....so they got away with demanding you use their app. At first. I'm not sure about the current situation, due to them switching over to CCS2 as well. But as everything else works, I have avoided Tesla chargers so far.
4:10 Thank you Robert for using words I can understand as someone born in this millennia, I hope you include family guy clips in your next upload!
33:27 … in fairness, the _recently fed_ python is the only python one would want to wrangle.
That was great. We took most of your route in late April this year while traveling from Iowa back to Florida in our Ioniq 5. It looks much improved even from that time. We had lots of derated EA chargers.
What kind of charging price did you get on average, and what was your car's efficiency? As of my calculation, at $0,49/kWh and 200Wh/km (3,1 mi/kWh) , your 750km (465mi) trip would cost $73,50; while my current gas car doing 5,3L/100km (44 mpg) and $1,60/L ($6/gal) would only cost $63,60.
Most good EVs get closer to 4 mi/KWh and you would usually set off on your journey with a full battery charged at home with an average unit cost of around $0.23/KWh. It’s pretty standard to have an around a 75KWh battery in a new car, which should get you a range of 300 miles. So your first let’s say 250 miles would cost you around $17.25 before having to charge. Charging on route always costs more than at home as these companies are still trying to recover investment costs. You would then have to charge your car at your assumed costs for an additional 200 miles, let’s call that 60KWh. This would cost another $30 dollars, so about $47 for the trip with a decent amount of range left when you get home.
I was gonna say, I can do at least a 200 mile trip using a full charge from my home electricity, which is $0.07/kWh during the time I charge. Even on my huge, inefficient EV, that’s about $7. I can drive it pretty much all month for about $50 in electricity. Yes, it costs more to drive long distances and use fast charging than it costs to use a very efficient gas/petrol vehicle in many cases. But, I would be willing to bet it costs less to drive my 3-row, 7 passenger tank of an EV and use only fast charging than it would to drive a similar sized gas powered SUV.
@@ouch1011 I would buy an EV too if I had that electricity cost. In 2023, my average electricity price at home was €0.342/kWh.
In California it's cheaper to drive a Prius than an EV. Trust me, that's always been the plan. Once the nab enough people they'll jack up charging prices.
@ most charging is done at home, I doubt that they are going to jack up domestic electricity prices. Hybrid will be cheaper for longer distances, but EVs will be cheaper for shorter distances, ie anything within range of your home charging point.
When the Electrify America app freezes, you can't just close and re-open it, you have to go into settings and force stop the app. Then it will work. That's why restarting your phone also worked.
Never thought I'd be entertained for 40 minutes by a guy traveling between chargers but here we are.
I dunno why it took me four days to watch this. But I watched it, and it was entertaining and informative. Well done, Mr. Dunn!
I'm too damaged. Every time I hear "Good news!" I'm expecting something about the Dacia Sandero. 😂
32:00 that cable makes me feel inadequate. 🤣
Yea sometimes you just have to grasp it with both hands.
Great video. Love to see the progress in just one year. Beyond the fact that hardware was upgraded, the fact that every non-Tesla station worked rather flawlessly is a HUGE improvement
Its getting there.
More range, faster charging, better cold-weather performance. If/when EVs take a leap in two of those 3, it'll really start to make sense to run an EV out here in rural wisconsin.
Provided we don't blow ourselves up, I should be in one by 2030.
Until EV charging stations have the comfort and facilities of gas stations, EVs will remain a novelty
If you are off the beaten path, the CCS experience still sucks. I took a road trip down the coast and mountains along Oregon and NCal, chargers from 7 different companies along the way, many not working even though thier app said they were ( thats you EVCS!), hard to plan since they are often small # of chargers and you could be waiting a long time.
"Say the line, Bart!"
*Muffled* "Charging Started."
I want this video to do well, so engagement!
Also, I bought a Polestar 2 (used, I got lucky wrt availability) when my Mazda got totaled about a year or so after your video about it, it's awesome and I have no regrets. Charging has indeed gotten better in the year I've owned it (or thereabouts) but even so was never a problem for me in my region. It is so cool to see that experience spread elsewhere, too
*Hallelujah!!! I'm the favorite, $60,000 every week! Now I can afford anything and also support the work of God and the church.*
Oh really? Tell us more! Always interested in hearing stories of successes.
This is what Esther A Berg does, she has changed my life. After raising up to 60k trading with her, I bought a new house and car here in the US and also paid for my son's (Oscar) surgery. Glory to God.shalom.
I know Esther A Berg, and I have also had success...
Absolutely! I have heard stories of people who started with little or no knowledge but managed to emerge victorious thanks to Esther A Berg
Wow, that's inspiring. How can I contact Esther A Berg?
It's always nice to see my area in your videos!
Love to see Chattanooga represented.
Why do you not recommend having supercharger at hotel? Isn't it about the convenience of a bathroom and a meal?
You know this guy is badass when you see what he's drinking @ 07:10.
