Anyone else running into issues with EA 350kW stations?

[LightningShow]

Thus far I've charged 4 times at an EA 350kW pedestal, this is what has happened:

1.) Manchester, NH: Immediately ramped to 165kW, within 3-4 minutes the station limited to 35kW (person in an EV6 plugged in shortly after me and was limited to 70kW). Moved to a 150kW pedestal, that steadily pulled 125-130kW for the session.

2.) Stratford, CT: No issues. Ramped immediately to 175kW. I charged from 39% to 80% at an overall average rate of 135kW (24 minutes total). Best performing DCFC I've used so far.

3.) E. Brunswick NJ: Ramped to 155 initially and slowly to 160kW after that, then limited to 130kW while still at ~25% SOC, then the charge rate started yo-yoing between 110 and 130 (averaging about 120). It was about a 5 second oscillation between 110 and 130. I unplugged and plugged into a 150kW and it pulled 145kW immediately then stepped down as expected throughout the SOC range.

4.) Auburn, MA: Similar experience to the NJ station. I had initially plugged into a 150kW that was pulling ~130kW at a low state of charge, when a 350kW freed up I moved over to the 350kW to see if it could do better. It ramped up to almost 170kW immediately then within a minute or two dropped off to 130kW, then started the same oscillations I saw at the NJ station. I just left it on there because there wasn't much difference in the average rate compared to the 150kW but by the time I was over 70% the avg rate was near 100kW.

For the most part the 150kW stations have behaved as expected, pulling 145-155kW out of the gate then ramping down to ~130kW at 50% and, more or less, holding that until 80%. At this point I don't feel the need to plug into a 350kW station. The initial high charge rate seems to be getting offset my less reliable charging over time. Is anyone else seeing these issues?

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[sotek2345]

For your #1, that station had an issue with the charging cable cooling. Known issue that sometimes hits EA stations.

For the rest, all of that is inside the range of "normal" and is impacted by many factors outside of the station itself - mostly battery and ambient temp.

Going to a 350kW station will save you 1-2 minutes max on any given charging session - all in that initial burst. Once it ramps down, it is the same for either.

 

[LightningShow]

For your #1, that station had an issue with the charging cable cooling. Known issue that sometimes hits EA stations.

For the rest, all of that is inside the range of "normal" and is impacted by many factors outside of the station itself - mostly battery and ambient temp.

Going to a 350kW station will save you 1-2 minutes max on any given charging session - all in that initial burst. Once it ramps down, it is the same for either.

Maybe 'expected' is a better descriptor than 'normal'. I'm sure that EA wouldn't say that my experience is normal operation. The adjacent 150kW charger charged at a higher rate in every case. Obviously there are a lot of factors at play in DCFC but if they were "the same" after the initial burst then I wouldn't have had any issue. That's exactly what I would have expected to happen...but it didn't.

 

[beatle]

I don't really have enough of my own data to compare since the truck does not log finer details like these (or at least doesn't display them) for review, and there are no 3rd party API calls allowed to see stats like these. I've only DCFC 4 times.

I typically see the truck start to charge and ramp quickly to 150+kw and then I walk away for a bio break and food. Charge speeds on my sessions have not been seriously nerfed (down to double digit kw) since I always charge up at least as fast as I need to. That said, your experience is not unique even across other vehicles. Check out PlugShare and see some people only manage a short period at high kw before being crippled to ~30kw.

 

[Maquis]

An EA station that drops to a 35-ish rate likely has a faulty cable temp sensor and should be reported to EA. They will fix it…..eventually.
Do not confuse this hardware fault with the normal taper that occurs once you reach 80%.

 

[Mike G]

Ya know...I had a similar issue on the first road trip I took with my Lightning. Back in the beginning of July. Whenever I connected to a 350Kw EA charger (like three times) I would get a burst followed by a slowdown to something like 27Kw. It was ridiculous. I called the Ford helpline and was told by the "Lightning specialist" that the truck was limited to 150Kw DCFC (just like the Mach-E) and trying to charge over that rate was kindof a waste of time for lack of a better term.

