Re. NEVI awards, yes Love's is currently third in terms of site wins (Francis and Tesla each have ~30 more wins than them). But Love's is second in terms of $$ awarded with around $33M in total funding compared to Tesla's $30M. Thanks for the shout out on that.
@@robertharman4938 why should anybody not named tesla get even a single dollar of the taxpayers money if they arent offering at least 50% tesla compatible chargers being installed at these sites? Tesla has more employees paying MORE in taxes than anyone else does operating the other ev charging networks. Tesla also has over 75% of ALL the evs actually in use on us roads atm. Smh simpletons like you crack me UP. 🤚
Great news, thanks for the update. The Electrify America in Waterloo, NY (Simon property) is an aging station located several miles drive off I-90. Every time I've been there, I eyeball the Love's location on the way to the outlet as a much better option... thankfully, Love's agrees! There are also now Applegreen Electric 350kW chargers at the nearby Thruway service plazas. A real sign of progress.
I know the requirements for NEVI, but I sorta wish more was done for difficult to traverse locations, sites that a private company might not want to open as it takes too long to break even or profit.
Love's was our go-to stop when we drove ICE. Glad to see they made the announcement. I was checking plugshare a few weeks ago and noticed a "coming soon" at a Love's in Irvington, AL (near Mobile). The mobile area really needs this and I'm especially excited about that one.
That is awesome! Deep S use to be a desert, but not any more. Lots of builds out there. Gonna take a trip some time soon to see all the new things. Lots to see. Thx for watching.
Gas stations make very little money on gas itself. Like 3 cents a gallon the mark up is so small. But they make gobs of money on things like potato chips and sodas with a 50% mark up. So putting EV chargers into convenience stores like Pilot Flying J, and here in my neck of the woods, Wawa's, is a no brainer -- and the future.
Long dwell times is the holy grail for c-store operators. Enter, EV CHARGING! win-win..... I've been known to buy a hot dog or two. ;-} thx 4 watching.
I used to stop at Love's travel stops all the time in the past. Now that I have an EV I don't any more. Glad to see that they are adding EV chargers t their locations. I will lookk forewaard to more stars on their map in the futre. Especially in Washington and Oregon. Thanks for the report
Well said, I'm in exactly the same boat. I really like their coffee and facilities. On my last trip across the country I bypassed them since they didn't seem to have any chargers yet (always checked with Plugshare) and stopping without changing just adds time to the trip.
Good for Love's, Walter. I think we can safely predict that there will be a spike in demand for those stations. The one "red" dot in my state of Utah must be the Love's in Salina, where there are 4 Electrify America stalls. I am glad to see that Love's plans on installing canopies, but… do they not include solar panels on their roofs? Seems like a no-brainer to me.
I've always heard that the amount of energy the canopies can generate is not worth the cost. They could be used to run site lighting perhaps, but not the chargers themselves.
@@AllenYatesJ That depends upon the size of the canopy, of course, but I never said they could provide the sole power to the chargers. Any new structure we build nowadays should have solar panels, with a good battery backup, to help mitigate the climate crisis for the greater good.
Thanks Walter! As an Alabama resident, this is pretty exciting to me. A couple of items. Their map showing the locations appears to be incomplete. There are a total of eight (8) awarded sites in Alabama, and the map only shows 4 total. So, take that one (the map) with a grain of salt for now. I was also privy to some design documents for a new location currently under construction in Alabama, and it did indeed show a circuit run for EV chargers, though it appeared to only be two stalls. We'll have to see what actually gets installed when it's completed in a few months. Given this information, I'll add it to Plugshare.
Out of curiosity, what city is the new Loves in? I may want to stop by on one of my road trips to take a look. I am thinking of going to the Hope Hull PFJ sometime soon
@@thenetworkarchitectchannel It is in Good Hope just south of Cullman on I-65. They just started building construction, so chargers may still be a bit out. There is also a yet to be started PFJ one exit south.
This is so exciting! I love to see the canopies. After the Chargepoint Omniport announcement I hope this means they will be using Powerlink 2000 stalls with 500 amp cables. Since Oklahoma has decided not to count existing EA and Francis stations for AFC compliance, round 2 will allow Loves to overbuild them with these NEVI compliant stations. As a result, I expect to see a ton of these Love’s chargers in Oklahoma (their home state and where we have tons of Love’s sites along the designated AFCs).
