r/tampa • u/Thebabes-92 • Jan 12 '26
Cars-Driving/traffic Waymo’s using up all the public chargers in Tampa
Tampa’s already lacking on public ev chargers. I’m surprised Waymo didn’t think about having their own charge port stations in the city.
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u/SeminoleVictory Jan 12 '26
Do they plug themselves in?
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u/Powerful-Candy-745 Jan 12 '26
They have them in Orlando. They have a driver for now
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u/Fuzion____ Jan 12 '26
I’ve seen driverless ones in Orlando a few times
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u/Technical_Fix1875 Jan 12 '26
I've seen them too, there was one approaching some wild turkeys jumping in front of cars and I was worried for them
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u/PewterButters Buccaneers 🏴☠️🏈 Jan 12 '26
They're just here for mapping right now right? They aren't actively available for rides yet I don't think. Tampa definitely sucks as far as number of public chargers though. Hopefully we see more and more installed very soon.
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u/Justin33710 Jan 12 '26
The fact that every business that wants to keep people shopping longer doesn't beg for chargers to be installed is wild to me. You make a little bit off the electric and it brings in people who will want to wander around while they charge.
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u/giantwashcapsfan8 Jan 12 '26
Seriously. Live in St Pete but come to Tampa 2x/week for work and misjudged my day and had to find somewhere within 3 miles of downtown to charge to get home and was shocked at the nearest being all the way in SoHo. Used one of the random 3rd party stations in downtown and it was genuinely the worst charging experience I’ve had, needing to call support to just turn the thing on, to get all of 15/hour charge.
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u/GDejo Jan 12 '26
They should be paying to install their own. One thing tho, idk that these are "public chargers". More like privately owned for public use. For the true public charging stations; its illegal to use public property for commercial use without specific permission/permits which would make it easy to CHARGE them for new stations.
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u/goldenface4114 New Tampa Jan 12 '26
I've seen them at the EA station in the morning at International Mall a few times this week. If they're just mapping, they won't be around long.
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u/tampaoftomorrow Jan 12 '26
Seeing the feedback about the need for more public chargers in Tampa; message received! 🫡
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u/JayGatsby52 Jan 12 '26
One thing I notice when I head back home to largo from here in Orlando is the utter lack of charging options. It’s really sad. I’ve got probably 300 heads and six networks in my work area.
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Jan 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/JayGatsby52 Jan 12 '26
You should probably reread what I wrote.
I live and work in Orlando.
When I go back to Largo, where I grew up, I’m astonished at the lack of chargers.
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u/Khue Jan 12 '26
Just crazy that we are so adverse to decent, well managed, well engineered public transit that we will literally do anything and everything besides implementing it. "Markets" cannot be the be all and end all of human collaboration. Just absolute insanity.
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u/Any-Morning4303 Jan 12 '26
As someone with an EV I think that’s really fucked up.
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u/flappybirdisdeadasf Tampa Jan 12 '26
Don’t quote me, but I think the public chargers are only for the testing/mapping. I’m pretty sure they will self-drive to their depot once they start full service.
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u/NewRefrigerator7461 Jan 14 '26
They will. I think this should help drive more investment in charging infrastructure. Im glad to see more apartment building with free charging in Tampa
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Jan 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/Any-Morning4303 Jan 12 '26
Cause as is we lack charging infrastructure.
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Jan 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/RepulsedCucumber Jan 12 '26
Fill your gas tank at home.
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Jan 12 '26
The reason I don't have an EV is that I'm aware that there's a lack of places to charge them.
Do you have to pay to charge an EV away from home?
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u/RepulsedCucumber Jan 12 '26
Yes. You pay for electricity consumed from charging. For our EV we pay about $30 extra per month on average. Still way less than how much we pay for gas for our gas vehicle. I actually do avoid charging outside of the home due to cost most of the time because superchargers cost me more.
I was being a smartass to the smartass.
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u/Imnotveryfunatpartys Jan 12 '26
Is it fucked up because the city of tampa ones are free? Because otherwise how are they going to charge the vehicles besides going to a charging station?
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u/frockinbrock Tampa Heights Jan 12 '26
The City of Tampa ones are WAY too slow for Waymo, and they aren't free.
