[Ladogaboy]

After a recent "charging apocalypse" that I heard about regarding California Superchargers on the day before Thanksgiving, I figured I'd post up my trip in the Bolt EV, driving 500 miles after work on Thanksgiving Eve. I think it serves as an interesting juxtaposition between Tesla's private charging network and the public charging network in California. Both are, respectively, considered the most well-developed in the country at this point.

While many Tesla owners had encountered long wait times and 40-minute charge session limits, my experience was different. The public charging network was about as crowded as I have come to expect on a typical Friday evening/night. My trip, which takes about 9 hours and 30 minutes under normal circumstances, ended up taking 10 hours and 20 minutes, but only a few minutes of that was the result of not being able to immediately access chargers.

I'm curious what you think:
What are the reasons for the difference in experiences between Tesla owners and those of use who are relying on the public charging infrastructure?
Is it that there are more Teslas compared to the number of available Superchargers?
Or is it that Tesla owners are more likely to try long distance trips in their vehicles?
Does the distribution of public chargers, their fee structure, their variety, etc. make them more accessible during peak travel times?

 

[Ladogaboy]

For context, here is a discussion about Tesla owner experiences on the same day:

 

[VickyLyn]

Not only before Thanksgiving. Be ready for this before each public holiday...

 

[Whatstreet]

What an ordeal. It looks like your destination was maybe Dunsmuir? I have to go up that way a lot and that's why I have the Volt. I hope Dunnigan gets fast chargers soon.

 

[Ladogaboy]

What an ordeal. It looks like your destination was maybe Dunsmuir? I have to go up that way a lot and that's why I have the Volt. I hope Dunnigan gets fast chargers soon.

Not quite up to Dunsmuir. It's not that bad of a trip. Really, it's hard to discern the difference between driving it in my Volt and driving it in my Bolt EV.

The Dunnigan Electrify America chargers should be live by the end of this month. I'm hoping to use them on my trip north for Christmas. The placement and speed of the Dunnigan chargers will cut a full 15 minutes off my typical trip times.

 

[Fourdoor]

I'm curious what you think:
What are the reasons for the difference in experiences between Tesla owners and those of use who are relying on the public charging infrastructure?
Is it that there are more Teslas compared to the number of available Superchargers?
Or is it that Tesla owners are more likely to try long distance trips in their vehicles?
Does the distribution of public chargers, their fee structure, their variety, etc. make them more accessible during peak travel times?

I think that the only truly long range non-Tesla BEV in wide use is the Bolt, so for long range trips your competition will be other Bolts and a few die-hard Leaf drivers (that want to stay plugged in after 100% apparently) So, I think there is less competition at this time for the public charging network so your experience was more pleasant.

Keith

 

[emartin00]

With the explosion of Model 3 sales, there are simply more Teslas on the road than other EVs, especially long range EVs.