[artgpo]

Took delivery on April 29, 2021. With about 3,000 miles on the car overall it has been very acceptable. Yes, the infotainment system leaves something to be desired but I am certain improvements will be made. My issue is still range anxiety. There are many places we would like to go but cannot due to lack of the ability to charge. Our daughter lives in the DFW area. We have made one trip up and back with minimal difficulty because there are two EA stations along the way. Once we get to the destination there is one CCS charger nearby (less than at least 20 miles each way.) and that is very close to 20 miles. That one is an EVgo CCS and a fill up to 100% is almost $20. We have already discussed that when we want to get out of the charging comfort zone we would have to rent a car. Example: DFW area to Chama, NM. You can get there but cannot get back. While 99% of our driving is around the local area planning a longer trip reminds me of Eisenhower's D-Day planning. There are no EA stations on this side of San Antonio. A big plus is our electric utility's rate is just $.069 k/hr. My June at home recharging is about $22 for about 1,500 miles.

If the automakers dream of only EVs by the end of this decade is to become reality they need to get the ball rolling to make EVSE's as common as gas pumps are now.

I would also like to see one pedal driving and the ability to plug and play recharge.

 

[Nai3t]

This doesn't sound so much like a 60 day review of the ID.4 as it does a general commentary on potential charging difficulties during road trips.

Yeah, you're totally right. I checked out your route to Chama and you can get there ok, but the nearest CCS charger is 50 miles further north, and no level 2 options pop up.

But I also checked Tesla super chargers, and they're even scarcer. So this isn't a ID.4 or even an EA problem, it's a problem problem.

Looks like for a trip like that you would need a 16A L1 charger and plug in to a wall outlet once you arrive. Kills the ability to take an EV out on day trips. But if rather rent or borrow a car upon arrival than leave the EV at home.

"One day there will be a telephone in every major city in the USA" - Alexander Graham Bell, c. 1880. "

 

[unwiredben]

In my opinion, EA needs to build a lot more sites in Texas. I live in Austin and the only EA site nearby is north of Round Rock, a 30-minute trip away, often in heavy traffic. Going south, there's one charger in north San Antonio, but virtually nothing west-bound. If I wanted to go to Corpus Christi or Port Aransas, it would be tough,

 

[ChristophW]

I think it is not just Texas, it's every state, even here in California.
And we don't just need DC fast chargers from Electrify America, we also need destination L2 chargers at hotels, campgrounds, and malls. And for those latter ones we need predictability. Blink, for example, often puts 4 chargers on a 100A circuit. That's great and easy for the facility getting the units, but if 4 modern EVs are plugged in, each only gets less than 25A instead of maybe 40A it could take, and an overnight charge becomes a little iffy.

In the short term it will be a bit painful for us current EV drivers, but I am quite certain that demand and money to be made will create solutions rather quickly. This is America after all, the land of opportunity, innovation, and market-driven solutions. All the things we discuss here are not fundamental problems without feasible solutions, just engineering and marketing challenges.

 

[sprylo]

In my opinion, EA needs to build a lot more sites in Texas. I live in Austin and the only EA site nearby is north of Round Rock, a 30-minute trip away, often in heavy traffic. Going south, there's one charger in north San Antonio, but virtually nothing west-bound. If I wanted to go to Corpus Christi or Port Aransas, it would be tough,

Let ’em know!

In the previous (Cycle 2) planning process, just 26 submissions came from Texas:

 

[Froggy]

I tried clicking on my state to see the sub missions. It just says 3 but I can think of 6 good locations off of the top of my head, 3 on I-20 , 2 on Hwy 49, 1 on I 55 just to begin with.

 

[unwiredben]

Thanks for the link, just submitted several locations around Austin, San Marcos, and Kerville,

 

[Tinman]

Great information, thanks.

I hope I submitted Beckley, WV. The form disappeared and the page went blank after hitting 'submit'. Did you get an immediate confirmation robo-email, by any chance?

Beckley Travel Plaza · 500 Vankirk Dr, Beckley, WV 25801

 

[Froggy]

I submitted 2 malls in my state. I would have done more but I don't know the addresses and zip codes specifically.

 

[sprylo]

And we don't just need DC fast chargers from Electrify America, we also need destination L2 chargers at hotels, campgrounds, and malls.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. My feeling is that we need an extensive network of DC fast chargers combined with absolutely pervasive L2 charging (all with plug & charge). Pervasive to the extent that almost everywhere you ever park will have L2 charging available. If you really can Always Be Charging, DC fast charging becomes much less important except for longer road trips. There are exceptions, of course, but most cars spend most of their life parked. If all of that parking time could also be charging time, the scales tip even further toward EVs. Not to mention that the difference in capital expense is huge between L2 and DCFC sites.

I think there's a real place for "slow" (25-50A) DC charging, too, especially in urban areas. Compared to the latest & greatest 150A (or 350A) chargers, they may be slow, but compared to a L2 charger, they're still pretty darn speedy.

 

[Froggy]

I disagree, the major argument that I hear against EVs is how to I get from City A to City B. A highway network of fast chargers is needed first or people will think that they have to have 2 vehicles, an EV commuter car and an ICE vacation and work trip vehicle.

