I tried using a public charger yesterday and my experience was dreadful, again. I live in Spain and the model used here is simply put idiotic. I couldn’t come up with a worse one if I tried. This post is part rant, part warning, part call to action.

So quickly, what happened yesterday: I stopped at a nearby charger, according to the app it supports authentication using RFID card. I scanned my card but got authorization error. Ok, I opened the app, found the charger in it, got an error in the app and wasn’t even able to select it. Fuck it, I drove to another charger from another network nearby. There was another car parked charging using slow plug but the fast plug was free. There are two parking spots assigned to the charger. I parked, authenticated in the app and… the CCS cable could only reach to occupied parking spot. My spot was out of reach. There were no other chargers nearby.

As you can see the model in Spain is basically “only private companies install chargers and they dictate how you charge”. The service they offer can be as shitty as they like, they are not making money selling electricity. They are mainly subsidized and get money for installing chargers. No one cares if the chargers work or not. The market extremely fragmented, the apps suck, there are constant technical issues.

I currently have 10 (10!!!) charging apps on my phone: Zunder, Electromaps, Ionity, Endesa, Wenea, Iberdrola, Tesla, Acciona, Chargemap and Repsol. Those are all the networks I actually had to use one or more times to drive somewhere. That’s 10 apps that have my personal and credit card data not to mention information about my travels they can sell to advertisers.

There is an EU regulation requiring chargers to accept card payment using a terminal but only along main EU highways.

But wait, it gets worse. There are two “aggregators”, apps that let you authenticate at chargers from different networks using a RFID card. Yes, “aggregators” in plural. There’s electromaps and chargemap covering different networks. The RFID card costs money so you have to pay twice just to get started but now both apps went down the road of enshifitifcation and started offering subscriptions. If you don’t pay you will get ads in the app.

It really looks like the system is designed to make you miserable. Wasted time, no privacy, constant technical issues, obstacles on every step.

So, if the system in your country is better (which it has to be) congrats to you and please share how it works.

If your country is still building their network and they are going in the same direction as Spain start fighting it now.

If you have the same system as Spain it’s time to start complaining and asking for changes:

  • single provider must be introduced allowing access to entire infrastructure
  • direct payment with card must be available on every fast charging station
  • requirement on availability should be placed on any subventions given to private companies

I think that’s the bare minimum. If you agree let’s start organizing and contacting people in charge (no pun intended).

  • WxFisch@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    9 days ago

    It’s for sure similar in the US, though it feels like it’s getting better. Almost all the fast chargers I’ve stopped at have card readers now (though whether they work is a different issue). Chargers in my area also seem to be more reliable than in the past, and I have always been able to find one close to my preferred routes (I always route plan for trips to be sure, but only once have I needed to go some route I wouldn’t have normally taken).

    My big complaint is that fast chargers get installed in the dumbest places. I don’t want to sit in a grocery store parking lot for 20 minutes, I’d much rather have a bathroom I can actually use. Again this seems to be getting better, but it’s still not great.

    • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      8 days ago

      It was so great with Tesla, they really got it right. Too bad I had to abandon my car because I don’t want to be in the “Nazi bar”.

      • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org
        1·
        8 days ago

        Gotta say, charging my Hyundai Kona at Tesla chargers has been consistently nice. Fast charging speed compared EA chargers (again in a Kona, which tops out at 77KW charging speed, not like the e-GMP cars that I hear can’t get their top charging speed at Tesla chargers due to their 800v architecture vs Tesla’s 400v), lots of stalls, and mostly quite good locations.

        • WxFisch@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          8 days ago

          Yeah, we have an eGMP car (an Ioniq 6) and at real fast chargers (like 300kW) it gets from 20-80 faster than we can pee and eat a quick fast food lunch. I find the Rivan network is good where you can find them, and EA and EVgo are solid second place (those are much more common but more often in Walmart parking lots). I avoid Tesla chargers if I can because the cords are too short, Tesla owners tend to be dicks around here (not all, but many), and I don’t want to park at a nazi bar.

    • mctoasterson@reddthat.com
      1·
      9 days ago

      This is my hope. I started eyeballing transition to EV and I would be fine for 90% of my driving but extended trips will require some planning due to the diversity of apps and networks, etc. Looks like some of the charge network apps also require Google Integrity check or whatevs, which sucks for GrapheneOS users.

      • kimchi@lemmy.world
        1·
        8 days ago

        We just finished a 8-charge trip. I was able to use credit card 4x, but needed an app at 4. Chargepoint’s app worked at those, even though 3 were other networks.

        So I think credit card + chargepoint app may now do pretty well.

  • kevinjel@infosec.pub
    3·
    8 days ago

    We drove to Spain from Netherlands in an EV for our family holiday. The NL infrastructure for charging is great because there is/was a lot of need for chargers due to the government subsidizing electric vehicles + the infrastructure for the past decade.

    Crossing borders, we found a decent amount of (fast) chargers in Belgium, Luxemburg and i was amazed that each France gas station, on our route, had a lot of fast chargers and even employees managing the flow of people if there was a line of EVs who wanted to charge.

    Then we entered Spain … the horror. Didn’t find a working charger at any of the gas stations we stopped. Had to go trough a mcdonalds or public shopping area with big shops to find a working charger. There were almost never Spanish electric cars there, only tourists. No slow 10kwh chargers in the towns on walking distance from our stay to leave the car on overnight. I went to the Aldi and the charger was only active during opening hours!? It was a very bad experience. I have a company RFID tag that works with almost all chargers in Europe, but for Spain there is a very low coverage, so had the hassle to pay upfront with credit card.

    So things should become better when there are more Spanish people start driving an electric cars, perhaps the government will/needs to do some investments there, also because more tourists come in or even skip Spain because of bad charging infra.

  • Dogyote@slrpnk.net
    3·
    9 days ago

    I’m in the USA and have four charging apps. I think you can pay via card at some chargers but I’ve never tried, I only pay with the apps. I use the apps because I review my route beforehand and verify the chargers were used recently, as there are a few dead chargers or chargers that aren’t actually accessible 24/7. I also use the apps because the charger screens/buttons are sometimes fried from being in the sun all day, and my phone is the only way to interface. Then there is the problem of ICE vehicles blocking access, but that seems to be a less common problem as time goes on.

    The system sounds a bit better than what you’re experiencing, but I don’t really like it. My main complaint is the chargers are all unattended. It’s not like a gas pump where there’s an employee who can at least put an out-of-order sign on it or perhaps get it working again. If it breaks down there’s no one to ask for help and methheads sometimes steal the charging cable. This creates a situation where I’m not 100% certain I can charge at a location until I get there, which I think is the root of my complaint.

    • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.netOP
      2·
      9 days ago

      Totally agree. Uncertainty us always there. If a pump at a gas station breaks down they stop making money so they will try to fix it ASAP. Chargers can be out of service so weeks. Some chargers have live reporting, other do not. I think a base network of charging stations with multiple chargers, live reporting and attendants should be guaranteed if governments want people to switch to EVs.

      Current charging stations are bad in many different ways. Half of the chargers I’ve seen are in the middle of nowhere. Literally: no bathroom, no store/restaurant, no building nearby. It’s not just that there’s nothing to do, it’s simply not safe. Some gas stations in Spain have chargers now but very often it’s just one charger. If it’s down you just have to keep driving.