Volta

Tesla News Tonight here at a Volta EV charging station! Two connectors. Two hour time limit to charge. Next time I visit, I'll check out the rate of charge.

I took a few selfies with the Volta EV charging station. Like I said, there were two connector ports.

#1:

And #2:

As you might be able to tell, this Volta EV charging station is right next to an AMC theater. However, there is a two hour time limit. What if your movie runs long? What are the consequences for staying longer than two hours?

If the issue is the concern that a charger won't be available for a third Volta hopeful chargee, then shouldn't Shell just build more chargers here? They've had since March 2023. This charger is at the Rockaway Mall. On the other end of the parking lot is a beautiful Tesla Supercharger nook. I have reported on that supercharger. I shall return.

But this Volta spot doesn't make too much sense after you think about for long enough. At least that's what I thought. These two chargers had big, bright screens with obnoxious advertisements blasting useless light in the general area. I'm obviously not into that type of advertising. The location of the Tesla Supercharger was much better.

Wanna know what's up with Volta? On March 31, 2023, news broke by Shell and Volta that Shell bought Volta. The deal is final. I doubt that the people at Shell have their hearts in EV charging stations. It was about a $169 million dollar deal.

Shell boasted that they have a goal of 500,000 EV chargers by 2025. They currently have about 3,000, maybe 3,100. Am I missing something on their website? How would this goal be accomplished? What size investment in new chargers will Shell make? They didn't even mention an initial investment in more EV charging stations, but a goal without a plan is pretty weak. I don't mean to run any other EV charging stations into the ground. I don't even own an EV (at least not until I get my Tesla). I'm rooting for competent, alternatives to a Tesla Supercharger. But these chargers I'm coming across aren't much to talk about. You can really see for yourself how the Tesla ecosystem comes together, in part, just by visiting the stations, farting around a bit with the buttons and connectors — just being nosey overall works. None I've seen so far are as seamless as Tesla’s simplified complex charging system. And the Superchargers are so much sexier than the competition. Even compared to gas/diesel/petrol station pumps are bulkier, utilitarian, uglier than the brand that made EVs S3XY.

Later.

Sources:

Shell USA finalizes acquisition of Volta:

https://voltacharging.com/press-news

Volta:

https://voltacharging.com/

It was a chore to get to the actual article. That was a red flag. Here's the link from the Shell website: https://www.shell.us/media/2023-media-releases/shell-usa-inc-finalizes-acquisition-of-volta-inc.html

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