Minus California, I think OK has the second most. Little OK is becoming a pretty large EV charging travel spot. I'm looking forward to coming by sometime soon to check out all the new builds.
@@thenetworkarchitectchannel A word to the wise on your trip here, stick with the Interstates as those roads are where the only reliable charing is located. The one good thing that ODOT did with awarding of the VW settlement money to Francis was to stipulate that all their sites had to be on US and State highways all across the state, not the Interstates. EA and Tesla already had the Interstates pretty well covered at the time, so ODOT wanted to get charging out to travelers everywhere, and Francis did just that. They did a good job of placing sites in quadrants of the state that are not served by Interstates, including the panhandle. But, as everyone else has noted, Francid has never maintained that network, so here we are today, waiting for the next round of NEVI funding in a few years that hopefully will address those US and State highways.
Great video! I drove from Chicago to Albuquerque and I saw at least 3 truck stops that had Tesla EV chargers. I have to admit I was shocked. Electrification is on it's way with or without the prodding of federal money. My opinion is Loves, Flying J and Maverik all have plans for installing EV chargers.
Washington locations are ZEVIP grants from the state (WA has two state-level grant programs in addition to NEVI). Love's was awarded $1.42M to build stations in Tacoma and Ritzville. I gotta wonder who their hardware provider is.
Some information on the existing EV charging facilities at Love’s locations in Oklahoma, since I live here. In the western half of Oklahoma, those locations are not owned by Loves at all. One is an EA site at Erick, and the other is a Francis site at a former EZGo that Love’s purchased a few months ago. That Francis site has 4 units, only one of which has worked for the past 2 years. Francis has, like most of their sites, has seemingly abandoned it and will not repair it. The remaining one is a ChargePoint site which has nothing to do with Love’s itself. Love’s is based in Oklahoma City but has yet to spend any of its own money on EV charging facilities in Oklahoma, so it makes sense that all these “coming soon” sites are NEVI-funding-related. Love’s is indeed the 3rd largest single recipient of NEVI funding with Francis Electric being #2. Francis has yet to spend any of their NEVI money anywhere in the country. Here in Oklahoma, Francis, an Oklahoma company by the way, are known as a complete joke, with the vast majority of their charging units dead or capped at 50 kw no matter what it says on the dispenser, and “waiting on repairs” for years now, some almost 3 years.
The good news is ODOT has announced with their recent NEVI update that they will not be counting Francis or EA sites towards NEVI AFC compliance so now those corridors are back open for new bidders. Whoever those winning bidders are (I’m betting mostly Loves) will be held to the NEVI uptime requirements which will hopefully mean we don’t see the total dereliction of maintenance we saw with the Francis VW settlement funded chargers.
Thx! I too found it a little disingenuous they took credit for other people building EV charging on their sites. I am really looking forward to what they build. The Trillium Energy Solutions locations mentioned were only a couple. All the new ones will be Trillium Energy Solutions, the in-house Loves EV Charging brand.
@@Lynyrd_Evnyrd Thank for the info, I am glad to see that ODOT has come to their senses as to the Francis Electric situation. Having sites where an EGMP vehicle cannot charge at all, and having sites and units down for almost 3 years is just totally unacceptable and I do not feel that Francis should receive another dime until they completely fix their existing network.
The red dot in Georgia seems to be for a single ChargePoint DCFC (and a dual J1772) that is offsite behind the Love's (LakePoint Sports). I hope we can expect better than that.
0:40 I couldn't help but notice that the new chargers being installed in New York are 160 Kw, dual port (which I assume is shared power). This is at the low end of today's EVs and is definitely NOT future proof. I suspect it will not age well. Thanks for your work. I look forward to your videos. 🥰
No, I read that differently. Since they will be receiving NEVI funds, I am pretty confident each stall can receive 160 while the other is in use. That means each dispenser will be tied to two power bricks. That is one of the details it will be good to see as time goes on, but good catch. It caught my attention too.
