Charging the Taycan TS in a strange little town called Baker

SWORDER

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2021
Threads
37
Messages
165
Reaction score
244
Location
USA
Vehicles
2021 Taycan Turbo S
Country flag
I'm charging my car in a strange and eerie little town called Baker, CA. I pass through it when running between Las Vegas and San Diego.

It's a new(ish) charging station with twelve chargers. I've found that at any given time:

  • At least four will display an error message on-screen
  • Two will be completely off
  • Of the one's that remain, maybe two or three will work but at speeds far lower than what's printed on the charger. In this case, I was lucky to get a 350 kW charger that put out around 150 kW. There are also some 150 kW chargers that'll put out 30-50 kW. The others will error out after the 'initiating charge' phase.

There's a huge number of Tesla chargers here. At least a couple dozen. You can kind of catch a glimpse of them in the right of the picture. Tesla people just pull up, charge, and leave. The whole "trying to find a charger that works" issue isn't even on their radar. :/



Porsche Taycan Charging the Taycan TS in a strange little town called Baker photo_2022-09-03_09-11-07
Sponsored

 

Tooney

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2021
Threads
333
Messages
2,206
Reaction score
1,736
Location
Ohio
Vehicles
2022 Taycan 4S
Country flag
I was interested in what a couple of charging site status apps say about the EA station in Baker, CA, right now.
MyPorsche says one 350kw charger is occupied, the others "out of service" for over 12 hours. Two 150kw chargers are available, the others are out of service.
Below is PlugShare. Says "partial repair" but still gives the site a 10!
There are PlugShare user reports indicating things were not working.
Porsche Taycan Charging the Taycan TS in a strange little town called Baker 1662225231332
 
  • Like
Reactions: B61
OP
OP
SWORDER

SWORDER

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2021
Threads
37
Messages
165
Reaction score
244
Location
USA
Vehicles
2021 Taycan Turbo S
Country flag
I was interested in what a couple of charging site status apps say about the EA station in Baker, CA, right now.
MyPorsche says one 350kw charger is occupied, the others "out of service" for over 12 hours. Two 150kw chargers are available, the others are out of service.
Below is PlugShare. Says "partial repair" but still gives the site a 10!
There are PlugShare user reports indicating things were not working.
1662225231332.png
PlugShare is a great app but I think a lot of times users mark "success," even after four or five failed attempts -- as long as the last one actually worked.

I always rate success/failure based upon my first attempt. I plug into the first charger I see that doesn't have an obvious error message on the screen. And my success/failure rating is based on that attempt.
 

Tooney

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2021
Threads
333
Messages
2,206
Reaction score
1,736
Location
Ohio
Vehicles
2022 Taycan 4S
Country flag
Maybe EA wants to be sure you fully enjoy seeing "The world's largest thermometer" in Baker. ;)
 

slothinker

Well-Known Member
First Name
Todd
Joined
Mar 31, 2022
Threads
7
Messages
257
Reaction score
133
Location
San Luis Obispo, CA
Vehicles
911 (now sold), Toyota MR2, BMW 328i (now sold)
Country flag
This report is typical of all the EA stations I've encountered in California (so far). Although undoubtedly not intended by this VW subsidy, these systems seem to be aimed at an environment where an occasional EV rolls through rather than the U.S. (and presumably German) gas station model which expects real, continuous traffic at their pumps.

The structure, however, is very attractive.
 


lcarron

Well-Known Member
First Name
Laurent
Joined
Jun 16, 2021
Threads
35
Messages
301
Reaction score
137
Location
USA
Vehicles
Cross Turismo 4S
Country flag
Last time I stopped there in Baker it was not really good. Luckily it was late and I was the only one. I was hunting for a good charger. Close by a bank of 64 chargers were available for Teslas. Very impressive.
 

gusone

Well-Known Member
First Name
gus
Joined
Sep 3, 2021
Threads
21
Messages
595
Reaction score
621
Location
South East London
Vehicles
BMW Series 3 XDRIVE M SPORT
Country flag
Last time I stopped there in Baker it was not really good. Luckily it was late and I was the only one. I was hunting for a good charger. Close by a bank of 64 chargers were available for Teslas. Very impressive.
64!

I get excited if a Shell garage over here has 4 x 175kw chargers.
Sponsored

 
 




Top