[grueber]

I have only DC fast charged at the closest EA station near me which is an 8 stall location. When I first started using the station they all worked.

The last two times at least two of the stalls were broken. Today one was listed broken with two others showing as operable. When I plugged the connector into my iX the station would not recognize my iX and the iX displayed a charging error. Same error both stations.

The other 5 stalls were occupied. A Kia moved out of one and I pulled in. Plugged in and the iX started charging normally at 137 kW.

Deplorable how unreliable EA chargers are.

[Pictor]

Here's it's been a mixed bag. Mainly due to increasing population of EV's and EA's inability to grow with the demand. Last summer I did see an improvement in reliability after Robert Barossa joined as EA's CEO. Reliability does seem to be taking a turn for the worse again in the PNW but that could also be an artifact of coming out of the winter months.

[LVBMW]

It’s universally bad in my area. Rare to find a station without at least one charger out of service. I don’t think I have ever received the rated KWh from any charger. Most recently every charger (all rated at 150) were putting out 50 or less and displayed a message that charging power was reduced for an upgrade and to “improve the experience.” Huh??

[deutsch100]

I stopped trying EA chargers well over a year ago. Locally, at least 75% are broken and never repaired. The few that work are always clogged with inconsiderate iD4 and Hyundai/Kia drivers that plug in and never come back or still there until they reach a SLOW 100% charge!!!

[BritInTheUSA]

I had great luck at local EA location but this weekend there were 50% out of service and the others used by people trying to get to 100% it seemed. Went to another station that was great with space and charged at 155 peak (on a 150 charger). Very hit or miss. The max 50kWH I’ve had at one on Maine too that was beyond annoying.

I really hope they get better quickly. Once have Tesla access and EA free charging gone not sure I’ll use EA again. All will be home or Tesla most likely.

[drbluedevil]

Meanwhile, the closest one to me in DFW is >30 miles away from where I live. Nonexistent versus s#itty/defunct is quite the race for the bottom. I've never actually fast charged in 1.5 years of EV ownership. I tried setting up the free EA charging in my account and, after multiple failed attempts by my dealer to get it to work, they gave up and referred me to EA. Probably has to do with the fact that it's the second claim for free charging activation in <2 years, since my first iX got wrecked. Considering I'll never use the service, I'll just skip the call to EA, since the aggravation wouldn't be worth it for zero "free" charges.

I'd call the entire EA experience an abortion, but as I live in Texas, I don't want to attract the attention of the law

[ssingh1975]

This is where Tesla cannot be beat with their superchargers in literally every city and public parking lots (and hotels as well!). It just sucks that in EU, Tesla allows other brands to use their chargers but in USA, it's all locked solely to Tesla.

We got the 2 yr EA charging plan for free with our IX but we barely use it as most of the time, EA is just so bad, we end up driving back home and using our L2 charger in the garage. So much for "free" charging marketed by BMW...lol.

[LVBMW]

And, based on my recent experience (only one time but a notable change), they are now enforcing the one hour waiting period between free charges.

[Tigershark321]

Originally Posted by deutsch100

I stopped trying EA chargers well over a year ago. Locally, at least 75% are broken and never repaired. The few that work are always clogged with inconsiderate iD4 and Hyundai/Kia drivers that plug in and never come back or still there until they reach a SLOW 100% charge!!!

lol so true for the inconsiderate statement.

Also, the amount of people who pull in with 50-60% for a basic grocery shopping day. That isn't really what EA was designed for entirely also just wasting time on a crap charging curve. Get the battery down to 10-25% at least!

[BritInTheUSA]

Originally Posted by Tigershark321

lol so true for the inconsiderate statement.

Also, the amount of people who pull in with 50-60% for a basic grocery shopping day. That isn't really what EA was designed for entirely also just wasting time on a crap charging curve. Get the battery down to 10-25% at least!

Oh this is a common one I see, people plugging in to charge and are already at 60%+ SoC. Combine with the terrible charge curves of many of the EVs out there (looking at you ID.4 and Bolt) then can be waiting far too long when they want to get to 100% for no reason.

EV Education is lacking for sure.

[Pictor]

I've seen people plug in at 80% trying to get to 100% and it's infuriating. Then I recently found myself in a situation where I was renting a car at a city in the southeast that had minimal charging infrastructure and little or no L2 chargers at hotels. It was a 20 mile drive to the airport and I was at 70% and needed to deliver the car to the rental company close to 80% SoC. So there I was in an EV6 plugging in at 70% and trying to get to 90-95%.

So while education is needed, there will be cases where the driver knows how to get the most out of their charging session but are stuck in a situation where they need to do the unspeakable.

