I live with my Bolt on the Canadian Prairie. Your experience, observations and knowledge are important to me. You help me understand the complexity and difficulty of delivering charging service. Thank you Eric.
Hi Eric, First - Kudos on the beautiful reels of the Eastern Sierras. It’s been abt 20 yrs since I’ve been up/down I-395 and never in the Winter. Beautiful! Battery preconditioning!!! BIG deficiency in many of even newer EVs other than Bolt. I just became proud owner of a ‘22 ID.4, and its a cold blooded beast in the winter for charging too. At 32F a few days ago, start at 35kWh and at end of 30 min charge on EA, only 65 kWh though SOC was about 60%. Thanks for the fun ride and charger info. Time for a winter drive here in Upstate NY!!
I haven’t once gotten the Electrify America app to activate a charge. Worked shortly after I picked up my Bolt EUV and they were on free vend, and I got it to activate with a credit card another time. I also just encountered a ChargePoint Tritium DCFC here in Ohio that was out and has been out for a while. But the CPE250s seem pretty solid.
I-5 out of Los Angeles is a race from being run over, Highway 99 is better but so many of the on-ramps are too short for the clapped-out 1964 Chevy & Ford pickups to get up to speed (the Hwy 99 chicane), so Highway 395 is my choice for traveling north. It takes more time but I arrive much more relaxed. Plus the scenery is better.
When I first started driving electric three years ago in my Audi e-tron I was almost always the only one in a charging station. On our recent Christmas road-trip on the East coast the stations were mostly almost full. Aside from the prolific EV sales, the real reason for station crowding is the free juice given with most new EVs. Drivers are going to public DCFC rather than charging at home bc it’s free. If EVs continue to come with free charging the public CCS charging infrastructure will be overrun for no reason at all.
Pre-conditioning functions that are accessible by the user is a big deal. We are seeing they updated the Kia and Hyundai's now to pre-condition. It is one of those things I have seen on the Tesla videos that really is nice. You shouldn't have to be navigating to a specific charger, you should be able to activate it yourself. So much room for improvement. We will know when we have arrived when we no longer have to look up charging stations to find out if they are online and working. When you can just leave on your trip without a thought about where you are going to charge and just know that you can pull off anywhere and get a charge... Dare to dream. 🙂
Eric, it will be interesting to see if the Pilot Truck Stop/ Travel Center just south of Dunigan on I-5 and just before the Y to I-505 will get chargers. That would be a primo spot!
The Dunnigan ChargePoint site is one of those grant funded sites that is owned by ChargePoint. You can tell because the rates in the CP app say "set by EVSP Express Plus Group". That is the entity that is running the ChargePoint sites that got CEC grant funding. The fact that those Tritium chargers have been left to rot there is completely ChargePoint's fault.
That was my impression, but I didn't want to speak out of turn. Really, though, that's worse. The fact that ChargePoint manages the site and they haven't maintained or replaced that Tritium unit by now is really bad.
So far I've been getting 290km highway range going max 110km with comfortable cabin temperatures. Anything above 110km highway speeds throws off the guesometer. Word of caution though, never go below 20km range in winter. I had my 23 Bolt died on me with 18km left and I was 5km away from DC charger. It was about -5c out that morning, with little wind and roughly flat terrain. There's a possibility I have some bad cells at the bottom end, but I'll check that out in the summer. Only 12,000km on the motor.
Eric, it's too bad that GM did not upgrade or offer an upgrade of the CCS1 connector and add the ability for a maximum charge rate of around 70 kws when they installed the new battery pack. Or extrend the maximum charge rate deeper into the charge. It's good you're showing how well the 2017 vehicle is holding up, and now you have a new battery pack. My friend with a 2020 Bolt EV Premiere has not received any update as to when it will be available.
Thanks! Yes, I think it is just not as high of a priority for them because even GM seems to have accepted that the Bolt EV is mostly a city/relaxed road trip car. The Equinox is likely to charge at well over 100 kW with very similar efficiency and range to the Bolt EV, so that could be one reason they aren't prioritizing that upgrade. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. GM has replaced a majority of the batteries so far, so it should only be a few more months. We'll see. It might be time for a squeaky wheel strategy.
W00t another trip! I always do a double take when I see your eco rims (because I plasti dipped mine black 🤣) I noticed more lvl 2/DC Fast chargers chargers popping up in Connecticut ... the progress is slow here.... but at least it's still progress!
