Two Rivians couldn’t charge at Tucson Outlet Mall EA!

[CharonPDX]

On Thursday, I started the “Northward” return trip home with my trailer. First stop, the EA at the Tucson (AZ) Outlet Mall. Charged there successfully on the Southbound portion of the trip, albeit at degraded charging speeds.

Plugged in, swiped in the app to start the charge, immediately got “Charger not plugged in, unplug and try again.” Thought maybe it was the cable, tried the other cable on the same dispenser - same. Tried the “paired” dispenser next to it, both cables, same. Moved to another position, all four cables there same issue. Saw plenty of other vehicles charging successfully, so figured something had broken on my truck overnight since charging the prior evening. Called Rivian. They tried a few things, then suggested I let the truck go to sleep and try again. My bad - I left pet mode on so it didn’t go to sleep during my 20 minute timer, so had to do it again. Didn’t help.

The closest Rivian Service Center is the North side of Phoenix, and I had enough towing range to make it to Casa Grande where there is an EA and an EVgo. (Literally the first DC charging North of where I was, and the only >50kW other than the EA I couldn’t charge at within 100 miles.) I decided to try to make it to Casa Grande and try there, if it fixed itself, great, if it didn’t, at least I’d be closer to the Rivian Service Center.

Right then, another Rivian R1T (also towing) pulled in. Got the same error. Unfortunately for him, he only had 19 miles of range remaining, and was going West to East instead of North to South; so his ONLY option was a 50kW EVgo about 10 miles away in Tucson. Spent 30 minutes on the phone with EA trying to fix it for both of us before we each departed our separate ways. No help.

I made it to the Casa Grande EVgo on e-fumes (static?) and thankfully charged successfully. That would have taken forever, so I added enough to make it to the EA a couple miles away (and back, just in case) and went over to the Casa Grande EA. Thankfully, it worked fine. (After running into the fact that two of the four stalls were down, and having someone try to take a stall when I was moving to it.) Got a nice 215 kW once I actually started charging.

Man, EA really needs to fix their problems. Did an EVgo in North Phoenix (Glendale, IIRC) then a RAN in Sedona, no problems at either.

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[VSG]

One thing to try when you can't get the EA charger to initiate a session is to sign out of the app, force the app to complete stop, then restart the app and sign back in. Sometimes the problem is with the app not the charger. This has worked for me several times after EA customer support walked me through the process when I had a problem at Green River last year. This process allowed me to charge at the same pedestal that had failed multiple times before I called. This is the first thing I do now if I have a problem with an EA charger. It only takes a few minutes - quicker than calling in, quicker than doing a reset.

 

[RayzorBEV]

On Thursday, I started the “Northward” return trip home with my trailer. First stop, the EA at the Tucson (AZ) Outlet Mall. Charged there successfully on the Southbound portion of the trip, albeit at degraded charging speeds.

Plugged in, swiped in the app to start the charge, immediately got “Charger not plugged in, unplug and try again.” Thought maybe it was the cable, tried the other cable on the same dispenser - same. Tried the “paired” dispenser next to it, both cables, same. Moved to another position, all four cables there same issue. Saw plenty of other vehicles charging successfully, so figured something had broken on my truck overnight since charging the prior evening. Called Rivian. They tried a few things, then suggested I let the truck go to sleep and try again. My bad - I left pet mode on so it didn’t go to sleep during my 20 minute timer, so had to do it again. Didn’t help.

The closest Rivian Service Center is the North side of Phoenix, and I had enough towing range to make it to Casa Grande where there is an EA and an EVgo. (Literally the first DC charging North of where I was, and the only >50kW other than the EA I couldn’t charge at within 100 miles.) I decided to try to make it to Casa Grande and try there, if it fixed itself, great, if it didn’t, at least I’d be closer to the Rivian Service Center.

