Electric vehicles (EVs) have one really big problem

I have wanted an electric car pretty much since they first became viable. It’s not that I’m overly environmentalist, but I do love the idea of not having to pay for gas.

Yes, electricity is not free, but it’s very close to being free compared to the price of a gallon of gas.

Unfortunately, most electric vehicles were not practical purchases for me. Many were more expensive than what I was willing to spend on a car, and some simply did not fit our needs for a vehicle.

We have a very small, two-car garage and a very narrow driveway. We purchased a new Kia Soul, essentially because it was the only car that was reasonably affordable that also fit in our garage.

Our son needed a car, so we gave him my Toyota Prius, and I bought my first electric car, a 2017 BMW i3. It was a modest purchase by BMW standards at about $11,000.

It’s also not entirely electric. It has a 2-gallon gas tank that can be used to create electricity. Under most circumstances, on a full charge, using the middle efficiency settings, I get about 125 miles from the electric battery.

💵💰Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter 💰💵

It’s a little more for local driving and a little less for highway driving. The extra tank, which BMW calls the Range Extender, gives me another 80 or so miles.

The gas tank also offers an option when charging is not possible.

The BMW i3 has a relatively short range.

Image source: BMW

EV charging does not work the way I thought it did

We installed a level two charging station in our garage. That means I can charge at home, but with three cars to juggle, it’s often a hassle to get into position to charge my car.

A level two charger is not a quick process. It takes maybe five or six hours to fully charge the car. That would be adequate if we had a bigger garage, but on many occasions, I have found myself looking for a charging station.

The good news is that for level three charging stations, I do have a couple of options. In theory, there are two charging stations at the Wawa about two miles from our house.

I say in theory, because while I’ve seen other people charge there, I’ve never been able to make it work. I downloaded the app, backed into the space, plugged in, and I never got it to work.

More on travel:

Florida Light and Power, our electric company, also has four charging stations not too far, maybe a little over two miles from our house. Those actually work, but I did not realize how slowly even a level three charger works.

In about half an hour, I can charge my battery maybe 70% of the way. Once I hit 80%, the charger slowed down, so that’s clearly how much it wants me to charge.

America does not have enough charging stations

While there are only a couple of options to charge near where we live, there don’t seem to be that many other people needing to charge their cars.

When we're in a bigger city, there are more chargers, but way too many people using them.

The electric company app shows me how many chargers each station has and how many are being used. It is not, however, very good at showing you which ones aren’t working at that moment.

Having many broken chargers can lead to going into a place to charge your car and not actually being able to do it. Since it takes a half hour or more, many people go grab a coffee, do some shopping or otherwise leave their cars while they power up.

That means that many of the charging stations may be occupied by cars that have already been charged. It's frustrating, and charging takes a lot longer than filling up with gas did.

Buying an electric car has meant always considering where I am going to charge it. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s much more frustrating than I thought it would be.

If I did not have the range extender, I would be constantly worried about it. There simply aren’t enough charging stations, and too many of the ones that exist can only charge Tesla vehicles.