Electrify America - Redesigned labels coming to charging stations

[s4wrxttcs]

Are EA's problems limited to certain manufacturers such as Rivian because of compatibility issues?

GR

I've had zero compatibility issues with my Rivian.

Most of the issues seem to be "not available" stalls where the screen is off, and occasionally slow speeds.

Luckily the App shows you which ones are "not available" and that means they're broken. They have a separate "in-use" tag for when they're being used.

So you should be able to avoid a station with a lot of broken stalls. That's what I've been doing and so far its been working well for me.

I also avoid using the card reader, and I only use the App.

When I used them over memorial day weekend it was bliss because they were free, and there was no hassle with having to use the app to authorize the charge. I didn't even do my normal walk around to see which ones were working and which ones were down (to verify what the app said).

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[s4wrxttcs]

Lipstick on a pig...

True, but the whole reliability thing is a different department.

My only issue with the new labels is the car itself needs a label.

Most people have vehicles that only support 150KW, and under. Heck the R1T only supports higher than 220KW for a brief amount of time in the beginning of a charge when the battery is fairly empty.

I'd love to see people charge at stalls appropriate for their car, and state of charge.

 

[Tahoe Man]

Are EA's problems limited to certain manufacturers such as Rivian because of compatibility issues?

GR

To some degree yes, but the vast majority of the issue is non-working chargers, slow charging or having to baby sit it and play musical chargers.

The problem with the label thing is, the public isn't going to be very charger savvy. Pulling into a 350 charger with half a state of charge or above will do no good and you'll just be taking a faster charge from someone else. They need to just make them all 350's and stop all this nonsense.

I've stated in another thread that I'm a big proponent of a closed DC charging network where each manufacturer has their own dedicated network of DC fast chargers and any other amenities etc they would or wouldn't provide. This locks everything nicely together. The concept of having open DC charging system is pathetic and just impedes EV adoption. My wife and I already decided to forego a Rivian for the foreseeable future based 100% on the state of the DC fast charging network....And forget about towing any distance that requires constant charging stops, that's just a pipedream that won't be dealt with for a long time.

 

[Pfleegz]

I certainly think I am in the minority here but I have had excellent luck with the EA 350s. Really respectable charging curve, working chargers, and little to no issues. The station I use near my home is one of the newer ones installed so perhaps they are working hard on their reliability and consistency. It is my goto charger in the area if I need to top off.

Side note, I stopped today and the chargers were offering free charging. Got about $30 of juice for free! Not sure why (didn't show online). So, might be worth stopping by to check out today (YMMV).

 

[miasm]

I certainly think I am in the minority here but I have had excellent luck with the EA 350s. Really respectable charging curve, working chargers, and little to no issues. The station I use near my home is one of the newer ones installed so perhaps they are working hard on their reliability and consistency. It is my goto charger in the area if I need to top off.

Side note, I stopped today and the chargers were offering free charging. Got about $30 of juice for free! Not sure why (didn't show online). So, might be worth stopping by to check out today (YMMV).

EA had two main suppliers for their chargers. One of the suppliers builds good chargers that are reliable. The other supplier....well, didn't. It's largely regional, so some areas have great EA reliability (I've never seen one down or had a single issue across a dozen or so that I've hit, and all chargers have been available at all locations).

EA has said that they're dumping the bad supplier, replacing their cabinets with the good ones, and using just the good supplier going forward. But that'll take a while.

 

[R1Tims]

I keep saying they need to consider that not all EV's are going to be Bolts and Leafs. Can't wait to see 2 Hummers try and get into two Electrify America spaces side by side....

I happen to come upon this site at an EA charging station. They had 4 in the stations and 2 more waiting.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I happen to come upon this site at an EA charging station. They had 4 in the stations and 2 more waiting.

17 hours later.....

 

[norivian]

The only issue with this is most people will not understand why they are not seeing those numbers….

Somehow I was getting significantly less plugged to a 350KW than 150KW on Friday.

 

[moosehead]

Sorry for the noob question, but are the Hyper’s the EA units that don’t work?

 

[jbssfelix]

It looks like these are just 8" tall stickers on the front of the chargers. I was really expecting these to be the full height of the charging stand so you could tell them apart from, say, 50 yds away. Seems kinda silly to make them still so small.

Also, at least make them 3 different colors, so we can differentiate without have to walk up and read them. i.e. Red = 50kW, Blue = 150kW, Green = 350kW or whatever.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

It looks like these are just 8" tall stickers on the front of the chargers. I was really expecting these to be the full height of the charging stand so you could tell them apart from, say, 50 yds away. Seems kinda silly to make them still so small.

Also, at least make them 3 different colors, so we can differentiate without have to walk up and read them. i.e. Red = 50kW, Blue = 150kW, Green = 350kW or whatever.

It is 100% a poor design. Not to mention that Hyper and Ultra are synonyms so now people have to remember which one is which because the font on the numbers is too small. Roman Mars could do a whole episode on how bad the visual design is

 

[srwaxalot]

To some degree yes, but the vast majority of the issue is non-working chargers, slow charging or having to baby sit it and play musical chargers.

The problem with the label thing is, the public isn't going to be very charger savvy. Pulling into a 350 charger with half a state of charge or above will do no good and you'll just be taking a faster charge from someone else. They need to just make them all 350's and stop all this nonsense.

I've stated in another thread that I'm a big proponent of a closed DC charging network where each manufacturer has their own dedicated network of DC fast chargers and any other amenities etc they would or wouldn't provide. This locks everything nicely together. The concept of having open DC charging system is pathetic and just impedes EV adoption. My wife and I already decided to forego a Rivian for the foreseeable future based 100% on the state of the DC fast charging network....And forget about towing any distance that requires constant charging stops, that's just a pipedream that won't be dealt with for a long time.

Separate but equal huh?

 

[jeeden]

Seems like the correct thread to drop this video from Out of Spec on the next gen Electrify America chargers being installed....

 

[Boomkanani]

To some degree yes, but the vast majority of the issue is non-working chargers, slow charging or having to baby sit it and play musical chargers.

The problem with the label thing is, the public isn't going to be very charger savvy. Pulling into a 350 charger with half a state of charge or above will do no good and you'll just be taking a faster charge from someone else. They need to just make them all 350's and stop all this nonsense.

I've stated in another thread that I'm a big proponent of a closed DC charging network where each manufacturer has their own dedicated network of DC fast chargers and any other amenities etc they would or wouldn't provide. This locks everything nicely together. The concept of having open DC charging system is pathetic and just impedes EV adoption. My wife and I already decided to forego a Rivian for the foreseeable future based 100% on the state of the DC fast charging network....And forget about towing any distance that requires constant charging stops, that's just a pipedream that won't be dealt with for a long time.

I'm not sure you're seeing the big picture. What comes first...the chicken or the egg?

 

[Tahoe Man]

I'm not sure you're seeing the big picture. What comes first...the chicken or the egg?

I do see the big picture and it is that nobody makes money selling electricity in parking lots. Who would've thunk?? The state of public DC chargers is so bad now that the government is putting out billions in incentives hoping it fixes the problems.

GM, Ford, Honda, etc all should invest what they deem is reasonable and start branding, installing and hosting their own public fast chargers and lock it to their own vehicles, similar to what I *hope* Rivian is doing. Otherwise this whole EV experiment is fraught with failure and Tesla takes it all.

Here's another video of this family going out and getting stranded again at the chargers. I'm not sure why they want to be a glutton for punishment.
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