Do Non-Tesla BEV Buyers Even Think About Level 3 Long Distance Charging?

[Kandiru]

Find every public charging station for electric cars | ChargeHub

Seriously, I just tried to plan my usual routes around Appalachia using Combo CCS or ChadeMo stations.
The result is a total fiasco. Tried other areas also, anything outside of large urban locations is a
no go. Then went to locations in large cities, most if not all Combo CCS stations have one, rarely
two stalls.

What goes through a Taycan, e-Tron, i-Pace or Polestar buyer's mind i wonder? Are they mostly old and
just want to drive around the home area? Because long distance travel in the US without overnight destination
charging is not possible, and stretching the measly 200mi range with goes to 120 or os mi in cold winter only
to find a dead ChargePoint station with no nearby alternatives is a flatbed recipe.

Do they still want to kill EVs? Because if not they should be working hard to match the Supercharger network,
which does not seem to be the case.

So until they develop a reliable Level 3 network we will be sticking to our Teslas, unless dementia and good infommercial presentation conspire to take our savings

 

[polyphonic54]

Check out A Better Route Planner. Plan trips based on different vehicles.
In short, they sure do.

 

[Kandiru]

I did, would not be able to CCS ChadeMo travel around Appalachia, J1772 destination charging remains the only solution.

 

[redalf]

I guess its one of those things where you'll see what you want to see, but using the link you provided and filtering it to the J1772 combo connector, which is the DC connector the mentioned automakers use (I believe only the Leaf is still using a Chademo) shows quite a bit of selection, hardly the dearth of stations you're implying.

 

[zecar]

I think many new U.S. EV buyers now assume non-Tesla chargers are approaching rough parity with Supercharger. They are wrong.

However, new Tesla buyers assume that the "coming soon" Superchargers are coming soon. They are also wrong.

 

[polyphonic54]

What are examples of some specific trips in Appalachia?

 

[jboy210]

Find every public charging station for electric cars | ChargeHub

Seriously, I just tried to plan my usual routes around Appalachia using Combo CCS or ChadeMo stations.
The result is a total fiasco. Tried other areas also, anything outside of large urban locations is a
no go. Then went to locations in large cities, most if not all Combo CCS stations have one, rarely
two stalls.

What goes through a Taycan, e-Tron, i-Pace or Polestar buyer's mind i wonder? Are they mostly old and
just want to drive around the home area? Because long distance travel in the US without overnight destination
charging is not possible, and stretching the measly 200mi range with goes to 120 or os mi in cold winter only
to find a dead ChargePoint station with no nearby alternatives is a flatbed recipe.

Do they still want to kill EVs? Because if not they should be working hard to match the Supercharger network,
which does not seem to be the case.

So until they develop a reliable Level 3 network we will be sticking to our Teslas, unless dementia and good infommercial presentation conspire to take our savings

It might just location-specific. Here in Northern California, Electrify America and other companies are building out their infrastructure pretty fast. They are dropping their stations a few blocks from Tesla Superchargers on the major highways and have the highspeed CCS2 for cars like Taycans.

Also, Taycans are getting pretty popular. My neighbor just got a Taycan Turbo and it is very nice. I hear the Taycan now outsells the 911.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Depends where you are. In BC you can travel much more of the province in a Nissan Leaf plus than you can with a Tesla. Chademo/CCS locations outnumber Superchargers 10 to 1 easily. And Chademo/CCS networks are growing much faster than the Supercharger network.

Of course if you have the Chademo adapter your golden. .

 

[uujjj2]

All these cars with 200-250mi range, the CCS charging infra (outside California) isn't nearly dense enough to support road tripping. It just sounds like a huge pain compared to Tesla supercharging.

Now, if it's something like a Lucid with 500+ miles of range, the equation is a bit different. With 500 miles of range you can road trip just about anywhere in the US even with the current CCS networks.

 

[polyphonic54]

As others said, it really depends on where you are. The CCS infrastructure is growing rapidly.

Throw Taycan or e-tron into A Better Route Planner and the trip lengths are often very good.

