Electrify America general discussion

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Just completed a 2,925 mile road trip (Wed, 8/24 to Mon, 8/29, Cape Cod to southern AZ. MY LR AWD.). Used my CSS1 adapter several times at various EA sites (five EA charges completed). All functioned just fine. Stopped at 17 SC sites. All functioned just fine.

Wifey does not like stopping at EA sites because they take longer to initiate and can be finicky. I like to use them as I add each long road trip as a chapter in my book on EVs (Electric Vehicles~What About Them?!?). Keeps people updated on what's going on in the EV world (my theory at least).

We once (2019) did a Cape Cod to AZ trip in our 2019 Chevy Bolt. Ugh. Enough said about that.

Anyway, my sense is (and it's only a wild bit of speculation on my part) that EA is getting better. Not as smooth as a Tesla SC by any means, but not terrible either (when they are functioning!).

Rich

Wifely filling her up!

 

[Cheburashka]

My wife is interested in getting an EV, but probably doesn’t want a Tesla, which means CCS charging.
It’s hard to get serious about using EA or EVGo on a road trip, too many poor user experiences.
What will it take to get their attention so the situation can improve?

EA has a lot of stations. Personally, I've never had any issues with EA yet in the SF Bay Area.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

... I've never had any issues with EA yet in the SF Bay Area.

Other parts of the nation, for reasons I cannot explain, have issues. Especially in the East.

Rich

 

[STS-134]

EA has a lot of stations. Personally, I've never had any issues with EA yet in the SF Bay Area.

EA's entire charging site at Westfield Valley Fair literally went offline for part of a day a few months ago. Not just a few chargers, the entire site.

 

[Watts_Up]

It would be useful to indicate if you were able to precondition the battery,
(by using as destination a Tesla Supercharging on the Tesla navigation),
and what was the charging speed with and without preconditioning,

In my case I got about 40-45 kW without preconditioning
and 120-140 kWh when I was able to activate the preconditioning.

I recently did a 2,000 miles trip, and I was most of the time the only one using a CCS charger,
while the nearby Tesla Superchargers were often full and there was a red warning on the Tesla navigation.

The issue that I encountered were that some time one CCS charger was working, but you only find it out
when trying to start charging. so you need to move your car, to another spot.
Anyway there was typically only two fast chargers and one 50 kW CHAdeMO / CCS.

I used the CCS chargers because I wanted to try it and compare it to Tesla charging experience,.
Also because the cost was $0.31 / kW while during peak hours Tesla chargers were $0.48-$0.56 / kW.

However, the major drawback was that the CCS chargers are not integrated with the Tesla Navigation,
so you have to determine yourself which CCS charger you will have to stop at.
So basically I stopped much more often than I used to, compare to doing the same trip using Tesla chargers.

Also I get disconnected few time for no reason (see below video, using a Ford F 150 with the same disconnection problem.)

Here Is Why the Ford F-150 Lightning Sucks at Road Trips & It's Not What You're Thinking!

 

[masotime]

It would be useful to indicate if you were able to precondition the battery,
(by using as destination a Tesla Supercharging on the Tesla navigation),
and what was the charging speed with and without preconditioning,

Using EA properly requires a bit of planning - and careful use of the plug share app.

If you’re just starting out, only pick EA stations that are adjacent to Tesla Superchargers.

* you get the advantage of preconditioning by setting your Tesla nav to that supercharger.
* there’s a backup if things go wrong with the EA station.

Play with plugshare and you can filter out EA and Tesla high speed chargers only, then pick EA stations close to Tesla ones. Additionally, use the EA app itself to check if the high speed ones are operating.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

It would be useful to indicate if you were able to precondition the battery,
(by using as destination a Tesla Supercharging on the Tesla navigation),...


However, the major drawback was that the CCS chargers are not integrated with the Tesla Navigation,
so you have to determine yourself which CCS charger you will have to stop at.
...

