Sponsored

Any forum members have extensive experience using Electrify America?

Dark-Fx

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brian
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Threads
96
Messages
9,359
Reaction score
17,748
Location
Michigan
Vehicles
Polestar 2, R1T, R1S, Livewire One, Fisker Ocean
Occupation
Engineering
Clubs
 
After watching a few videos on problems with early MACH-E Electrify America (EA) scenarios we questioned whether the MACH-E was right for her. At the same time our Volt was in for maintenance and we were provided a BOLT-EV as a courtesy car.

We decided to try DCFC at a local EA. Our first attempt using a 350kw charger failed to handshake, our second attempt using the adjacent 150kw charger was flawless.

A few days later I was thinking back on our EA experience and I realized that EA charges by the minute, not by the kilowatt. Despite the larger battery our MACH-E (yeah we eventually bought one) could charge 0-80% for less money than a Bolt-EV driver.

Some how ? that just doesn't seem right.

I hope EA changes their business model prior to the arrival of our R1S!
The Bolt has an issue with the really heavy cables sometimes preventing the locking latch from being able to engage. These stations didn't exist when they were designing the Bolt, so it wasn't something they would have ever encountered in testing. The trick is to lift up on the cable just enough to take the weight off the charging port until you hear it engage. Not always needed, but there isn't any indication that could be what the problem is when you are trying to charge.
Sponsored

 

azbill

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bill
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
1,261
Reaction score
1,558
Location
Arizona
Vehicles
R1T, Mach E, Hummer EV SUT
Occupation
Engineer
The Bolt has an issue with the really heavy cables sometimes preventing the locking latch from being able to engage. These stations didn't exist when they were designing the Bolt, so it wasn't something they would have ever encountered in testing. The trick is to lift up on the cable just enough to take the weight off the charging port until you hear it engage. Not always needed, but there isn't any indication that could be what the problem is when you are trying to charge.
I have an easy solution to that problem, carry this in my car.

Rivian R1T R1S Any forum members have extensive experience using Electrify America? ChargeCableSupport
 

skyote

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2019
Threads
55
Messages
2,725
Reaction score
5,647
Location
Austin, TX
Vehicles
Jeeps, 2500HD Duramax, R1S Preorder (Dec 2018)

skyote

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2019
Threads
55
Messages
2,725
Reaction score
5,647
Location
Austin, TX
Vehicles
Jeeps, 2500HD Duramax, R1S Preorder (Dec 2018)
I was texting with a friend & neighbor the other day, and here is a copy/paste of his text about a trip from TX to Orlando in a Kia Niro EV:

"We recently did a road trip to Orlando, FL and back in our Niro EV. Our longest EV road trip to date. The charging process was flawless and at every stop the car was charged and ready to go faster than we were ready to get back in the car."
 

Sponsored

manitou202

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2020
Threads
19
Messages
703
Reaction score
1,905
Location
Manitou Springs, CO
Vehicles
R1T LE, Mercedes EQS SUV
My wife and I recently drove our Audi E-tron and Porsche Taycan from Colorado Springs to Phoenix. The Audi had a charging error happen in Northern Arizona, so we moved to the stall next to it with no further problems. 910 miles each way with two cars, and no real issues.

We've also driven quite extensively around Colorado using both EA and Chargepoint. Once I had an issue charging at a solo ChargePoint charger in Carbondale. Luckily there were more ChargePoint chargers about 10 miles away and I was able to charge. Otherwise they've both been really reliable.

We had a Tesla Model X previously and took it on several road trips to Michigan and around Colorado. It was easier from the plug-in and immedateily start charging aspect, but we still had the occasional charger fault on us and needed to move to a different stall.

The biggest difference between the Taycan, E-tron and Model X is charging speed. Our Model X was a 2018 and was very slow charging. Typically low 100kW until about 50% and then tapered from there. Charging to 60-70% took over 30 minutes. Our E-tron and Taycan typically stay above 140kW all the way to 80%. Charging stops take around 20 minutes or less. The newer Tesla's are much faster, but it shows how the complete charging profile is important, not just peak charging kW. Hopefully the Rivian can have a relatively flat charging curve all the way to 80%.
 

TessP100D

Banned
Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2021
Threads
0
Messages
587
Reaction score
429
Location
So cal
Vehicles
Tesla 2017 P100D MS
While I'm excited for the RAN to be built out for adventure travel, previously unattainable for most EV's, I will most likely have my R1S for a year or two before the RAN is built out to any noticeable degree.

