Drove from NoVA to the NW part of SC today in my 22 Bolt EUV. I used ABRP to route to chargers and put the addresses into Google maps to check reviews and GPS me there. The car is J1772/CCS, but I bought an adapter ahead of time to make use of Tesla/NACS chargers.
Unfortunately, this car only has a max charge rate of 55kW, so my refueling stops are either more frequent or longer than I would like, but I don’t do road trips often and this car was half the price of the ioniq I wanted.
I had one issue today. A Tesla supercharger I stopped at just wouldn’t initialize the charge. I even tried plugging into another one right next to it, but no dice. I’ve since learned that V2 superchargers won’t work with my car even with an adapter, so I guess that’s what that one was? I have no way of knowing. ABRP and Google maps don’t specify. Maybe the Tesla app does? Thankfully, there was an Electric America charger just a couple miles away, but I was pretty stressed out since I was pretty well drained and didn’t know where I was.
The hotel we’re at has level 2 chargers, so I shouldn’t need to deal with unfamiliar chargers again until we head back to NoVA. In the meantime, I’ve deselected NACS chargers from my ABRP vehicle options. It’s possible that my adapter just died after only a few successful uses, but the location I had an issue with had a review of somebody else being unable to charge, so I think it’s just that V2 issue.
In summary, the difference has been that it takes a little longer, it takes a little more planning and preparing, and there is a risk of some anxiety, but it’s easier to drive, less chance of “car trouble” events, and especially right now it is significantly cheaper to refuel. But get something that accepts at least 100kW charging lol. I think the ioniq does like 240kW? With that, you basically plug in, use the bathroom, grab a coffee, and you’re ready to go.
The only problem I’ve had with the EVs we’ve been leasing for 5 years now, is unsolicited criticism from EV haters. They seem to ignore the fact that I’ve been driving various diesel and petrol vehicles for decades. If my own lived experience of EVs was less rewarding than my previous ICE ownership I’d switch back. It’s not like a football team that I’m wedded to. They’re just generally better cars in terms of driving, torque, maintenance, cost to run and basically every metric that matters to me as a driver. Quite why that annoys people who in many cases have never even been behind the wheel of one is beyond me.
I have had tons of problems with my VW ID4.
But all of them are related to the stupid “smart” features and “entertainment” system that drive the cost up 1.5x. Android auto taking literally up to 15 minutes to connect to any phone, air conditioning glitching constantly because of extremely bad touch buttons, crashing entertainment system, false range estimation, quasi-unusable backup camera quality compared to my old 2015 Nissan Altima, the app saying the car was unlocked when it wasn’t. The car unlocking automatically when I walk past to walk the dog and then not relocking when I am gone, false tire pressure warnings, poor quality plastics and really stupid LED lighting strips that will cost 2000€ to fix when they inevitably break.
The car part of it worked quite well and very quiet except for the complete bullshit that is the range estimation.
Sadly most of these problems are just the auto industry bullshit and would also occur on new combustion cars also.
VW has had a rough time with EVs of late and they’ve partnered with Rivian in an attempt to share knowledge and improve. It doesn’t help at all that the German government seems to flip-flop on EV regulations, but I think VW already had many problems of their own making.
People feel so threatened by EVs, it’s hilarious. “I just like engine noise and the smell of gas”… good for you buddy, maybe stop huffing the fumes so much.
I’m the opposite of you. I like engine noise and prefer how ICE vehicles drive, but will presumably eventually end up in an EV, and that’s fine. Getting mad at other people cause of their life choices is weird.
That’s fair enough. I think some people have an attachment to the sound of the engine and to stick shift, and that’s valid. But I think the majority of people who just want to get from A to B would prefer an EV if they objectively had a chance to try both. I’ve always owned fairly boring cars and was a delivery driver in my 20s. For me, the EV I have feels like a sports car as the torque is great and it’s a fun drive. Of course, for fun I’d rather have a Lambo, but that’s not where I am.
I suspect Tesla is rejecting charging your car because it’ll take away a spot for faster charging cars…and it’ll take that spot away for longer.
This is believable with Elon the cunt however it’s not the case - you need a particular adapter for the superchargers that’s much beefier and more expensive. It may not even be an option for a Bolt, I’m not sure. For my EV the supercharger adapter is double the cost of the level 2 adapter.
FYI: Tesla v2 chargers do not go up to 250kw. That may be a way for you to differentiate
I was actually looking for a way to know, so this was extremely helpful to me! What’s strange is that what wasn’t working is showing up as 325kW. I’m gonna be pissed if the adapter I bought is already dead.
Where is NoVA and SC? How far did you drive, how long did that take you and how long did you spend charging mid drive (Ie not while you were parked up say overnight?)?
It was about 450 miles in like 10 hours total, but I was sitting in pretty rough traffic at two points, and there were mountains to go up and down. My car charges really slowly, so probably about 2.5 hours of that time was spent charging, but with bathroom/food breaks aligning with it we were really only waiting on it for maybe 45 minutes total. Google maps says it’s like a 7 hour drive without stops, but it’s also not showing traffic right now either.
Next time, I’ll get a higher voltage car that can accept higher load charging and cut this time down to less than half, so it’ll be basically the same as putting gas in a car. But I don’t do many road trips, so this will be fine for me for a long while.
NoVA
Pretty rough traffic
Story checks out
As somebody who moved from NoVA to upper SC, I totally understand. We have an Ioniq 5 (and soon a Rivian R2) and yeah charging stops are quick and nice. EVs are absolutely the future and I love being on the front of it. We had 2 teslas before but … yeah not anymore.
I had called a dealership to set up a test drive of their used ioniq 6 because it was listed as like $24k or something. They said ooh we already sold that, but you can test drive a new one that’s $45-50k.
Surprisingly, the worst of the traffic was around Charlotte, NC.
Car dealers really are the worst.
Charlotte traffic (I live in the metro area) has gotten pretty bad. It was amazing when I moved here from NoVA, but the growth here has been insane.
If you use Plugshare, you can narrow down charger searching a lot more and preplan your routes better.
It’s harder to just wing it, but it’s nice to know exactly how the trip will go.
I was using ABRP. Is plugshare significantly different?
I’m using PlugShare doing a 1500 mile round trip in the Southwest. A major reason is I’m towing an RV and plug share lets me set my max range which is very different than without towing.
In plug share I map the route, then it gives me all the chargers on that route in the range of my truck. I pick one then out gives me the next charger on the route in my range. Repeat till I get to the destination.
The other thing plug share does is tell me when I click on a Tesla station if it’s Tesla only or open to others. Invaluable info as I cruise through Texas oil country with chargers almost beyond my range where I might not have enough juice to make it to another.
Which adapter do you have?
I wonder if there’s an easy way to test them, other than actually driving out and trying it somewhere.
