Interesting Washington Post article on EA Reliability

[waitingonanr1s]

It sounds like CA regulators are leaning hard on EA to improve maintenance of sites, while the EPA is staying out of it as much as possible. I also appreciated the background on how we got here.

I just got my R1S in August (my first EV), and I've had almost as many problems at EVGo sites as EA sites - so it's not just an EA problem.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/12/13/electrify-america-ev-charger-broken/

Sponsored

 

[RivRyan]

Do you think releasing the Tesla chargers to Ford and GM will take enough pressure off the EA system to allow them to catch up on their maintenance backlog?

We're getting a VW ID.4 tonight (My R1T is being pushed back till we digest having a first EV.) I've been reading in a VW forum about lines at EA sites.

 

[COdogman]

Article is behind a pay wall for me. The EA stations I have used here in CO seem to be working most of the time, although I have definitely seen other vehicles struggling to connect while I’m charging.

All of these charging companies seem to have a lot of work to do. And honestly I think Tesla will have some struggles too (with non Teslas). They have never had to connect their chargers to anything but Teslas.

 

[RivRyan]

That's interesting - that it may not all be platform-specific. Some of the problems could be vehicle-side, or even user-side. I do see a lot more complaints about chargers being down in the VW forum than here.

 

[evhelphub]

Do you think releasing the Tesla chargers to Ford and GM will take enough pressure off the EA system to allow them to catch up on their maintenance backlog?

We're getting a VW ID.4 tonight (My R1T is being pushed back till we digest having a first EV.) I've been reading in a VW forum about lines at EA sites.

I own a first edition ID4, it's been a pretty solid car outside of the software. DM me if you'd like any more info on it.

Lines at charging stations are starting to develop in many areas for sure. EA is owned by VW and creates an interesting situation for them.

EA announced a significant investment to expand/upgrade charging locations, but they aren't moving very quickly. I see more EVgo stations popping up instead.

I find that even the newest EA chargers are still having some issues, but not as bad as before.

Long story short, no, I think once people can use the supercharger network, very few will choose Electrify America and once the revenue drops, VW will find it difficult to justify further investment.

Unfortunately, VW EVs are not currently on the list to get the adapter for Tesla Superchargers next year (yet). We plan on selling our ID4 unless that changes soon.

What does VW do? Protect their EV sales or protect their charging business which isn't doing so well?

 

[waitingonanr1s]

Article is behind a pay wall for me. The EA stations I have used here in CO seem to be working most of the time, although I have definitely seen other vehicles struggling to connect while I’m charging.

All of these charging companies seem to have a lot of work to do. And honestly I think Tesla will have some struggles too (with non Teslas). They have never had to connect their chargers to anything but Teslas.

If you access via a google search the paywall should be removed - was for me at least.

And yes, I don't think EA is any worse than the others. A lot of folks seem to have trouble trying to use without the app, which for the life of me I don't understand why people do that. Many chargers work fine with the app, but the card reader and/or screen interface is broken.

After over 3,000 long road trip miles now, I've only not been able to charge at one EVGo in Salt Lake and one EA in Ventura, CA. In either case I could have waited for the full, working chargers to free up, but I chose to move on to a close by alternative site. I've also had only one station where I've been forced to accept derated charging (max 100 kw) - it was an EA station.

 

[waitingonanr1s]

Do you think releasing the Tesla chargers to Ford and GM will take enough pressure off the EA system to allow them to catch up on their maintenance backlog?

We're getting a VW ID.4 tonight (My R1T is being pushed back till we digest having a first EV.) I've been reading in a VW forum about lines at EA sites.

I think most folks without free charging on EA will choose Tesla over EA once access to their network is obtained. The pricing is comparable if you sign up for their membership.

 

[waitingonanr1s]

I own a first edition ID4, it's been a pretty solid car outside of the software. DM me if you'd like any more info on it.

Lines at charging stations are starting to develop in many areas for sure. EA is owned by VW and creates an interesting situation for them.

EA announced a significant investment to expand/upgrade charging locations, but they aren't moving very quickly. I see more EVgo stations popping up instead.

I find that even the newest EA chargers are still having some issues, but not as bad as before.

Long story short, no, I think once people can use the supercharger network, very few will choose Electrify America and once the revenue drops, VW will find it difficult to justify further investment.

Unfortunately, VW EVs are not currently on the list to get the adapter for Tesla Superchargers next year (yet). We plan on selling our ID4 unless that changes soon.