The app putting you in Africa is because the lat/lon is probably initialized in the app to 0,0, which is off the west coast of the African continent.
the sheer entertainment value of this, is great!! 10 out of 10 would recommend.
I don't really understand your criticism of chargers in Walmarts and Hotels. I get that there can be better places that have conveniences like current gas stations, but at the end of the day quicker development of infrastructure by any businesses investment is better in this early era. And these businesses see these chargers as another way to gain some revenue from their idle assets. Over time, competition will change that calculus to what you prefer. But why disparage that now.
This is super encouraging!! I hope we see similar improvements here in Europe
"Charging Started" is to you what "Bluetooth Mode" is to DankPods!
arguably far less sexy on the car.
(then again, Wade's speaker is so sexy, practically nothing can compete with it!)
Or the digital level beeps to Bad Obsession Motorsport. He even says "Make the noise!"
I would imagine the reason so many are at hotels is the idea that if you're going to do a road trip you'll probably want to stop and charge overnight. The more space you have for parking the easier it is to just slap down a bunch of chargers in a corner too, so malls and the middle of no where seemed like great places. I mean "great" places, but you get it.
When he smacked the camera with the connector at the beginning i subconsciously said "ow."
Good to see the progress! And unlike in Seattle, you did not encounter any chargers with cut off, stolen cables.
You can either complain about the low amperage rating, or about the unwieldly cables, but not both, because physics 🙂
Yes and no. Better designed systems also tend to have better designed cable management that keeps a lot of the weight borne by springs or similar.
Material choice, passive vs liquid cooling, connector ratings, there's a lot that contributes wieldliness besides just amperage rating. Tesla will do 600A+ on the V3s which are surprisingly manageable.
@@tazeat a big part of making V3 manageable is making the cable very short though, which is now biting them. @MagicalAscention is correct in that there are tradeoffs here.
@@BillyONeal of course there are tradeoffs but it's not just a linear scale of amperage to wieldliness...
@@tazeatThey don’t do 600A continuously, only for a few minutes. But that’s fine for them because their cars can’t handle that much power for more than a few minutes either.
Great video comparison. I really hope the ev industry keeps improving and moving forward
This should be an annual tradition.
It is my experience, too. I made two trips of 2000+ miles each, and I was pleasantly surprised to pull out to last year's charger's location and see new EA dispensers-and I had 0 issues!
One day i will, perhaps, have a Volvo XC40 Recharge. On that day, I'd love to roll on a parallel road trip with you, brother. What do you say? Wanna try it?
And at the end of the trip Robert has to use everything he learnt from you to try and sneak into a high security zone.
@ThePongles I'll settle for Robert slipping into various hotel rooms each time we stop somewhere maybe
I'm so down
@agingwheels 💚
@@agingwheels Alec has my contact info but in general I'm also pretty easy to find on the internet. For now, Tarah and I are overseas constantly, otherwise I tend to be back East with Emily ... and I am probably going to keep the 4Runner for another year, but the EV has been on the list for a while and I will stay in touch with you about this if you like.
Thanks for being such a wonderful and marvelous human And bringing joy to all of us through everything you create. It would truly be an honor and a pleasure to work on a little project like this with you at some point down the road. 💚
As a EV newbie, this video was super helpful. Some things I’ve never been sure about were shown in this video like I did not know that you can start a charger before you can get out of your car and then once it started, you can just plug it in. Simple but it’s gonna make a lot of difference in the cold winters here in Canada. It was also very comforting to see how many chargers were available on that trip. That’s my biggest worry, arriving at chargers to have somebody jump in front of me and then have to wait. In any case I always pick chargers where there’s another one down the road just in case something’s wrong there. Also love seeing the EV six in action. Might be my next car.Thanks.
I don't have an EV, so I can't say from experience, but needing to use a smartphone app to activate a charger sounds like a massive pain
Try downloading a specific app to just park a car, as I had to do recently...
Yeah, it is. Thankfully, the UK is making it mandatory to have card payment options on all future rapid (and above) chargers installs, be it new sites or replacement units
It is such a pain! I have an entire folder full of apps on my phone now. With the Bolt EV the tesla chargers are so much better than the options where I drive. Granted I sometimes have to mount the curb with my front tire to get the cord to reach.
Some chargers have auto charge or plug in charge or whatever they call it, you plug in and it recognizes your car and charge your credit card. It’s easier than filling a gas car. I do agree it’s crazy with all the different apps but I do have them because you can get discounts compared to the guest rates for credit card users.
Most of the chargers I’ve used allow you to use a credit card or tap to pay with a wallet app.
Great job. It's nice to a trip start from St Louis. And to see improvement in the CCS network I'm from St louis & drive a 23 EV6 Wind AWD.
Am I the only one who hears Robert say "Good news!" and is then disappointed there's no "everyone" following it? ;-)
Was about to make a comment about this.
I'm half-expecting "The new Dacia Sandero..."
@@theleva7 Great! Now, moving on...
No.
@@theleva7now that you mention it 😅
You put a lot of work into this video. Great job Robert!
