Non-Tesla EV terminals should be built to resemble gas pumps with a credit card slot and no app required. But everyone in the EV charging world wants user data.

This was painful to watch. When can we see the director's cut with the profanities? You deserve a medal for keeping your temper!

Same exact thing I experienced at Electrify America and the e-tron I had for a year. Got rid of it and went back to a gas car. It’s worse when you are traveling with friends and it’s 90+ degrees outside. I rarely see a charging station with shade. I don’t want to play the odds on whether the one charger is going to work during a road trip. The infrastructure is soo far behind and the current players have no clue what they are doing.

I'm done with electric cars, I went back to gasoline because of all hassle associated with electric cars and trucks ! No more for me , I've learned my lesson and my " ELECTRIC CAR ANXIETY SYNDROME IS GONE " ... Happy days are here again !!

If this had happened to someone in South Carolina, about half of the users would be dead by now from the heat.

Clearly these EV charging stations are collecting massive data. Even with old fashion gas stations the gas companies know where you are what you've purchased and how you've purchased it. This situation could easily be a simple credit card purchase. Enough already ppl!!

I had a similar experience in Canada with flo and Ivy Charge. I did eventually get the flo station to work but it was almost as painful as your video. Also one DC charger only delivered 25kW while the second one delivered about 50kW. Both claimed to deliver much more and charged by the minute. The sign up procedures were extremely painful and very annoying. I totally agree, a credit card should be all that is required.

We have had an EV since the Leaf came out. We only level II charge at home. Our EV is our second car and we never even think of exceeding the range of our EV. I wouldn’t buy an EV as our primary vehicle until the US implements viable fast charging. Roman, your patience is a thing to behold! Another great and informative video.

Charging port opens like a rusted old drawer. Unacceptable for a $60k+ luxury vehicle.

Recently bought an ev and you are bang on. It is a nerve racking experience every time I pull up to any charger. Half the time they are out of service.The multitude of charging apps I have signed up for are no help and calling customer service is a huge inconvenience. Tesla is the only company that has this sorted out at this point in time.

I hope some folks from EVGo are watching this video. In fact, all of the charging network manufacturers should be watching this video & determine why they felt the need to make their experience so complicated.

Took a 3600mi road trip from central Missouri to Las Vegas last year in my Tesla and didn't have any charging issues. Cost $135 if I had to pay for all charging (spent 3 nights in hotels that had free level 2 charging of guests). The longest charging stop was 20min, after taking a pee at each stop, cleaning the windshield and logging the charging session for my records it was off to the races. Seligman Az to Kingman Az on RT-66 is a must see as is Williams Az for the RT66 experience. Tesla is currently the best way to go for the all around Ev experience. It look like the rest of the industry will take time to catch up.

Ran into the same issues with EVGO helping a stranded driver recently. Very honest and balanced video.

This is why I think fast charging has a long way to come and is basically only for exceptional long range use cases right now. A phone shouldn't get involved anywhere unless you're using mobile payments. Let me pay for this like I pay for everything else.

My recollection is that once you have the app installed and a payment method configured, you can just hold the phone up to the NFC pad on the charger to start charging. Which isn't obvious either, but I recall having done this. You will receive an NFC card in the mail that you can use instead. When I signed up, I was doing all of this stuff while I was sitting at home, so it was far less frustrating. But a new car owner might not think to do this - you would sort of need to scope out what brands of chargers are prevalent in the area where you are, and focus on signing up for those first. If you were to buy a Tesla, you would still need to create a Tesla account and configure a payment method. Maybe some of that is sort of built into the buying process, but there are steps that one would need to take before you can charge.

We bought an EV a month ago and I live in Germany and have had no issues so far. In the city, there are about 10 charging stations per square kilometer and a lot of chargers just take contactless debit cards or you just need to scan a QR-code and enter credit card info. Now in a rural area like mine, you only got charging stations in larger settlements. So the next ones to where I live are about eight kilometers away. They are mostly 50 or 100 kW DC-chargers. Though some villages only have 22 kW AC-chargers. On another note, you are billed by the kWh and not by the minute.

