New EV owner here. We charge at home so I don’t need to use them, but stores nearby have chargers. I tried them to see how they work. They are often broken.
One store has a Volta charger (free!). It worked great the first time; the next time I went it was broken.
Walmart has an Electrify America fast charger. The first time I went, 1 of 3 was not working. The next time I went, 1 of 3 was not working, but it was a different one.
Was I unlucky, or are these charging networks unreliable? Has it been getting better or worse over time?
Tesla almost always works. Electrify America is like 90% operable every time I’ve used one. Charge Point is a literal 50/50 (last station I visited 2/3 were broken) I’ve never even seen a Blink charger.
The charger at my house has been working great for 7 years, and it’s installed outside and gets weather, but it’s California weather, so it never long-term extremes. It also where I charge 99% of the time.
The one that came with the car was a 120 volt, and I think I’ve used it once, but it was too slow.