[Windshieldfarmer]

Originally Posted by Pictor

Then I recently found myself in a situation where I was renting a car at a city in the southeast that had minimal charging infrastructure and little or no L2 chargers at hotels. It was a 20 mile drive to the airport and I was at 70% and needed to deliver the car to the rental company close to 80% SoC. So there I was in an EV6 plugging in at 70% and trying to get to 90-95%

I had this exact situation happen to me last month. As charging curves on newer EVs continue to improve I suspect charging companies will begin to implement surcharges or “top off” fees for those with slow charging vehicles taking up space that could otherwise generate more kWh sales.

[NomoTesla]

Wait until you're stuck behind a Bolt while it takes an hour to charge at a 350 kW charger even though the car can only accept 45 kW, and the owner thinks he's getting a faster charge because the stall says "350". I just can't anymore with the low IQ of the average American.

[Windshieldfarmer]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

Wait until you're stuck behind a Bolt while it takes an hour to charge at a 350 kW charger even though the car can only accept 45 kW, and the owner thinks he's getting a faster charge because the stall says "350". I just can't anymore with the low IQ of the average American.

That’s my point…there should be a minimum fee of some type at high kWh chargers. For instance, EA could charge the greater of .75 per minute or the price of the kWhs added each minute. That would discourage those with slow charging capabilities from hogging high capacity chargers. I would also discourage 80%+ charging for others.I wouldn’t want to be overly punitive because sometimes more charge is needed. Such a structure would also encourage behaviors that would free up charger availability.

[NomoTesla]

Originally Posted by Windshieldfarmer

That’s my point…there should be a minimum fee of some type at high kWh chargers. For instance, EA could charge the greater of .75 per minute or the price of the kWhs added each minute. That would discourage those with slow charging capabilities from hogging high capacity chargers. I would also discourage 80%+ charging for others.I wouldn’t want to be overly punitive because sometimes more charge is needed. Such a structure would also encourage behaviors that would free up charger availability.

Honestly, 150 kW should be more than enough for most people. I would be in favor of a surcharge to use the 350 kWh units if the car is not 800v architecture. I did road trips in my Model S just fine and it never charged more than 115 kW and ramped down quickly. 150 kW in the iX with its better curve is a major improvement for me.

[thebishman]

Originally Posted by ssingh1975

This is where Tesla cannot be beat with their superchargers in literally every city and public parking lots (and hotels as well!). It just sucks that in EU, Tesla allows other brands to use their chargers but in USA, it's all locked solely to Tesla.

We got the 2 yr EA charging plan for free with our IX but we barely use it as most of the time, EA is just so bad, we end up driving back home and using our L2 charger in the garage. So much for "free" charging marketed by BMW...lol.

Don’t think that Musk got all altruistic about the S/C’s in the EU. He was forced by EU mandate to adopt CCS 2 as the connector as that became the standard, and I’m pretty sure he was also forced to ensure that all EVs regardless of brand could charge at a T S/C.

[Pictor]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

Honestly, 150 kW should be more than enough for most people. I would be in favor of a surcharge to use the 350 kWh units if the car is not 800v architecture. I did road trips in my Model S just fine and it never charged more than 115 kW and ramped down quickly. 150 kW in the iX with its better curve is a major improvement for me.

350kW and voltage are related but not. For example, you can charge an 800v just fine on a 50kW HPC with your 800v car. Pretty much all HPC support 800v with the exception of T*'s SC.

I do agree with charging more per kWh based on the rating of the dispenser but that means the dispenser needs to be functional and paired with 500A cables. Charging more for SoC over 80% is also reasonable assuming the next dispenser isn't 100+ miles away. Frankly I would just rather see working 350+kW dispensers and do away with 150kW all together. Who cares how fast or slow the next guy is charging, just get everyone in and out as quickly as possible. We only care about the Bolt or ID4 on the 350kW dispenser when we're "forced" to use the 150kW after arriving at a low SoC or worse, queue up because there are not enough dispensers. However, I would like to also see more 25kW dispensers that cost a lower rate at malls, and movie theaters which might eliminate some of the demand at the DCFC sites.

[JSTARR]

I have read that a new mandate for operators receiving fed subsidies for maintaining public access chargers is 97% operability. I hope that this is the case, and universally enforced.

[Pictor]

Originally Posted by JSTARR

I have read that a new mandate for operators receiving fed subsidies for maintaining public access chargers is 97% operability. I hope that this is the case, and universally enforced.

I've read through the NEVI funding requirements when they came out and there are some questions surrounding how this is measured. I suspect there will be some revisions made to this section.

As a simple measure of annual down time, 97% equates to almost 11 days down. Is that measured by dispenser or by site? And does that include dispensers or sites taken offline for maintenance or is the 10 days and 11 hours of down time intended to cover the maintenance windows? This is a doable metric but the devil will be in the details and I think some of the CPOs will push for maintenance exemptions.

[NomoTesla]

EA is also shady about how it reports down time

[Windshieldfarmer]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

EA is also shady about how it reports down time

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…

[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