I think a lot of EV charging stories are region specific. I pretty much never encounter down chargers, there's always been one working open dispenser available any time I've wanted to charge at a CCS fast charger. I'm not saying people's horror stories aren't real, just that it doesn't seem to be the story everywhere.
West coast US; and it’s awful. The only times a spot is free is at like 6am, otherwise you’re waiting at least 30 minutes (actively, so no one can take your spot in line) to wait another 30 minutes to charge.
PNW here with an i4. The only time I’ve had problems are on holiday weekends. EA kind of sucks though, lots of broken chargers although most of the time it doesn’t matter. I only use chargers on road trips, so my experience is limited.
