In other words, everyone has their own charger. But not everyone has their own gas pump. I think this would require FAR MORE chargers than just replacing the pumps at the gas stations, even considering that it can take 20 chargers to replace one gas pump.
That is exactly how some people really need to think about it. Some people go on long drives fairly frequently. Some people don’t have a fixed location for a “home” charger.
Spoken like a true culture warrior who has never used an EV, and so has no idea how it really works for people. As I’ve mentioned before, when I’ve been given the choice of long drives in my Tesla or my ICE, I’ve always chosen the Tesla. It’s much, much better.
-IGU-
How long are those long drives? And how often do you do them?
–Peter
Longest was about three thousand miles over a couple of weeks. More typical is the one last week that was about 700 miles over a few days.
The Model S is a great car for a ski trip. Plus it has unlimited free supercharging, so zero cost for fuel.
-IGU-
It would be interesting to see what percentage of the 140K chargers are in good working condition.
It is not a static situation. I sure repairs are made.
It also would never surprise me to see people online put up fake news. Happens. Little guy in a small town buzzing for something to stir the pot.
I’m sure the New York Times likes to stir the pot, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem. One study out of San Franciso found that 25% of the chargers were faulty.
25% Of San Francisco's EV Charging Stations Don't Work - Electric City News.
DB2
…and the duration of this “faultiness” is what?
Forever and ever Mrs Jackson?
Rempel et al.
This study evaluated the functionality of the charging system for 657 EVSE (electric vehicle service equipment) CCS connectors (combined charging system) on all 181 open, public DCFC (direct current fast chargers) charging stations in the Greater Bay Area…Overall, 72.5% of the 657 EVSEs were functional…A random evaluation of 10% of the EVSEs, approximately 8 days after the first evaluation, demonstrated no overall change in functionality…However, if the test methodology had required successful charging with just one credit card, the percent of functional EVSEs would have dropped from 72.5 to 49.2%.
DB2
Bob,
What is the source for that?
Ah, here’s the link:
Some people, myself included, wouldn’t call that a “long drive”. 700 miles in a few days? That’s called commuting. 3000 miles in a couple of weeks? That’s an average of 225 miles a day for 14 days. Peanuts.
When I take a long drive, I’m knocking out 400-500 miles in a day. LA to Phoenix - 350 miles in one day. LA to Seattle - 1100 miles in 2 1/2 days. (Sacramento, first day - 400 miles. Eugene, OR, second day - 450 miles). Of course, there are some breaks as you do these, but they’re short and to the point. Usually carry a cooler with some simple lunches so we can keep rolling. And these aren’t just made-up trips. These are real world drives I’ve done multiple times. The trip to Seattle I’ve done probably a dozen times or more for my wife’s annual family reunion. We don’t go every year, but she got antsy if we missed 2 years in a row.
Some of these are potentially doable with an extended range Tesla (claimed 400 mile range). But probably not doable at the 70-75 MPH speeds I’m driving on the interstates, which is the posted speed limits - not the actual speed most folks drive.
I’m getting from here to there to spend a few days at the destination with family and friends. Yes, I’ve done the more leisurely trips. But it’s not always possible due to time constraints with work and vacation time.
I’m sure it’s possible to carefully plan a proper long road trip around fast charging. But that’s still going to involve at least a one hour stop for charging, and even that assumes an open charger.
Plus - I still can’t get my son’s motorized wheelchair into any Tesla.
–Peter
PS - Your unlimited free supercharging is no longer a thing. It was last offered in 2020. You’ve got to pick up a qualified used model S or X to get it today.
400 miles in a Tesla that has a range or 300-350 miles is fairly easy. You only need to stop once, mid trip, for about 15-20 minutes. So longer than a gas/restroom/snack stop but not excessively. You do have to plan a hotel stop that has a destination charger (max 22 kw, so a free full charge in about 3-4 hours overnight). Or you need another 30 min Supercharger stop in the destination area at dinner or breakfast the next day. But then at ~70 mph you are only driving about 6 hours per day. This doesn’t seem like a rushed trip where an extra 30 minutes matters much or can’t be overlapped with one meal per day.
