Charge station real time availablity in Nav?

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Surge

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2014
Messages
256
Location
Toronto, ON
When I tested a loaded REx for 3 days here in Toronto,
None of the public charging stations shown on the nav display
Had any real time info about how many were available or in use.

So there was no way to decide which one to drive to.

Have others experienced this in Toronto or within N America?

My car was connected to the internet.
 
In SF some stations show status. Others don’t. Depends upon the location itself reporting to the network. Nothing to do with the i3.

Regardless of whether it’s through the i3, i App, or PlugShare, I’ve found the feature of dubious value. The ChargePoint stations that are in our city-owned garages, for example, will show available even if the Level 2 plugs are taken because each station has a secondary Level 1 outlet. That’s useless since the cars charging on the Level 2 are occupying the parking spaces at the chargers.

After a handful of such failures, I don’t bother looking at status in advance. I just drive where I need to be and if a charger is open, I’ll plug in.

My purely anecdotal observation is that the number of EVs in SF has grown so rapidly in recent months that finding open public charging is becoming a hassle. My success rate with free chargers is about 25%. The only public station that I can reliably access is a pay-per-charge eVgo location.
 
In my new i3 I don't get any info on charging stations. According to the guys who were walking me through the car as I was about to drive it off the lot, no one could seem to understand why, like it was a problem. The BMW genius showed up at my doorstep (that's cool) to go over the car again and see if there were any issues and I again stated that there is no charging station status showing up, although it does show all the other things like Park n' Rides, airports, etc. He pointed out that the little circle in the display had a line through it so it was not connecting with the mothership. Another week later no one seems to have a clue why, and the dealer here says they've never seen that before (DOH!). So, I have an appointment wednesday to have them hold my car hostage to try and find out why. Luckily I get another i3 for a loaner. Can you say rental car burnoff?

Not a big deal as I don't drive that much so plugging in to my garage when I get back has been fine. And, the plugshare app is way cool, if I should ever need it.

Otherwise my i3 has been killer. I will never buy a pure ICE car ever again. I will have to say for all the killer nice cars I've ever owned, I get more head turns with this car than any other. :shock: Except for the i3 the BMW genius showed up in, I have yet to see another one in Portland. Which is cool, I like having a unique car.
 
DeafSoundGuy said:
In my new i3 I don't get any info on charging stations. According to the guys who were walking me through the car as I was about to drive it off the lot, no one could seem to understand why, like it was a problem. The BMW genius showed up at my doorstep (that's cool) to go over the car again and see if there were any issues and I again stated that there is no charging station status showing up, although it does show all the other things like Park n' Rides, airports, etc. He pointed out that the little circle in the display had a line through it so it was not connecting with the mothership. Another week later no one seems to have a clue why, and the dealer here says they've never seen that before (DOH!). So, I have an appointment wednesday to have them hold my car hostage to try and find out why. Luckily I get another i3 for a loaner. Can you say rental car burnoff?

Not a big deal as I don't drive that much so plugging in to my garage when I get back has been fine. And, the plugshare app is way cool, if I should ever need it.

Otherwise my i3 has been killer. I will never buy a pure ICE car ever again. I will have to say for all the killer nice cars I've ever owned, I get more head turns with this car than any other. :shock: Except for the i3 the BMW genius showed up in, I have yet to see another one in Portland. Which is cool, I like having a unique car.
Click to expand...


I just bought a laurel grey BEV from BMW of Portland so now you're not the only one you'll see. ;) I live in Beaverton and work in the pearl downtown.
 
I was in north london yesterday and noticed a much denser level of charging provision there, however i am unclear on realtime availabilty.

Also although i can see the 'plug' charger icons on screen i am not clear if there is a shortcut to navigate to them directly from the nav screen or if one has to go into another page?

Nice to see plenty of chargers though, even if its not near where i live!
 

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