In June of 2021 I had the pleasure of being able to have a MachE for a little over 24th a to test drive and see how I liked the vehicle . It was the standard battery and I drove it a little over 200 km and purposely stopped to charge it - this video shows perfectly how that experience went . It took nearly 20 min to download an app , sign-up , credit card, etc …. And I foolishly put $10 on the app ( couldn’t just charge and go .. ) and still have a little under $8 left as I only charged it up with a 50 km/h charger . It shouldn’t be this much work - apps and online services aren’t new . Evening identifying the charger was hard to do for a first timer - nothing intuitive

We had the *exact* same issue not more than two weeks ago with EVGo. Even contacted customer services and they tried very hard, but ultimately failed. Had to backtrack 14 miles to find a working charger.

Got the same problem with Francis Energy. 2 Weeks ago I rent a Mach-e and tried to charge it at a small town b4 heading back to city. Tried 4 slots there and none of them accepted my credit card and suggested me to call them or download their app. I was so mad and decided to leave a bad review and leave. Luckily I still have 16 miles left when I got to a charge station near my home. Why these companies don’t just make it simple and stupid like gas stations? We don’t need tons of apps just for filling fueling our cars in stations. And don’t want them on charging an ev,either.

You are soooo right. Sadly, almost every charger I tried, the credit card feature fails to work (as do most of the chargers). You MUST use the app with your personal info and credit card charged ahead of services to get electricity. And worse is the stupidity of the cars that you have to manually change charging to immediate when at a station, and back again to timed charging to charge at home so you don't accidently use the crazy prices of time of use plans. Also, the true MPGe in California is about 25MPG - 50MPG due to high electricity costs. The EPA bases MPGe on $0.15 kHw vs up to $0.70 from Edison. Be aware.

thank you for this! I drove a ford fusion Energi for awhile and this was the big issue to me with charging. you should just be able to swipe your card like at gas station. charging shouldn't require you to download an app and a bunch of hoops. I jumped back to just an ICE(Prius) due to the BS. people say its a lack of chargers I disagree. I see plenty of chargers, its just using them is such a pain in the A**

Great video. 100% with you on the frustration of using a charger. When I buy gas it doesn’t matter who owns the station I just put my credit card in and fill up. These ridiculous apps and hurdles from EV charging companies are killing its adoption 🤷‍♂️

Here in Canada we have a really good network called Flo. It does use an app but the app works. We also have Petro Canada which is putting in fast charges along our main highways at the gas stations. To start these charges just tap your credit card or as I did use Apple Pay. Same paying method as using their gas pump.

I have recently learned that in the UK, thieves are removing(cutting-off) the charging station cables, to sell the copper in them. They only make a few dollars from each cable, but the replacement of the cables cost thousands. I haven't heard if this is starting to happen in the U.S., but is now standard practice across the pond. Catalytic converter theft is common in the U.S., so cable theft in the future is another thing to worry about.

I feel your pain! When I first got my EV 3.5 years ago, I quickly learned how bad those apps were and how many different apps I needed. It's a pain and I wished there was a standard way to pay to charge. I think allowing CC without the app should be mandatory, just like at gas stations. One of the consequences of all these different chargers is that seeing an EV charger in a parking lot means nothing to me now since I do not know if it's free or which app I'll need to use it. I already have a few accounts so I'm reluctant to download and signup for more.

Thank goodness for Tesla actually having a good intuitive system. Don't need an app or touching any buttons on the screen, just plug in and go! It really is a shame that every charger brand and car manufacturer tried to reinvent the wheel instead of following Tesla's pattern they mastered way back in 2012

Like you I have road tripped across America. I have never not been able to charge. I have like you had to move to another charger and had sign up for an account at the charger but I have never not been able to charge. Most of the time I use Electrify America because I got a couple of years of free charging with my car. I actually prefer EVgo which works great with the RFID card that you get with the account.