I have experience with long distance travel with Tesla, but not EA's network. When I use a better route planner, and estimate several trips in the R1S, it looks as though we can pretty much go anywhere without issue. From Los Angeles, to Mammoth, Tahoe, Zion, Bend, Denver, even as far as Manhattan etc...

Over the past few months, I've read, watched and heard various issues with people using EA with their Mustang, Taycan, and i-Pace. Chargers not working, being slow, disconnecting etc...

So, I wanted to reach out to you forum members to get some real-world perspective from those that have used the EA network for long distance travel.

Does it work and perform well? Any issues, any praises? Any comparison to the Tesla network experience, and charge speeds?

Thank you!
There is no comparison to Tesla SC Network. They are in a class by themselves.
everything is on a lower level. No kidding here.
 

TessP100D

Banned
Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2021
Threads
0
Messages
587
Reaction score
429
Location
So cal
Vehicles
Tesla 2017 P100D MS
Even the Tesla Superchargers are not as easy as a gas pump. I have had faults that take multiple attempts. It takes about 20-30 seconds to fully engage while the light blinks blue. I always cross my fingers that the light is going to turn green. Sometimes it doesn't and you are really in trouble being 100+ miles from home.
Tesla SC are not perfect that’s true. But let’s be real, they are miles and miles ahead 0f any public charging system. That’s just a fact.
‘’it doesn’t hurt that I charge for free either. Lol.
 

SoCal Rob

Well-Known Member
First Name
Rob
Joined
Apr 19, 2021
Threads
28
Messages
2,089
Reaction score
4,364
Location
Southern California
Vehicles
Rivian R1S & VW ID.4
Occupation
Information Technology
Clubs
 
Tesla SC are not perfect that’s true. But let’s be real, they are miles and miles ahead 0f any public charging system. That’s just a fact..
Tesla’s Supercharger network is the best charging network today… I don’t think it always will be the best, though. We came very close to buying a Model Y as a commuter car but ultimately the overstated range and lack of instrumentation were dealbreakers for us. The behaviors of the company and many of its customers didn’t help.
 

SeaGeo

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brice
Joined
Jan 12, 2021
Threads
47
Messages
5,235
Reaction score
9,677
Location
Seattle
Vehicles
Xc60 T8
Occupation
Engineer
Tesla’s Supercharger network is the best charging network today… I don’t think it always will be the best, though. We came very close to buying a Model Y as a commuter car but ultimately the overstated range and lack of instrumentation were dealbreakers for us. The behaviors of the company and many of its customers didn’t help.
Same. I went into Tesla in November fully expecting to walk away with a used model 3. The interior organization and way the car "felt" really turned me off. Which is weird, I'm literally the target demo for them.

And I know everyone bitches about dealerships, but I found Tesla remote sales reps to be really pushy and the showroom reps just rubbed me wrong. I have had much better experiences with every dealer I've interacted with in the last 10 years. They obviously vary, but I am not a fan of the Tesla culture at all.
 

Sponsored

SANZC02

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Feb 11, 2021
Threads
29
Messages
5,258
Reaction score
8,860
Location
California
Vehicles
Tesla Model S, LE - R1S
Occupation
Retired
Same. I went into Tesla in November fully expecting to walk away with a used model 3. The interior organization and way the car "felt" really turned me off. Which is weird, I'm literally the target demo for them.

And I know everyone bitches about dealerships, but I found Tesla remote sales reps to be really pushy and the showroom reps just rubbed me wrong. I have had much better experiences with every dealer I've interacted with in the last 10 years. They obviously vary, but I am not a fan of the Tesla culture at all.
Tesla stores and service was really good until maybe 2017. Started sliding then and seems to keep going in the wrong direction.

Even when they were good, trying to get parts for repairs was a nightmare. They never seemed to embrace that side of the business. Even recalls takes forever to get fixed.
 

