Electrify America disaster

[EVerywhere]

Have all of those EA 350s been the same location, people say this all the time but this almost never happens to me.. When it does almost always I knew in advance checking the app that those stations were capped at 50kW but when I arrive ere the only spots available.

No, I’m 1,700 miles into a road trip, hot 3 EA charges between Illinois and Colorado — all had issues with the 350 chargers: broken connector, throttled ”for upgrades”, failed to initiate charge, or just never got above 40 kW.

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[NY_Rob]

I envision a future where folks are wandering the earth with silly baseball caps that read "But the port!"

Or ... "NACS... I still say they're bluffing!!"

 

[Tahoe Man]

Never do this. I stopped at the EA at Walmart in Sequim yesterday and tried three times to download the EA app. Bumped off each time, so I swiped a credit card. The “350 kWh” charger never got above 21 kWh, so I pulled it after 34kW, enough to get home. My credit card was immediately charged $50.00. Outrageous. I went to the EA online chat and was number one in line but waited ten minutes with no chat. Hugh disappointment in EA for first time tried.

Get ready for further disappointments from EA, there's no improvements year after year. Things are so bad, that the EV makers are drafting agreements with Tesla.

 

[VSG]

failed to initiate charge

You can call the support number and have them manually initiate the session. The Android app has had problems with the initiation, and sometimes gets stuck and times out then the charger times out then the app can't reconnect etc. - EA told me this is a known problem. So don't bother trying and retrying if this happens, just call them up and tell them you want them to manually initiate a charge. They will ask you for the last 4 of the credit card you have on file plus a few other questions.

 

[emoore]

I recently used 7 different 350kw EA chargers and had 1 that throttled due to failed cable cooling (36kw rate). I would say that's pretty good. And EA has been getting better and will continue to get better. Contrary to what some believe, Tesla isn't going to be the only charging network in the US. Just can't happen.

 

[TexasBob]

Absolutely the battery in the Hummer EV I owned at the time could take that, and did.

I knew it had to be the Hummer to take that much power that quickly. It is running the 800V (parallel 400V pack) system and can take full advantage of the 350 kw system on EA. Very cool.

And 129kwh got you, what, like 150 miles? (jk)

 

[Dark-Fx]

And 129kwh got you, what, like 150 miles? (jk)

Probably pretty close to that. Highway consumption was anywhere from 1.1 mi/kWh and 1.5 mi/kWh depending on all of the factors involved. Just plain awful.

 

[SASSquatch]

I envision a future where folks are wandering the earth with silly baseball caps that read "But the port!"

In that case...

But the port! ™

 

[s4wrxttcs]

My EA rules:

Download the app and register before the journey
Always use the App to pay for the charge and NEVER use the payment system at the charger
Use the 150kw station if you can and only if that's busy than try the 350W

 

[WSea]

My EA rules:

Download the app and register before the journey
Always use the App to pay for the charge and NEVER use the payment system at the charger
Use the 150kw station if you can and only if that's busy than try the 350W

Only good experiences with the 350s. Not sure why you’d want a slightly slower charge. This may have been the way to go before preconditioning was enabled but not now

 

[dduffey]

Y'all are doing it wrong. Before and during your trip to the charger you need to search for and read all the current status reports and comments for the charger you want to use, look for comments with your same vehicle, because other reports are not reliable. Install the app(s), make sure it is updated and working before you get there

Once there, before opening the app you need to build karma by not immediately pulling into a spot. Usually not a problem because they are taken. This allows you to verify that the spot is working. Then build some more karma by giving the slowest charging vehicle the fastest spot. Then once you built up enough karma with the charging gods, now it's straight forward and fool proof. If you want to build even more karma, pull into a broken charger first.

Once settled in a spot, press the lock/unlock several times so the the handles do the chicken dance. Then hard reset the vehicle, wait until reboot, turn off sentry, get out of the vehicle, turn off bluetooth and reboot your phone.

Now go meditate for 15 minutes, or shop at Walmart, either will do. Make sure to wave to the others waiting to charge, you're passing on the karma!

Once you are back, walk to the back of the charger counter clockwise and call the charging operater and let them know you've reset your vehicle and ask them to reset the charger. Reset your phone for good measure, turn on Bluetooth and open the charging app.

Then plug in, do a prayer and a dance of your choice, but the more ridiculous the better and ... done. You're on your way ... back to Walmart to do a bit more shopping.

 

[bbonkk]

They don't know what vehicle you drive before you plug in. $50 hold isn't enough in some cases.

Disaster!

You mush have one of the 100 or so Hummers around. If you paid to go from 4% to 59% and received 55% soc and it took 126 kWh than your battery must be around 229 kWh. And you got the old pricing of $0.31 on top of that.

 

[bbonkk]

Y'all are doing it wrong. Before and during your trip to the charger you need to search for and read all the current status reports and comments for the charger you want to use, look for comments with your same vehicle, because other reports are not reliable. Install the app(s), make sure it is updated and working before you get there

Once there, before opening the app you need to build karma by not immediately pulling into a spot. Usually not a problem because they are taken. This allows you to verify that the spot is working. Then build some more karma by giving the slowest charging vehicle the fastest spot. Then once you built up enough karma with the charging gods, now it's straight forward and fool proof. If you want to build even more karma, pull into a broken charger first.

Once settled in a spot, press the lock/unlock several times so the the handles do the chicken dance. Then hard reset the vehicle, wait until reboot, turn off sentry, get out of the vehicle, turn off bluetooth and reboot your phone.

Now go meditate for 15 minutes, or shop at Walmart, either will do. Make sure to wave to the others waiting to charge, you're passing on the karma!

Once you are back, walk to the back of the charger counter clockwise and call the charging operater and let them know you've reset your vehicle and ask them to reset the charger. Reset your phone for good measure, turn on Bluetooth and open the charging app.

Then plug in, do a prayer and a dance of your choice, but the more ridiculous the better and ... done. You're on your way ... back to Walmart to do a bit more shopping.

It a Walmart scam to sell you more stuff you don't need. You are a captive audience!

 

[md2023]

I still haven't had a problem with EA chargers (obviously, I will now!). Some indicate that the credit card reader is not working, which is not a problem when using the app.

 

[atebit]

Never do this. I stopped at the EA at Walmart in Sequim yesterday and tried three times to download the EA app. Bumped off each time, so I swiped a credit card. The “350 kWh” charger never got above 21 kWh, so I pulled it after 34kW, enough to get home. My credit card was immediately charged $50.00. Outrageous. I went to the EA online chat and was number one in line but waited ten minutes with no chat. Hugh disappointment in EA for first time tried.

Isn’t Hugh Disappointment Mayhem’s cousin?

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