When I ordered my Tesla I gave them my info including my credit card number to make the down payment. The app used for my Tesla Powerball automatically got the car portion added on. When I drove the car a few hundred miles home I stopped at my first Tesla charger ever. All I had to do was shove the plug into the car's port an walk away from it; everything automatic.

I'm in the camp of "I would do 90%+ of my charging at home so this wouldn't apply the majority of the time". It is very sad and frustrating to see though.

The is my frustration with cafe standards being upped; forcing manufacturers to make electric cars but in the US we are so far behind on the infrastructure for charging it’s not even funny.

Five years ago, I borrowed a used Ford Fusion Energi for an overnight test drive and wanted to see what it would be like to charge it at an EVgo station at Walmart. I had the nearly identical experience and never did get it to work. Sad to see that they haven't gotten any better by now.

Huh. We drove my wife’s VW ID.4 PRO on a 1,500 mile road trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park (both very remote and not loaded with charging stations!) without difficulty. We used EA for all the stops, except in Kanab UT, as there were no EA chargers after St. George. It took maybe five minutes to get it set up and going, but a few days later at the same place, we charged up without issue. I’m not sure why anyone would aimlessly drive around, hoping and praying to find a charging station, when there are apps that will tell you exactly where they are and other important details. That was how we found all our EA chargers, and the ChargePoint in Kanab. Driving around hoping to find some place, somewhere, seems naive, at best. But, hey, you do you! Not an approach I would take. My Tesla on the other hand plots all that out. I used the cars Navigation to find each and every of my charging stops on my recent 5,500+ mile cross country trip. Worked flawlessly. Hope you have better charging in the future!

Anyone can review an EV, but TFL is doing the real work. TFL highlights the logistics involved in the ownership experience. You can avoid some of the frustration by charging at home. Sure. But many or maybe most that can use an EV as a daily driver live in a metro area and RENT their home. And even if a home owner can avoid this frustration most of the time, it will be a source of frustration at least occasionally. It's these types of videos that are most valuable to me as a viewer. Thanks!

So much to say here: 1) I didn't watch the whole lightning video, but I agree there was some fumbling I'd not have done myself in what I did see 2) I don't think this was the problem, but generally when using google/apple pay you have to hold the phone there longer. I suspect it still would've failed, but knowledge is power 3) The way companies approached charging here is totally crap. Either they should have tech-ed it up and created a standard whereby vehicles handshake with chargers, exchange information stored in the vehicle for payment, and auto-submit it for you, actually making the experience better than gas stations, or just make gas pumps but for electricity. Instead, they decided "we have a new opportunity to farm data, let's all make shitty proprietary apps, require users have data signal, set up accounts which have the potential to be compromised, etc. And it course we'll all have different ones because screw consumers". It is absolutely infuriating. What is sad is that I even have a proprietary app for a gas station, shell. Why? Because while I CAN still fill up normally, it takes longer to scan rewards, discount, then my card with PIN. The app lets me save all that, and since they're always the cheapest in my town, it's worthwhile for me to do it. But I don't have to, and that's the point. If my phone is dead, if there's no data signal (happens a lot when you drive around rural Canada), etc. I can still get gas and keep going without hassle. I love tech and I love the idea of EVs, we have clean energy here, instant torque is awesome, and electric motors are more efficient at turning energy into forward drive. But I'm getting a new car and it ain't an EV for 2 reasons; - offroad ability - more relevant here, charging. I don't want an aneurysm every time I go out far enough to require fast charging, which with my lifestyle is dozens of times a year.

Did you try to disconnect before starting again? I have found that on some charging stations, there is some timeout happening if you wait too long before initiating the charge after having put the plug in.