I just completed a 2900 mile trip and used your suggestion of using co-located (or nearby anyway) SC sites and EA sites in order to warm up the battery. The Tesla nav screen is not helpful in this regard as you have to "dig" for the EA sites.

Rich

 

[Big Earl]

I-90 and I-94 are looking pretty sad. I saw an Ioniq 5 north of Sheridan, Wyoming a few weeks back, traveling through the DC charging desert on level 2.

I want to take a moment to compare Tesla's expansion to Electrify America's. While we don't know EA's timeline for this meager list of builds, Tesla has started construction on the following 23 sites so far in August:

Construction start date	Location	Number of stalls
1 Aug	Chugiak, AK	8
2 Aug	Mariposa, CA	12
2 Aug	Pueblo, CO	12
2 Aug	Anaheim, CA	16
2 Aug	Fairfax, VA	12
4 Aug	North Branch, MN	8
8 Aug	Ypsilanti, MI	12
8 Aug	Kissimmee, FL	16
8 Aug	Olema, CA	7
9 Aug	Needles, CA	12
10 Aug	Dunnigan, CA	8
10 Aug	Fairfield, CA	12
12 Aug	Ellenton, FL	8
12 Aug	Elgin, IL	12
12 Aug	Vancouver, WA	12
14 Aug	Fortuna Foothills, AZ	12
14 Aug	Dublin, CA	12
16 Aug	Bakersfield, CA	12
16 Aug	Adairsville, GA	12
16 Aug	Orlando, FL	16
18 Aug	Fullerton, CA	16
19 Aug	Covington, LA	12
19 Aug	Lakewood, CA	20
		279

Edit: I just realized that this stall count of 279 is more than 10% of Electrify America's entire CCS inventory.

I just wanted to give a quick end-of-month follow-up on this post about Tesla's current rate of Supercharger build-out.

In the USA for the month of August: 439 stalls at 38 sites started construction. 361 stalls at 28 sites opened.

 

[Watts_Up]

The Tesla nav screen is not helpful in this regard as you have to "dig" for the EA sites.

Yes, you are right. I would recommend adding one by one the EA chargers
that you will use to the Tesla Map, for easy retrieval since they don't show up otherwise.

Unless there is only EA chargers in the area of your trip, like currently when traveling around Glacier National Park,
I would avoid using any EA chargers unless they are located near a Tesla charger, to take advantage of the preconditioning.

Note: The preconditioning will be activated only if your SoC is above 20%,
so try avoiding reaching a supercharger with less than 25% when preparing your itinerary.

I would also recommend to install a Rest Areas App on your phone (Android, iOS),
since not all the chargers provide restrooms avialable, or only during business hours.

 

[Genie]

I would recommend adding one by one the EA chargers that you will use to the Tesla Map, for easy retrieval since they don't show up otherwise.

I didn’t know that was an option, is it in the owner’s manual?

 

[Watts_Up]

I didn’t know that was an option, is it in the owner’s manual?

Sorry, I should have said "add to your favorite list" so those would pop up when starting typing a new destination.

In general I rename with "EA Zipcode" for easy retrieve, since the list is geographically ordered.
Adding directly to the Super charger list would be a nice option !!!

 

[avs007]

EA has a lot of stations. Personally, I've never had any issues with EA yet in the SF Bay Area.

I had issues at Great Mall. I couldn't get one of the stalls to initiate at all... The stall next to it, kept insta-failing when I swiped in app, or tapped my credit card... I can't remember if it was Signet or ABB, but I think it came down to when you plugin your car. In all the other 20+ sessions I've done, including Davis, Sacramento, etc, I always just swiped in app, then plugged in... At Great Mall, and another EA site in SF, I had to plugin my car first, then swipe. If I swiped first, it just insta-failed with an error message. If could be one of these units is programmed differently than the others.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Yes, you are right. I would recommend adding one by one the EA chargers
that you will use to the Tesla Map, for easy retrieval since they don't show up otherwise.
...

Not sure of your meaning here. You mean add each EA site in "Favorites?"

