Page 51 - Motor Trend (April 2020)

While Alec and I set about charging
the Niro at a CCS, Alan was struggling
to maneuver the Leaf next to the CHAd.
After multiple false starts using my credit
card, my bank called to ask about strange,
repeated activity. “It’s, it’s … OK,” I defused
them. Finally, the charger worked. But
despite multiple repositionings, the
CHAdeMO’s cable couldn’t reach the
receptacle at the Nissan’s nose. Astound-
ingly, Electrify America goofed on the cable
length needed by the car that will be its
prime client. Alec also noted how thick
and awkward these cables are to wrangle
compared to Tesla’s. We finally nosed the
Leaf in at an awkward angle.
Later, I stopped to fully fill the Niro at
a 350-kW station, arriving with about 40
percent of charge and leaving with a $38
bill (about a dollar per kW-hr, roughly four
times our home charging cost). Huh? They
billed per minute of charging (even though
the rate slows dramatically near full), and
adding to the complexity, there were four
different price tiers ranging from $0.25
to $0.99 per minute, depending on your
charging rate. As of January 1, California
has banned this for new units starting
in 2023, requiring stations to charge per
kW-hr dispensed (just like gasoline).
Ironically, this applies to Superchargers, Blocked access scuttled our hopes to use
EVgo’s Level 3 charger. Having multiple
which may now have to add silly redundant
units at a location (à la Electrify America)
displays outside of the car. improves your odds of finding one open.
As for recharging the Tesla, as Auto-
pilot sliced our Model 3 through the gentle 150 kW but the car only accepting 77, the
curves heading north through Redondo Leaf’s charger (at this location) being 50
Beach, I tapped the Supercharger icon on kW and the car maxing at 100. We plugged
the Model 3’s screen. Three destinations them in and started writing numbers. The
appeared, with graphics showing how Niro added 100 miles after 25 minutes; the
many chargers were at each and how Leaf needed five minutes longer. Getting
many of those were currently available. to 150 miles took the Kia 32 minutes, the
Picking one, Autopilot routed me to it, and Nissan 45. A separate measure at a Tesla
as I neared, I began to hear the battery V2 Supercharger (there are slower 72-kW
being automatically preconditioned to chargers, too, that don’t share power
quicken the charging when I got there. between adjacent cars) saw 11 and 21
Charging at these is seamless and minutes to 100 and 150 miles.
simple—just plug in. The system recognizes As we were doing this, a diminutive
your car and automatically bills your credit young guy in a Toyota Prius Prime pulled
Electrify America’s app lets you activate
card while the cost and kW-hr are calcu- into the Electrify lot, eventually activated a charger with a few taps, a touch of your
lated on the car’s screen. Bored? There one of the chargers, and started to wrestle phone, or—sometimes—a credit card. Teslas
can use CHAdeMO plus via an adapter.
are games to play on the car’s big central the cable to the car’s port. Huh? That car
screen (including a driving sim that lets you doesn’t accept fast charging; it won’t even
use the car’s steering wheel and pedals). accept that plug. But he kept stabbing the
Recently, Netflix has been added as a plug at the Prius, pausing, and then looking
streaming option. The only problem is that around for help.
when we got there, a long line had already From a distance, I started to half wave,
formed. Notice a trend starting? mouthing, “That isn’t going to work.”
Later, Alan and I returned to the mall’s But I paused. Suddenly I was David
Electrify America station to record some Attenborough observing a leopard stalk
real-world numbers that don’t require an an impala. Don’t interfere with nature. Just
electrical engineering degree to compre- watch it play out. Outside of the curated
hend: How long does it take to add 100 and world of Tesla, nature still isn’t a simple—or
150 miles of range to the Niro and Leaf at pretty—sight.
their respective chargers (each starting at But as you can see from our Hyunai Kona
need-to-charge-now 20 miles to empty)? EV test we conducted only a couple months
We wanted to cut through the mathe- later (see page 54), the charging network is
matical noise of the Niro’s charger being evolving and improving rapidly. KR

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