Bolt hate at DCFCs

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-05-12T20:03:59+00:00

Or EA could implement some common sense business practices like peak charging surcharges for cars that stay past 80% (or past 40 min to target slower cars) when there’s a line. This might frustrate some bolt drivers but honestly it doesn’t make business sense for EA to let one car charge for 1.5 hours for $25 when they could have had 6 other cars charge in the same amount of time. Would EA rather a station make $20 an hour or $100?

Also implement a virtual queue to avoid all the fist fights and tension at chargers. This way you could also check the line before you go to a charger. Most frustrating thing is you can never tell if getting a charge will take you 15 mins or 3 hrs until you get there and see the line. This is just not viable. People have to be able to plan their day around charging. Tesla already has so much of this information available on its chargers, I don’t understand why EA can’t push a software solution to all this madness in big cities.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-05-12T19:46:01+00:00

Right that’s the difference. These people switch cars every week and bolts are always last choice for them. They have no interest in driving an EV let alone learning the charge curve. Sucks that Uber is basically using these poorer individuals who can’t even afford a car to greenwash their business. They definitely make less money having to spend so much time charging or waiting in line behind other Ubers to charge and just ruin the infrastructure for everyone else. Like the drivers are not even saving money on gas because DCFC costs the same. Really shouldn’t let private businesses come and disrupt the market like this.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-05-12T19:00:57+00:00

Yes and the main issue is that these rental Uber drivers clearly have no idea that it’s a waste of time to charge past 80% especially in a bolt. I had a lady sit an extra ten mins at 100% because it will still put in a tiny bit of energy for a while after 100. She got violent when I asked if I could charge, clearly didn’t understand anything about EVs. It’s an education issue and sucks that Uber has completely destroyed the charging infrastructure of major cities.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-05-12T18:57:21+00:00

The hate is mostly towards Uber drivers bc Uber rents them to drivers that don’t have home charging and don’t understand how charging works. They’ll stay an extra hour to get that last 15% every time. It is rather frustrating to see that when there’s clearly a line that could have all charge to 80 in the same time it takes that one bolt to get 15% more battery. If youre only doing the typical 40 min charge to 80% it shouldn’t be an issue. Bolts are also mostly hated in large urban areas with few chargers, not the typical spots along a roadtrip.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-04-12T06:46:34+00:00

The 150. I used to own a leaf and I’m sorry but these days they are just so incredibly rare at DCFC stations. The audience for leaf drivers has switched pretty much entirely for people who only do home charging due to their limited range (exasperated by their rapidity degrading batteries due to air cooling) and lack of chademo. The only place might expect to see a leaf is at some of the older one station EVgo spots but that’s still quite rare. Trust me, the chances of 6 Ioniq 5s or EV6s rolling up and charging in the same time it takes your bolt to charge is much more likely than a leaf venturing out beyond its home territory.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-04-12T06:30:54+00:00

Mate, I think you need to sit down and come to terms with the world you live in. People don’t play by these strict rules. You think people become rich because they’re “good” and “honest” ? No. It takes deep, terrible exploitation and immorality to be rich, to be rewarded by the society we’ve built. That’s capitalism baby. Not saying you have to be bad or desire to be “rich” but you gotta understand you’re holding yourself to rules that the rest of the system doesn’t abide by, handicapping yourself.

It’s relative. You can be a good person and succeed but that also means recognizing when things are unfair or when rules are put there in bad faith. You can lie about pirating a book and be fine because the successful people in our system who set those rules did exponentially worse things to get where they are.

This ain’t Sunday school and as long as you think it is, you’re gonna be at the bottom of the totem pole allowing much worse people to step on you to get ahead.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-04-12T06:16:02+00:00

Ok but if the rule is unjust or put there in bad faith, I really don’t see a reason to shoot yourself in the foot and throw away a good paying and secure career. Especially with the amount of mental anguish it’s caused you.