I hear you on the EVGO. The charger in Tulare Ca was down for the count at the Love’s Truck stop. Lucky for me, I drive a PHEV. So I added some GASOLINE, and continued in route. Roman wants to say how great Teslas are. He forgets about the common man who can’t afford a $60,000 model 3. Hey, Roman, I just made a 790 mile trip, using 201 electric miles in my hybrid Ford Energi.

0:56 that charge door opening is everything you need to know about the quality of this car

It should be mandatory that these stations have a credit card terminal, and on the Tesla ones too once Elon Musk retrofits them with CCS plugs. Any rewards program, subscription discounts, or incentives should be made optional and at most should only require you to input a phone number like at the supermarket.

I feel the pain you experienced about a month ago when i bought my first EV. However, unless like you i did call customer service that is what they are there for. If you wanted to make a video showing the full experience you should have called and they could have walked you through. That is what I had to do. Once i had their assistance i had ton issues. Now, should it be this difficult? NO, but.. once shouldn’t be opposed to calling to get help when needed. Those are the same errors i was getting and yes it’s frustrating but a 5 min call solved it all.. so don’t give up on it. Now i just charge at home.

Great Video, Ok assume billing part gets worked out and lets say my Chevron Station with 8 pumps added 8 chargers and 8 cars were charging for 45 minutes. And a line was to form to wait for the next charger lets say the line waiting is 32 cars. Assume all cars needed 45 min charge, How long would the last 8 cars have to wait for there turn to charge.

I have a Tesla. I have no trouble with any Tesla superchargers. I have tried to use several third party chargers and got two out of 6 to work. Not good. And need so many apps. Why not just be like a gas station. Accept credit cards and be done with it.

Bought a Tesla for its charging network and potential Full Self Driving. These charging nightmares happen way too often. And how stupid of Cadillac to debut their EV in a location with no (and even if sucessful, painfully slow) charging.

I greatly appreciate your honesty on this Ch as TFL & that’s why I follow. Won’t be getting one anytime soon & safe travels on trip to Alaska

Holy moly! No wonder non-Tesla EVs are piling up at dealerships. Dealing with multiple app-based charging systems is a complete mess, unlike the convenience of Tesla charging. Thank you so much for documenting this frustrating process. The success of non-Tesla charging networks will heavily rely on simplicity and a plug-and-charge experience similar to Tesla's.

Great video. I primarily blame Facebook and Google for creating the Business Model from Hell for consumers. EVERYBODY wants to monetize your data. Every app wants access to your most personal data regardless of the service. My email is bombarded with marketing, I get texts from companies I never interacted with. Not to mention all the tracking these companies are engaged in to get even more information and data. I jumped from the fire into the frying pan when I disconnected cable, every tiny little shit station has a subscription. “Are you still watching?” from tv subscriptions are beyond brazen. Apple Pay helped a lot but the barbarians are beating at the door to remove their encrypted protections. Data mining is BIG BUSINESS and our laws are not keeping up.

It's videos like this that convinced me to buy a Tesla, instead of any other non-Tesla EV.

I had a similar issue in Canada (road trip, Chysler Pacifica hybrid) using ChargePoint in Saint John, NB. It was only a L2 6KW system, and almost free ($3/2 hours)... which would have charged the small 16KWh battery. Called support, they told me that the charger was deactivated. I went 1 block to the next (convenient)... Same issue. Then they claimed there was an issue with their NFC, and released the charger remotely. After ~30 minutes, I ended up with ... 8 miles of range (total is only 32miles on this). So ... not a great use, but relatively cheap. Good for urban use.

Running a plug-in hybrid three years now. You are correct, the charging infrastructure is just not ready for mainstream. Also, notice the charging ports are plastic. More and more connectors at charging locations are broken. Gasoline cars have metal nozzles.

You are right. This is why we got a Tesla. Too many 500-mile trips to chance this experience. It’s a shame because there are some other compelling EV options out there. Regardless, we’re very happy with our Model Y.

