This one is still puzzling me. In none of my testing have I ever managed to get a charging station that is connected to the grid and has electricity to draw from but flashes the red icon. As soon as I connect them to the power grid the icon disappears, whether it's charging something or not. I have no idea what is causing this but ultimately the placed entity's behavior is controlled by the game so I really don't know how to troubleshoot this.DRT99 wrote:So the charging stations, i absolutely hate the flashing 'no power' symbol when they have nothing to charge. I realize this may be due to technical issues so I cant legitimately complain about it. Just venting.
As for the rest, all valid points. I knew that balancing this would be a major issue and that everyone would have other expectations. I totally get that nobody wants to put batteries in their tank, the risk of getting stranded is too high. And the car, well, meh. As you say yourself it gets obsolete rather quickly. As for a dedicated "engineering truck" for outpost building, if I were to make such a vehicle it should probably be its own mod. Any vehicle that has an equipment grid and supports the "electric-vehicles-equipment" category can be run on a transformer regardless whether it has fuel slots or not and I think (but haven't tried) that it should have priority over fuel.
About the transformers, yes they are mandatory for technical reasons, but it's also a system that allows other mods to create a progression system. If the vehicles wouldn't flash the red icon when underpowered they would allow for more customization (e.g. put more transformers in your car and it has more power). That's why I currently don't favor the "get it for free" part but I was seriously considering it.
The high power charging stuff is meant to be expensive, and intended primarily for trains. Especially if they go very long distances. As you mentioned it's not the most practical to use it for cars or tanks, but trains have predictable movement patterns and the risk of stranding should be low with the proper planning and use of the charger's circuit conditions. Unfortunately I cannot undo the fusion reactor and it's going to be the bane of these two mods for as long as it exists in its current form. Ultimately it's for everyone to decide whether thy go with the reactors or induction.