Sure it's a serious issue if it happens to you. But so is your ICE car not starting - which is less likely to happen with maintenance, but even well-maintained vehicles malf on people without warning.
Other than your assertion that failure to charge is an endemic problem with EVs I've heard
quite the contrary about modern EVs from numerous owners. There were some problems with the EV's of
10-20 years ago that could result in failure to charge:
- The original NiMH RAV4EV of ~20 years ago had problems with balancing modules and would might refuse to charge; this was generally an issue at the end of the pack's life
- The inductive chargers of ~20 years ago (original RAV4EV, GM EV1) often experienced component failure that would manifest as an increasing refusal to charge until the component expired
- I recall that the AVCON/SAE J1772-1998 connector of >20 years ago was finnicky about maintaining continuous contact
- The original Tesla Roadster was essentially an early beta product while early Model S's were late beta products - the Model S was sold with a customer NDA gagging reporting about defects as of 2016 and seemingly were still a thing as of 2016. That the customer base accepted the early buggy nature of the cars was nothing short of amazing since they spent a lot of time in the shop; failure to charge was but one of many issues they experienced.
The source I linked studied the first-generation Nissan Leaf which had an abysmal by present standards 25-30 kWh battery with optimistic
EPA ratings of between 73 and 107 miles; if ever there was a vehicle that would lean on public chargers the first-gen Leaf was it.
In 2022 there appear to be all of seven
EV's being offered by OEMs on the US market with nominal EPA ranges of less than 200 miles; average looks to be closer to 250.
Debates about politics are apt to get this thread closed and a bit off topic. There's an
alternate venue for such topics if you prefer.
This isn't my judgement so much as my assessment of the market. Market dynamics are heavily slanted towards the status quo of the present use case - urban/suburban residents of single-family detached homes -
because the automakers literally cannot make enough EVs to meet demand. The domestic automakers are finding out what Tesla has known since the beginning - the demand comes to them without advertising and without demanding the incentives that juice conventional vehicle sales. This situation won't endure forever but for now it nets a decent amount of juice for minimal squeeze.
Thus for now, the userbase will likely heavily favor home (or work) L2 charging. Even apartment complexes here in
truckistan Dallas-Forth Worth are starting to offer L2 chargers for residents - either in dedicated rented spots or in shared EV parking spots.
There are absolutely use cases where the 20-30 minutes to fast charge - and more frequently than refueling stops in an ICE won't work -
I mentioned some in a previous post. The annual-ish summer road trip in an automobile might not make quite as many miles in an EV as an ICE vehicle, but the hit probably isn't debilitating - and the proverbial "5 minute pit stop" in my observation is lucky to be as brief as 15 minutes.
Public charger reliability
can be a problem, however it's an evolving situation.
Actually no, that's not how serious issues work. Not trying to open up THAT can of worms on CPF, again. But imagine if someone said the same thing about COVID. I've never been infected, myself. But I would never say,
"Well, I don't know why everyone took a bunch of precautions. I never got infected. So clearly it wasn't a serious issue at all." Do you see the problem with that mentality? It just doesn't hold water. (Or, in this case, doesn't hold a charge.)
As far as well-maintained gasoline powered vehicles go, I can only speak for the ones I've owned over the decades. A 1998 Ford Escort sedan bought 5 years used. And, a brand new 2009 Mazda 6 sSport trim V6. Both maintained by me. Both were reliable, with the exception of needing a new alternator for the Mazda which I mentioned earlier. But that one was on me. The old alternator was indeed very old. So, I messed up there. Not the car's fault. Thus, when properly maintained, I've had zero issues with the ones I've owned. Properly maintained gasoline powered cars don't just break down for no reason at all.
I've done my research into EVs and charging technology. I've found numerous examples of charging issues. It's the biggest one out there. If that one, major issue didn't exist; I'd be here asking about the 2023 Chevy Bolt. Since that model is coming out with a significant price-drop compared to the 2022 version, and I'm seriously considering moving into a rented house. Sorry, but that's still a major issue for now.
I'm glad you brought up the issue of average range. I don't remember who said it many years ago, otherwise I'd give credit where it's due. But the gist is, EVs will not take over in America until Americans can replicate gasoline vehicle performance. Meaning, you head out on a road trip. The needle is dangerously close to "E." So you drive a few miles at most, pull into a gas station, fuel up, head out again in a very short amount of time. Run low on gas again, pull into a gas station, fuel up, head out. When you can do that with an EV at a charging station that doesn't require being there for half an hour. When you can do that without having to carefully plan or take an EVs average range into account, then the masses will switch over to EVs in droves. That outlook was over 10 years ago. EVs still aren't there. I do honestly believe that one day they will be. But it's not today, nor anytime in the very near future.
No clue what you mean by politics. I simply brought up the corrupt way one foreign nation is forcing its citizens to buy EVs. That's more about corruption than politics. I haven't talked about party lines, Democrats vs. Republicans, or any of that sort of thing.
People want to save money. Especially on gas for their cars. The market demand is coming due to that. Not necessarily a huge demand specifically for EVs. Right now, EVs (and to a lesser extent, hybrids) are the best alternative out there. Which is why a proper charging station infrastructure needs to be put in place. I read about an apartment resident on the outskirts of Chicago who put in a herculean effort to convince the building board to put in a charging station into one of the designated parking spots. The one assigned to him since he really wanted an EV. Eventually, they did it. And then raised his rates by 4x on that parking spot. So, every month he pays 4x more than literally all the other residents. But I'm sure he'll save money in the long run. But that brings up another issue we haven't tackled at all....
Clearly electric companies are going to jack up their rates when, eventually, a significant percentage of the population switches over to EVs. Obviously, there's a clear difference between renewable energy sources vs. non-renewable ones for automobiles. It will be interesting to see how high those rates become though.
Can't speak for other drivers, but when I fuel up; yeah, we're talking less than 5 minutes. Gas stations in my neck of the woods when it comes to Snack Shops attached to them, are obscenely expensive!
How much for a bag of chips and a can of soda?! No thank you! Better to make a dedicated pit stop at almost anywhere else if you need anything other than gas. But still, even for those who do take 15 minutes instead of less than 5, that's still going to be half as long compared to 30. If anything, people are far more impatient now than just a few years ago. And, there's another issue. Highlighted perfectly in a YouTube video I saw made by, ironically; a young woman trying to convince her boyfriend that EVs are the way to go.
Used an App. to find a charging station. Problem is there was only one charger, and it was occupied by someone who let his vehicle get very low. They had to wait. So, now if there's someone ahead of you, you can add whatever amount of time they will be there, on top of the 30 minutes you'll need to charge up your ride. I'm sorry but that doesn't happen at gas stations. Less time to pump fuel, plus multiple pumps means no such headache.
Honestly though, we agree that public charger reliability is evolving and getting to the point where it'll be as utterly reliable as charging up one's Smartphone. But for the Today Buyer of cars, it's an issue; now. In about two years I'll be getting a new car. I tend to keep my cars for over a decade. (Unless some genius who has no clue how to use a turn-signal totals my ride.) By the time I'm ready for a new car
after this upcoming one in two years, I have no doubt that I'll be buying an EV. By then, everything will realistically be sorted out and genuinely ready for the masses. Just like Push-button Starters. Useless technological gimmick when they first came out. But now a genuine anti-theft feature that works properly. (It's why I bought an sSport trim Mazda 6 back in 2009. Out of three V6 trim levels available for that model back then, the sSport trim was the only one without a Push-button Starter.)