We already knew it was going to be an issue, no surprise. What was a surprise to me after watching your lightning delivery & road-trip back to Colorado was just how many of the chargers that weren’t cooperating. I’ve seen enough videos to know it can be a crap shoot when it comes to getting a functional fast charger when you show up to a station. In 15 years the charging tech, battery life and infrastructure will be much more worth it. Until then, I’m gonna stay away 😷

In Europe, the cost to charge is almost as much to fill a tank, except charging will take an hour of your time

You know that door on the charging port is going to freeze closed on those cold frosty mornings !

Tesla figured all that out. Genius. I've never had any issues supercharging for 2 years owning a tesla. I have a evgo account too. It's not as easy as tesla. Also found evgo chargers offline a few time. In my tesla, I can tell how many chargers are open before getting there. So awesome tesla.

It is definitely easier to set up an app at home or office when you are not "under pressure" to get a charge. But even at that, you are right about the state of public charging stations.

Mercedes has done a fantastic job with Mercedes Me charge, integrated with Chargepoint and Electrify America (with more integrations coming). I just plug in and my EQS starts charging. No hassle at all.

Can we just put induction coils on the bottom of the car, and have it charge inductively? Maybe even put a nfc chip on the bottom with at-wheel-authentication (you press a button on screen or put in a password inside the car using the infotainment) so that it bills you automatically.

I feel your pain! So much for "smart" phone and all the damn apps! we need smart people who can design things properly!

Not going to lie. This turns me off EV cars completely. Why cant they not just accept your debit / credit card. None of this app crap is needed. They just want your personal information. Pay with google pay or Apple pay and that is it. Enough with the apps.

This video is about a year old. Some things are much better now. I had no problem signing on to the EVgo app (I did it at home for convenience in about 5 minutes). There's an EVgo outlet about a mile from me in Florida with a DC fast charger with a 50kW CCS plug. I was able to add 65 miles to my Lyriq in 30 minutes for $12. I just wanted to see that it worked. I usually charge at home. Later this year (2024) there will be an adapter for cars that use CCS (like the Lyriq) to connect with Tesla superchargers. And by 2025 all Lyriqs' and other GM cars will have the Tesla NACS connection as standard.

I don't understand why they want to complicate payment when almost every gas station in the country lets you just insert your card and pump your gas.

I was getting severe anxiety watching you try to get the app to work. This is how things work today in the hi-tech world today. Sorry you had to go through that experience.

If Tesla hadn't created their own network, this would have been all Tesla owners as well. But everybody out there gives Tesla a hard time for doing so. Tesla has always been about paving their own way and thank god they did.

We’re so close - but glad you shared this experience.

Awesome review. My husband and I are doing our due diligence before purchasing a Ev. We really wish Tesla made a three row suv (family). We have three children and one arriving in a few weeks. The only EV SUV to suit us is the Rivian. It would definitely be an adjustment waiting at a charge station and then waiting for your EV to charge. All while having the children waiting as well 😩. We will stay GV until the kinks are worked out.

That was even painful to watch. Wow, so glad I bought a Tesla. Before any of these companies get government money they should have to meet an ease of use standard. Imagine if buying gas required an app and all that sign up?

The constellation of apps has been the one thing that has been frustrating about EV ownership. I can’t wait until plug and charge (ISO15118) is the standard, not the exception. I definitely also was really frustrated with the EVgo process when I kind of needed a reasonably quick charge. It was a slow, clunky process, but it was fine the next time I was at an EVgo. The answer isn’t more proprietary networks though.

What if you don’t have a smartphone? I realize most people do but it shouldn’t be a prerequisite for charging and driving. Nor should having a credit card for that matter.