McRat

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2020
Threads
6
Messages
100
Reaction score
150
Location
California
Vehicles
'22 R1T, MXLR+, 2xVolts, MC's
Occupation
Tinkerer
I was one of the first customers to charge a car faster than 75kW using CCS. This was at the Baker EVgo station (150/350kW) in Feb '19(?).
Things have changed rapidly since then. EA came on the scene and expanded the CCS network dramatically.
I would not worry about a CCS trip anymore than a Tesla trip today. Granted, I've used a lot of 50kW chargers, but they are not all that much slower than a 250kW Supercharger in real life. First, the SC's are often much further off the freeway. Second, the kW drops rapidly after 60% in my MX. The "200kW" charging I've done is only for a couple minutes. An EA 150kW hooked to a Jaguar is roughly equal to the average SC stations I stop at. It's the AVERAGE speed that's important, not peak.
 

ajdelange

Well-Known Member
First Name
A. J.
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Threads
9
Messages
2,883
Reaction score
2,317
Location
Virginia/Quebec
Vehicles
Tesla XLR+2019, Lexus, Landcruiser, R1T
Occupation
EE Retired
It's the AVERAGE speed that's important, not peak.
Amen, amen, amen. People love to get all hung up on taper rates and how Tesla is cheating with their taper curves, 400 V vs. 800V etc. How long does it take to charge a BEV fully? About an hour. That's because the current generation of lithium batteries are charged at the average rate of about 1C. Thus the 100 kWh battery in a Tesla MX will take about 100 kWh of energy per hour (provided, of course, that you have a charger that can deliver 100 kW). A Rivian R1T with a 180 kWh battery will also take about an hour to charge fully provided that you have a 180 kW or larger charger available.

Now this very handy rule of thumb does not, in fact, apply to the case where one charges from 0% to 100% but very few people actually do that and they do it rarely. Where it's really helpful is in trip planning. If you are going to use 60% of your battery in traveling to your first charging stop and plan to replenish that energy there then you will have to charge about 0.6*60 = 36 minutes as long as the charger rating in kW is greater than your battery size in kWh. You won't replace 60% charge in a 180 kWh battery with a 60 kW charger.
 

manitou202

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2020
Threads
19
Messages
703
Reaction score
1,905
Location
Manitou Springs, CO
Vehicles
R1T LE, Mercedes EQS SUV
There is no comparison to Tesla SC Network. They are in a class by themselves.
everything is on a lower level. No kidding here.
If you simply grade the Tesla SC Network versus the EA network on total coverage then yes Tesla wins. Tesla also has the plug in charge advantage although some other brands like Ford and Porsche are beginning to add this feature in new updates. However it's only a convenience not a substantial difference. It saves a minute or two. EA did have some connection reliability issues in the beginning but last summer they did a major firmware update which basically resolved these issues.

Ultimately anyone considering any brand of EV needs to think about where they plan on going on road trips, and look at the network coverage. For example Tesla has much better coverage in the southeast and the Dakotas, but in Colorado non-Tesla networks (ChargePoint and EA) have much better coverage. This is because the state of Colorado partnered with ChargePoint and are adding a significant number of remote charging locations through out the state. So for myself, who typically doesn't go far outside of Colorado and does a lot of camping and backcountry driving, a non-Tesla EV is a better option.

Below is the map of ChargePoint chargers in Colorado. Most are complete, with a few in progress to be completed by this fall.

Now it is true a Tesla can use ChargePoint with a CHAdeMO adapter, but it's limited to 62.5kW versus most of the new ChargePoint chargers in Colorado are capable of 125kW for CCS (Rivian style plug).

The other thing to keep in mind is there are now multiple large networks being developed versus only one network supported by Tesla. It won't be long before the CCS networks combined dwarf the Tesla network.

To be 100% honest, I would be more concerned with being an early adopter of an EV startup (Rivian) versus an established automaker producing EVs (Porsche, Audi, Ford, VW) or Tesla.


ChargePoint charging locations installed by the State of Colorado
Rivian R1T R1S Any forum members have extensive experience using Electrify America? Untitled
 

azbill

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bill
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
1,261
Reaction score
1,558
Location
Arizona
Vehicles
R1T, Mach E, Hummer EV SUT
Occupation
Engineer
With respect to new and expanding networks coming on line, GM has partnered with EVGO to add 2700 new DFDCs. EVGO already has a few 350KW chargers (see the post about Baker), so they have the proven technology and network setup to get it done. I personally think that having the OEMs partner and fund the third party experts is smarter than building a custom network. Tesla was different, in that electric cars were new to the game at the time they released the cars, but that is no longer the case.

Having multiple networks will also help to keep prices down and reliability up.
Sponsored

 
 




Top