Credit: Brooke Crothers What follows is not an argument against electric vehicles. But a warning about the misery that may await you at the “pump.” With all the new EV offerings flooding the market from American, German, South Korean, and Japanese car manufacturers, you may be thinking: “Hmm...I want something different. Maybe I won’t go with a Tesla.” But be careful what you wish for. I would equate the choice roughly to choosing Windows over Mac. One platform is open, the other is comparatively closed but reliable. It’s not a pretty picture and may get uglier: Don’t underestimate the frustration and chaos you will face with public charging if you opt for the open platform. I speak from experience in Los Angeles County — the largest county by population in the U.S. with almost 10 million people and a Mecca for EVs. And I’ve been in both camps. Currently, I’m driving a Chevy Bolt and a Cadillac Lyric (the latter a loaner from General Motors.) To put it in perspective: if you’re old enough you may remember the gas rationing of the early 1970s. When some states enacted odd-even rationing systems. And you may remember the lines and long wait times just to put a few measly gallons of gas in your tank. Well, it’s worse in many parts of Los Angeles as of August 2024. Because in addition to the wait time in the lines, add charging, which can take up to an hour or more. Fun and games: As I write this, I’m sitting at an Electrify America charging station in Santa Clarita, Calif., about 30 minutes north of Burbank. One of three EA level 3 fast charging locations in the Santa Clarita Valley. I’ve been here for two hours and just now reaching the end of my charging session. The problem is two of the three EA charging locations in Santa Clarita are down so everyone is mobbing the remaining EA location at Walmart that’s up. And people are not happy. Santa Clarita is a hotspot for charging because it’s on Interstate 5 and a starting point for travelers headed for points north. I chatted with the guy in front of me in a Volkswagen ID.4. The first words out of his mouth: “This is ridiculous.” I won’t go into all the frustration I’ve had over the years at public charging stations. (For more see this story.) And I’m not saying that Tesla’s Supercharger network is above reproach. But on balance it’s a very different experience. And just to validate this as of August 3, 2024, I visited two Tesla Supercharger charging locations near my home in Los Angeles. One has 24 Superchargers, the other 32. Compare this to the EA locations that have six at most. The mood at both Supercharger locations was relaxed. At one location there were 12 chargers free, at the other more than 20 were free. MORE FOR YOU ‘Vicious Spiral’ Alert Issued After Donald Trump Proposed A ‘Massive,’ Radical Plan To Pay Off $35 Trillion Of U.S. National Debt