Ugh, I feel your pain. I have a Tesla Model Y, and for the most part superchargers usually works. I have ran into non-working ones, but Tesla will usually get them fixed fairly quickly. That said, I also have the CHAdeMO adapter, and have tried out at least 4 different DC fast charging companies. 3 of them worked, but 1 didn’t. I didn’t need the charge much like in this video. But it was in the middle of nowhere too, and had I not of charged up at a supercharger before going there, I could’ve potentially been stranded. I really hate that all of these different companies require their own specialized app, and honestly I probably won’t even use then again. It would’ve been nice if they had a credit card reader so you could just swipe/insert that to start the transaction. This is why I’m always skeptical when all of these so-called “Tesla killer” EV’s show up. Yes, those EV’s might do a few things better than a Tesla. But when you consider the entire package, Teslas give you a lot of bang for your buck, such as Autopilot, over the air updates, built-in entertainment options such as Netflix and UKposts, the seamless integration with the app and the superchargers never requiring you to pull a credit card out to charge. There’s also camp mode for those who want to sleep in their Tesla on a trip or if their power is out, and Dog mode to keep your dog cooled on hot days, and warm on cold days. That’s on top of the high safety ratings all Teslas get, and the performance for the price. And the supercharger network, which makes traveling long distances fairly trivial and mundane. Hope this problem can get fixed.

Bottom line is home charging is key and downloading and setting up the major charging apps ahead of time is also advisable.

It looks like the biggest problem with EV adoption right now is the pain in charging. Even on your trip with the Lightning, there was uncertainty and issues with charging. You hit it on the head with "Why can't I just put in a credit card at the station?" I don't want to have to download a handful of apps for all the different charging networks out there. The cars are there, and the battery tech is there, it is the charging networks/experience that is the biggest roadblock to mass adoption right now.

I almost drank the EV kool-aid .. stopped myself once actual costs are calculated (including insurance, environmental footprint and actual time until money saved)

I feel for him. I will have to say though, even in owning a Tesla, if you have an older car like I do (Model S 60), with a small battery pack (ie. low range) and you're traveling through/to an area with no Tesla Superchargers (for example, Putnam County, FL, Bradford County, FL), you need to make sure you have a full charge so you don't get stranded, or have to charge for 2 hours at a J1772 to get to a DC-DC charger. Also, early EV adopters will need do their research ahead of time. Just like we Teslans did in the early days of our network, there are apps like ABetterRoutePlanner that show you all the EV charging stations on your trip. Also, this is only a challenge if you're 1. traveling long distances and 2. if you don't have access to an electrical outlet near your car at night (apartment complex/street parking). Many EV owners can plug their car into any outlet (120V/240V) and charge overnight, replacing the electricity they used as they drove around town the previous day.

As frustrating as it is, I can understand them not putting a cc reader at the charging station. They would likely get compromised with hackers puting other readers to steal your card info since these charging stations are not monitored. It is also easier for them to use the data of your phone to process the charge instead of them paying for data connectivity at the pump itself. Regardless an easier process is required for sure. Maybe one app that is mandated in your country that you install when you buy your ev. Then all charging stations have to use that app. Interact of charging stations.

I have used EV GO chargers and I don’t like em, I avoid EV GO as much as possible unless it’s an emergency, I find it weird that they have to send you a physical card, when you can get one added to your digital wallet, just more waste added to the planet with a physical card!!… on top of that the app takes long to update. I go with Electrify America all the way for EV charging!!

