[thebishman]

Originally Posted by Windshieldfarmer

Unfortunately I suspect most of these rules won’t apply to EA except for the new chargers stations they build using federal funds. We can only hope competition forces EA to up their game. I’m looking forward to the day when I can travel with my EV without charger anxiety…

I really wish BMW would accelerate their timeline with Tesla to gain access to the S/C network. Given the number of EVs BMW are selling versus some of their competitors, such as GM, etc., it would really make sense and would be a great gesture to those of us that have bought, and will buy more BMW BEVs.

[Pictor]

I've spend quite a bit of time up and down east coast of the US as well as in the PNW in an EV. From my own experience, I don't think access to the SC network is going to solve much. It will certainly help but it's not the magic solution everyone hopes it will be. Sure there are huge charging deserts like in upstate NY and in states like MT that have better SC coverage but the SC locations around here are generally full or the dispensers are lower powered than the 250kW units. A SC site nearby took almost 12 months to commission only to end up at or near capacity since the day it opened.

We also have quite a few SLOW L2 Chargepoint locations that are fine for apartments or offices but they're useless for most people in shopping centers. I wouldn't want to deal with plugging in for 3-6kW charge when I'm going to run into the supermarket for something.

Until CPOs start installing more of the 25-75kW dispensers in quantity at locations where people spend an hour or two it's going to be a $hi7 show at corridor DCFC locations near major metropolitan area with local folks clogging up high speed dispensers to top off the top 20% of their battery.

My local experience where even SC sites are at or near capacity may be a more local issue since for the last 5-6 months, half of the new car registrations are EV and about 15% are PHEV with only about 30% being ICE vehicles. But even along the east coast during my limited travels, I see SC sites at or near capacity on a regular basis. But then within about a 20 minute drive, I know of 16 NACS and 10 CCS dispensers that are in the process of being commissioned so maybe the SC network will catch up to demand before the others. I'm not holding my breath. I've also never been stranded and the most I've ever had to wait on a trip was maybe 5-10 minutes but I also don't stick around if I see a queue of folks waiting for a charge. I keep a backup option and move to that if there is more than one car waiting.

[ltphoto]

I am currently in the third week of a road trip down from Washington state to Joshua Tree, and then back up along the coast. Currently on the Oregon coast. While I am driving a Tesla currently, this trip has made me confident in getting an iX now, instead of waiting for Supercharger access. At over half of our Supercharger stops there have been other DC fast chargers available. A mix of EA, Chargepoint and Shell Recharge. I checked with people using many of them and the experience has been good. In over two weeks of travel, almost two weeks in California where it's supposed to be worst, I have not had to wait a single time for a charge. We have also been able to charge overnight at about half our hotel stays on this trip. The charging infrastructure appears to be improving much faster than I realized. Hopefully charging anxiety for road trips will be a thing of the past in the not too distant future.

[Tigershark321]

One thing I have noticed (maybe it is just time of day) is it has been taking longer to get a representative on the phone if you are having issues at the charging station with no other open spots.

[rferg61]

Needed a quick "top off" today. The super WaWa now has EA in addition to Tesla superchargers. For the first time, I saw 190 KW initial charge though it tailed off to 160 KW.

[Kennethjk]

Tried charging using plug and charge today and didn’t work on 2 separate units at an EA station

I called and they were able to get it started but I think they charged me so will have to deal with that.

All the other cars had no issue with EA so I might have to blame BMW. Yes I do have the certificate for EA plug and Charge

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Kennethjk

Tried charging using plug and charge today and didn’t work on 2 separate units at an EA station

I called and they were able to get it started but I think they charged me so will have to deal with that.

All the other cars had no issue with EA so I might have to blame BMW. Yes I do have the certificate for EA plug and Charge

No need to call if plug and charge doesn’t work. Activate the charger through the myBMW app.

[Kennethjk]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

No need to call if plug and charge doesn’t work. Activate the charger through the myBMW app.

Thanks and too late for me, deed already done.
Thanks for the advice will remember for rest of the trip

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Kennethjk

Thanks and too late for me, deed already done.
Thanks for the advice will remember for rest of the trip

If you have the EA free charging card in your Apple wallet that may work also, although many EA chargers have non-functioning NFC readers. Why do you think you were charged? There is always a $20 pre-auth even for the free charge, but it doesn’t become an actual charge. Was there a $ amount on the charger screen at the end of the charge? It should show $0 if your free charging was applied.

