A Tesla Uber driver may feel down because of a lack of charging stations.
According to Adam Nelson and David Waterworth
I’ve been offering transportation services for Uber, Didi, Ola, and my own company for more than 6 years, and I also accept ridesharing reservations from other companies. I bought a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range last year. I’ve traveled 70,000 kilometers (43,500 miles) in a year, and I average 250 to 500 kilometers (155 to 310 miles) every day in a vehicle with a 420-kilometer range (260 miles). If you want to make more money and go more than 420 miles, you will need to stop by the nearest DC fast charger and recharge for about 3055 minutes. It is crucial to have a quick and dependable EV charging infrastructure when operating as a rideshare driver. This entails that you can accept the rides that pay the most money while saving time and planning more effectively by charging during the slower periods.
I have to travel to the Fortitude Valley Superchargers every day because I reside in the Brisbane CBD and my apartment’s parking lot isn’t yet equipped with electric chargers (2 km). To prepare the automobile with a full charge, I can do this either before or after a shift.
Other places don’t always have enough charging bays available, therefore I can’t always find a quick charge. Nissan LEAFs, plug-in hybrids, or Mercedes-Benz EVs may occasionally occupy charging spaces by using the DC fast charger bays for extended periods of time. You can become frustrated as a result and miss the typical start times for rideshare drivers.
I’ve been experimenting by choosing various jobs between intercity and local drop-offs. Normally, Uber gives you 15 seconds to accept or decline a task. Based on your total battery charge status, as well as weather conditions that may shorten your range, you must rapidly evaluate whether it is worthwhile to take short or long journeys. To put it another way, just picture yourself with a bunch of figures and equations swimming around in your head, and you have 15 seconds to estimate the amount of energy needed for the full trip without canceling on the passenger. For predicting pickup and return round trips, people occasionally use the Tesla app and third-party applications like A Better Route Planner .
Over the course of a year, I have had largely positive experiences with EV ridesharing. My most recent encounter took place last month. I typically choose UberX, Comfort, and Premier Jobs for intercity trips. It’s great to read the waybill for a fare of $150356. There is a danger associated with this, though, as the car truly needs at least an 80% charge to do the round trip without stopping at a charging station. Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Caboolture, or Toowoomba are examples of intercity runs. Due to the abundance of chargers, Gold Coast is the best place. Unless your consumer is close to the Maroochydore Supercharger, the Sunshine Coast could be worse.
My point will be illustrated by a current instance. It was 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday when I was at Brisbane Airport. I have been waiting in the holding room for 2050 minutes without being assigned a job. By pure luck, a trip notification for a lengthy, 45 day trip becomes available for $200. This indicates that the cost is greater than 45 minutes, and the trip from the airport to Brisbane city is farther than a quick local hop. After a few seconds of umming and ahhing while looking at the Tesla info screen’s 59 percent battery level, I accepted the ride with the passenger and just made the decision to live with the consequences.
I had to transport the client and his boys Lachlan and Tom to Noosa on the Sunshine Coast when they were at the Brisbane Airport. After speaking with the parent and getting confirmation of the drop-off location, I checked the Tesla navigation to see what time I would arrive and how much battery I would have left before moving further. I located Lachlan and Tom in the terminal and, with 59 percent of the battery’s capacity remaining, started my Tesla’s direct, nonstop trip to Sunshine Coast.
When trying to return home at this point, you start to run into range problems. In Australia, it is winter, and it is also raining. With cold batteries and typical highway speeds, you could lose 5% of your range. These elements will make the projected range smaller. I travel 69 percent of the way to Sunshine Coast, or about 60 kilometers, and then, at one in the morning, I spend five minutes looking at PlugShare and various charging stations nearby. If you’ve ever visited the Sunshine Coast or Noosa, you are aware of the restricted options for charging stations. I ultimately spent an hour charging to 100% capacity at a Queensland government EV super highway charger (50 kW) while traveling to the Cooroy train station. Road closures at the time made the route more challenging.
It was now around 3 a.m. Please take note that I accepted the transport at 10:30 or 11:00 pm and have yet to arrive back in Brisbane. I got home around 4:30 a.m. It took a lot of time, and it was irritating.
You could be thinking that I ought to have charged my phone before leaving Brisbane. Unless you can balance your scheduled day with recharges and clients using your own branded independent rideshare service, your normal Tesla Uber driver won’t always have a full charge and 420 km of range. This is especially true when running a daily routine and a randomized schedule. Compared to playing snakes and ladders on Uber or other rideshare services, this is simple.
Installing a bank of 75 kW chargers at practical areas where rideshare drivers wait for passengers would be the straightforward solution. Typically, car parks near Australian airports are used as holding spaces for companies that provide ridesharing, taxi, limo, or other airport ground transportation. However, these parking lots lack EV chargers.
After purchasing my EV, I made an effort to persuade Brisbane Airport Corporation to install chargers in the area designated for taxis, ridesharing services, and limousines (this is a rideshare geofencing tagged area where you can wait and receive trips if a Tesla Uber driver travels outside this area, he wont be allowed to pick up airport trips). At DFO, Brisbane Airport Corporation provides 4 EV chargers initially for personnel. Instead of extending this product into a specific GTO area, BAC stated that they were not interested and ignored the problem.
Rows of solar-powered carports with DC fast chargers in between them are my recommended remedy. While cars are waiting for work in feeding and holding areas, this would enable rapid charging. Typically, vehicles can idle for 15 to 60 minutes in rideshare zones, which is long enough to fully recharge an EV and take care of any range problems that rideshare, taxi, and limo ground transportation operators might experience.
Airports are passing up a fantastic chance to earn money and carbon credits. They might either manage and brand the chargers themselves or outsource the service. Many interested bidders, including Tesla, Chargefox, Evie Network, and others, would participate. There will be demand for solutions like these to be put into place for Tesla Uber drivers as more EVs enter the ground transportation industry at airports.
I’ll be able to get to bed earlier and provide consumers with a better rideshare service once they accomplish this.
The featured image is a gift from Adam Nelson.
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