 

[AdamMacDon]

Depends where you are. In BC you can travel much more of the province in a Nissan Leaf plus than you can with a Tesla. Chademo/CCS locations outnumber Superchargers 10 to 1 easily. And Chademo/CCS networks are growing much faster than the Supercharger network.

Of course if you have the Chademo adapter your golden. .

Seconding this, I just drove from Victoria BC to Alberta only using the CHAD adapter and BC hydro stations (all of which were free). There are also BC hydro chargers up on northern highways where there is still a total absence of Tesla superchargers. This really depends on where you live. When I was down in Cali I also noticed an abundance of Electrify America chargers, including one spot near the bay area that had 18 CCS stalls! If you live in one of these areas, something like the Taycan does make some sense.

 

[Kandiru]

I guess its one of those things where you'll see what you want to see, but using the link you provided and filtering it to the J1772 combo connector, which is the DC connector the mentioned automakers use (I believe only the Leaf is still using a Chademo) shows quite a bit of selection, hardly the dearth of stations you're implying.

Try Charleston, WV - Parkersburg, WV - Chillicothe, OH, any route available. The only Level 3 (yellow) charging place on the Chargehub map looks like this in Athens, OH, and it has one, one single orphan stall, what if it is broken? At least at Tesla SCs one will be able to charge even if multiple are out of commission.

 

[polyphonic54]

Looks like e-tron can do the round trip with 17% remaining. That area is a dead zone aside for the few supercharges. Not even j1772 plugs exist.

To answer your question about what goes through e-tron owners minds... it’s a nicer car and where infrastructure exists (e.g. all the trips I planned in my region) it’s on par with Model 3 for total trip time, thanks to fast charging.

I don’t regret jumping ship for CCS at all.

 

[Big Earl]

I much prefer using PlugShare to find charging stations. Gallipolis, OH has two Chargepoint CCS/CHAdeMO units.

For route planning, ABRP is hands-down the most comprehensive tool. While you’re poking around on there, compare the cost to charge a few non-Teslas to Tesla’s.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

The ground is shifting very rapidly now. In the past year, Iowa has installed more than a dozen multi station centers. Chargepoint just announced about 20 new double and triple station set ups across Michigan. 20 new stations are being built in Nebraska. Here in Illinois, we have plenty of station around Chicago, but only a few non-EA stations elsewhere (a new 4 station set up in Pontiac IL). In the East and North East, the Chademo connectivity is already good enough for cross country trips.

We have a Leaf Plus (the S+ is very cheap range..kind of a sleeper). Last year I would have to plan very carefully to get from Chicago to Denver with the car, now its breeze, with just one risky section in western Nebraska.

 

[e of pi]

The ground is shifting very rapidly now. In the past year, Iowa has installed more than a dozen multi station centers. Chargepoint just announced about 20 new double and triple station set ups across Michigan. 20 new stations are being built in Nebraska. Here in Illinois, we have plenty of station around Chicago, but only a few non-EA stations elsewhere (a new 4 station set up in Pontiac IL). In the East and North East, the Chademo connectivity is already good enough for cross country trips.

We have a Leaf Plus (the S+ is very cheap range..kind of a sleeper). Last year I would have to plan very carefully to get from Chicago to Denver with the car, now its breeze, with just one risky section in western Nebraska.

I absolutely agree. I don't talk much here because I didn't end up getting a Tesla, but level 3 charging infrastructure was absolutely something I thought about before I sold my Volt and bought my Niro. A year ago, there were less than 250 non-tesla DCFC stations exceeding 70 kW in North America. A few months back, we passed the marker of having more stations (and I believe also more actual stalls) than Tesla did when the Model 3 first shipped, and CCS stations make up about 35-40% of all DCFC station locations in the US. It's a smaller fraction of actual stalls (perhaps more like 30% of all stalls), but as @DougWantsALeaf says, that's changing fast--there's a lot of people who aren't car manufacturers installing level 3 changing infrastructure these days, and existing networks like Chargepoint, EVGo, and yes Electrify America continue to ramp quickly. In addition to states already cited, Oklahoma funded 30 new stations in the last year or so

 

[Kandiru]

Sound a lot better than in my area, hopefully all will merge into one, like CCS2 even on Teslas in Europe.