What does VW do? Protect their EV sales or protect their charging business which isn't doing so well?

They're required to maintain them through 2026 - the end of the consent decree. Will be interesting to see where things are in regards to innovation by then though. There's a lot of competition that should come on line in the next few years too.

 

[evhelphub]

They're required to maintain them through 2026 - the end of the consent decree. Will be interesting to see where things are in regards to innovation by then though. There's a lot of competition that should come on line in the next few years too.

Fingers crossed on competition. It reminds me a lot of Rivian service centers in terms of demand matching availability. It's hard to determine need and match it profitably.

 

[SANZC02]

I think most folks without free charging on EA will choose Tesla over EA once access to their network is obtained. The pricing is comparable if you sign up for their membership.

I actually have Rivian and then EA as my preferred chargers in ABRP, the bulk of my Rivian DCFC charging has been on EA.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Do you think releasing the Tesla chargers to Ford and GM will take enough pressure off the EA system to allow them to catch up on their maintenance backlog?

We're getting a VW ID.4 tonight (My R1T is being pushed back till we digest having a first EV.) I've been reading in a VW forum about lines at EA sites.

The lines at our local EA sites are directly tied to the Kia, Hyundai , VW , BMW and Porsche dealers in the area offering free 1 or 2 year charging with the purchase of their vehicles. I see the same EV drivers almost every other day charging when I pass by. I don't blame them, but I but it does erk me a little that the minimal times I needed to fast charge, I had to wait because all the KIAs/ VW's are lined up.

 

[Mathme]

EA tends to have better pricing overall than what I've seen on EVgo...at least where I've been driving. EA has been fairly consistent and usually works with most stations doing their thing. I do find that the ONLY way I can initiate a charge at the discounted rate is to start a specific charger at a specific station via the EA App. Apple Wallet used to work, but for the past few months it hasn't. Now that I know about this, EA has been fairly consistent and worked.

One thing that is super annoying is a lot of SLOWly charging vehicles on 350 kWh chargers charging up to 100%. DCFC should be to get cars charged and moving along as efficiently as possible and I wish these companies would put a surcharge per KwH above 85% charge...this would definitely get those nursing their batteries to full moving along and making room for the rest of us.

 

[SANZC02]

EA tends to have better pricing overall than what I've seen on EVgo...at least where I've been driving. EA has been fairly consistent and usually works with most stations doing their thing. I do find that the ONLY way I can initiate a charge at the discounted rate is to start a specific charger at a specific station via the EA App. Apple Wallet used to work, but for the past few months it hasn't. Now that I know about this, EA has been fairly consistent and worked.

One thing that is super annoying is a lot of SLOWly charging vehicles on 350 kWh chargers charging up to 100%. DCFC should be to get cars charged and moving along as efficiently as possible and I wish these companies would put a surcharge per KwH above 85% charge...this would definitely get those nursing their batteries to full moving along and making room for the rest of us.

Tesla will limit and stop charging at 80% at high use/busy superchargers.

 

[zefram47]

I do see a lot more complaints about chargers being down in the VW forum than here.

This is probably because ID.4 buyers are getting those stupid 30 min *free* charging sessions that they can just unplug/replug and get more time for free. So VW owners are likely charging more than others and clogging up stations next to the Bolts charging to 100%. Other than charging curve testing I've only used DC charging on one road trip and one local trip where I needed a little extra to get home in 11k miles. I'll be taking a longer road trip next week. Point being, if you have L2 AC charging at home you'll very rarely use DC charging. Providing unlimited free charging just incentivizes people to use DC charging when they don't need it which makes the experience worse for everyone when you do need it.

 

[zefram47]

One thing that is super annoying is a lot of SLOWly charging vehicles on 350 kWh chargers charging up to 100%. DCFC should be to get cars charged and moving along as efficiently as possible and I wish these companies would put a surcharge per KwH above 85% charge...this would definitely get those nursing their batteries to full moving along and making room for the rest of us.

Anyone towing will need to do deep charges. Not because it's needed to tow, but because the availability of CCS chargers means you need it just to make it to the next charger. Rather than trying to tell someone how to charge, these companies just need to put more units in the ground. Tesla only charges fees for this at crowded stations, which is somewhat fair. But they also have stations with 8, 12, 40+ chargers and spaced much more closely vs EA which drops 4-6 units in stations spaced maybe 100 miles apart. We need more DC chargers *between* cities and fewer installed *in* them.

Sponsored