New Electrify America EA Chargers Are Failing in the Cold

[bmwhitetx]

I will need to use the recently upgraded EA site in Waco to top up. Checking plug share, there are no reports of the cabinets not working in Waco so it seem this may only be an issue in sub 0 temps.

How was the Waco EA station? It’s about to be my go-to station as well.

Sponsored

 

[Wsl346]

How was the Waco EA station? It’s about to be my go-to station as well.

It was fine. I pulled into charger 1 and started charging but it capped out at 38kW. I moved to charger 4 and after an initial failure, I was able to get it started. The new Signet cabinets work very well. I immediately ramped all the way up to 181kW and then leveled out in the high 170s for quite a while.

The station was packed! Probably due to holiday travel. When I first started charging, 2 of 6 stations were available but filled in quickly. A Bolt took my place at charger 1 and they seemed happy with 38kW, lol. By the time I left there were two Mach-Es and an ID.4 waiting to charge.

I also saw my first Lucid Air which was cool. The owner didn’t seem that interested in EVs. We were out of our cars at the same time so I asked him if the cold had an effect on the charging speed. He didn’t really seem to understand what I was talking about and gave me the impression that he was annoyed I was even talking to him in the first place. Home boy was at 95% when I left and was only pulling 40kW. Kinda rude considering he is driving one of the longest range EVs and there were three people waiting. Like I said, dude didn’t really seem like he was an EV person.

 

[metroshot]

I think one of the issues Kyle mentioned was that the chargers all showed online and working on the app, but were not actually working.

Yup, very annoying feature of EA - the app shows all working, I pull up and half are not working.

Yesterday had that experience at EA, so I ended up at an EV Go charger where all the chargers were working on the app and in real life.

EVGo costs a bit more, but worth it to see 120-160kW charge rates.

EVGo has the new simultaneous charging feature where you can actually have 2 EVs charging on the same tower.

Plus it's a true plug and charge that doesn't require you to pull out your phone, open the app, select an EA charger, then slide to active.

 

[asudan]

Yup, very annoying feature of EA - the app shows all working, I pull up and half are not working.

Yesterday had that experience at EA, so I ended up at an EV Go charger where all the chargers were working on the app and in real life.

EVGo costs a bit more, but worth it to see 120-160kW charge rates.

EVGo has the new simultaneous charging feature where you can actually have 2 EVs charging on the same tower.

Plus it's a true plug and charge that doesn't require you to pull out your phone, open the app, select an EA charger, then slide to active.

0.56/kWh wow. I pay $0.07/kWh at home. I think the cost advantage is gone at $.50+

no

 

[TaxmanHog]

0.56/kWh wow. I pay $0.07/kWh at home. I think the cost advantage is gone at $.50+

no

Pretty much, using my old PSD would cost less, but that is assuming my current 1.7 MPK, my old trucks 15 mpg and $4.97 for diesel. Which I think is much more expensive in SoCal!!! That said it might come out to an advantage for EV vs ICE

https://www.iexitapp.com/gasprices/California/4/Montclair/2829/Diesel/1

 

[asudan]

Pretty much, using my old PSD would cost less, but that is assuming my current 1.7 MPK, my old trucks 15 mpg and $4.97 for diesel. Which I think is much more expensive in SoCal!!! That said it might come out to an advantage for EV vs ICE

https://www.iexitapp.com/gasprices/California/4/Montclair/2829/Diesel/1

I’ve run the math so many times it’s scary. Every situation is different but at $0.07/kWh with the Tesla we pay about $50/mo in electricity where we used to pay $400-500mo in gas. But if I have to pay $0.56/kWh for power that $50 turns into $400 and now we aren’t saving any money….

 

[TaxmanHog]

I’ve run the math so many times it’s scary. Every situation is different but at $0.07/kWh with the Tesla we pay about $50/mo in electricity where we used to pay $400-500mo in gas. But if I have to pay $0.56/kWh for power that $50 turns into $400 and now we aren’t saving any money….

Exactly, many regional factors to consider, in my area, DCFC is the best deal in town even with respect to home charging, I'm averaging 13c/kWh at EA which charges by the minute in Mass at 24c/min, while at home it's 27c/kWh

 

[metroshot]

Exactly, many regional factors to consider, in my area, DCFC is the best deal in town even with respect to home charging, I'm averaging 13c/kWh at EA which charges by the minute in Mass at 24c/min, while at home it's 27c/kWh

Must be nice to be charged by the minute instead of per kWh!
Looks a lot cheaper to pay by the minute in MA.

In So Cal, I pay by the kWh - EA is fixed at $0.43 while EVGo can vary from $0.39 to $0.59 per kWh.

At home my rates vary from $0.21 to $0.53 per kWh...

Much more expensive in CA for sure!

But at least while the rest of the country is freezing, we are in 80+ degree sunny warm temps this weekend!

 

[swajames]

In So Cal, I pay by the kWh - EA is fixed at $0.43 while EVGo can vary from $0.39 to $0.59 per kWh.

the EA pass plus drops that to 31c per kWh. Costs $4 for the pass plus, but well worth it if you use EA more than just infrequently.

unfortunately you can’t get pass plus rates and pay via Ford plug and charge at present, so if you want the pass plus rate you have to initiate the charge from the EA app.

 

[LightningShow]

Yup, very annoying feature of EA - the app shows all working, I pull up and half are not working.

Yesterday had that experience at EA, so I ended up at an EV Go charger where all the chargers were working on the app and in real life.

EVGo costs a bit more, but worth it to see 120-160kW charge rates.

EVGo has the new simultaneous charging feature where you can actually have 2 EVs charging on the same tower.

Plus it's a true plug and charge that doesn't require you to pull out your phone, open the app, select an EA charger, then slide to active.

I charged at an EA station last week and one cabinet was completely off but still showed available in the app.

 

[metroshot]

the EA pass plus drops that to 31c per kWh. Costs $4 for the pass plus, but well worth it if you use EA more than just infrequently.

unfortunately you can’t get pass plus rates and pay via Ford plug and charge at present, so if you want the pass plus rate you have to initiate the charge from the EA app.

I'd pay the $4 monthly membership to EA for the lower rates, but I am not exclusive to them.
Everytime I go to an EA charger, some or half are out of service.

I end up going to EVGo since they are more common in my area, even if it costs a bit more...

At the end of the year, I will see my total costs to charge as all my charge apps: Chargepoint, EA and EVGo are tied into my Ford VISA card for tax deduction for my small business....

 

[F150ROD]

How do I get these pictures to EA? BTW, Merry Christmas everyone

Charge is holding steady

 

[F150ROD]

And now the station shut down and I’m unable to unplug smh… on call with CS…. Happy Holidays

 

[Pioneer74]

And now the station shut down and I’m unable to unplug smh… on call with CS…. Happy Holidays

You can't unplug with the manual release?

 

[TaxmanHog]

And now the station shut down and I’m unable to unplug smh… on call with CS…. Happy Holidays

Try squeezing the upper portion of the white shell to see it it impacts the release button mechanical latch.