There has been a GM Ultium charging station at a Flying J near me.. Chargers have been installed.. canopy in place, ready to go.. for almost 6 months.. still not powered up. By the time they do.. the chargers will probably have all sorts of problems.. from sitting there unused.
In an interview with the CEO of PFJ, he conceded the electric utility delays were an issue they are learning from. I am thinking they will order that first and only put in stations when the service is delivered.
Nope. PFJ has two open in GA. No news on NC or SC for them and no builds by Loves. I am thinking cause NC & SC have not awarded NEVI yet. The PFJ on I-85 near me gets a visit once per month or so to look round. So far nada.
Why New York State Thruway Authority hasn't built out charging infrastructure on the New York taxpayer owned highway system is beyond me as yes indeed that system needs the traffic and retail traffic that comes with that. Don't really understand why that Super Highway has speed limits as well anymore. Should ban Semi Trucks on that priceless highway and if goes all electric no need for fuel trucks but for late at night work I imagine. Modern Freight Rail about to eliminate the need for near all State Thruway Class 8 Trucks anyway. A massive expansion and widening of the Barge Canal would make that a functioning logistical system for the first time in over a Century as well. In the meantime Loves and PilotFlyingJ it is..😢😢😢
I agree and also think every interstate rest area should have the ability for the state to add state run chargers. Those are perfect locations for stations. Thx for watching.
4 chargers at any one location is woefully inadequate. If these companies continue install so few charging points drivers will still be hesitant in making the switch to EVs. If they see a multitude of chargers at a location the anxiety about having to wait for a charger to become available will not exist. When did Tesla only ever install only 4 chargers? 🤔🙄😖
U make good points. The TesSC team's mission is as u described. Loves & PFJ are fuel depots for truckers. I do not think their goal is to accelerate EV adoption or even care one way or the other. Instead they look to be motivated by the high dwelling times EV drivers refueling creates.
4:02 There have been a number of Love's charging sites in California for several years now. Love's never gained much traction with EV drivers, though, because most EV folk were fixated on either Electrify America or the Tesla Superchargers. It also didn't help that many of the Love's (EV Connect) locations were really expensive. One of the early sites that went in was $0.95 per kWh when it opened.
Dang. ninety five is way high. Even for CA. One hope I have, and I don't know if it is wishful thinking, is their pricing will introduce competition to PFJ and the two will get in a price war.
Finally some news on Loves EV charging plans. That one pic looks to be Chargepoint Express Plus hardware. Hopefully they'll use good cables like Phoenix Contact.
Yes. @Lynyrd_Evnyrd confirmed they will use CPE+ for their NEVI builds. The rendering confirms as well. Canopy is gonna be sweet too. Thx for watching.
Love’s has been a favorite stop for years - well-stocked with necessary items for the “stuff you forgot” to bring on a trip! The “big wheels” are turning, and much more affordable EVs are on the way, which will drive adoption much more quickly than the Legacies can imagine; I fervently hope that they can meet demand, or Hell-0 Foreign Marques. . . Another excellent report from Walter - the Bearer of good news again! 👊👍👍
I've made many videos in those two love locations with EV chargers in southwest Oklahoma. The one on the east side is a EA location. It kinda sucks. The one south of Lawton at Walters, I have been there many times. It's completely trash. It's a Francis energy site that never works. I really hope they replace that hardware.
OK has many build list locations and several already open or under construction. Hopefully the narrative changes and it becomes a place EVs are attracted to instead of a place to avoid. Love your content.
No. Nor California, but both are on the map as states with coming soon locations. I am not sure if it was an oversight or if they think it will be in 2026. One way or another, those will get built.
Thank you, Walter! California is sometimes hard to track, but that northernmost star in Northern California is likely Williams, CA. That would make for an interesting charging stop, and Williams is finally starting to see the "love" it should have received from CPO's a long time ago.
I am really looking forward to all these builds, but for sure the CA ones. There has been much activity, but CA has been an EVgo and Tesla only domain as of late for new stations opening. Will be great to see CA blow up like is going on elsewhere.
Right? Someone has to. I was hoping it would be IONNA, but really Loves would be perfect since lota the time they are right across the street from PFJ. Great point.