This was a great display of charging infrastructure. However, I think the chargers should be also graded on a few other key points, that ICE drivers take for granted.
1) Bathroom availability- if it’s for customers only, charging should count
2) ability to buy a drink and a sandwich
3) an attendant - seeing the abandon parking lots a night make me realize why many women probably won’t enjoy roadtrips in an EV on their own anytime soon.
think of the women!
This is one reason I’m glad the Midwest now has gas station network support! They’re often on the backside of the convenience store, but often include their own squeegee and self-service waste bin.
That’s very recent, in the last year or two, and illustrates how much better it is for EV travelers lately.
@@sophiatheodores7985 I just gave up on electric motorcycles for personal injury reasons, and the charging situation there is ridiculously risky! Hanging out in a dark parking lot next to a charger, without any space to avoid contact in is just not recommendable.
At least the gas station support reduces that risk.
the lack of an attendant is a huge boost for actually building them, plus it's probably not too hard to just skip past night charging unless you're at a hotel or something anyway. Still a potential problem i suppose, putting them in more traveled, or visible areas would help regardless.
@@BrianTRice77- The other elephant in the room is that refueling takes 10 minutes tops in the sketchiest of locations and can be immediately stopped in an emergency. No EV can match that in terms of safety.
Australia: nearly 30M people and BEV sales are about 10% of passenger vehicles annually. There are 82 public chargers rated at 150kw or more … for the entire country
It's the US problem. The distances are simply too large. EVs shine in short distances. Willing to be bet the 10% is about urban areas.
@@atrifle8364the US problem seems to be that Electrify America and others were blackmailed or bribed in to creating infrastructure without consideration of profit or sustainment. In Australia the providers worked on the assumption of sustainable business models but the risk of non-viability. Then Tritium stuck their oar in and sold a mountain of relatively cheap to buy but hard to maintain charging stalls. One side effect was that the roll out was and is much slower. Unlikely to change and Australian has a poor electricity grid already
@@atrifle8364So Americans use more energy driving around long distances. On the surface of it, it seems unusual that any company which makes money running charging stations would not want to put up more stations where people need more stations. Just saying.
So glad that we have only one connector for just about every EV in Europe. Yes, there are a few cars with Chademo but they are getting rare.
It’s the way we should have done it in the US, but lack of proper regulation allowed Tesla to push their proprietary connector instead
This is incredible to see in a year. Thanks for doing this one!
I’m going to disagree with you. I think spots like Walmart are fantastic. I hate Walmart, but if I could drive to Costco, and charge while I’m there I’d be a happy happy person.
Agreed. A lot of places have a customer base that like to do the "charge while I shop" thing. Florida was a hotspot for that, where most every Publix I had been to had chargers along the side of the building.
Yup, gives you something to do than just sit
I really appreciate this insight. Your previous video was helpful and showed the value in the tesla network. Other UA-cam channels (tfl) when showing other electric charging issues had similar issues at the time. Good to document the change.
I'll never buy a vehicle I have to download multiple apps to charge the thing. There's too much connectivity and complexity these days. Enough is enough.
This is why Tesla is/was so popular. It has always been "plug and charge" with no hassle, no app needed. Also, for all Tesla cars sold from around 2014-2017, Superchargers were free to use, forever.
most of us only visit one or two charge networks so having many apps isn't necessary. The road trip in this video is not meant to be a realistic depiction of how to road trip in an EV
This, this, this is the video we need. Thank you so much for doing this. ❤
Why the actual fuck do none of these chargers operate like a gas pump!?? Why do you need an app and an internet connection to buy energy from them!?? Like, gas stations are the gold standard for self-service interface! Just let people buy from a simple, on-charger HMI!
Because tech bro
The true answer is bc Tesla chargers doing everything automatically for Tesla cars has become the standard of quality for some dumb reason (adding hella logistics issues) instead of just building off what has been working with minimal flaws for decades for gas stations
Because apps let companies steal your data and sell it on for additional profit
He chose ones that are weird. All the main brands of charging near me accept credit cards.
This has been great info! I've got 3 EVs, and though I hardly ever road-trip, this is all good stuff. Thanks! Entertaining as usual!
I'm tired of having to use an app for everything because so often they don't work you can't get support and frankly I'm tired of all the extra software on my phone that I really don't want.
They need to have a card reader there and it needs to work. Simple. You would never go to a gas station that you could only activate the pump with your phone.
They need infrastructure in general. A covered roof, a toilet, a kiosk where you can buy snacks or pay with cash.
Otherwise the guy with the gas-guzzler is refuelling in comfort, meanwhile Mr. Green is hungry, wet and needs the bathroom.
Plus in some areas sitting around for 45 minutes at night is downright sketchy. A kiosk with staff and cameras would make it viable for women, old people etc.
Lots of people go to gas stations specifically because they can use their "fuel points" they accumulated from their grocery bills, which requires entering personal info. Or they go to Costco for gas which requires their membership. Frankly, if those gas stations used apps those kinds of people would be all over it