Katherine lives in Dexter and always charges her electric Chevy Bolt EUV at home. It has an EPA-estimated range of 247 miles, more than enough for round trips to the Detroit area or to visit family in Kalamazoo. So why was she plugged into a fast charger just a dozen miles down I-94, at the Shell station at State and Eisenhower?
“When I got the car, it came with a $500 credit for EVgo,” explains the retired computer pro, who asked that her last name not be used. “And the only EVgo station in the area is that one.”
She says the charger worked, but that’s rarer than you might think: From what she’s reading in online Bolt forums, Katherine says, “a lot of them just don’t work.” Charging at home is not just more reliable, it’s a lot cheaper—“it works out the same as if gas were $1 a gallon,” she says.
Katherine could have waited in the station’s attached restaurant, the Shawarma Shop, but didn’t because she has mobility issues. That brings up another problem: It’s hard for her to navigate the curbs, bollards, and landscaping rocks that surround outdoor chargers, and the cables themselves are heavy and hard to maneuver. She recently heard about a Finnish company that’s made that easier, with cables slung from spring-loaded, overhead arms—but right now there are exactly two of them in the U.S.
She’s never tried the fast chargers outside City Hall, but says the Bolt forums report that the older, slower charges in parking lots and structures are generally reliable—and the city’s energetic parking enforcers keep non-EV drivers out.
Because the parking spots with chargers are placed in prime locations, she’s heard that EV owners who don’t need to charge park there anyway, just because it’s convenient. “It seems that Tesla drivers [read the signs and] say ‘Oh, EV parking only. I’ll park here,’—even though they’re not actually charging.”
On the upside, she’s glad to see other EV makers adopting Tesla’s style of plug, and the electric giant finally letting other brands use its previously Tesla-only Superchargers. “They say those are going to be available in 2024.”