This is how you do it. I am 52. Well sick of the technology. I myself had to learn to deal with all of the loop holes. Meaning to learn them. I spent years trying to achieve only one thing. To make everyone's life easier. On EV charging. You know where you will travel. Look up every charging station available. Every single one. Then while your at home and have the time. Sign up for every app. Then when your out. That charging station app is already on your cellphone. Then pay and charge. Do not be out and then do it. You buy an EV. Spend the time of looking at all different charging stations. Get their apps. Then go pickup your new EV. Then also know which ones will work. What plug adapter you will need. Keep it simple.

ah... fwiw... I totally feel your pain, and it IS really stupid. Practically speaking, your best option is not by joining when you roll up to a charger. That usually fails. Better approach is ahead of time from home, on a PC with good internet connection and coffee ready: 1. Figure out which one you need by looking at plugshare and/or the maps figure out which networks have chargers in the places you want to go. 2. Join the networks you chose using that home PC, and with a phone available. not relying on mobile phone networks (flakey) and mobile apps (crap interfaces) or browsing web sites on a tiny phone screen. Do all that crap at home. 3. wait the week or two for the RFID card in the mail. Chuck it in the glove compartment. 4. Rinse, lather, repeat for each of the other networks you need. so you have a pile of RFID cards in your glove compartment. 5. when you pull up to a pump from network X, use the RFID card for network X. not great, but works a lot more often than any other method I've seen. Using apps is a huge over complicated pain.

This was an awesome user experience test. Cadillac may have misjudged their buyer demographic.

One of the best pieces of advice for a new EV owner is to setup accounts with EA, EVGo, ChargePoint, and any others you may use before you need them. With the number of EVs that TFL has owned, you would think Roman would have already gotten used to this. The nerdier you are (read: some high school physics knowledge) the better your experience will be in today's world, because we are still in the early adopter phase. For instance, understanding the architecture of your vehicle (400V or 800V, 400V for the Lyriq) along with your max advertised charge rate in kW (190 kW for the Lyriq) will tell you that it can max out at 475A (190,000W/400V). That 50kW EVGo station cannot handle 800V, so the max amperage it can do (which is listed on the cabinet, if you look) is 125A. To understand how a 350kW DCFC gets to 350kW you should understand the DC amperage it can output if you have a 400V car like the Lyriq. If you have an 800V car like the EV6, then this amperage limit is less of an issue because it draws about 300A to get to its max charge rate of 233kW.

There definitely needs to be some government regulations put in place for minimum/maximum charge amount and for the payment methods. Some of my friends have had lots of problems with chargers not working at all. Hopefully it will all be fixed soon.

Boy, lots of interesting comments. I feel you, Roman, as a man of a similar age who is not afraid of technology and would like to see all of these apps be more intuitive and stable, I suspect real issue here is cell service in Park City (where I lived, so I’m familiar with the issue), which is not an uncommon issue. Setting up all of these apps at home, with Wi-Fi, works much better. But why should I need an app at all? If these are supposed to be the gas stations of the future, why can’t I just swipe my card and not have to give up all of my personal info just to fill up my car. That’s actually what’s ridiculous to me. If I choose to sign up for the app, that’s my business, if I don’t, I shouldn’t be locked out of a third-party charging system. Most of the time, my Tesla (replaced with a PHEV) was charged at home and otherwise at Tesla Superchargers that I had to have the app to use, but then I needed the app to do anything with my Tesla, so it was no more onerous that it was required to use the superchargers. I suspect that I’ll wait at least another couple of years before I go BEV again, just so all this crap with the charging networks can get a little better sorted. The truck won’t be an EV until I can tow 500 miles without having to spend 2+ hours recharging along the way to get there. Still, I do think EVs are great and can’t wait for more the crap to be worked out.

It's ridiculous for any new EV not to support 200+ kWh DC fast charging. Tesla (and Porsche) continues to lead the way with their latest cars and V3 supercharging.

If Tesla can make a seamless charging system for their own cars, why can't that happen for other ones? Or, why can't it be as easy as getting gas... Tap/swipe/insert a card and start charging. I don't want an app to charge my car, I just want to pay for my charging and get on with it.

Takes planning and stations that don't malfunction. Before traveling I check Plugshare and order the in card for the service provider. Works fairly well. I charge at home.

i and everyone i know does 99.9% of all our charging at home over night when were sleeping. I actually never even used a public charger before.

