During road-trip NPR interview, EV user called police on Energy Sec. Granholm's team for blocking charging spot; Ford's Farley confesses to 'charging anxiety.'
The driver of an electric vehicle in Georgia earlier this summer called the police on U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s team when a gas-powered vehicle in her official fleet parked at a public EV charger to save the space for the approaching secretary, who would need to plug in.
Already, the federal government has announced $7.5 billion in funding to advance the EV charging infrastructure in the U.S., mostly via grants. Private-sector money is also flowing into the space. The Department of Energy estimates that private-public spending combined has reached $24 billion. Charging ‘norms’ vary According to the NPR reporter, the family in Georgia who “was boxed out — on a sweltering day, with a baby in the vehicle — was so upset they decided to get the authorities involved: They called the police.” Read or listen to the whole story.
Granholm, according to the report, has been a longtime driver of her own EV — her family recently switched from the Chevy Bolt to the Ford Mustang Mach-E — so she’s likely familiar with the need to plan for an EV trip, usually with a wi-fi internet connection to detect distances between available chargers on a trip.
Fred Lambert, writing for Electrek, said his own long-haul test of EV charging capability driving a Mustang Mach-E and the Electrify America network revealed an uneven network. Some parts of the U.S. feature more charger options, and reliably working hookups, than other regions do. The southern U.S., the writer said, has weak spots in its network, although he was never stranded on his trip.
“The Tesla people were in their cars. They weren’t talking to each other. It was 110 degrees outside. They’re streaming content. And then there’s the rest of us, Ford and Kia 000270, -0.26% and Hyundai 005380, -0.11%. We’re all talking to each other,” Foley said in the interview. “There’s maybe one 350 kW charger, the rest are slow-speed. A lot of people haven’t done this before, they’re on their first long trip. And we’re in a social club, trying to figure this out.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Electric cars have a road trip problem, even for the secretary of energyA road trip I took with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirmed one thing: The U.S. is wrestling with an inadequate charging network (unless you're a Tesla driver).
Read more »
Diamondback Energy forms water infrastructure platform with Five Point EnergyDiamondback Energy Inc. stock was up 0.8% in premarket trades on Monday after the company said it would get a $500 million payment and retain a 30% equity...
Read more »
EV Road Trip Fiasco: Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm's Search for Chargers Gets the Cops Called on HerU.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm embarked on a four-day road trip in an electric vehicle this summer and faced a few issues, including trouble locating chargers, long downtimes as batteries slowly refilled, and even having the police called on her.
Read more »
Irate family called police on Jennifer Granholm's team for blocking charging station spot for her electric carBiden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm's staff was involved in a stand-off with a family who called the police over a contested electric charging station.
Read more »
EV Charging & Road Trips - It's ComplicatedA recent electric car road trip by Energy Secretary Janet Granholm exposed some of the concerns Americans have with EV charging.
Read more »
Ford kicks 14-man England to relieving win over Argentina at Rugby World CupGeorge Ford kicked everything, including three first-half drop goals, to give 14-man England a pressure-relieving 27-10 win over Argentina at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.
Read more »