Well, considering how much they charge, they should be able to afford good phone support!
In CA at least, EVgo seems to be the most ubiquitous DCFC choice for inter-city travel. They should be, considering they conned the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) to turn an over-$100M fine for energy price manipulation into a "let us install EV charging stations with that money instead, so we can corner the EV charging market" 'punishment'. And they would have (cornered the market), if they had finished the installs when they were supposed to (they were supposed to have finished over 5 years ago, but they still aren't done yet).
However, although I myself have never used one, I always check where they are along my route so that if I need to, I can use one of their (extremely overpriced) stations. It's better than getting stuck.
PS: I have no problem with the idea that the fine was used to install EV charging stations. But the money should have been put into a pot used to finance installation of EV charging by ALL vendors (not used by EVgo's parent Co. to get a dominant position in the marketplace.)
Think about it. Suppose it cost $250K per "charge lot", with two 50 kW DCFCs in each location (more than reasonable, since 50kW units are under $50K each, and that leaves $150K for installation costs, future-proofed - $250K is waaaay more than most of them should cost, but some might cost more). $100M gives 400 "EV lots". DCFCs every ~50 miles along I-5, CA-99, and US-101 I-5 from "northern-most mid-sized city" to San Diego, and I-80 from SF to Reno, and I-10, I-40 & I-15 from LA county limit to Nevada state line. It's a bit under 800 miles from Yreka to San Diego, so sixteen stations covers it. CA-99, and US-101 are considerably shorter, let's say 21 for both - we are up to 40 "charge lots". I-80 from SF to NV border is about 200 miles : another 4 stations. San Bernardino, CA to Las Vegas is about 200 miles, as is San Bernardino to Ehrenberg AZ (route to Phoenix), and Barstow to Needles is only 150 (ignoring all the overlaps), so 15 more stations covers that - we are up to 55. Folsom (near Sacramento) to South Lake Tahoe on US-50 is under 100 miles, so say 4 more. Now were are up to 59 "lots", 120 "plugs", which cover the vast majority of the major routes for CA inter-city travel.
So what to do with the remaining $40M? Put out a call for subsidies. A business can submit an application for a partial subsidy to install 20 kW DCFC units. Requirements:
- charging spots must be marked as "reserved for vehicles actively charging - other vehicles may be towed"
- must be within 2 miles of a freeway or highway exit, which road must have XXX amount of annual traffic (exception for smaller cities, like Yreka)
- area must not already have "sufficient" DCFC coverage (priority to spots where there are fewer DCFC units)
- priority given to spots outside of urban area, about halfway between 50 kW charge lots???
- priority given to businesses willing to install two (or more) DCFCs???
- business must agree to maintain (or replace) units for a minimum of 7 years
- business may not charge more than 2x cost of electricity (exception: they may charge up to tier-2 residential rates for electricity in their area)
- DCFCs must be open to all public - cannot restrict to customers
- business may give preferential rates to customers spending a minimum amount of $$$ at their business
- business must also install (min of 2 per DCFC) L-2 J1772 charge stations (25 amp min) near DCFCs - which CAN be reserved for customers
- business must charge a 'punish' (or parking) fee for users that leave vehicle plugged in after charging rate drops to below 5kW (with 10 minute grace period) - rate must be at least as expensive as would be charged if unit were providing full rated charge to vehicle
- cost (charging fees) must be clearly displayed
- customer must be allowed to pay with a credit card (may use network-specific card as well). $1 fee may be charged for using credit card.
Suppose that the CEC simply gave these units to businesses, and the business was required to pay for installation costs and the electricity. (Installation of a 20 kW unit that runs on 208V 'business' power hookup costs a LOT less than costs to install a 50 kW unit.) Suppose that these 20-25 kW units cost $25K each (which is low, actually). $40M would buy ... 1600 20 kW DCFCs!