Well, we've got a new Electrify America station at the local Wallymart (Washington City, UT) & I wanted to give it a try. Not a pleasant or rewarding experience.
The first time I went there a week ago, the one & only CHAdeMO plug was ICE'd by a big Ford SUV. No EV signage of any kind. This afternoon I managed to get parked at the charger before another ICE vehicle pulled up directly behind me, blocking one of my two exits. I hope no one blocks me in front. I will mention that I have charged successfully using my CHAdeMO adapter at several non-EA chargers in the recent past, and they were all good experiences.
Here's how it all went down. Please excuse the length.
* I pull in at 75% SOC.
* the (liquid-cooled) CHAdeMO cable is FAT, heavy, and unwieldly. What I don't get is that this 50KW cable is probably twice the cross-section of the 150KW CCS cable at the same charger. It's a handful to get it all plugged in. Other 50KW CHAdeMO chargers I have used are so much thinner than this one.
* The instructions are to plug in first. My CHAdeMO adapter mated pretty well with their plug & I plugged everything in.
* The charger recognized that there is a connection.
* It puts me in the $1 setup fee and $0.25 per minute, under 50KW payment bucket.
* It offers me payment options. I swipe my Visa card.
* The display goes into a "processing payment" mode and hangs up there for about 3-4 minutes.
* I lose patience and start over. Same result.
* I try a third time using Apple Pay. Same result.
* I call the toll-free # on the charger, which is promptly answered by a friendly female voice. Nice lady.
* We repeat the sequence two times more with the same result. She reboots the station between each try, which takes 1-2 minutes before it's ready again. She gives up on this method & reboots the station again.
* This time she starts the charging session at her end using my (previously signed-up-for) EA account.
* Electrons start to flow.This is supposed to be a 50KW charger, and I expect an actual rate in the low-mid 40KW range.
* Charging ramps up from an initial 22KW to a whopping 23KW. OK, starting at 75% SOC, I was probably already past the charge rate knee.
* I watch as the SOC ever so slowly creeps up and the charge-o-meter faithfully adds $0.25 every minute.
* When I get to 80% SOC, I stop the charging session using the display.
* I got 3.1KWH in 8:10, at a cost of $3.24, including the $1 setup fee and $0.19 sales tax. That's $1.04 per KWH. I realize that the unit cost per KWH will go down for longer charge times because of the setup fee.
Takeaways:
* EA CHAdeMO is at the bottom of my preferred charging methods. I'll only use it if there is nothing else available.
* I hate paying per minute instead of per KWH. I recognize that some states also do this with superchargers. Not Utah
* If I do HAVE to charge at EA, starting at a low SOC, the charging rate will -hopefully- go up into the 40's KW
* There will be NO opportunity charging or topping up at an EA, ever.
* EA telephone customer support seems to be pretty good. She did get me some electrons.
* Supercharging is GREAT! Tesla destination chargers and J-1772 L2 chargers are (to me) preferable to EA.
* EA is a good reason to not buy a Volkswagen EV!
The first time I went there a week ago, the one & only CHAdeMO plug was ICE'd by a big Ford SUV. No EV signage of any kind. This afternoon I managed to get parked at the charger before another ICE vehicle pulled up directly behind me, blocking one of my two exits. I hope no one blocks me in front. I will mention that I have charged successfully using my CHAdeMO adapter at several non-EA chargers in the recent past, and they were all good experiences.
Here's how it all went down. Please excuse the length.
* I pull in at 75% SOC.
* the (liquid-cooled) CHAdeMO cable is FAT, heavy, and unwieldly. What I don't get is that this 50KW cable is probably twice the cross-section of the 150KW CCS cable at the same charger. It's a handful to get it all plugged in. Other 50KW CHAdeMO chargers I have used are so much thinner than this one.
* The instructions are to plug in first. My CHAdeMO adapter mated pretty well with their plug & I plugged everything in.
* The charger recognized that there is a connection.
* It puts me in the $1 setup fee and $0.25 per minute, under 50KW payment bucket.
* It offers me payment options. I swipe my Visa card.
* The display goes into a "processing payment" mode and hangs up there for about 3-4 minutes.
* I lose patience and start over. Same result.
* I try a third time using Apple Pay. Same result.
* I call the toll-free # on the charger, which is promptly answered by a friendly female voice. Nice lady.
* We repeat the sequence two times more with the same result. She reboots the station between each try, which takes 1-2 minutes before it's ready again. She gives up on this method & reboots the station again.
* This time she starts the charging session at her end using my (previously signed-up-for) EA account.
* Electrons start to flow.This is supposed to be a 50KW charger, and I expect an actual rate in the low-mid 40KW range.
* Charging ramps up from an initial 22KW to a whopping 23KW. OK, starting at 75% SOC, I was probably already past the charge rate knee.
* I watch as the SOC ever so slowly creeps up and the charge-o-meter faithfully adds $0.25 every minute.
* When I get to 80% SOC, I stop the charging session using the display.
* I got 3.1KWH in 8:10, at a cost of $3.24, including the $1 setup fee and $0.19 sales tax. That's $1.04 per KWH. I realize that the unit cost per KWH will go down for longer charge times because of the setup fee.
Takeaways:
* EA CHAdeMO is at the bottom of my preferred charging methods. I'll only use it if there is nothing else available.
* I hate paying per minute instead of per KWH. I recognize that some states also do this with superchargers. Not Utah
* If I do HAVE to charge at EA, starting at a low SOC, the charging rate will -hopefully- go up into the 40's KW
* There will be NO opportunity charging or topping up at an EA, ever.
* EA telephone customer support seems to be pretty good. She did get me some electrons.
* Supercharging is GREAT! Tesla destination chargers and J-1772 L2 chargers are (to me) preferable to EA.
* EA is a good reason to not buy a Volkswagen EV!