This would be kinda tough if going on a long trip. For example, wife and I just made a 2,900 mile trip from Cape Cod to AZ which would have me adding a whole lot of EA sites to the Favorites menu!!

Rich

Edit: OK, saw your explanation above.

 

[avs007]

It would be useful to indicate if you were able to precondition the battery,
(by using as destination a Tesla Supercharging on the Tesla navigation),
and what was the charging speed with and without preconditioning,

In my case I got about 40-45 kW without preconditioning
and 120-140 kWh when I was able to activate the preconditioning.

How far were you driving when you arrived without preconditioning and only got 45kw? I went on several road trips, and found that it only preconditioned for my first stop. I noticed it did not say it was preconditioning at any of the other stops, so I stopped setting a SC as a destination...

I was still able to arrive a multiple 350kW EA chargers, and pull 190kw even tho I did not precondition. Granted, it was between 95 and 107 degrees outside at the time. One time when I was in Davis, I woke up in the morning from the hotel, drove to a restaurant in Sac, then drove to an EA charger near my niece's house, and was still able to pull 149kw from the 375A/150kw charger without preconditioning.

I didn't bother with preconditioning at all when I was driving around SF/SJ, and still pulled 122kw from all the 150kw EA chargers I plugged into. This will probably be different in the winter time I guess tho... I've only had my CCS adapter since June.

 

[Cheburashka]

I had issues at Great Mall. I couldn't get one of the stalls to initiate at all... The stall next to it, kept insta-failing when I swiped in app, or tapped my credit card... I can't remember if it was Signet or ABB, but I think it came down to when you plugin your car. In all the other 20+ sessions I've done, including Davis, Sacramento, etc, I always just swiped in app, then plugged in... At Great Mall, and another EA site in SF, I had to plugin my car first, then swipe. If I swiped first, it just insta-failed with an error message. If could be one of these units is programmed differently than the others.

For me I always activate via app fist, then plug in. Works every time.

If I plug in then activate like the stall instructions says it never works.

 

[avs007]

For me I always activate via app fist, then plug in. Works every time.

If I plug in then activate like the stall instructions says it never works.

Have you tried charging at Great Mall? Just curious. I haven't had this issue anywhere else except for like 2 or 3 locations, where it would insta-fail like this.

 

[Cheburashka]

I have not charged at Great Mall yet

 

[Watts_Up]

How far were you driving when you arrived without preconditioning and only got 45kw? I went on several road trips, and found that it only preconditioned for my first stop. I noticed it did not say it was preconditioning at any of the other stops, so I stopped setting a SC as a destination...

I was still able to arrive a multiple 350kW EA chargers, and pull 190kw even tho I did not precondition. Granted, it was between 95 and 107 degrees outside at the time. One time when I was in Davis, I woke up in the morning from the hotel, drove to a restaurant in Sac, then drove to an EA charger near my niece's house, and was still able to pull 149kw from the 375A/150kw charger without preconditioning.

I didn't bother with preconditioning at all when I was driving around SF/SJ, and still pulled 122kw from all the 150kw EA chargers I plugged into. This will probably be different in the winter time I guess tho... I've only had my CCS adapter since June.

Well, I am not like Bjørn Nyland who would make precise measurements and comparisons!!!

I remember getting 42 kW in middle of the day, it was very hot.
May be be the speed increased later but I didn't install a camera to record the speed.

 

[Watts_Up]

For me I always activate via app fist, then plug in. Works every time.

If I plug in then activate like the stall instructions says it never works.

If you use the discount plan, you need to activate the session BEFORE plug in.

(It is not easy to understand the way of doing it the first time,
as you need to select the correct charger on your phone App.)

Otherwise, you should be able to charge and pay with a credit card AFTER plug in the CCS cord to your car.

 

[Cheburashka]

Otherwise, you should be able to charge and pay with a credit card AFTER plug in the CCS cord to your car.

This has never worked for me, but I know it works for others. I guess that's the downside of having a universal standard, every EV manufacturers implementation is a bit different.