My recurring thought through your journey has been about demographics, specifically yours. As a white guy traveling alone in remote areas, you're relatively free to take risks about when and where to stop and charge, risks that might be unreasonable for other people. I'd like to hear your thoughts on that and the thoughts of others, particularly women, about what makes for a safe recharging experience in Canada and the US.
Can we assume that by "kicking tires" you mean you're ready to consider a Tesla? That is how I interpret it.
Great info! We all hope that electric co’s and auto makers are reading your posts. Joe Borowski quote “ behold the turtle, he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out”.
Great post. It seems like there are few industry standards for EV charging companies or facilities. And the Tesla thing? Why does any government allow that? Imagine if you could only fill a Toyota with gasoline at Petro Canada stations.
One recommendation for your travels in Kentucky, if you are so disposed: the Abbey of Gethsemani, southeast of Bardstown on route 247. Very peaceful, and lovely country.
Paul during all the years we travelled in the US, we fought the gas pump demand for a five digit “zip” code. We learned that many pumps are programmed to accept 5 zeros with a Canadian credit card. Try it.
You were concerned about the CHAdeMO when we met in Regina. It’s been an issue only twice. Once in Canada and once in the states, where the CHAdeMO connector was broken . Each time there was another provider nearby, so it was just a minor problem. But of course that was dumb luck.
In the upside, I kept expecting to find someone using CCS occupying my spot at Electrify America chargers, so that I would have to wait. For a while, I thought it was dumb luck that there was always a spot for me. Then I realized that the CHAdeMO is always at the 50 kw terminal and the other chargers are the faster ones, which is why the CCS users gravitate to them and mine is always free!
Paul, when I heard from our mutual friend Don Young your were driving a Nissan Leaf — a Leaf, for God’s sake! — on this Canamerican odyssey I thought, “He is brave and optimistic.” Your adventures since then prove it. But they also hilight problems that plague all non-Tesla EV owners interested in highway driving. The charging network sucks. It’s patchy and — some charging companies are worse offenders than others, as you report — unreliable. Automotive journalist Kyle Conor, who’s followed by millions of fans on his Out of Spec YouTube videos, has done extensive investigative reporting on this and has come to very similar conclusions as you. But there is hope. A shake out is coming. Conor predicts, because companies that can’t keep their equipment up and running are going to fail, especially because they’re going to miss out on new U.S. federal subsidies that punish poor performance. Better charger companies will rise to the top and become more dominant and new generation of more reliable chargers is already hitting the streets and byways of Canada and the USA. As for Tesla…well, yes, Elon is being exposed more and more as a mendacious jerk (perhaps Saskatchewan has something to do with it — he spent several summers here in his adolescence here living with family and maybe he fell in with a bad crowd who affected his world view). But his imbecility shouldn’t taint the world beating work of legions of dedicated young Tesla engineers and programmers who are literally changing the world for the better. If you choose to do so you shouldn’t feel guilty about trading that that Leaf some day for a Tesla — especially since you’re not just buying a car but a transportation system that includes a reliable charging network — and because within the next six months a Leaf-priced Model 2 Tesla will be available to buy.
My recurring thought through your journey has been about demographics, specifically yours. As a white guy traveling alone in remote areas, you're relatively free to take risks about when and where to stop and charge, risks that might be unreasonable for other people. I'd like to hear your thoughts on that and the thoughts of others, particularly women, about what makes for a safe recharging experience in Canada and the US.
Can we assume that by "kicking tires" you mean you're ready to consider a Tesla? That is how I interpret it.
Safe travels
Keith
Great info! We all hope that electric co’s and auto makers are reading your posts. Joe Borowski quote “ behold the turtle, he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out”.
Great post. It seems like there are few industry standards for EV charging companies or facilities. And the Tesla thing? Why does any government allow that? Imagine if you could only fill a Toyota with gasoline at Petro Canada stations.
One recommendation for your travels in Kentucky, if you are so disposed: the Abbey of Gethsemani, southeast of Bardstown on route 247. Very peaceful, and lovely country.
Paul during all the years we travelled in the US, we fought the gas pump demand for a five digit “zip” code. We learned that many pumps are programmed to accept 5 zeros with a Canadian credit card. Try it.
There's a lot of very useful, practical information here. Thanks again Paul.
You were concerned about the CHAdeMO when we met in Regina. It’s been an issue only twice. Once in Canada and once in the states, where the CHAdeMO connector was broken . Each time there was another provider nearby, so it was just a minor problem. But of course that was dumb luck.
In the upside, I kept expecting to find someone using CCS occupying my spot at Electrify America chargers, so that I would have to wait. For a while, I thought it was dumb luck that there was always a spot for me. Then I realized that the CHAdeMO is always at the 50 kw terminal and the other chargers are the faster ones, which is why the CCS users gravitate to them and mine is always free!
Comment #2...Joe Biden feels your pain: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1139711_feds-tackle-ev-charger-reliability-in-us-infrastructure-buildout
Paul, when I heard from our mutual friend Don Young your were driving a Nissan Leaf — a Leaf, for God’s sake! — on this Canamerican odyssey I thought, “He is brave and optimistic.” Your adventures since then prove it. But they also hilight problems that plague all non-Tesla EV owners interested in highway driving. The charging network sucks. It’s patchy and — some charging companies are worse offenders than others, as you report — unreliable. Automotive journalist Kyle Conor, who’s followed by millions of fans on his Out of Spec YouTube videos, has done extensive investigative reporting on this and has come to very similar conclusions as you. But there is hope. A shake out is coming. Conor predicts, because companies that can’t keep their equipment up and running are going to fail, especially because they’re going to miss out on new U.S. federal subsidies that punish poor performance. Better charger companies will rise to the top and become more dominant and new generation of more reliable chargers is already hitting the streets and byways of Canada and the USA. As for Tesla…well, yes, Elon is being exposed more and more as a mendacious jerk (perhaps Saskatchewan has something to do with it — he spent several summers here in his adolescence here living with family and maybe he fell in with a bad crowd who affected his world view). But his imbecility shouldn’t taint the world beating work of legions of dedicated young Tesla engineers and programmers who are literally changing the world for the better. If you choose to do so you shouldn’t feel guilty about trading that that Leaf some day for a Tesla — especially since you’re not just buying a car but a transportation system that includes a reliable charging network — and because within the next six months a Leaf-priced Model 2 Tesla will be available to buy.