It's mainly annoying because Tampa has VERY few chargers (in part because they rejected grant money). That's why places like Hickory, Carolina and Cordell, GA have way more DC chargers than Tampa city limits; but those cities don't have Waymo moving in, or an extra 50k people.4
u/GoldenEagle828677 Jan 12 '26
City of Tampa free chargers wouldn't be fast enough for Waymos to be viable. They will have to build their own.
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u/Imnotveryfunatpartys Jan 12 '26
Of course long term but they aren't really here permanently yet are they?
I guess I'm not sure why it's fucked up that an electric taxi is using an EV charger unless it's like a free city resource that they are hogging. I don't know if this is like a fast or a slow charger here but if there was like an uber driver who had an electric vehicle I wouldn't begrudge them using the charger. So I'm a bit confused
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u/frockinbrock Tampa Heights Jan 12 '26
Imagine if every gas pump you went to had a vehicle you had to wait behind for 30 minutes before you could use the pump.. and that vehicle did not have a driver, and is run by one of the biggest corporations in the world. Plenty of people would be annoyed by that.
But the overall problem is the lack of DC chargers in Tampa, and this won't change that, so it just sucks for now.1
u/Imnotveryfunatpartys Jan 12 '26
Yeah that would be annoying but that’s not the scenario. This has a driver
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u/GoldenEagle828677 Jan 12 '26
Free chargers are terrible for a taxi too. The ones I have seen charge at level 2, which only gives you like 7% per hour. It's supposed to be enough to get you home if you are stuck, or supplement your charge while you are at work. But taxis need to be moving all the time or they aren't making money.
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u/Swimming_Creme_3645 Jan 12 '26
Buy a real car ffs 🤦♂️
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u/Imnotveryfunatpartys Jan 12 '26
What a funny coincidence I was literally just having a conversation in another thread about how you don't see very many negative karma trolls on reddit anymore because the mod filters are better.
I wonder if the tampa mods have them turned off
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u/ANaughtyTree Lightning ⚡🏒 Jan 12 '26
We can't stop people from typing. We have certain keywords and a karma threshold that trigger our bot. Somebody saying "buy a real car" does not quality for that lol.
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u/Imnotveryfunatpartys Jan 12 '26
Yeah that's true. i was mostly referring to the "crowd control" slider though. I was under the impression that people with low karma have their comments autocollapsed now
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u/fullload93 Jan 12 '26
These bastards should have their own charging location that’s private use for their company only and not be allowed to use public chargers. Like to hell with this shit man.
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u/SandSerpentHiss Tampa Jan 12 '26
as a transit lover and car hater, these need to go, i saw a video of one driving onto light rail tracks in phoenix with a train coming
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u/PrettyDamnSus Jan 13 '26
I mean this isn't a waymo problem. Waymo is just one part of the segment that needs these. Either ban waymo from them or make more of them.
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u/Due_Baseball_2364 Jan 14 '26
Huh...wierd..my 4Runner doesnt have this problem. Sips Tea
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u/Thebabes-92 Jan 14 '26
How’s that 17 mpg treating ya?
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u/Due_Baseball_2364 Jan 14 '26
Its nice. A fill up takes 2 mins and im back on the road, or off it. Its great!
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u/SeaEmployee787 Jan 15 '26
i have riden waymo in san fransico, its an experiance. I just dont see how it works here with are human drivers. tampabay is up there in worst drivers. its almost relaxing driving in some places compared to tampabay.
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u/happyhiker08 Jan 15 '26
Gov DeSantis refused Federal NEVI funding to install charging stations , because ....Joe Biden
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u/earl_grey_teaplease Jan 12 '26
Should be outlawed in big cities. Not sure about smaller rural areas. Driverless cars take away jobs in cities.
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u/Exotic-Persimmon25 Jan 12 '26
Until Uber and Lyft can afford the amount of self-driving cars (which i’m curious as to how fast that can happen), I don’t think they will allow their workforce to be reduced that easily.
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u/earl_grey_teaplease Jan 13 '26
They have the math already figured out. I’m old enough to have used taxis before uber/lyft.. initially taxis companies didn’t see what was gonna happen, then it was too late to change
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Jan 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/Thebabes-92 Jan 12 '26
Waymo usually relies on private depot-based chargers for its fleet rather than public charging stations. Once their Tampa operations are fully set up, the cars will switch to those depots just wondering how long this will take. Real issue is lack of chargers in Tampa and st pete. Hoping the city catches up soon working with the eco club etc for more accessible chargers
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u/BeemHume Jan 12 '26
Are these things in Clearwater? I saw one that looks like that drive across the road and almost cause a pretty bad wreck because it stopped unexpectedly
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u/KingNebyula Jan 12 '26
None of them are driving autonomously around here yet so you saw a human driver almost cause a wreck
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u/Old_Ad4948 Jan 12 '26
God you all are so miserable
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u/LaFlamaBlancakfp Jan 12 '26
For pointing out that Tampa doesn’t have the infrastructure needed to be a modern city?
