Niya Esperanza was experiencing that new-car buzz we all get after she purchased her brand-new electric vehicle. She purchased a Hyundai Kona, believing that she was investing in the environment by making the switch to emission-free transportation.
Unfortunately, that buzz wore off quickly when she realized that range anxiety as an EV owner is a real and scary thing. One day, when driving her car, she noticed that her battery charge was running low.
Charging Station Nightmare
Normal, everyday happening, right? I mean, we all have to refuel our vehicles. If you need to fill your gas tank, just take the next exit and pull into a pump. But for an EV, it's not that easy.
Niya located the nearest charging station and mapped her way there so that she could recharge her EV. She was a ways away from home and hoped to get in a quick charging session and be on her way again quickly.
But that's not what happened. After pulling into the station, she realized all the chargers were broken even though the app indicated otherwise. It dawned on her that she would have to find another station.
Stressing to The Max
So she located another station, but at this point, she only had 3 percent battery life on her car. It would be a nail-biting drive, but the alternative was to stay where she was and let the battery die.
She took the chance and drove to station #2, and on her way, the battery charge dropped to 1 percent.
“I can see that I was at one percent charge, and I figured since I've driven for a while of it reading zero, I'd be OK, but all of a sudden, I just had no power,” Niya recalled. “I was fully accelerating, and there was literally nothing happening.”
A Happy Ending
She made it through two more stoplights to an available charging spot right in time.
Want to see her tell the whole story? Here's the TikTok:
@niyaesperanza This was way more stressful than I imagined it would be 😂 #electriccar #carcharging #hyundai #hyundaikonaelectric ♬ original sound – Niya Esperanza
Recent surveys, such as those conducted by J.D. Power, show that 20 percent of EV owners admit to arriving at charging stations only to leave without charging their vehicles.
While we hope that charging infrastructure improves soon, the reality is that it will take a while.