FUTURECAR: Imagine an entire block of various car charging stations. We're almost there.
8-29-23 A week after my baptism into EVs and a lot of frustrations and wasted hours and nearly getting stranded the first time in the dark of night I'm now thinking of buying an EV. ..or am I?
Yes , I've met a lot of equally frustrated people. One guy could only charge 50 miles on his Nissan(charge capability diminishes with age, just like people , ha ha)- and if the Whole Foods Lafayette charger was a available. IT WASN'T. The slow charger would have taken until nightfall to Charge but he did nt have to worry about it because it was broken anyway. Good luck to him, I said on my new search for a charger. I did find multiple charging stations I was told about but they were all slow chargers- and I mean SLOW- like 10 hours to full charge a car. Another nice guy , at whole foods Ygnacio Valley Bl , told me about a Real fast nearby Charge location thst took only hour for a full charge -but didn't know exactly where since he was 'from Brentwood'.
Well, would you believe I found that place, and not far from my home and I'm chargimg there right now as I write this story. Charged 62% in 40 minutes! Hint (Salamon) But I'm not going to tell you where it is unless you write me back and share your EV charging sto rie(s) ie(s)...
CRAZY you say? I figure now that I'v e learned the ropes- and all the 'secret' fast charging stations around - and met a lot of nice, rich-albeit many frustrated- folks , its not so bad. I've discovered new areas I ever knew- like on my Red Bluff adventure , yesterday, when I stopped in 3 small towns to charge and barely got home by midnight . (They werent super fa a t chargers) Yes, it can be an exciting life style, especially for a backroads kind of guy or gal .
8-25-23
What a day! While my new engine is being installed in my old Kia Soul I learned all about Electric vehicles and charging them Thanks to my Hertz Chevy Bolt rental.( No wonder Hertz couldn't wait to give me their electric car rental.) After unable to find a charging station in Lafayette CA Thursday night And nearly getting stranded at three non-working charging locations, I waited until Friday morning to call Chevy Who had to have my new Rental toad to the Chevy dealer in Concord as that's the only place they were sure they could get The car charged. Had a very interesting ride and conversation back to the dealer with the Towing man, A big Trump fan.
After walking around a couple hours Upon my return to the Conquered Chevy dealer I found only 25 miles were charged on the car. So much for fast charging. 25 miles would barely get me back home so I stopped at the new shopping center in Concord at the suggestion of the conquered dealer
where I did find some (Volta) charging stations-and FREE!. I had a nice walk around the new shopping center spending some time in The World Market and getting a bubble tea. But after another two hours I only got another thirty miles charge this time. At least it didn't cost me anything. Apparently, some of these charging companies are working deals with the shopping centers in exchange For customers being able to shop while cars are charging. But to get a full charge I would have to leave my car there till night time. Forget about it.
Which one do I use? Which one will work with my car- or at all? Which one will fast charge?
Determined to get some more miles charged on my car with hopefully a fast charging Location, I checked out the The Broadway shopping center which said they had a charge location on the map, but no such luck. Then it was off to the old Whole Foods on Newell. Again , not a charging station in sight.
Just about ready to give up I remembered the new Whole Foods on Ygnacio did have some charging stations Which I always questioned taking up space.
But this time, hopefully they would work in my favor. . The EV Go charging station- or at least one of them -was compatible with my car. Unlike the Whole foods of lafayette where the charger worked for a lady's car, but not for mine. In fact, the car was charged and took Only one half hour to charge the full two hundred mile maX. Amazing Now I have finally found a charging location even if it is ten miles from my home.
Remind me never to buy an electric car. Even if there were more stations more electric cars will just clog them up worse . With only 2% of the population currently owning electric cars we already have a charging crunch-not to mention the unsightly pumps dominating some shopping center landscapes . Sometimes It's a heck of deal to find an open charging station. And then they're usually filled with a car for hours. Unless it's the fast chargers of witch there aren't many- and often the first ones taken.
Are electric cars a scam, Rushed out too soon in too Large numbers,To go along with Bidens' Green scheme? While the electric cars themselves are fine, nice, and quiet Although limited in charging capacity, there will never be enough charging stations and battery life. We must keep fossil fuel vehicles around -we need them both. Byden's politics must remove its ugly head again for the sake of good living and common sense.
Not listed is EVGo, perhaps a CA-only company and with the only fast-charging capability we've found to date though there certainly must be others
On second thought, Maybe I won't buy an EV after all. A rental from time to time is enough adventure
But wait again! Coming back from the Tic e Valley safeway shopping center is spotted yet another set of super fast 'hyper' chargers from Electrified America! Sounds exciting! It keeps getting better. I don't know to say now- can't wait to try them out!
Latest and Greateat? AMERICA LECTRIFIED!