I got some heat on the Mach-E forum for saying this Link here. but I still have issues if I connect to a 350Kw EA station sometimes (when the 150Kw is occupied).

So I try to stick with what won't cause errors (150Kw) regardless of whether the vehicle is supposed to negotiate the charging rate or not.

And the OBCC modules are up-to-date on both my vehicles in case anybody was wondering.

Mike

 

[vandy1981]

#1 is not normal and is due to the charger coolant loop temperature sensor fault as others have said.

The rest of the behavior is normal and not something to worry about.

 

[Griddlez]

An EA station that drops to a 35-ish rate likely has a faulty cable temp sensor and should be reported to EA. They will fix it…..eventually.
Do not confuse this hardware fault with the normal taper that occurs once you reach 80%.

I had this same issue in Mt. Vernon, IL's charge stations and Sullivan, MO's charge station. Starts and then limits to like 36kW. I reported both but judging by plugshare I don't think either have been addressed.

 

[RickLightning]

When you report a bad scanner, make sure to use the feature in EA's app, vs. calling. That way you know it was logged.

In addition, note your experience in PlugShare.

 

[LightningShow]

#1 is not normal and is due to the charger coolant loop temperature sensor fault as others have said.

The rest of the behavior is normal and not something to worry about.

I was familiar with limiting due to the cable cooling so that was not a surprise, though obviously a problem. I don’t think it’s reasonable to consider the other behavior normal even if it’s common. It’s clearly a problem with something in the design of the system, either programming or hardware, when another similar station will perform more optimally under the same conditions. The station is still functioning so it’s not a major issue but it also should be addressed by EA.

 

[Maquis]

Ya know...I had a similar issue on the first road trip I took with my Lightning. Back in the beginning of July. Whenever I connected to a 350Kw EA charger (like three times) I would get a burst followed by a slowdown to something like 27Kw. It was ridiculous. I called the Ford helpline and was told by the "Lightning specialist" that the truck was limited to 150Kw DCFC (just like the Mach-E) and trying to charge over that rate was kindof a waste of time for lack of a better term.

I got some heat on the Mach-E forum for saying this Link here. but I still have issues if I connect to a 350Kw EA station sometimes (when the 150Kw is occupied).

So I try to stick with what won't cause errors (150Kw) regardless of whether the vehicle is supposed to negotiate the charging rate or not.

And the OBCC modules are up-to-date on both my vehicles in case anybody was wondering.

Mike

My Mach-E *seems* to stabilize between 135-143 KW on an EA 350 station and 120-130 on the 150s. I say “seems” because once the rate stabilizes, I walk away and can’t monitor the rate ongoing. A year or so ago, I could see the current charge rate in FordPass, but that disappeared sometime after June, 2021. I suppose Ford got too many complaints about slow charging when we could see the rate?

I have no idea if I’m actually getting to 80% any faster using a 350, but bigger numbers make me feel better.

 

[jefro]

Might be worth it to contact EA support when this happens. I was at two different EA sites where the techs were working on issues. Spoke with them for a while about issues.

 

[neririn]

I was at an EA station that consistently charges under published rates. While charging, I had no other option, a tech arrived from the manufacturer of the stations (not EA tech) to investigate what was happening.

As we were chatting, and I was geeking out on the inner workings of a super charger, he discovered that at least at this station the service tech's EA has contracted with to maintain the chargers were hooking up the cooling completely wrong. This was causing the cable to overheat and the charger to back down the flow. (monthly average on the unit was 38kW)

I returned to the charging station 2 days later on my return trip, and charged at the unit he had been repairing. It was fantastic! I charged at 172kw from 17% to 80%. I have NEVER had a better charging experience than that one, at any charging station in the state. Turns out if the systems are correctly maintained, they can work pretty well.

 

[viennaxmas]

Ford officially limits the charge rate. I think it is 155 KW, so any station above that does not make much of a difference. What I saw in the forum, many get around 175 KW and a drop of after some initial full rate charge is normal.

 

[LightningShow]

Yes, the truck can only take so much but in this case Electrify America is restricting the charging rate. I usually see ~125kW from these stations, now they are giving 60kW.

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