How Uber, Lyft, Electrify America, EVgo, Tesla And Lack Of Knowledge Led To Chicago's EV Disaster"Let's discuss the bigger issue in Chicago though and that's the massive EV ridesharing fleet. When Kyle visited a Supercharging site in Chicago, nearly every Tesla there was either an Uber or Lyft rental car. There were Uber/Lyft Chevy Bolts and other EVs too.
These rideshare EVs clogged the charging stations and since most of these cars are rented out in an already-cold state and then often driven slowly and on very short trips, these cars never warm up sufficiently. Add in the fact that most Uber/Lyft drivers likely know next to nothing about EVs and preconditioning and you can begin to see why they contributed significantly to the charging issue in Chicago.
Additionally, most of these drivers don't know that in extremely cold weather, it can take 45 minutes to an hour after plugging in before charging starts. During this time, the car draws a small charge to heat the battery so that it can accept a charge. If you unplug during this process, then it starts over when you move to another charger. So, if you see that you are drawing a small amount of power from the charger, keep the vehicle plugged in until that rate increases. This may take much more time than anticipated."
Then this:
"The Tale Of The One-Day Bolt Rental That Turned Into 3 Days Of Hell
Lastly, there's an interesting Chevy Bolt rideshare story that's covered in the video. A rideshare driver rented a Bolt and proceeded to do his pick-ups and drop-offs. He had rented the Bolt for one day. At the end of the day, he took the Bolt to the charger with just 1 mile of charge remaining.
The stations were all full so he left the Bolt there in hopes of returning later to plug in. He couldn't stay in the Bolt with the heat on because that would have fully depleted the battery. Over three days, he returned various times to try to find an open stall. He was hoping to get just 10 miles of range so that the Bolt could be returned to the rental site. It wasn't until day three that a stall finally opened up and he could get his much-needed charge.
However, during those three days, the Bolt driver had to rent another car for ridesharing (a Hyundai IONIQ Hybrid) so that he could continue his money-making work. So, he had two cars on rent since the Bolt sat still at the charger. He did attempt to get it towed to the rental agency, but the two truck companies in the area were overwhelmed at the time, so it wasn't worth the wait."