Thank you for honestly showing where we stand in the transition to electric vehicles. I have nothing against electrics, and hope to buy an electric Mini when the convertible comes out. However, we need realistic information and not the propaganda so many people want to push about how wonderful it currently is. We'll get there, but things are still very early in the journey.

Yup! We may need some regulatory action that states every EV charger have the option for a Credit/Debit card, like a gas pump. They could still have other methods, and even offer deals for members or whatever. But yeah, this is a problem...

Finally, I looked all over on UKposts for someone to show pulling up to a public charger, paying, and showing the cost. This one showed that you have to use apps and was pretty hard to load, not to mention if you had internet problems. Lots of bugs to work out.

The reason they are so set on getting user data, is because they make such a small amount of money per minute (or per hour, whatever you prefer). If you look at the total cost of charging for the hour that you are actually charging, and take out the cost of electricity, plus the cost of manufacturing, installing, and maintaining the charging station, there is very little money left for profit. So they are mining your person data.

For now hybrid is the best way to go I think!good video is always 👍🏽

Because you need to tracked and sent 10 thousand emails.

All those app features on your app actually helps you charge your car more efficiently. It finds you locations and plans your day out. You charge here for 15 minutes then an hour or two later you charge at another place. You have to use the app the right way.

As you mentioned near the end of this video, this is one HUGE advantage Tesla has over the competition. If you own a home and don't do many road trips, this isn't an issue. You charge at home 99% of the time. If you live in an apartment, however, or you do a lot of road trips, being able to charge at one of these stations is essential. I have no idea why these charging stations are so bad. It's simple: * Don't bother making a station if it can't do at least 100kw. Obviously, it should do 200kw or more. But some of the stations that were placed there previously will need to be upgraded, and that will cost money. * I get that we're in the age where every company wants all of your data, so they can sell it, but the process has to be smooth. It should accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay BUT ALSO ALLOW CREDIT CARDS!!! No one should have to download your app to charge their car. At least give some incentive so that people want to do it. Maybe lower the charge rate by 3 cents per kw if you use the app

Thanks for publicizing those frustrations, I've been going through them for years, even got muted on a well known EV site for daring to express them myself. Fanboys won't listen. I tried many times and never did get a Blink charger to work. Not once. The websites are full of misinformation regarding charger status, which just makes it all dangerous to rely on. But it is getting better. Another thing is the cost, it was easily cheaper to fuel my F250 than public-charge my Leaf in California.

Thank you for sharing your completely valid frustrations, I'm all in on EVs, and I find this so painful and frustrating to watch - it's important, and ALL these companies need to do better. I believe Tesla will open up their system in the next year or two, and while, for non Tesla's this will still need an App, account, email, credit card etc. at least it is reliable. Keep up the honest reporting.

Well, things have gotten better since the Park City introduction for the Lyriq. Unless you want to go on a long road trip remember the overnight home charger. Everyday driving and commuting are great. Great if you don't live on the edge of the back of beyond where power outages do happen often.

I have 2020 Nissan Leaf and trickle charge at home. Although we don’t road trip in it, we take drives up to about 100 miles one-way, thus requiring us to DC charge; and my goodness. EVGo and EA are terrible. I feel there is a less than 50% chance they actually work when we charge. I hope the infrastructure improves because the model 3 is looking more appealing by the day.

I’m sure it’s more easy you just didn’t have the app loaded and set up so you can just pull up swipe the card reader and charge. I’m glad I’m learning from your mistakes and learning process. Yeah is sucks that each company that creates a charging station you might have to do the same but now we know. Tesla had its issues also when it first came out but nobody will tell you because they already made things seamless over the years and people just know it for what it is now. it’s all a learning process.

I agree it’s a pain, but you do only have to set it up once for each network.

I agree it should not be so hard. I would be fine if you could use a ccard for payment or get a discount if you download the app. Lots of gas stations offer discounts on fuel if you use their app.

Great informative video. Thank you so much