Everything Solar Forum

Here is a not so cute story that happened to me the other day. We were pulling into our local Giant foods store for some quick shopping after having breakfast out. They have two Volta level II chargers that I wrote about in the past which are free.

https://fcfcfcwearesolar.blogspot.com/2021/11/drive-free.html

Right when I was driving up to the one left available, I noticed a flat bed tow truck in the isle down a bit. On its flat was something you do see very often, at least in a demographic like Bloomsburg PA. There, right before my eyes was a beautiful Lucid Air, in the flesh.
I got out of my high end Chevy Bolt and as I was walking and staring, the driver of the tow truck was approaching. He asked if I might be willing to pull out of the charge space because the Lucid was out of charge and needed a little charge so they could get to another location. I said sure no problem. Well to compress, they got caught because the only DC fast charge that was around was the EA in Bloomsburg. There was just one small problem. The EA in Bloom is out of service because the entire Sheetz was knocked down for a re-build and all the EA's there are not available. He didn't know that and basically got stranded. His Lucid Air charge location finder apparently had not been updated with that location being under repair. They were a couple traveling from a wedding back to West Virginia and had two choices. The EA near state college or this one. 50/50 chance and they bet wrong.
We talked with them quite awhile. Nice couple. He has an off grid system on his house for emergencies installed by the previous owner. We talked about grid tie but he said West Virginia has no sell back option or net metering standards. Since then, I went out and checked and it appears they do have net metering, so I sent him a link to the info. so he can check his specific utility.

Anyway to think that someone's trip gets whacked because the only fast (350KW capable) charger location is out of service, which kills an entire area. It just goes to show how far we are from having a decent DC fast charging network (Non Tesla) available. SO at least at this point, Count Adhemar has indeed been knocked off his horse by William Thatcher (A Knight's Tale), and judgement rendered.

FYI: In person though, the Lucid is absolutely beautiful.

"In person though, the Lucid is absolutely beautiful."  Yeah, saw one in a Bed Bsth & Beyond parking lot a couple months ago.  These pics don't do it justice.

Yeah, that's mostly why I got a tesla.

Yes, I like Tesla from an original "mission" perspective, IE the dumping of ICE for EV transportation. Musk and his antics are simply Billionaire smoke and mirrors nonsense, distractions for the most part, satisfying their ego by keeping in the news cycle, be it positive or negative. As the actress Helen Hunt said, referenced in my TFTD #069. Best line from the movie, "A Good Woman", "Do you know what I hate more than being talked about? Not being talked about at all."  When you have 10**9$, there really are not any sides or views. You simply sit at the Big Boys table, the table that the squatter always wanted to sit at, but never could.

From an engineering and business perspective, the Tesla charging network is a direct extension of their cars. Simple really. EV's are no good especially in a large country if you do not have a fast, dense charging network to allow your product to traverse the distances. All the other car companies still make the most money from ICE, fought EV at every turn until Tesla dragged them out of the closet. They really are still unwilling, and given the right political circumstances, would happily return to a centralized only energizing model where the individual has to beg for gasoline, and 'pay the man' what ever they demand. And the ability to take free solar energy from your own back yard and energize the EV!!! OMG!! Sacrilegious!! Anti-American!!

I could not afford a Tesla, but, putting that aside, I do not like their 'eliminate the driver' goals. There should be one chef in the kitchen, not two. And that should be a human. Want better drivers, give them better training, not the piddly ass stuff they get today.  Plus, having a giant flat screen in the middle of the dash sticking out (Horrible interior design), centralizing most of the cars function to a touch screen in a moving environment (reduced cost), is ergonomically terrible. Tactile controls are so much better for multiple reasons, including safety (eyes on road, etc.)

Baring an extreme turn of events, EV's will continue to replace ICE and slowly take over the transportation activities. I wrote an article on DC fast charging specifically, back in January. You may find it interesting.

https://fcfcfcwearesolar.blogspot.com/2023/01/dc-fast-charge-conundrum.html