We have 2 mountain ranges here in Oregon. While they are very pretty, they just don’t hold a candle to the Sierra Nevadas. So pretty. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there, I need to go back. Something that I keep trying to tell people when they run into issues at EA chargers (or any other charger) is to *report it* . If it’s EA, report it in the EA app. If it’s another brand, report it in their app or on PlugShare. Make sure that the charging providers know or at least have the possibility of knowing. Seems like, at this point, you might want to go back to the dealer and have them check the detected battery capacity. GM lists it in Ah in the scan tool, and GM has a nominal and minimum specification for their batteries. Your new battery should be at the nominal capacity. If it isn’t, then either the car isn’t learning the new capacity or there is an issue with the new battery. Either way, I think you’ve done due diligence at this point, now GM needs to make it right. EA individual chargers have never been very reliable, but having multiple (unused) chargers helped. Now that they aren’t as available, the reliability issue is magnified. I still say that the reliability has gotten worse. I used to be able to make a road trip in a CCS car without having to go to a completely different charging location. That doesn’t happen anymore. I made a trip from New Mexico to Oregon in May 2022 without a single problem, aside from coming across 1 EA location (at Baker, CA) that was being upgraded that wasn’t listed in the app. I used EA the entire way, aside from some of the overnight stops. I have no faith that I’d be able to do the same trip now entirely on EA, at least not without having multiple issues along the way. I’m one of the people who has criticized your coverage on charging infrastructure as being too California-centric and assuming that your experience in California is the same as everywhere else. I stand by what I’ve said. Even along major travel corridors in Oregon, there are 2 charging options: EA and EVCS. EVCS uses the Tritium Veefil chargers exclusively (in Oregon), and they only ever install 1 DCFC and 1 L2. EA is the only higher power option, and is primarily the only option that has more than 1 charger at the location (although the EA ones are often broken). Aside from I-5 or I-84 here in Oregon, there is almost no reliable fast charging infrastructure aside from some of the EVCS stations or some CPE250 chargers installed in random locations by Pacific Power. I’d probably fall out of my chair in shock if Oregon opted to install DCFC at rest areas. The bulk of my criticism comes from some of the videos you’ve posted essentially saying that EA’s terrible reliability isn’t a big deal because you have other options. I’m saying that in a lot of other areas, especially if you have a car with a bigger battery and less efficiency than the Bolt, you don’t have any other good options.
Eric, looks like EA is replacing the chargers at Paso Robles with the new single cable ones, looking forward to having that site keep 4 chargers reliable. It’s a very busy location like Pismo. Maybe see you there sometime.
So much for the Taco Bell EA partnership. I live in Eastern Washington next to the Idaho border and infrequently travel to Seattle which is a minimum of 300 miles, and mid state is an important stop for charging. And it gets cold east of the Cascades. Only one of the EA chargers was working and when I hooked up it showed an error that EA couldn't deal with. . Thankfully there is an older 50 kwh charger midtown but I had to wait and hope it worked or I was truly in a world of hurt. And, of course everyone else was parading over to that one. No problem when there were fewer EVs. Waited. Went back to EA to try again. Nothing. Returned. Finally charged and made it to Seattle. On the return trip found out EA was ripping out all their chargers and replacing them. Charged at the old reliable charger to 90% and made home but deep enough in the orange I didn't have a guess-o-meter read out but, keeping track I knew we'd make it as it has been very accurate.
I see the potential space and power limitations when adding EV charging to existing gas station infrastructure. However it still makes more sense than some stand alone configurations. From a business standpoint today’s gas stations make most of their profits from store sales not gasoline. I’ve recently saw two very large gas stations built in our town. Neither of which included EV charging or any accommodations that would allow it to be added in the future. Seems like missed opportunities. BTW I believe a ChargePoint account and/RFD will work with EVConnect. I have not had a chance to test it yet.
Yes, that's why the grid-tie battery/inverters are so important for many charging sites. It enables charging sites to go in with very little impact on the local grid. I have mixed feelings about gas station stops, though, because you're right that they are essentially convenience stores with fuel. I do believe that they need to be included in the overall public charging ecosystem, but for most drivers, public fast charging at grocery stores, restaurants, retail shopping centers make much more sense. I am seeing more drivers standing by or waiting in their cars than I used to, though, so maybe there is more demand for convenience store locations. Then again, most of those EV owners are getting free charging sessions, which should never be offered at a convenience store charger. Yes, there is a roaming agreement between Chargepoint and EVgo, but I think the EV Connect partnership is still pending.
