Columns in the wrong places, almost always

Charging stations in the wrong places, almost always: a reader’s report from Sicily reignites the issue of charging stress. Vaielettrico responds. To contact us: info@vaielettrico.it

Charging stations in the wrong places: “A disaster in Sicily”

"Electric car? How so? The charging stations? Almost always located in the wrong place. Let me explain further. I own an electric car and live in Palermo. I planned a week-long vacation in Triscina (TP), which I reached with my Leapmotor T03 fully charged at home. The range of about 110 km was covered without any issues, allowing me to reach my destination smoothly. The resort, although equipped with solar panels, unfortunately does not offer charging points. So I had to rely on the nearest charging station, which is about 10 km away. It’s also far from essential services like restaurants and shopping malls. I stayed in the car watching a TV series while waiting to gain enough range to head back home."

At Outlet Village, out of 6 charging stations, only one works

Another planned weekend getaway to the Madonie mountains, specifically the adventure park in Petralia Sottana (PA), about 120 km away. Here too, my electric car brings me great satisfaction, but there are no charging stations near the park. The nearest ones are 6/8 km away, and among those available, only one is functional. I stayed in the car with my whole family to charge it and continue our trip. Next, we visited Sicilia Outlet Village in Agira (EN), where there are 6 super-fast charging stations—only one of them works. Result? We had to manually charge the car. Luckily, the charging process was super fast. Now I understand everything, but does this seem normal to you? It’s an enormous inconvenience—time taken away from my family for what? To charge the car?! If only there had been charging stations near the attractions, so while my family enjoyed their vacation, the car could have charged in the parking lot.

Signposts in the Wrong Places: “Traveling with Anxiety…”

Well, maybe that’s the problem. The charging stations are there (a precise remote check would allow us to know in advance which one to use). But they’re poorly located, really badly. In this age of technology, where the phone doesn’t work due to a lack of internet but the POS for payments works perfectly, is it possible that an amusement park doesn’t have any charging stations nearby? An outlet that attracts people from all over Sicily — is it really impossible to charge there without hassle? From Palermo to Agira (EN), there are only 2 service areas with super-fast charging stations, and both of them are broken on the way to Agira. Meanwhile, all of them work on the way toward Palermo. There are numerous attractions, including natural ones, in our beautiful country, and many of them don’t offer charging services nearby! Well... I’ve traveled with the anxiety of missing an opportunity because my phone ran out of battery. — Salvo Farzone from Palermo.

Response. This is yet another letter of protest regarding the disastrous charging situation in Sicily (this being one of the latest). It should be the regional government that takes control of the situation. They need to realize that this poor service harms not only local residents but also many tourists arriving from the north by electric car. Tourists, especially foreigners, will be very cautious about choosing this island as a destination next time. It’s not that there are a lack of charging stations; rather, they are often located in absurd places or do not work. On top of that, there is the problem of cables being cut by copper thieves. This critical situation does not do justice to such a wonderful island.

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