Electrify America to only allow charging to 85%

[Slick68]

I ran across this article that is really a head scratcher. You would think EA would at least try to get more of their chargers working. This is just another reason to avoid EA chargers…

https://www.electrive.com/2024/07/09/electrify-america-to-charge-batteries-to-85-only/

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[KurtsRPMGarage]

This is strictly for congested chargers in the middle of cities. The problem is you have tons of people with EVs that have unlimited free charging (VW, audi, bmw, etc..) with electrify America. Those people clog up the chargers sitting there for hours going to 100%. While people that actually need a bit of charge to continue on their way are stuck waiting for people at 98% getting 13kW. This will not affect chargers on major highways between charging deserts. I see this as a good thing.

My brother has an audi etron gt rs and despite having an evse at home will go out of his way to electrify america occasionally to grab a free charge just because. Seems like a total waste of time to me but free stuff makes people do weird things. Luckily I don't think he stays there to 100% but too many do.

 

[ryun]

Yeah, this seems dumb, but at least they're just piloting for now. What if you need to charge up to 90-95% to get to the next charger?

Maybe if there were more charges or something.

 

[PreservedSwine]

It’s a pilot program, at just 10 sites in Southern California.

I agree with you on all counts. But this forced courtesy is not a bad thing.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Yeah, this seems dumb, but at least they're just piloting for now. What if you need to charge up to 90-95% to get to the next charger?

Maybe if there were more charges or something.

They will still have nearby facilities that won't have the restrictions during the pilot, hopefully they learn that allowing +85% charging for an increased cost might be a way to inhibit charging abuses at the flip cost to those who actually need the extra juice to make the next leap

 

[sotek2345]

I for one am very happy about this. It seems every time I stop to charge now every stall is taken up by vehicles at 95% plus that want to sit there for another hour while I wait.

 

[data003]

Just make charging not free past 80%. The entire idea of free charging was terrible to begin with, at least that would get rid of the abusers.

 

[TheWoo]

Just make charging not free past 80%. The entire idea of free charging was terrible to begin with, at least that would get rid of the abusers.

While that would make a lot of sense, I'm guessing it's not that simple - an agreement was made with the people that have free charging.

This is an interesting experiment. There are few places or times where a person needs to go to 100% at a DCFC.

 

[Kit2874]

I ran across this article that is really a head scratcher. You would think EA would at least try to get more of their chargers working. This is just another reason to avoid EA chargers…

https://www.electrive.com/2024/07/09/electrify-america-to-charge-batteries-to-85-only/

Its needs to be done in SoCal to be honest... The amount of people that have free charging with EA (thru the car Manufacture) that sit there and go all the way to 100 while there's 50 cars waiting to get charged.

Yea sometimes being nice needs to be forced.

 

[RickLightning]

Headline is very misleading.

 

[Calvin H-C]

I wonder if it's possible to switch from kWh pricing to minute pricing once the SOC reaches 85%. For those with free charging, start charging by the minute at 85%.

I kind of like the cutoff at 85% instead of 80. While many vehicles start slowing by 80, my FFE, which has never taken a charge faster than 53 kW, maintains that rate up to about 90% before the slow-down starts.

 

[queuewho]

Headline is very misleading.

yep, they aren't gonna do this in places where the next charger is one a lot of cars won't make it to if they can't get 90%

 

[Grease Lightning]

I for one am very happy about this. It seems every time I stop to charge now every stall is taken up by vehicles at 95% plus that want to sit there for another hour while I wait.

I too am happy about this, but equally sad as there are times people need that for some unknown reason.

As I said in an earlier post, I wish the Charger Operator would install some 48 amp A/C chargers adjacent to the DCFC so those that need 100% can move from say and 85-90% hard cap to an EVSE and finish the charge. It is a little healthier for their batteries, frees up the fast charger, and offers them the ability to still charge to what they may need.

Also allows the driver to decide what they need in that moment. Even in our Lightnings if I can land at a 48 amp EVSE I can get 10 kW an hour so maybe that is what I want to get while taking a break from driving to have a sit down meal or do some shopping before moving on.

 

[Maxx]

My brother has an audi etron gt rs and despite having an evse at home will go out of his way to electrify america occasionally to grab a free charge just because. Seems like a total waste of time to me but free stuff makes people do weird things. Luckily I don't think he stays there to 100% but too many do.

I know someone that is fairly wealthy and has been exclusively doing DCFC at EA for several years and has no intention of setting up a charger at home until he runs out of free charging. He has rearranged his life and schedule to accommodate the free charging at EA.

Now we have to choose between dying of old age waiting at EA or instantaneous combustion at Superchargers.

 

[neeonline]

Tesla does a similar thing on very busy locations.

When you start charging, the car automatically sets the limit to 80%, if you move past that you receive a notification asking you to avoid doing that to help others to charge.

It’s a better approach once you still can charge to 100% if needed.

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