I have to agree with you about EA; they are the least reliable of the bunch. I actively go out of my way to use EVGo or Chargepoint, instead of EA, just for that reason. Unfortunately, for long travels, a lot of times it's either them or nothing. Also, can you mention in future vids how there's still no chargers on Highway 1 between Carmel to Pismo!!! How is that possible??? I can't be the only one that wants to drive my Bolt down the prettiest highway in America. I mention it all the time on social media but obviously you have a much larger audience. Anyway, thanks for the upload and keep'em coming :-)
@@newscoulomb3705 I've been taking the 5 up to Medford Oregon, but I see the 99 has far more charging infrastructure. I've never been on the 99. What's your opinion?
@@djy69 It depends where you're coming from and going to, but Highway 99 is definitely the better route for connecting Southern California to Northern California and beyond. I-5 is only faster if you're going to/coming from the San Francisco Bay Area. For everything else, Highway 99 is a faster freeway (three lanes versus two on I-5) with more charging options located at better sites. If I wasn't specifically interested in checking out and reporting on the public fast charging infrastructure, I'd almost never take I-5 south of Sacramento.
@@newscoulomb3705 Coming from Las Vegas. The 95 is too sketchy between here and Reno. I'd rather drive the extra 140 miles with piece of mind. Especially in summer when I mainly drive at night on long road trips to conserve energy. I agree, the charging infrastructure on the 99 is far better than the 5 between Bakersfield and Sacramento.
Please tell me you're going to do a site review for that 7-charger station with the 50kW Veefils. I love the idea of Freewire but I swear, every time I see them listed on Plugshare, the reports are consistently negative with lots of failed charge attempts.
29:00 some of the old Tritium chargers had 3G radios in them and at least for us back in April 2022 those 3G cell towers were sunsetted and thus our 50 kW Tritium unit (looks like the one there) went down and has stayed down despite repeated attempts to get it fixed. I was even on a call with execs from Tritium in October and yet still supply chain or lack of technicians we are still down here in Jan 2022. It’s an insane way to run customer support but the incentives for ChargePoint seem to be selling the hardware and somewhat ends after that depending on how the contract is structured. Does not leave a good taste at all and makes us want to go another direction in any future DCFC.
Eric, once Tesla has the ability to change CCS1 vehicles, will you try it with an open mind? The 40 - 50 stall stations would be the ones in California that Tesla would probably open to CCS1 vehicles first, so those oversized stations may be right up your alley. I have been a Tesla owner since 2018 and have a CCS1 adapter. It sure makes you feel where you can travel about anywhere in an EV. I think the DC fast charging for all EVs will improve in 2023. I hope the magic docks will work on your Bolt and give you another place to charge for your traveling future 😉.
It seems like every EA site requires more real estate to house the power transformers (?) That run the charging units. Sites with 50kwh chargers don't seem to need the same huge footprint?
The main problem with electrify America is that it was funded by a penalty to VW. What sustains it. ? I bought my second Tesla because 2 years ago I saw the writing on the wall. In a trip to LA I would check out the ccs chargers in my old model S. While Tesla was expanding and adding more stations and upgrading and adding better and more superchargers. EA and theccs network was stagnant. On top of that more and more non Tesla evs on the road and I bought a model Y instead of the highly touted id4 or polestar.
The Rocklin VeeFils are just weird. Until they got flipped recently, unusable by those with mobility disabilities. Given your elaborate site-scoring algorithm, I am surprised you were fine with not being able to see the charger screen as you charge. Still, you are the best in the game. Kyle Conner actually gave a site TWO different scores in the same video, derived - how?
Thank you! I didn't really do a formal site score for Rocklin, but access definitely would have been a concern. I've actually heard that those VeeFil chargers are installed in reverse *specifically for ADA compliance* because they need to face an ADA-compliant walkway (like the EVgo site I reviewed in Fremont). My preference, of course, is pull-through stalls (like gas pumps), but I recognize that that configuration is not always possible. Seeing the charger as I charge isn't as much of an issue for me. I prefer to not be with my car when it is charging because I try to make use of that time. So I'm fine monitoring from an app, or if I am in my car, from the car's display itself. The EVgo Delta DC City chargers also switch away from the screen while charging, so you can't monitor the charge session on those either.
@News Coulomb Thanks for explaining. I could not reach charger from walkway and had to get into the wood chips. Our cars (Mach-e, old Leaf) have no way to monitor charging speed past Bluetooth range unless charging network app provides that (EA app says charging failed when all good, so useless).
@@mikecarter2737 You're welcome. I don't fully understand it myself, but that is the way it was explained to me. I'm not sure why, for ADA purposes, it matters whether you access the charger from the parking lot side or a walkway side, but as you said, you're reaching/walking across landscaping to access the chargers the way they are currently installed.
