Some EV Drivers Were Thankful For NACS Adapters This Thanksgiving
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About a year ago, I wrote an article warning people to stay away from Electrify America’s Quartzsite, Arizona station. Why? Because busy holiday weekends have been getting worse and worse. With all of the traffic that’s constantly on the I-10 corridor between Los Angeles and Phoenix (not to mention all the people driving to/from other places who go through there), holiday weekends simply bring too many EV drivers through the area.
Teslas are still the most common EV, but there are many other brands out there becoming increasingly popular. When everyone who moved away from family and later bought one of these EVs goes out at roughly the same time to head home, a normally busy station becomes something that might qualify for a disaster declaration.
Last time, despite the company’s efforts to have all of the chargers running, waits ran for as long as 3–4 hours to get a charge. For 2023, 3 of the stalls (out of 4) were running. Some people were pointlessly charging EVs up to 100%, when the next station either in Phoenix or California was close enough for most EVs to get there with less than 80%. Add in the traffic, and you have some serious traffic backing up.
Across the highway, Rivian and Tesla drivers were having a much easier time. The Rivian Adventure Network’s six stalls were all up and running, and Rivians still weren’t very common then. The Tesla Supercharger had dozens of charging stalls (120 in total across two stations), and no wait time for a charge, even with all of the people needing a charge.
Adapters Are Truly A Game Changer In This Situation
As of right now, if you have a Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo/Polestar, and soon Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, you’re in luck. With an approved adapter (or, if you’re feeling lucky, an unapproved but reputable one), any of these EVs can pull up to a V3 or V4 Supercharger and get a charge. Most other EV brands have plans to get this sometime in the next year or two.
In the case of Quartzsite, it made a huge difference. Looking at PlugShare history for the Supercharger stations, there’s basically no wait time. There was also no complaints about dead stalls, or any other technical problem. This isn’t to say that Superchargers never have any problems (they often do have small issues), but with 120 stalls, an old quote often attributed to Stalin comes to mind: “Quantity has a quality all its own.” Even if some stalls were down, who’d really care? Obviously nobody cared enough to complain on PlugShare in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.
You know what people did have time to comment on though? How good the station was for non-Tesla EVs, EVs with trailers, and more. So, clearly the quality was there as well as the quantity.
Even for people who don’t have a Tesla or a compatible EV with an adapter, the situation improved. Instead of 3–4 hour waits, drivers still needing to use the Electrify America station had far shorter waits because most of the Mach-Es, F-150 Lightnings, Bolts, and most other common non-Tesla EVs weren’t in line anymore.
2025 Is Going to Be Even Better (& Not Just Because Of Adapters)
One big thing that’s up in the air right now is what’s going to happen with a second or expanded Ehrenberg Supercharger. Right next to the California state line (and also the Colorado River), there has been a plan to add somewhere around another 100 charging stalls. This would be only a few minutes out of Quartzsite, effectively doubling the local charging capacity and the capacity for EVs to move between Phoenix and Los Angeles. Hopefully this is still happening, even if it takes another year or two.
Outside of the Tesla network, other good things are coming to provide further relief. In Ehrenberg, there’s a GM/Pilot/Flying J charging station coming soon. This is only 4 stalls, but considering that non-Tesla EVs without an adapter only have 4 stalls in the entire area, this doubling of capacity will be a huge improvement.
On the other side of Quartzsite, between there and Phoenix, another of these stations are going in. So, this will effectively triple the non-Tesla non-Rivian charging capacity in the area, hopefully making things a lot easier in the coming months. Combined with some new rest area chargers in California, and some new slower ones in Blythe, life is getting a lot easier for people passing through.
Similar Stories Around The United States
Obviously, Quartzsite isn’t the only place with Supercharger stations and upcoming NEVI stations are making a big impact.
East on I-10, Superchargers are making a big difference in El Paso. There’s one 4-stall Electrify America station in east El Paso, along with some dealer stations that are of mixed reliability and access. Tesla has had a V2 station on the west side of the city for years, but that didn’t open up to other EVs. However, a new station across the freeway at the West Towne Marketplace has 20 stalls and works for NACS-compatible EVs. On the far east side, near Horizon City, there’s another 8 stalls for people looking to maximize range on the way out of town.
Memphis, Tennessee has been another pain point for EV owners. When I was passing through earlier this year, the sole 24/7 CCS station (an Electrify America station) had only two stalls working. Now, there’s a 12-stall Tesla station open for NACS EVs, both giving people more charging options and easing up congestion for the vehicles that can’t use the Tesla station. On my way back through a couple of weeks later, there was a new Electrify America station with six stalls that greatly helped, as I was able to use its long cable to avoid a trailer unhook. Just around the corner, Tesla now has another 16 plugs, almost quadrupling the capacity in that part of Memphis.
There have to be countless other places where vast improvements have been made since last Thanksgiving weekend. Moab, Utah is a big one. Las Vegas, Nevada now has a lot more capacity more EVs can use. I’m sure California has many more examples, along with the eastern seaboard.
All in all, there’s a lot to be thankful for, whether you’re in a Tesla or in another EV.
Featured image by Jennifer Sensiba.
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