Mach-E driver's panicked search stops four times on 200-mile trip looking for charging station

[Toccoa]

They panicked at 23%? I don’t start looking for gas until the light comes on. We’re going to need his Man Card back.

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[flip]

In a capitalist system, demand typically drags supply along behind it kicking and screaming. It happened with paved roads and gasoline stations in the early 20th century after automobiles became popular. It also happened in the early 21st century with broadband, fiber optics, and cell phone towers when cell phones and the Internet became popular. It will happen with EV infrastructure, too.

Few capital investments are made without knowing there will be sufficient demand to produce a return on the capital, and the ones that do happen without visible returns on the horizon often go bankrupt and liquidate while waiting for demand to catch up, and that removes excess capacity from the market.

One part of this is the public investment, the other private. Caddy just culled dealers that didn't want to sign up for their EV program that had a minimum investment of $250K. This included facilities, training and charging. It feels like the dealer body is being forced to indirectly subsidize the charging infrastructure for the mfgrs. They will say we have a choice to do or not do, but the reality is my franchise is basically dead if I don't. It's one thing to say we have to put chargers in, which I'm not fighting and there are tax credits that lessen the burden. My big issue is experts in both the private and public energy sphere have been saying we can't produce and deliver enough energy with our current infrastructure (California), much less even think about adding millions of mega watts of additional load. To me this feels like the opposite of Field of Dreams. Building the cars is the easy part of the equation, getting the foundation to support them is monumentally more difficult. It's not like there's a unified electric plan from state to state. Again, Cali and most recently, Texas are examples of huge states with problems that will have to get resolved before people don't have "range anxiety" at the top of the list as a reason for not buying an EV.
It all feels like we are doing this out of order. The mfgrs are all trying to one up each other's policy wokeness as to who is going to kill the ICE first. I don't want to get into politics but when the .gov has these massive party and policy changes, dangle billions of dollars in front of CEO's to change course, they absolutely loose their minds and take a short sighted position.
There are many facets to this conversation especially a long term plan so we don't stuck in the middle of some green dream that will get shut down like the border wall when the political pendulum swings the other way. I like stability and plans, both seem to be in short supply these days.

 

[KaneNorth]

He could have easily used an app such as PlugShare that shows all the charging stations on a map and is easily sortable and filterable by type of plug. I see dozens of compatible chargers along all the major routes he could have possibly travelled.

 

[flip]

My house would require a full rewire to support another 240 plug. At a cost of somewhere around $25k.

Now my house was wired in the 50's and then remodeled in the 70's to 2 separate living spaces. But still, I can only level 1 charge at home now unless I want to spend an additional $25k.

This is what my municipal utility guy said. Basically, hotels, businesses, restaurants will be easier for them to deal with. The major issue will be neighborhoods, especially older ones, that have service that was put in 30+ years ago. Before we even show an EV I guess we'll have to send an electrician to a persons home to make sure they have at least 200A service and their box isn't full.

 

[BlueBronco]

My house would require a full rewire to support another 240 plug. At a cost of somewhere around $25k.

Now my house was wired in the 50's and then remodeled in the 70's to 2 separate living spaces. But still, I can only level 1 charge at home now unless I want to spend an additional $25k.

You should just be able to upgrade the service and meter to the house without a need to re-wire everything. Worst case is maybe a new panel as well? Unless, since you are upgrading the service they make you bring everything else in the house up to current code, maybe? I wonder if you could get away with adding a second service to the house or garage, that way you aren't touching the existing?

 

[Razorbak86]

One part of this is the public investment, the other private. Caddy just culled dealers that didn't want to sign up for their EV program that had a minimum investment of $250K. This included facilities, training and charging. It feels like the dealer body is being forced to indirectly subsidize the charging infrastructure for the mfgrs. They will say we have a choice to do or not do, but the reality is my franchise is basically dead if I don't. It's one thing to say we have to put chargers in, which I'm not fighting and there are tax credits that lessen the burden. My big issue is experts in both the private and public energy sphere have been saying we can't produce and deliver enough energy with our current infrastructure (California), much less even think about adding millions of mega watts of additional load. To me this feels like the opposite of Field of Dreams. Building the cars is the easy part of the equation, getting the foundation to support them is monumentally more difficult. It's not like there's a unified electric plan from state to state. Again, Cali and most recently, Texas are examples of huge states with problems that will have to get resolved before people don't have "range anxiety" at the top of the list as a reason for not buying an EV.
It all feels like we are doing this out of order. The mfgrs are all trying to one up each other's policy wokeness as to who is going to kill the ICE first. I don't want to get into politics but when the .gov has these massive party and policy changes, dangle billions of dollars in front of CEO's to change course, they absolutely loose their minds and take a short sighted position.
There are many facets to this conversation especially a long term plan so we don't stuck in the middle of some green dream that will get shut down like the border wall when the political pendulum swings the other way. I like stability and plans, both seem to be in short supply these days.

