by Ed Maurer
This is a cautionary tale from a relatively early adapter to the transition to electric cars. My wife Helen and I had planned to get an EV in 2023, and as back luck would have it, our previous car was totaled in December of ‘22. We bought the then much-touted Chevy Bolt EUV at a premium since it was a hot item at the time, and we’ve been very happy with the car tootling around Mission Viejo and south Orange County.
However, problems arose and continue to arise whenever we head out on a longer trip, which with an EV requires careful planning to get from charger to charger. Our Bolt, a relatively inexpensive EV, has a reported range of about 250 mi., which realistically drops to about 210 mi. to avoid running short on fuel. In practical terms, this means that we can easily get as far as Bakersfield on a full charge from home.
At a level 3 DC fast charger, we can add up to about 160 mi. in an hour, and combining charging with lunch is nice. However, these chargers are popular and lines of waiting cars are not unusual. Fast chargers may not charge as fast as advertised; the speed of charging varies, and charging may unexpectedly and abruptly end without our knowing about it while enjoying lunch nearby! On top of that, after Bakersfield our range to the next stops diminishes because public chargers don’t “fill” up to 100% like at home. This in itself makes a long drive longer and is wearing.
To escape the vagaries of public DC fast chargers, we reluctantly acquired an adapter ($250 from GM) to enable us to use Mr. Musk’s superb network of supercharging stations. They tend to be clean and have a multitude of chargers that mostly work. Unfortunately, the electric cable from the Tesla charger to the car is designed for work for Tesla vehicles, which have their port at the left rear end of the car. By contrast, the Bolt has its port on the left front end! We therefore need two parking spots, one with the charger and the other where we can park and connect the cable. On a busy day, this practice doesn’t make us popular with Tesla drivers…
On a recent trip up to visit our son in northern California, we encountered all of these problems in one day, which was then topped off with a monumental traffic jam on Route 99. By the time it the road opened up again, it was dark and I had had it with our slow progress. We spent the night at a hotel, and arrived at our son’s a day late. Not the end of the world, but very, very frustrating. The unrelated capstone to our experience is that the IRS has so far not allowed us to use the up to $7500 credit that we earned by buying an American made EV in the first place!
It's infuriating to read about the gazillions of dollars that the Biden administration set aside to improve the infrastructure needed for the smooth operation of EVs. And I notice that Governor Newsom’s press release of December 11, 2024, has “plans” to improve the state’s EV charging network: “The California Energy Commission (CEC) today approved a $1.4 billion investment plan that accelerates progress on the state’s EV charging and hydrogen refueling goals. These investments will help deploy infrastructure for light, medium, and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) across California, expanding the most extensive charging and hydrogen refueling network in the country.” I’ll believe it when I see it.
Where we have traveled in California, the public DC fast chargers are often inconveniently located, dirty, and unreliable. By contrast, the Tesla-financed Superchargers are clean and more easily found. For the time being, we’ll enjoy our EV locally, where we can rely on the super-convenient level 2 charger in our garage, and we’ll rent a hybrid car for our next road trip.
I’m not at all surprised to find that EV sales are dropping because, IMHO, the prices remain too high for vehicles that are only convenient around town, and unable to provide for smooth and enjoyable road trips. Meanwhile, I’m still all in for electrification and hope that our experience with our Chevy Bolt EUV is atypical. Your input is appreciated.