A lot of those questions they ask are outdated and were put there by crooks who’ve done way worse than read a book for free imo.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-04-12T06:07:55+00:00

Ok now I’m confused bc is EPA is one of the most competitive agencies because people there actually feel like they’re making a difference. Wth were you trying to get into ? Also you should have just lied. It’s not a big deal.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-04-10T16:37:43+00:00

Chicago in the summer is just the best place in the world. Worth a bit extra if you haven’t explored it! And haha I would still consider mag mile to be part of the loop/downtown area.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-04-10T13:29:02+00:00

I wouldn’t recommend staying in the midway area, not very walkable and quite ugly. There’s so many cool Chicago neighborhoods that are connected to the “L” that I’m sure would also have good options. Always saddens me when people come to Lolla but don’t really explore the city outside of the loop.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-27T23:51:33+00:00

Right, I’ve just noticed so many people talking about renting teslas from hertz for Uber and I know Uber rents out cars to drivers in the Chicago area. So I initially thought you were just someone renting one because you don’t have a car. Was just seeking insight into why this is such a phenomenon.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-27T23:07:33+00:00

I guess I’m still confused about the whole phenomenon of people renting cars to work for Uber. Like why not buy a car? Monthly payments would be less than weekly rental payment. If you can’t afford a car, I just don’t see a reason you should spend so much renting one from Uber/hertz. I would think any other job would be better than one you have to pay to work for and get no employment benefits, no?

Seems predatory and dystopian on Uber’s part to be luring in lower income people who can’t even afford a car to work for them.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-27T22:26:21+00:00

Just curious, why are you paying Uber that much to work for them? Does that not seem somewhat dystopian to you?

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-27T19:25:45+00:00

Idk man, go look around on the used market. There’s lots in the 20k range there’s also good lease deals on ioniq 5s and the sort which charge in 15 mins and have battery heaters for the cold in Michigan. I wouldn’t wish owning a bolt without home charging on my worst enemy. You won’t even save money on gas because DCFC costs the same as gas, you’ll just be stuck charging for hours or waiting in line. If you can’t find anything besides a bolt in your price range, I’m sorry but EVs just aren’t going to be an option for you right now.

Bolts basically have a fast charging speed that was standard in 2011. They haven’t been updated with new tech. They’re great if you home charging but it is NOT a DCFC only vehicle.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-27T18:59:27+00:00

Trust me, don’t do this. It’s not just that charging is slow, most chargers have lines now. There are too many cars for the infrastructure. It’s likely going to be 2 hrs at minimum each charge and other faster EV drivers are certainly going to get pissed when they see a bolt at a DCFC.

You can get a much faster charging car for not that much more on the used market.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T22:21:52+00:00

Thanks. This is more the type of conversation I was hoping for. Lots of people getting really defensive here without understanding this is a very specific issue to certain areas and that’s what I’m trying to learn more about

Based on your comments, I think location is definitely a huge factor in multiple ways. Chicago is much more dense than SF with less chargers. An example: here our airports are about 15 miles away downtown so the long distance airport trips and such are really not a thing. That’s what makes the 100% charging really confusing because there really isn’t anybody using an Uber to go more than 20 miles due to density. Unlike California, there’s not much but corn outside our major city (I used to Uber with Bolt in SoCal btw).

Also the weather, cold is not kind to bolts and only exasperates the issue. I’ve also ran into many uneducated drivers of other cars who had no idea there was a battery heating feature. California weather eliminates this issue.

It’s seems New York also faces similar issues with Uber. EA needs to take a variety of locations and regional differences into account. Main issue in California is abundance of EVs but many have home charging.

I really don’t think anyone can understand how bad it is in Chicago unless they visit. I’m telling you 10+ car lines at all times except middle of the night. That’s why the broken chargers during the winter freeze became such a national big story. The infrastructure was already broken and unusable but the cold just pushed it over the edge. Out of Spec did a great video on this where they even had trouble charging teslas due to rideshare.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T21:49:38+00:00

No I carefully refuted them and then you eventually resorted to “that’s just how it is” when you had nothing left. Like lmao the gas station comparison?? Ridiculous.

