New Issue for EV Owners: ‘Charger Hogs’
In our continuing series of all the unintended consequences of forcing Americans to switch to electric vehicles (EVs) based on climate crisis pseudoscience, a new problem has been detected: Charger Hogs.
Recently, I drove a new Chevrolet Blazer EV from New York City to Bristol, Pennsylvania. I figured the drive down to Bristol with my family would take about 90 minutes and, since I didn’t start with a full battery, the return trip would take 15 to 20 minutes more with a stop along the way to charge up the EV some.I was so very wrong.It took us four hours to get home that night. We were sitting in line for electric vehicle chargers. Blame ill-mannered charger hogs who don’t respect EV etiquette. It’s like waiting for your table in a restaurant while watching people casually chat over empty plates and half-empty wine glasses.
As a reminder . EV drivers are also experiencing “range anxiety.” For this, and many other reasons, nearly 50% of EV-owners now say that they regret their purchase.
Electrify America, an EV charging company that claims to offer the largest amount of open hyper-fast charging stations, says they are are planning to institute new policies to prevent charger hogging.
In an effort to reduce charging congestion, Electrify America is testing a pilot program that would enact a strict charging limit at 10 of its busiest EV fast-charging stations in California.The idea is that once the charger detects that an EV’s batteries are already charged to 85%, no more electricity will be dispensed. Drivers will be kindly asked to unplug and leave for the next person or face an “idle fee” of 40 cents per minute every minute their car stays plugged in.In an interview with CNN, Electrify America President Robert Barrosa said that many new EV owners are still getting to grips with how EVs “fill up” compared to traditional gasoline cars.Essentially, automakers like Tesla, Hyundai, and Lucid recommend that owners fill up to 80% or 85% of the battery’s capacity for peak battery performance and longevity; filling to maximum capacity is recommended when absolutely needed.
In a related report, a study of 20,000 EV charging stations shows the experience is still a massive bummer. The study was conducted by ChargerHelp, a firm specializing in EV charger operations and maintenance solutions.
The experience of charging an electric vehicle in the US could be better, and a big new study is out that lists the biggest infrastructure pain points, including a failure to report broken stalls, inaccurate station status messages, aging equipment, and some habitually unreliable network providers (who go unnamed in the study, unfortunately)….EV chargers can break in many ways, the study concludes. These include broken retractor systems intended to protect the cable from getting mangled by vehicle tires, broken screens, and inoperable payment systems. There is also general damage to the cabinet and, of course, broken cables and connectors.Across the chargers recorded, ChargerHelp calculates that actual uptime is only 73.7 percent, compared to the 84.6 percent self-reported by the EV network providers.The study found that 26 percent of all stations analyzed did not positively match the perceived status of the chargers as presented in the networks’ software. That means some charge networks overstate the number of stations it has that are online, which puts a damper on the confidence EV owners should have in the charging infrastructure. It’s especially problematic when one badly needs a charge and ends up at a station that an app said was online but wasn’t.
I have to say, I am bitterly clinging to my Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle. I spend no more than 15 minutes filling, and I can top it off without penalty. I only hope I can keep my Honda CRV going for another 100,000 miles.
To round out this report with something in keeping with the presidential election season, here is a video of Vice President Kamala Harris attempting to charge an EV.
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