Tried using an Electrify America station last week and the charger was broken. Seems like every time I plan a road trip, I find out some of the fast chargers on my route are down for maintenance. Is this still a common problem or am I just unlucky?
You're hitting a real problem that lots of EV owners deal with - downtime at public chargers is still pretty frequent, though it varies wildly by region and network. The issue is that these stations get hammered by heavy use, weather, and sometimes just poor maintenance scheduling, so having a backup plan (knowing which chargers to avoid or having a second route option) is honestly essential for road trips right now. It's getting better as networks expand and operators learn what works, but I'd say you're not unlucky so much as experiencing what's still a genuine growing pain in the charging infrastructure.
It's not just bad luck, but it's also not quite as universal as it might feel when you hit a few broken ones in a row. The networks are expanding faster than maintenance infrastructure can keep up, and some operators are better at keeping their stuff running than others. If you're planning road trips, checking the apps 24 hours before you leave and having a backup route with alternative chargers makes a real difference - lots of folks find that one or two networks in their area are noticeably more reliable than the rest, so it's worth mapping that out before you commit to a route.
Have you checked the charger status apps before you leave, or are you discovering the outages once you're already on the road?
The frustration is real, and it sounds like you've just been unlucky with the timing on a few trips. That said, there's definitely a maintenance problem across most networks - they're spreading stations faster than they're building out the service teams to keep them running. Some regions are way better than others though. Tesla's Supercharger network tends to have fewer outages, partly because they own the whole ecosystem and can coordinate faster, but public networks like Electrify America are still playing catch-up with staffing and parts availability 🚗
Here's what a lot of folks miss: don't just plan your route around chargers - actually *check the live status* 15-30 minutes before you need to use one. Most apps show real-time availability now, and it beats showing up to a broken unit. Also build in a backup charger or two along your route, even if they're slightly out of the way. Level 2 chargers are almost never down, so having one as a fallback (even if it takes longer) saves you from getting stranded. The networks are improving, especially as competition heats up, but until the maintenance infrastructure catches up, planning around outages is just part of the road trip reality right now 😅
The outage situation definitely feels worse when you're in the middle of planning - I've had trips derailed by finding out mid-route that half my charging stops were down. What helped me was building in buffer time and always having a backup charger location that's maybe 20-30 miles further, so I'm not completely stranded if one network is having issues. Are you using the network apps to check status before you leave, or would that feel like too much extra prep work for a road trip?
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