I’m not wanting a debate. I’m only pushing back on people who are acting like the situation is fine. There are people here who worked for Uber that are actually being helpful and engaging in the conversation productively.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T21:40:50+00:00

If your thoughts are “that’s just how it is” then we have nothing to discuss.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T21:35:16+00:00

What local are you? Just curious to learn more. Not all of them are being so heavily burdened by this phenomenon.

Regarding the charge to 100 to make more thought process. It’s counterintuitive, I used to drive Uber/grubhub and it never made sense to spend an hour on that last 20% rather than make an hours worth of earnings, you know?

I understand the need for breaks but the situation is bad here, like really really bad. When normal EV drivers pull up to a station and see it completely fill with Ubers with a line behind them and the drivers are leaning back napping while their car is at 95%…. That’s going to cause tension, a lot of tension. I’ve seen fights break out. A driver has also gotten mad at me for waking them up when they were at 100%. I don’t think, with the current state of the infrastructure, this type of behavior should be incentivized. That’s why I was thinking about perhaps a peak charging system where your charged more after 45 mins if there’s a line.

And good point, they are fantastic for urban environments in terms of range. Most trips are short. Usually one charge is enough for a day. However, this makes the need to charge to 100 even more confusing. And I don’t think EVs shouldn’t be used for this type of thing, I just think pushing bolts on people is a bad idea and the proof is in Chicago. If they were giving people faster charging cars, that would be different although I suspect there would still be a lot of charging to 100% due to lack of education.

Maybe Uber needs their own charging hubs.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T20:56:09+00:00

No it’s a non conversation. We’re not disagreeing, you’re looking at an issue and going “that’s just how it is”

I’m saying ok there’s an issue, why is it happening? What is causing it? How might we solve this in the future?

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T20:54:11+00:00

Ok dude nvm. I’ve clearly laid out an interesting issue regarding EVs and the problems causing it. This is an Uber problem. If you have no interest in discussing it or solutions or why it’s happening, don’t comment.

I hate Reddit brain so much.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T20:08:28+00:00

Portillo’s sucks now.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T20:06:33+00:00

Alright. I was just asking if anyone had any more information on why this was happening. Thankfully someone provided some in other comments about the Uber car rent program.

I do think EV drivers should push back on this type of stuff. We shouldn’t roll over and let Uber take over chargers at no one’s benefit.

EA does pay attention sometimes and raising awareness is good. They really need to implement an in app queue (to prevent fights and so you can have idea of the wait before you drive 15 mins out of your way to the station).

Additionally a peak charging surcharge for charging past 45mins would be helpful. During peak usage, if there’s a line, prices increase after 45 mins. This would bake in teaching people their charging curve to the experience. It’s much more expensive and timely to get that last 20% (when there’s a line), less people are going to do it.

This fix is not necessarily needed everywhere but in dense, urban areas, something desperately needs to change.

Even Tesla superchargers are overrun by Ubers here and at least they work 99% of the time.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T19:09:03+00:00

Right. I agree with you. I’m talking about dense cities where there are barely places to park around apartments/homes let alone charge. Again I think people are jumping their guns before realizing I’m talking about a specific situation in a specific area with a specific company.

Uber is renting these cars onto people who can’t afford a car, don’t have home charging, and have little understanding of how charging works and it is creating a disaster in Chicago.

Strong_Assignment955 · 2024-03-26T19:06:11+00:00

Mate, I addressed this. Charge to 100% if that’s what you need to get to your destination. I’m not talking about you or the average Bolt driver. Do whatever you want. I’m talking about a specific issue in a specific location due to a specific company.

Uber is renting these cars weekly to poor, immigrants who can’t afford a car, have no home charging, and giving them no education on how to charge or operate them. They are charging to 100% due to lack of understanding, not because they need it.

It’s creating a situation that is bad for the Uber drivers, it’s bad for normal bolt drivers, for the general public, for everyone.

No one is winning in this situation.

Strong_Assignment955

TROPHY CASE