Electrify America general discussion

[bradtem]

The simple fix we should want from Tesla (aside from the fancy fix of adding all CCS or CdM stations to your charging map) would be an option when navigating to any location that means, "Treat this location as a fast charger and precondition as appropriately." So nav to the charger (good idea anyway) and then click this option.

To nav to the chargers you often can find them on the map if you zoom in enough, but another option is to find them in an app like Google maps or any other app that can "share" a location. (Don't recall if plugshare or EA apps have this.) Then share the location with your Tesla (if not in wireless dead zone.) For extra credit Tesla could notice if a location has been shared in which is the location of a charger, or has a name suggesting it is a charger, and turning on the precondition bit. Tesla avoids having to maintain a database which is the hard thing we're avoiding. Another simple approach would be to define a code to be passed when sharing a location to the Tesla app which means "this is a fast charger." Then plugshare and the EA app and other apps could deliberately support sending charger locations to your Tesla app with this code.

 

[MP3Mike]

Tesla avoids having to maintain a database which is the hard thing we're avoiding.

Tesla does maintain that database, at least in some countries. (And I think they maintain it for EVgo chargers that have an attached CHAdeMO adapter as well.) Both are probably just interfaces from the charging provider so they are mostly just a one time setup process.

 

[bradtem]

Tesla does maintain that database, at least in some countries. (And I think they maintain it for EVgo chargers that have an attached CHAdeMO adapter as well.) Both are probably just interfaces from the charging provider so they are mostly just a one time setup process.

Sure. If they are up for that effort, that would be great -- and since they sell adapters for CdM and CCS, they should do that to support customers.

However, I just outline what they could do that would solve a lot of the problems that means little effort on their part, and no need to maintain databases. One of the things you get in Plugshare and the network apps is station availability, as Tesla does for SCs. Ideally I would want one map showing me stations of every type, with how many are free and in use, wait time estimates, power levels and prices and plugshare reliability scores, with preconditioning when I nav.

But I am not getting that for now.

 

[avs007]

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.

Could be the chargers you were using were busted. I noticed on this trip that way more ea chargers had a busted thermal sensor causing throttling to 30kw, then on my last trip a month or two ago, visiting the same chargers.

 

[avs007]

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.

Doesn't matter if you plug in before or after, you'll still get your discount. I've done it both ways, and got my pass+ to work
I'm convinced the variance in behavior comes down to brand of the charging equipment. Most of the ones I used you can initiate from app first, but there were a couple locations where trying to initiate from app first resulted in an immediate error.

I can't remember which ones were signet and which ones were ABB but I remember the ones that insta-failed were a different brand than the ones that allowed me to initiate from app. (Or could just be a giant coincidence, lol)

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Quick gratuitous comment... We all (me as well!) seem to be playing the role of "Skinner's pigeons," performing tasks which may or may not be relevant to getting the end result, hoping for a "reward" (electricity in this case).

EA could make this all so much easier on all of us.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

One quick added comment in regard planning out EA stops. The EA app has a moving map which shows where their stations are. I used that to opt for a few EA stops which were more convenient to use than Tesla SC sites. One bonus when using this feature of the EA app is that you can see whether or not the station is up and running before getting there (generally anyway).

On this most recent trip (2925 miles) we used 17 SC sites and 5 EA sites. I would have used more EA sites but the wife doesn't like the "fiddling around" with them and the extra time (not really that much of a big deal when the sites are working as they should) they take over the "plug in and forget it" Tesla system.

Rich

 

[wws]

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.

Just set the EA (or other) site as a waypoint on the way to the Supercharger.

 

[Watts_Up]

Could be the chargers you were using were busted. I noticed on this trip that way more ea chargers had a busted thermal sensor causing throttling to 30kw, then on my last trip a month or two ago, visiting the same chargers.

Something came back to my memory, as it was very hot I noticed during my trip that some EA chargers
were not working and a message was showing something like "Charger out of service to preserve energy."

At some stations, only one charger had this message and the other one didn't had any message.
It is possible then that the working charger was working but was throttled to lower the load consumption?

 

[bradtem]

One quick added comment in regard planning out EA stops. The EA app has a moving map which shows where their stations are. I used that to opt for a few EA stops which were more convenient to use than Tesla SC sites. One bonus when using this feature of the EA app is that you can see whether or not the station is up and running before getting there (generally anyway).

On this most recent trip (2925 miles) we used 17 SC sites and 5 EA sites. I would have used more EA sites but the wife doesn't like the "fiddling around" with them and the extra time (not really that much of a big deal when the sites are working as they should) they take over the "plug in and forget it" Tesla system.

Rich

I presume once Tesla widely deploys ccs adapters, they might support plug and charge making ea much easier.

 

[avs007]

I presume once Tesla widely deploys ccs adapters, they might support plug and charge making ea much easier.

From what I've seen from other EVs tho, is that plug and charge does not link with an EA account, so you don't get the benefit of Pass+, and have to pay the normal EA rate.

 

[bradtem]

From what I've seen from other EVs tho, is that plug and charge does not link with an EA account, so you don't get the benefit of Pass+, and have to pay the normal EA rate.

That's just stupid, and presumably something that they will fix in time.

 

[Mockingbird]

From what I've seen from other EVs tho, is that plug and charge does not link with an EA account, so you don't get the benefit of Pass+, and have to pay the normal EA rate.

That's just stupid, and presumably something that they will fix in time.

Ford offers BlueOval Charge Network Electrify America Membership, which is just Electrify America Pass+ Membership except offered through Ford.

Ford drivers can use Plug and Charger with BlueOval Charge Network Electrify America Membership.

 

[MP3Mike]

I'm hearing that EA is having a major outage or technical glitch at the moment. Vast majority of the chargers in the central states and elsewhere are being reported as down:

Anybody have any details?

edit: And now it seems to have flipped, some that were off are back on and others are down:

Maybe a network wide software update? (But in the middle of the day all at once?)

 

[Don.Church]

I received this from EA:

 

[Exelion]

So it looks like EA is redesigning the labels on their cabinets…..

 

[Rocky_H]

"A thoughtful redesign backed by user research."
First, that's a sentence fragment, so don't put a period at the end of it like it's an actual sentence. But secondly, that decision is backed by user research? There isn't anything intuitive or sensible about the hyperbolic and vague terms "hyper" and "ultra" to let anyone know which is supposed to be faster.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

I think this is a positive move on the part of EA, although I suspect that "normal" folks driving EVs say in an EV that can get 125kW of charge max will see the Hyper Fast sign and figure it'd speed up their charge session.

Rich

 

[Cheburashka]

"A thoughtful redesign backed by user research."
First, that's a sentence fragment, so don't put a period at the end of it like it's an actual sentence. But secondly, that decision is backed by user research? There isn't anything intuitive or sensible about the hyperbolic and vague terms "hyper" and "ultra" to let anyone know which is supposed to be faster.

If that's not clear enough, they also added numbers and thunderbolt icons. Seems pretty obvious to me.

 

[Rocky_H]

If that's not clear enough, they also added numbers and thunderbolt icons. Seems pretty obvious to me.

The numbers are, of course, clear. The bull$#itty terms ultra and hyper are ridiculous.