1,000 Electrify America Chargers Coming to 200 TA Rest Stops Across the U.S.

[Texas Dan]

You know I read about all these travel centers installing a few EV chargers and it dawns on me that these travel center people just don’t get it. Within a few years EVs are going to be the dominant mode of transportation and the charging infrastructure is a long ways from where it needs to be. Think about Buc-ee’s with thirty gas pumps and then think about what it’s going to be like when all those cars filling up need to spend two or three times as long charging up.

By the time these TA chargers get installed they will be a massive bottleneck of people trying to charge their cars. These service centers need to be installing at least one fast charger for every gas pump installed and that still won’t be enough. Oh well, I guess this is just the price we have to pay to wean ourselves off of oil.

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[Replika]

It boils down to economics. While the Feds may help cover costs to install new chargers, there needs to be on going revenue derived from charger usage to provide for maintenance. A charger in the middle of no where, like Lubbock for instance, will struggle with weather extremes and low usage. No large scale charging operator wants to install a low use charger in the middle of no where and then contract for regular maintenance. It does not make economic sense when they could install a charger on I-45 between Dallas and Houston, or I-40 between Dallas and Amarillo, or I-35 between Dallas and San Antonio that would get used a lot more.

Not trying to pick on remote rural areas, but we are a long ways from those parts of the country getting access to reliable fast chargers. Like the wireless and cable companies, the fast charger operates will be very hesitate to install chargers in remote rural areas, and will only do so if installation costs are covered, then the chargers are further subsidized to cover ongoing maintenance.

At some point longer-term strategy comes into play. I think Tesla maintained a better balance of planning for metro area and highway routes. On I-45 between Houston and DFW (Madisonville to Ennis) there is a 110 mile gap in coverage. There is one station on I-10 between Austin and Houston. Austin doesn't even have a single EA station. Nothing between El Paso and Albuquerque. A little more attention to these major metro areas in Texas would lead to major gains in EV uptake.

 

[cwstnsko]

Hopefully they have a tech on site to trouble shoot non-working Charging Stations

I don’t think any of the CCS networks have techs that are employees of the company, they just subcontract the installation, maintenance and repairs to local electrical contractors, that do not necessarily specialize in Charging stations. I think this is part of the problem with CCS reliability in general.

 

[RedLightning86]

TA has over 250 locations.
These are going in at 200 locations, or ~80% of their locations, over 5 years.

SOME, may be installed this year.

The deal will be beneficial, to have chargers at decent convienece stores. However, getting the additional power for them, that will be the trick. Those chargers will use more power than the entire truck stop. That power doesn't get put in in one night. But will sure be nice on long road trips!

 

[PittsburghLightning]

Agreed. Last time I used Scranton (earlier this month) I had to shift stations twice and then call to get a remote reboot of the chargers before I could get anything working. Unfortunately that is the first stop I typically make headed to Pittsburgh and in the winter / cold doesn't leave me much margin for error if it is down completely. I could always stop in Binghamton instead, but due to the distances, that adds an extra stop to the trip.

If you’re interested, complain to Sheetz corporate. They are usually pretty responsive and I’m sure they would like to hear from you.

 

[sotek2345]

If you’re interested, complain to Sheetz corporate. They are usually pretty responsive and I’m sure they would like to hear from you.

Thanks for the tip - I didn't think Sheetz corporate had that much to do with the installs, but if they do I am open to that. Will be hitting it again next month, so we will see how it is doing.

 

[PittsburghLightning]

Thanks for the tip - I didn't think Sheetz corporate had that much to do with the installs, but if they do I am open to that. Will be hitting it again next month, so we will see how it is doing.

In my experience Sheetz is a pretty well run company who cares a lot about how they are perceived by their customers. They may not have much to do with the installs, but I’d guess they will care if the bad installs are impacting customer perspective regarding the Sheetz brand. If it were me, I’d say something to the effect that I expected better from Sheetz and that my experience really changed my feeling about the value of the Sheetz brand…. Good luck!

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