Ars Technica: Electric cars are doomed if fast charger reliability doesn’t get better

[Sgt Beavis]

Ars has a piece on the state of EV fast charging, or the lack there of due to broken chargers...

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/0...ger-reliability-doesnt-get-better/?comments=1

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[Mcdubjr]

It’s so true. Currently on a 2000 mile road trip. Every single EA station I’ve hit has at least one charger not operating. This needs to get better.

 

[COdogman]

We used to be very good at infrastructure of all types in this country, but it sure has gone downhill in the last 20 years. There is plenty of blame to go around, but ultimately the article is exactly right - if we don’t figure this out it will sabotage the adoption of EVs as a whole.

I’m the suspicious type who believes this is at least partially intentional. I’m not an expert on all of the options, but it sure seems like the charging networks who have the most to gain from being reliable, like Chargepoint and Tesla find a way to do it. Most of the others have some connection to oil/ gas or a manufacturer who still makes gas vehicles so their *heart* might not be in this 100%…

 

[Sgt Beavis]

We used to be very good at infrastructure of all types in this country, but it sure has gone downhill in the last 20 years. There is plenty of blame to go around, but ultimately the article is exactly right - if we don’t figure this out it will sabotage the adoption of EVs as a whole.

I’m the suspicious type who believes this is at least partially intentional. I’m not an expert on all of the options, but it sure seems like the charging networks who have the most to gain from being reliable, like Chargepoint and Tesla find a way to do it. Most of the others have some connection to oil/ gas or a manufacturer who still makes gas vehicles so their *heart* might not be in this 100%…

Our infrastructure issues have been been around since the 80's.

I get the suspicions. VW founded Electrify America to settle Dieselgate. It's a leap, but many will make that leap. But that still doesn't change the fact that ICE vehicle production is being banned in the EU in the next decade. California is looking to ban the sale of new ICE vehicles by 2035. It would seem to me that having a reliable and robust charging network would be in VW and other providers best interest.

 

[Zoidz]

Siemens recently invested $450M in EA and has a seat on the board. Volkswagon USA needs a good hard kick in the butt, this level of reliability is BS. Hopefully Siemens can get them on track.

 

[SANZC02]

Seems like a doom and gloom article for clicks.

The infrastructure will get better and more reliable over time. Tesla has shown it is possible to build a reliable charging infrastructure. It is a chicken and egg scenario, investing a ton of money early is hard to build an ROI for an infrastructure. The more cars that are out there the better the infrastructure will get. To suggest the move to EVs will fail because of the current infrastructure is pretty funny.

I’m guessing more than 80% of vehicles do not take a road trip longer than 300 miles more than once a year if that much. The advantages of an EV as a commuter car and to handle the majority of a persons needs are there. As more economical EVs are developed and the cost to purchase comes down more people will be buying them. Then it will be easier to justify the cost to develop the infrastructure.

There are always rental cars out there for people who need to travel to areas with limited charging currently, those rare occasions should not be the primary decision maker on a purchase.

 

[COdogman]

Our infrastructure issues have been been around since the 80's.

I get the suspicions. VW founded Electrify America to settle Dieselgate. It's a leap, but many will make that leap. But that still doesn't change the fact that ICE vehicle production is being banned in the EU in the next decade. California is looking to ban the sale of new ICE vehicles by 2035. It would seem to me that having a reliable and robust charging network would be in VW and other providers best interest.

Oh I agree. Whatever the reason a company might have for building out their own network it’s hard to imagine they don’t see the huge opportunity in front of them if they do it right. Not to mention the costs of building it (why not just do it right?). As you said, governments are *starting* to plan for the EV future, even if it’s 20 years too late, but they are signaling their plans. But history is full of examples of companies sabotaging the next thing to continue capitalizing on the current thing until it’s clearly dead and gone.

It’s also possible this is just hard stuff to do and some of these companies aren’t very good at it LOL.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Seems like a doom and gloom article for clicks.

The infrastructure will get better and more reliable over time. Tesla has shown it is possible to build a reliable charging infrastructure. It is a chicken and egg scenario, investing a ton of money early is hard to build an ROI for an infrastructure. The more cars that are out there the better the infrastructure will get. To suggest the move to EVs will fail because of the current infrastructure is pretty funny.

I’m guessing more than 80% of vehicles do not take a rode trip longer than 300 miles more than once a year if that much. The advantages of an EV as a commuter car and to handle the majority of a persons needs are there. As more economical EVs are developed and the cost to purchase comes down more people will be buying them. Then it will be easier to justify the cost to develop the infrastructure.

There are always rental cars out there for people who need to travel to areas with limited charging currently, those rare occasions should not be the primary decision maker on a purchase.

I'm sure you could go back and find a newspaper (lol what's that?) article from the 1910s lamenting the fact that automobiles are doomed due to the lack of gas stations relative to feed stores.

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