That works if you have a Tesla. Do other types of electric cars have same type of console screens?
FWIW, I just searched near where I live for Tesla charging stations. The closest is about a 20 minute drive away. On the other hand there is a gas station just around the corner. Now its true that if we had an electric car we would install a charger at home, but I just don’t get the talk about how there are chargers everywhere.
I also just checked the location of chargers in the last town we stayed overnight in. There was one Tesla charging station and two destination chargers at boutique hotels. There was nothing anywhere near the Hampton Inn where we spent the night and nothing located at any restaurants or stores as other posters claimed. I guess if you have a Tesla it works but how does it work if you have a different brand car? You are limited to choice of two hotels to spend the night in? No more Hampton Inns for you. I’m not doubting you could make this work by doing a lot of homework but why?
We got a free supercharger usage for the life of our X as long as we own it back when we got it. So our road trips are on Mr. Musk. You do pay for electricity at other chargers. Many destination chargers like those at hotels or wineries let you charge for free.
I assume the others will be doing the same if they enable Google maps. Have not driven the other EVs so can’t tell for sure what features their screens have.
We hopefully won’t need another car for awhile. Mine is a 2013 Sonata, purchased in July 2012. Now that it’s been donwgraded to in-town use, it only goes 3000-5000 miles/year. H got a 2021 Crosstrek which is now our out of town car.
I might consider a hybrid next go around, but a lot will depend on where we are at that time. We don’t have a garage, and running an extension cord from the house to the parking pad in the rain/snow/ice doesn’t sound fun. And I looked online for the nearest Tesla charging station and it’s a 40 min drive away. There are 7 places supposedly in town for other types. Two of them are at car dealerships. 1 is in a sketchy area and the comments seemed to say it didn’t work. 2 are at a gov’t building out of the way from everything. And two more are downtown which seemed to be the best bet.
But I stress enough as it is with things going wrong on vacation. Not being sure if I could charge my car would be a deal breaker. You should see how many chargers and battery back-ups I bring even if we just go somewhere for the day. I get twitchy if my phone drops below 90% and I don’t ever let my car drop below 1/4 tank of gas. Usually not even 1/3.
Charging stations are rare in our area and not convenient to where we live, so electric/hybrid cars don’t appeal right now. Maybe things will change by the time I’m ready for a new car, but my 2020 Kia has only 3K miles on it. H’s 2018 truck has about 15K miles and the 2018 Subaru has the same. Not sure when we’ll buy again.
Before anyone suggests a home charging station, I can attest from experience that there aren’t any electricians around here who could install one. Electrical work has been a nightmare for the past two years. It’s a miracle there aren’t more electrical fires in new homes.
Don’t know if this is true for every ev battery,but most of them can be recharged rather than replaced now. My niece just had hers recharged and it was $1000 and came with a 100,000 mile guarantee.
You really don’t need a charging station in your area unless you live in an apartment w/o access to plug in your car to a regular outlet. You can literally plug your car in anywhere in the country with a grounded 110 outlet. They are much more common than gas stations! Lots of folks just use 110 and trickle charge overnight. Now trickle charging does take awhile, but it will work.
Think about it like this — if every time you drove your gas vehicle home you could just top off your gas tank overnight and start off full in the morning you’d hardly ever need to find a gas station during the day. I have to go to a public charging station ONLY when I am on a road trip, never in town. I have probably pay to “fill up” once every two or three months or so when I’m traveling long distances. And then it costs about $12 if I can’t find a free charger.
We charged at EA/Walmart going down to Florida and back. It’s pretty easy. Sheetz has a lot of chargers too. The Chevy Bolt is a slower charging EV, but the new ones like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 charge in 18 minutes, so enough time to go into the gas station and pee and get a drink.
West Virginia probably does have the worst charging infrastructure in the continental US, but I imagine that’s something to do with Joe Manchin or the governor or legislature because Electrify America has tons of chargers at Walmarts across America. I’m thinking somebody in WV said no thanks to that combo because I know WV has plenty of Walmarts!
We stayed at a hotel in the Florida keys and another one in South Carolina in 2020 and they both have charging stations. I have to laugh when posters stress about the difficulty of finding charging stations. Our car’s display shows every charging station along our route as well as identifying the ones with superchargers. It’s just not a problem.
Update: I’ve just seen where other posters have pointed out that Teslas tell you where you can charge them. NVM
Mostly off-topic, but that’s actually pretty bad for your phone’s battery health. You should keep your battery charged between 20% and 80%. The same is true for EV’s batteries (to bring the comment back to topic).
That’s what we did for almost 4 years. We finally got the detached garage rewired and got a Wallbox installed. Did not want to box ourselves into any model-specific charger. I expect that some day Tesla will be in the same shoes as Apple is going to be soon in Europe: standardize the plug or else.
Friend of a friend got into a car accident in his Tesla recently. Due to car parts supply problems, he was told it would be at least 3 months before his Tesla could be repaired.
1 of the teachers at my kids’ high school has a Tesla. While it was parked in the school parking lot one day this past May, a pack rat took up residence under the hood and chewed through a wire, resulting in the car turning into a big door stop. Teacher was told at least 2 weeks to fix it.
It is no different than any other car maker. I see so many Toyotas etc. with duct taped bumpers… shops don’t have the parts. Short on labor, too. Tesla might be slower but not by an order of magnitude.
But really, folks who haven’t driven an EV, go test drive one before you buy your next car! They are awesome and the charging station fears are really overblown. Mostly you don’t need a public charging station. You plug the car into an outlet at your house.
We had both mice and the other time… a cat (!!) getting cozy under the hood of our truck when it was parked in the garage. A nice warm place attracts critters… we have learned the lesson. Pest control and closed garage doors are essential to keep any cars safe.
You do pay for electricity at other chargers. Many destination chargers like those at hotels or wineries let you charge for free.