[Kennethjk]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

If you have the EA free charging card in your Apple wallet that may work also, although many EA chargers have non-functioning NFC readers. Why do you think you were charged? There is always a $20 pre-auth even for the free charge, but it doesn’t become an actual charge. Was there a $ amount on the charger screen at the end of the charge? It should show $0 if your free charging was applied.

Yes I saw the holds, which are normal, but I have an exact summary from them. Will know in a day or 2 if they did charge me.
For my Mach E there was a summary but at the end it said no charge. This was different so I am summizing a charge.

I could be be wrong.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Kennethjk

Yes I saw the holds, which are normal, but I have an exact summary from them. Will know in a day or 2 if they did charge me.
For my Mach E there was a summary but at the end it said no charge. This was different so I am summizing a charge.

I could be be wrong.

The charging screen on the charger should show the charge at the end of the session. Either $0 if they used your free charging or a $ amount if they didn’t.

[Kennethjk]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

The charging screen on the charger should show the charge at the end of the session. Either $0 if they used your free charging or a $ amount if they didn’t.

They showed full charge

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Kennethjk

They showed full charge

Uh oh. Email them at support@electrifyamerica.com.

[LS954]

going on my first road trip in the IX. going from san diego, ca to fallon, nv. ive dont this in a tesla numerous times with no issues. saying that i'm a little nervous doing it in the IX would be a huge understatement.

[Pictor]

Originally Posted by LS954

going on my first road trip in the IX. going from san diego, ca to fallon, nv. ive dont this in a tesla numerous times with no issues. saying that i'm a little nervous doing it in the IX would be a huge understatement.

Not sure which route you're taking but it looks okay. The stops at Coso and Bridgeport have limited backup options but the PlugShare scores seem good at those locations with L2 options nearby. The Coso site has a slow single 50kW dispenser nearby that shows as being under repair but there are recent positive check-ins.

[Kennethjk]

Charged a few times today using EA and some follow up from the other day

The EA certificate is missing from my car. It was there a few days ago and it vanished

Called Genius, no go

They told me to call EA and have them resend the certificate, BMW can’t. I fear a terrible loop of pointing fingers but will try later or tomorrow.

In any event I took the advice to start the charge thru BMW app and it worked , no problems and no credit card charge .

Charged 2 times today and it was high 80’s and saw notices of reduced speed but really didn’t notice any reduced charging speed

thanks for the help

[DBV1]

Originally Posted by thebishman

We were fortunate on our recent Kansas City to/from Knoxville, TN trip that every EA station we stopped at was functioning either at full 'speed', or if one cabinet wasn't, there was another 150 kW or 350kW immediately available.

But dear God who designed the access to these chargers stuck in the parking lots of Walmarts and Sam's Clubs? They surely weren't designed most of the time for a car like the iX with the charge port on the Passenger rear

That is so true on the charging located at Walmart’s and Sam’s Club’s. What a stupid decision. When I charge at most Tesla locations on my trips, they are by Starbucks and other better food/shopping places and not far off the freeway either.

[Kennethjk]

Having just completed my trip from Florida to NY I have a few comments.

Other than 1 EA stop all the other EA stations worked fine and I was able to charge using 350 stations. I did stop at a Buccees and used a ChargePoint Mercedes’s Benz branded station rated at 400.

The 1 station that was an issue had 2 chargers out of 4 not working. A 350 station had a bolt attached to the charger, it wasn’t even charging. 😡. I left after 5 minutes and went to the next EA station.


Yes, the EA chargers are at the end of the Walmart lot but since I was charging during the day it wasn’t a big deal. Wouldn’t want my wife to do it alone at night.

On most of my stops there were a few choices to eat etc so it wasn’t in the middle of nowhere so I don’t have a lot of complaints.

Plenty of options driving on 95 to NY so never a problem and with the range of the ix at 100% (charged up overnight at a hotel) it really was a breeze. When we get access to Tesla superchargers it will be even better.

[HybridLA]

We just finished a 1,093 round trip journey from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon back to Los Angeles.

Flawless and perfect 5 charging stops thanks to EA. Of course luck is a good ally when you don't have to wait for a charger the entire journey. All 350 chargers worked perfectly. A great trip and thanks to the BMW/EA agreement transportation costs were $0!

[LeeInCT]

My area EA (stratford CT) has seen ups and downs
At one point I would never have counted that as an option
Now I am seeing a come back. Things have been working and more vacant stations as well.