Right then, another Rivian R1T (also towing) pulled in. Got the same error. Unfortunately for him, he only had 19 miles of range remaining, and was going West to East instead of North to South; so his ONLY option was a 50kW EVgo about 10 miles away in Tucson. Spent 30 minutes on the phone with EA trying to fix it for both of us before we each departed our separate ways. No help.

I made it to the Casa Grande EVgo on e-fumes (static?) and thankfully charged successfully. That would have taken forever, so I added enough to make it to the EA a couple miles away (and back, just in case) and went over to the Casa Grande EA. Thankfully, it worked fine. (After running into the fact that two of the four stalls were down, and having someone try to take a stall when I was moving to it.) Got a nice 215 kW once I actually started charging.

Man, EA really needs to fix their problems. Did an EVgo in North Phoenix (Glendale, IIRC) then a RAN in Sedona, no problems at either.

I have been using that Tucson location for around 2 years now and it is a hit or miss. I always have issues with EAs at just about all locations visited. I can't wait for the Tesla's SuperCharging network to open up to us!

 

[Captain JB]

What does it mean to bring the app to a complete stop? Does that mean deleting the app and then reinstalling it?? Thx, JB…..C- inn tech ))

 

[jjswan33]

I mean I know people love to blame EA but if other cars were charging without issue it’s pretty hard to put all the blame on EA.

 

[SANZC02]

What does it mean to bring the app to a complete stop? Does that mean deleting the app and then reinstalling it?? Thx, JB…..C- inn tech ))

If it is an iPhone, drag up from the bottom right corner with a finger from the Home Screen. You get to the App switcher, go to EA and slide it up, that fully closes it. I’ve also had to do this on occasion if it shows an empty charger in use.

 

[Riviot]

What am I looking at

 

[azbill]

The best way to initiate a charge at EA is to swipe the app prior to plugging in. Once payment is confirmed the charger screen will then tell you to plug in. This always works for me, and in fact EA told me a long time ago to do it this way, despite there instructions on the screen.

 

[CharonPDX]

One thing to try when you can't get the EA charger to initiate a session is to sign out of the app, force the app to complete stop, then restart the app and sign back in. Sometimes the problem is with the app not the charger. This has worked for me several times after EA customer support walked me through the process when I had a problem at Green River last year. This process allowed me to charge at the same pedestal that had failed multiple times before I called. This is the first thing I do now if I have a problem with an EA charger. It only takes a few minutes - quicker than calling in, quicker than doing a reset.

I tried paying by credit card, not even using the app. As soon as the station tried to communicate with the vehicle, the vehicle said the cable wasn’t plugged in all the way and erred out. The station wouldn’t give up until whatever its timeout period happened.

 

[CharonPDX]

I mean I know people love to blame EA but if other cars were charging without issue it’s pretty hard to put all the blame on EA.

For two different Rivians to fail to charge with the same error? When both Rivians successfully charged at other EAs the same day? (The other one at least once before this one, me later.)

 

[Cycliste]

What does it mean to bring the app to a complete stop? Does that mean deleting the app and then reinstalling it?? Thx, JB…..C- inn tech ))

Force quit the app.
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/quit-and-reopen-an-app-iph83bfec492/ios

Ah, jeez! Now I’ve got "Use the Force, Luke” running in my mind.

 

[Budman]

It has also been said to pull up on the handle after plugging in to help the communication contacts close for the Initial handshake.

 

[R.I.P.]

It has also been said to pull up on the handle after plugging in to help the communication contacts close for the Initial handshake.

TG CCS is going away... What a shit show...

 

[jjswan33]

For two different Rivians to fail to charge with the same error? When both Rivians successfully charged at other EAs the same day? (The other one at least once before this one, me later.)

Just saying if people were charging then the charger wasn’t broke.

Also these types of errors seem to be common on R1 vehicles, I know I have had it happen more than once. Also in my experience they are more common when the battery gets low. Not sure why a sleep cycle didn’t fix it for you this time.

Don’t take offense or anything just being pragmatic also glad you were able to get to your ultimate destination

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