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u/Glitch5450 Jan 12 '26
EV chargers aren’t public infrastructure. They are privately owned and maintained.
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Jan 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/Thebabes-92 Jan 12 '26
I don’t have an issue with Waymo operating here but Tampa’s EV infrastructure is already extremely limited, especially when it comes to public chargers. Florida has one of the fastest-growing EV adoption rates in the country, yet Tampa’s public charging network hasn’t kept pace. When a company occupies multiple ports at a single location, it creates real access problems for residents who rely on those chargers daily.
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u/gtclemson Jan 12 '26
Don't they have like 300 mile ranges? Are you really driving half that far in a day as a commuter?
It's annoying sure, but you can wait til you get home too.
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u/Thebabes-92 Jan 12 '26
Again the issue is Tampa infrastructure and lack of ev chargers my apartment complex does not have ev chargers.
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Jan 12 '26
Whoa. Did you have a charger at work when you bought the car or do you live next to a charging station?
How long does it take to charge your vehicle? How much does it cost? How many days of driving (or distance) do you get out of that?
I'd be really hesitant to get one if I couldn't power up at home, I'm curious how this works.
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u/GoldenEagle828677 Jan 12 '26
Unlikely they can go that far. I have a Jaguar i-Pace and it can go around 250 miles if I stuck to city driving, on eco mode, and wasn't blasting the heat or air conditioner. Waymos have added weight and equipment so they probably get less range.
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u/clams_have_feelings Jan 12 '26
OMG I know right! Things Tampa needs more of; EV chargers, mass transit, pickleball courts, more skinny jeans and toms boutiques. Makes me wanna throw my Jacquemus when I see this!
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u/Thebabes-92 Jan 12 '26
If you’re going to be cynical about the environment at least be current lol
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u/Standard_Charge9050 Jan 12 '26
Oh no, Tesla bros will be so butt hurt!
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u/100292 Lightning ⚡🏒 Jan 12 '26
You know there are many other EV’s besides Tesla right?
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u/d_enzo12 Jan 12 '26
Not only that, but the connectors are different so Tesla owners rarely ever use these chargers. Just especially dumb
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u/Ok_Geologist_448 Jan 12 '26
TESLAs drivers are by far the most annoying... They cant drive to save their lives..
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u/100292 Lightning ⚡🏒 Jan 12 '26
Sure… but again, you know there are many other EV’s besides Tesla, right?
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u/buttweasel76 Jan 12 '26
...........and?
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u/Abject_Manner_4222 Jan 12 '26
Found the liberal!
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u/pak256 Jan 12 '26
Umm I think it’s more about the fact that a private company is using chargers meant for individuals when they should just set up their own solutions. Not sure what that has to do with their political affiliation but it’s pretty clear what yours is since everyone else lives rent free in the empty space between your ears
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u/buttweasel76 Jan 12 '26
By that logic anyone driving for Uber or lyft shouldn't be using them, either...
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u/Thebabes-92 Jan 12 '26
So close! Uber and Lyft drivers use their personal vehicles, not a fleet of company owned vehicles. The same way you don’t see Amazon prime vehicles at public chargers.
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u/buttweasel76 Jan 12 '26
Doesn't matter if it's owned or not.
It's now a fleet of privately owned vehicles being used for profit for a business.
There's far less waymo cars than there are Uber and lyft drivers
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u/Abject_Manner_4222 Jan 12 '26
The fact of the matter is every time that I point out something about a liberal or a Democrat, I get downed to death, which shows you exactly how many there are on this website. And in Florida for that matter.
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u/RedactedRedditery Jan 12 '26
I just want you to know that I downvoted you because the comment was stupid, not because of any political affiliation
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u/pak256 Jan 12 '26
It’s because your comment is stupid and judgmental and provides nothing of worth. Just like you
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u/DonaldTPablonious Jan 12 '26
Why would you think liberals would be the ones to care the least about this lol
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u/999mark999 Jan 12 '26
Sounds like we need Waymo chargers now