For people living in California, New York, or some other area with a lot of EVs, what I’m going to say here may sound behind the times. And, honestly, you’re probably right. I live in a rural state with no urban areas. Even the largest city in the state only has a few square blocks of tall buildings. The town I grew up in doesn’t have a single traffic light. Even worse, poverty is rampant, and many people simply can’t afford even today’s more affordable EVs.
Sometimes, this lack of choice means that I’m stuck with some awful stations. I’ve seen Electrify America improve station reliability a lot so far this year, but even when things are working perfectly, some stations are severely lacking in amenities. Several of them are located at hotels, and there’s no food or snacks available. Others are located at Walmart stores, which was great when they were open 24 hours, but those have closed at night since the pandemic.
I found a really nice Mercedes-Benz-branded ChargePoint station in Royse City, Texas, at a Buc-ee’s travel center. Unlike the crowded Sam’s Club parking lot, there was plenty of room to easily pull up and charge without blocking any spaces, even with a trailer. I couldn’t test speeds, but these were rated for up to 500 kW of charging.
Later, near Knoxville, I used another GM/Pilot/Flying J truck stop. This one had a much larger canopy, pull-through charging, long cables that were easy to reach the car with, and all of the usual amenities you’d find at a Pilot or Flying J truck stop. You can