One thing people have found is that it is better to charge twice per day every 3-4 hours for ~15 minutes rather than think full charge of an hour once per day since the charging rate is higher between 20% - 80% of full. Of course this only works if you have lots of choices of where to charge. Roughly, I see ~30 Superchargers between LA and Seattle on I5. And there are multiple locations with 20 and even 40 stalls.
So progress has been made over the last few years in terms of incrementally longer ranges and more places to fast charge and it will get better and better (rather than worse) going forward for other EV makes.
There is no solution to this any time soon that I’ve heard of. 
Mike
Sure there is! Tesla isn’t the only EV available, there are tons of models nowadays. If you need a vehicle that can fit a heavy wheelchair, you need to buy that kind of vehicle. Maybe a Ford F-150 Lightning might be able to handle it? Obviously with the required modifications for a lift, etc, but any production car would need those modifications.
I’m waiting for an EV minivan to replace our ICE minivan. So far, there are no EV minivans, and unfortunately, minivans have dramatically dropped in popularity, so there may never be one. I may have to opt for some sort of truck instead. I have a cybertruck on order, but no hint of a delivery date yet.
I wonder how big the VW Microbus EV will be?
Chrysler makes a plug in hybrid minivan; about 40 miles on a charge after which it switches to gas. So for most driving it will be on electrons, for longer distances it will be on gas.
I occasionally have to poke Tesla fanbois to remind them that a Tesla is not the perfect car for everyone. My wheelchair comment, in addition to being quite real, is also meant as a way to drag folks back down to earth.
The Lightning wouldn’t fit my need to carry my son while in his chair. He might enjoy riding in the bed with the wind in his hair, but I suspect the local constables won’t approve. 
I’m waiting for an electric full size van. That’s the most likely way to find an EV that works for the wheelchair. And that may actually happen, rather than a minivan, which I fear is dying as you suggest.
–Peter
Not that can be charged at anywhere near 30 (working) fast chargers between LA and Seattle and at numerous destinations (hotels). Maybe in a couple of years the CCS chargers will be working and convenient enough to just jump in and drive (almost) anywhere on the Interstates without any real planning.
Mike
To be fair to the EV industry, as a whole about 1% of the US population are in wheel chairs of some kind (if my googling is right). And some of those at any one time are temporary after some medical procedure. And some, for example are elderly and can stand, but not walk long distances.
As you know, there are many levels of being in a wheel chair, too.
I did have a elderly family friend who passed ~year ago at 95. I was able to get her out of the chair and into my Tesla and put the wheel chair in the trunk, no problem. She was still doing most of her own yard work until about 92.
So I have no idea what percentage need a van, like you (Peter), but it is less than 1%. and no reason to even try and move to an EV van as an early adopter – the CO2 savings and initial cost don’t really make sense…yet.
More googling says that the total market for wheel chair vans is about 40K/yr compared to 18M cars total…so about 0.2%.
Mike
It’s more than just wheelchairs. That’s just my particular method of stirring the pot. There are many other situations where a Tesla won’t work. Got a family of 8? My lowly minivan will do, but you can’t cram 8 people into a Tesla (I think the S with the rear seats only gets to 7, and you really have to not like the people you put into those seats).
My annoyance is the fanbois (a term I use in the most derogatory way possible here) who can’t seem to comprehend any situation where a Tesla isn’t the perfect car. Wheelchair? Just fold it up and put it in the trunk. (Even my son’s manual chair - yes, he has two - doesn’t fold. It has to be disassembled to fit into a trunk.) Tow my travel trailer? A Model X can tow! And CYBERTRUCK!!! (Coming in 2019. Or 2020. Or 2022. Or …)
So when they show up, I like to cause a little problem. To point out their foibles in a fairly gentle, but effective way.
Its my form of entertainment. I don’t get much entertainment these days, as I settle into grumpy old man mode.
–Peter
PS - I really would like an EV. They make a whole lot of sense for my suburban existence. But not at luxury car prices.