Exactly… demand typically drags supply along behind it kicking and screaming.

 

[North7]

One part of this is the public investment, the other private. Caddy just culled dealers that didn't want to sign up for their EV program that had a minimum investment of $250K. This included facilities, training and charging. It feels like the dealer body is being forced to indirectly subsidize the charging infrastructure for the mfgrs. They will say we have a choice to do or not do, but the reality is my franchise is basically dead if I don't. It's one thing to say we have to put chargers in, which I'm not fighting and there are tax credits that lessen the burden. My big issue is experts in both the private and public energy sphere have been saying we can't produce and deliver enough energy with our current infrastructure (California), much less even think about adding millions of mega watts of additional load. To me this feels like the opposite of Field of Dreams. Building the cars is the easy part of the equation, getting the foundation to support them is monumentally more difficult. It's not like there's a unified electric plan from state to state. Again, Cali and most recently, Texas are examples of huge states with problems that will have to get resolved before people don't have "range anxiety" at the top of the list as a reason for not buying an EV.
It all feels like we are doing this out of order. The mfgrs are all trying to one up each other's policy wokeness as to who is going to kill the ICE first. I don't want to get into politics but when the .gov has these massive party and policy changes, dangle billions of dollars in front of CEO's to change course, they absolutely loose their minds and take a short sighted position.
There are many facets to this conversation especially a long term plan so we don't stuck in the middle of some green dream that will get shut down like the border wall when the political pendulum swings the other way. I like stability and plans, both seem to be in short supply these days.

Toyota is pushing back.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/26/22594235/toyota-lobbying-dc-ev-congress-biden-donation

 

[flip]

We do a lot of wholesale and run the high roof transit vans. Ford is coming out with a full electric soon so I was kinda pumped about replacing vans with the EVs. Would be a big saving in fuel, maintenance and give us the same cargo volume. That was until they revealed their range was 125 miles. Several of my drivers go that one way, every day. They designed these for small companies that operate in metro areas. Their research said most of these companies average 75 miles/day so 125 is more than enough. Really? The freaking load floor in a transit is huge and there should be absolutely no problems getting the same 2wd Mach E battery motor platform in there. WTF were they thinking?

 

[balucipher]

this driver is an absolute dipshit

I'm on my third full EV and while the Tesla makes it easy, I wouldn't have trouble going up and down the entire east coast with a non-Tesla

 

[heelyeah]

Driver is an idiot. When you take an ev on the road you need to plan on your route. Btw … Tesla owners do the same when they take their cars on a long trip.

Exactly. I've got a Mach E and I love it. It's designed to be charged primarily at home or work, with the odd level 3 charging on a road trip. And on a route between Boston and NY, it should have been incredibly easy for this guy to plan a safe trip with abundant options for charging. Ford's own navigation system within the Mach E will do this for you, but there are also plenty of third party options like PlugShare, ABRP, etc.

 

[Razorbak86]

Colorado's getting EV chargers at all its state parks, but I'm still not waiting on an electric Bronco.

Tennessee, too…

Rivian to install charging stations at all 56 Tennessee state parks

 

[Ksjrb03]

You should just be able to upgrade the service and meter to the house without a need to re-wire everything. Worst case is maybe a new panel as well? Unless, since you are upgrading the service they make you bring everything else in the house up to current code, maybe? I wonder if you could get away with adding a second service to the house or garage, that way you aren't touching the existing?

Bingo. Around here, a service upgrade brings out the inspectors and their red tags, bringing the house up to code would be required. I know several people who have got around this by adding a new separate service to their shop/garage.

Of course this all depends on your municipality and how much of a hard ass the inspectors are. I'm two blocks away from living "out of town", which would give me 70% lower taxes and the ability to build a fence or wire my house as unsafely as I want, without a permit. If only I could go back in time and teach younger me a thing or two

 

[Deleted member 3063]

Around here, a service upgrade brings out the inspectors and their red tags, bringing the house up to code would be required. I know several people who have got around this by adding a new separate service to their shop/garage.

Thank you, there is always a way. You beat me to it.

 

[RubyRuin]

Those Mach-E's average 3.1-3.3 miles/kwH. At 23%, it's still got at least 70 miles of range left in it and I have a hard time believing he can't find a charger in that region with that much range left.

 

[MayhemMike]

What folks don’t realize is the mileage claims made by the EV makers are “ best case scenarios”. EV get longer range when driving in stop and go environments such as cities. Highway operation reduces mileage because brakes, that aid in regeneration of the batteries aren’t used as much. Ambient temperatures also decrease range. EV are great for urban use, that is if you live in a home in the city that can accept a charging system that won’t be stolen or vandalized by the urban parasites.

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