 

[sprylo]

I disagree, the major argument that I hear against EVs is how to I get from City A to City B. A highway network of fast chargers is needed first or people will think that they have to have 2 vehicles, an EV commuter car and an ICE vacation and work trip vehicle.

I'm confused. I specifically said we need an "extensive network of DC fast chargers" that would be important "for longer road trips." Isn't that exactly what you're advocating? I didn't say they were any less important than the pervasive L2 chargers I'd like to see, nor did I say they should be a lower priority.

On the contrary, my feeling is that that's exactly where most DCFC investment should be made. In Cycle 2, Electrify America estimated they would spend $145-$165 million for "metro community charging" and just $65-$85 million for "highway and regional routes." My feeling is that they could make a much bigger "metro area" impact by investing less total money in far more L2 locations and use the saved money to beef up the long distance routes.

 

[Froggy]

I'm confused. I specifically said we need an "extensive network of DC fast chargers" that would be important "for longer road trips." Isn't that exactly what you're advocating? I didn't say they were any less important than the pervasive L2 chargers I'd like to see, nor did I say they should be a lower priority.

On the contrary, my feeling is that that's exactly where most DCFC investment should be made. In Cycle 2, Electrify America estimated they would spend $145-$165 million for "metro community charging" and just $65-$85 million for "highway and regional routes." My feeling is that they could make a much bigger "metro area" impact by investing less total money in far more L2 locations and use the saved money to beef up the long distance routes.

I disagreed with the rest of your post. Obviously I agreed with. the very first part. I hate to see government or private funds like EA diverted to L2 until there is a doable network of L3 chargers for non Teslas. Money is always limited as is the supply of qualified workers to construct networks. Looking at plug share I see entire cities of 100,000 or more with no L3 chargers but swarms of L2 chargers. Btw the spending by EA on metro community charging was mandated by the legal settlement with CARB and the Federal government, it wasn't their choice.

 

[Nai3t]

I'll tell ya, in my early days as an i3 owner when I had only the factory 12A unit and an EVGo account, my Saturdays tested my limits. But on a number of occasions the family had an outing planned in downtown Berkeley, I pulled into their public garage, plugged in to one of a dozen 32A Charge Point stands, and walked away care free for a few hours.

I wasn't topped off when we all returned to the car, but had enough juice to carry on, and could catch up with my charging routine at work.

A 30 minute stop at an EVGo was the alternate, but that's no fun being leashed to the car in a grocery store parking lot.

That type of arrangement would be much more feasible in a small off the beaten path railroad town such as Charma New Mexico if pass-through traffic isn't sufficient to support a full blown DCFC stop. In fact, these should be everywhere, now, they're so inexpensive to install.

 

[Froggy]

Yes last Saturday I helped a kid learn how to use the EA station in south Alabama. He was test driving a 2015 I3 and told me that the stealership wanted $15,000.00 for it. I told him to go get a brand new Bolt for twice the price and stretch the notes out a bit if he had to. Jeeze! It had less than 1.2 years left on the battery warrantee about a 90 mile range and charged at 48kW.

 

[Nai3t]

Three was no chance a 2015 was getting 90 miles!

However, a 50 kW charge limit is perfectly adequate for a battery that small. It's not a great road tripping car, and probably not ideal for rural areas with long distance between stops, but in the city it runs circles around the ID.4.

You're right though, just moving up to a 2017 model would get him 120 miles, but that's not a secret and so they are even more ridiculously priced at the moment.

My Saturday issues stemmed from shortcomings in my charging arrangement. Believe it or not, switching from 12A to 16A solved all that, and all but eliminated my weekly EVGo pitt stop. But I have doubts it could make it easily to Chama, NM!

 

[Froggy]

Well he did arrive at the charging station with 5 miles left. The 90 miles is probably what the stealership told him. $15,000.00 was highway robbery though.

 

[ChristophW]

I think you've hit the nail on the head. My feeling is that we need an extensive network of DC fast chargers combined with absolutely pervasive L2 charging (all with plug & charge). Pervasive to the extent that almost everywhere you ever park will have L2 charging available. If you really can Always Be Charging, DC fast charging becomes much less important except for longer road trips. There are exceptions, of course, but most cars spend most of their life parked. If all of that parking time could also be charging time, the scales tip even further toward EVs. Not to mention that the difference in capital expense is huge between L2 and DCFC sites.

I think there's a real place for "slow" (25-50A) DC charging, too, especially in urban areas. Compared to the latest & greatest 150A (or 350A) chargers, they may be slow, but compared to a L2 charger, they're still pretty darn speedy.

All that makes me think vehicle to grid will be a real winner. When vehicles are almost always plugged in they can reach a steady state of, say, 60% charged and stay within 20% of that at all times. Then you only need to program an exception a few hours before you take off on a long road trip to minimize the first charge stop.

Oh, and let's not forget inductive L2 charging, which will obviate plugging in. The ID4 reportedly has mounting holes for the necessary induction coil. If everything plays out well, I think we can be in a very nice place without giving much thought to range and state of charge.

 

[ChristophW]

Well he did arrive at the charging station with 5 miles left. The 90 miles is probably what the stealership told him. $15,000.00 was highway robbery though.

Cool story. Thanks for helping the kid out, hopefully he won't get ripped off.

 

[Froggy]

Yeah the kid might have been 25 years old. Jeeze I’m getting old. He was real polite and appreciative so some one raised him right.