[Amazer98]

Hi all,

I’m considering buying the EV6 as our first electric vehicle. Although most of our driving will be done within a 50 mile radius, we sometimes take longer trips from our home in Maine over to Vermont or down to Connecticut. I checked out the PlugShare app and I can see that they are some high-speed chargers in various locations, mostly on or near Interstate highways. However, about 90 or 95% of the chargers on the app are labeled J-1772.

Are these J -772 chargers simply basic level 2 chargers like what you might have in your garage? If so, it does not seem viable during a road trip to hook up to one of these for an hour or two and obtain a scant 70 mile boost.

I’m sure more super-fast chargers will be installed in the years ahead, but I’m concerned that there will be long waits today to use the relatively few rapid chargers that are indicated on the map. Even though a substantial charge can be obtained on the EV6 in 20 minutes or so, I would dread pulling up to one of these rapid chargers and being number five or six in line.

Am I worrying too much about this? Are the J 1772 chargers in fact faster than the 40 amp chargers that we have in our garages? Or are longer distance drives really a roll of the dice?

Thanks!

 

[ag5bpilot]

The J1772 chargers are the same as you would have at your home. They are ok for adding a few miles to you car while having lunch, but they're not intended to "refuel" the car in the middle of a road trip. Where they are useful, however, is as a destination charger at a hotel where you're staying overnight.

The fast DC chargers are what you want for travelling. You can change the filter on PlugShare (or ABRP) to show only fast DC chargers.

ABC -- Always Be Charging. If you're worried that a fast DC charger might not be available, stop at the charger before it. Also, a lot of apps will show you whether the chargers are available, so there's less guesswork involved.

 

[YellowFE]

Except for DownEast, Maine is largely devoid of DC Fast Charging infrastructure right now. I made a New England road trip last fall with a mind to my First Edition EV6 reservation and realized that. Until the charging infrastructure is built out, it is pretty grim.

One thing to watch is how much Tesla opens up its charging stations in the US to non-Tesla EVs. Another option faster than the J1772 chargers is to overnight at a RV campground with 30A/50A hookups (bring your EVSE cable and adapters).

 

[Amazer98]

Actually, it is Downeast Maine (the northern part of our coast line) that’s largely devoid of significant infrastructure improvements, including high-speed Internet. This is a major issue often discussed in the local newspaper. I’m thinking once they get high-speed Internet, then high-speed charging stations will follow.😎

I don’t understand how you can check the app for availability in a meaningful way. If you were 30 minutes out and the app shows a location as not being available, isn’t it reasonably likely that it might be available by the time you arrive? There’s no way to know if four or five cars are waiting in line to use it, or if it will be empty for four hours starting in another five minutes, is there?

 

[YellowFE]

Oops! My non-Mainer geographical mistake about where Downeast starts. Really meant the fast chargers are along the southern coast, or in the north you must cross into Canada.

Yes, availability is a problem that will only get worse for non-Tesla EV road-trippers until the charging infrastructure is built-out. Current reports indicate that non-Tesla stations sit mostly empty, but just seeing the EV6 activity on this forum shows the wave of new EVs is growing.

 

[Robocheme]

Actually, it is Downeast Maine (the northern part of our coast line) that’s largely devoid of significant infrastructure improvements, including high-speed Internet. This is a major issue often discussed in the local newspaper. I’m thinking once they get high-speed Internet, then high-speed charging stations will follow.😎

I don’t understand how you can check the app for availability in a meaningful way. If you were 30 minutes out and the app shows a location as not being available, isn’t it reasonably likely that it might be available by the time you arrive? There’s no way to know if four or five cars are waiting in line to use it, or if it will be empty for four hours starting in another five minutes, is there?

I think that you and I share the same concerns about the EA system. When there are only 2-3 CCS chargers at each location, they are going to get overwhelmed pretty quickly when more non-Tesla EVs hit the roads. I think that the problem was that VW was forced to build the EA system and they did the minimum (2-3 chargers per location), and there is no incentive now for EA to improve the system

I'll probably do some road trips soon after I get my EV6 to use up the free 1000 kWH, but after that I'll be using my Model Y

 

[Durham EV6]

Surprisingly, it seems we in the UK have a much better network of chargers. I'm quite surprised as, I for one, thought the USA would be miles ahead with this new tech, which is, we're all led to believe, the future of road travel.

Like you I probably travel 90% of the time within a 50 mile radius of home. I've no home charger, as I say, I didn't have a petrol station at home when I drove a conventional combustion propelled vehicle.

However, there are thousands of chargers, it seems all over the place, with more popping up everyday.

Many council ran carparks offer tariff free charging too. Fast charging tariffs, I've seen, range between 26p to 49p per kW.

I've posted some images which shows a small selection of high speed charging, just on my route to and from work 👍

 

[ag5bpilot]

Surprisingly, it seems we in the UK have a much better network of chargers. I'm quite surprised as, I for one, thought the USA would be miles ahead with this new tech, which is, we're all led to believe, the future of road travel.

The US is the land of big oil, big trucks, and big cars. While there's a few isolated places that are EV friendly, most, or at least many, places in the US are at best indifferent if not outright hostile to EVs. EVs are a serious threat to the livelihood of many Americans, to the business model of some of the largest corporations in the country, and to the tax revenues of many states and localities.

If it wasn't for dieselgate, and the resulting $10B that Volkswagen paid into creating the Electrify America charging network, it would be almost impossible to take EV trips in the the US in anything other than a Tesla.