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Charging in the rain & charging infrastructure (Electrify America)
I'm starting a new thread, combining the essence of Charging in the rain & Charging Infrastructure (Electrify America)
No doubt there are many safety features re. EV charging in the rain and the possibility of electrocution is slim to none.
The bigger question: why are chargers invariably exposed to the elements? Most gas pumps are under a canopy. Why are electric charger customers second-class citizens?
Or is this Electrify America's way of thumbing their nose at electric charging in America? Electrify America (owned by VW) got the VW settlement money and they built the chargers. Are there are NO clauses that charges should be covered or reasonably protected from the elements?
I suggest we collectively contact Giovanni Palazzo, President & CEO of Electrify America, LLC. Maybe someone here can get us the email addresses for Giovanni Palazzo and Senior Director of Operations Anthony Lambkin?
For example... yesterday tried charging at a EA station and had 3 incomplete attempts at charging. Used 3 different chargers at the same stop.
Taycan would charge 5 to 6 minutes and then stop due to a communication error.
One of those 4 attempts was highlighted by the EA station going blank but charging continued.
Charged at another EA station without a glitch today.
Last time I pulled up to a EA station, only one (of the six) worked. And that one throttled down 10kW from the 350kW. I was down to about 10% and didn't want the risk of driving the next 50 miles or so to the next station, middle of GA. And did I call EA? No. My fault. But subsequently I have. That too a hit or miss.
Bottom line, we should collectively contact EA. If someone can get the email address for the CEO
They’re incentivized/subsidized by the government to *build* new stations. They get zero incentive to maintain and repair, so it’s no surprise they put essentially zero effort into that. The $ is in getting those subsidies, not actually providing service to the end user. They’re just in it to make $, which is what capitalist corporations exist to do.
The auto makers, except for Tesla, are building EVs that are designed to be charged at home - and that's it. Whatever infrastructure builds are taking place out there for non-Tesla cars, are eventually all going to fall into a state of disrepair.
They’re incentivized/subsidized by the government to *build* new stations. They get zero incentive to maintain and repair, so it’s no surprise they put essentially zero effort into that. The $ is in getting those subsidies, not actually providing service to the end user. They’re just in it to make $, which is what capitalist corporations exist to do.
Add to that customers who accept the lousy service. I did too, for a while.
They’re incentivized/subsidized by the government to *build* new stations. They get zero incentive to maintain and repair, so it’s no surprise they put essentially zero effort into that. The $ is in getting those subsidies, not actually providing service to the end user. They’re just in it to make $, which is what capitalist corporations exist to do.
The question is why do we allow the government to drive this deployment instead of the capital markets? The consequence is utter inefficiency as observed by every single thing the government touches.
Last time I pulled up to a EA station, only one (of the six) worked. And that one throttled down 10kW from the 350kW. I was down to about 10% and didn't want the risk of driving the next 50 miles or so to the next station, middle of GA. And did I call EA? No. My fault. But subsequently I have. That too a hit or miss.
Bottom line, we should collectively contact EA. If someone can get the email address for the CEO
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I did a recent presentation on EV chargers at a technical industry event. I learned and presented a few things:
1. They are supposed to be designed to avoid puddles where you step. This is mostly for perception, as they should be well grounded. However, defects and stray currents will be hazardous, so puddles should be avoided.
2. Charging speeds will be reduced if other cars are charging from the same electrical equipment. The local power equipment may only be able to supply a limited amount of power. If your car isn't limiting the power charge rate, then the charger is limiting the charge rate due to other circumstances.
3. The industry is all over the place on testing the final installations. Many installations do not test the affect of full load charging (all chargers delivering full load). So they don't really know if they work when all charges are in use. They will likely just provide an awful charge rate to all cars connected.
4. Testing all the low voltage functions (monitoring, payment systems, client communication) is also poor and the service is inconsistent.
Based on what I have learned, I have extremely diminished expectations on long distance electric travel.
Last edited by PJ Cayenne; 07-07-2022 at 11:04 PM.
VW sells minority stake in Electrify America to Siemens
Volkswagen sold a minority stake in its electric vehicle charging division, Electrify America, to Siemens in a deal that values the company at $2.45 billion. The two companies are jointly investing $450 million to double the number of Electrify America charging stations in the US and Canada by 2026. (The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.)
Question, I know Tesla plans to open it's chargers to non-Tesla cars in North America as they are already starting to do in Europe. Is there somewhere I can go to read about European experiences charging Taycans at the Tesla chargers there?
07-04-2022, 08:02 PM
Charging in the rain & charging infrastructure (Electrify America)
