Electrify America Challenges

[RedCanyon]

I spoke yesterday with someone that works for a BMW dealer, who shared that BMW has had 4 instances where BMW EV's have had "issues" with Electrify America chargers to the point that they are warning or preventing their customers from using them. In one case the plug had melted, and there was mention of a fire, etc. ... but there were all Electrify America related. Has anyone heard of this? This guy wasn't messing around, and was sharing it as a legit concern. Seems like word of this kind of issue would spread quickly, so looking for some kind of validation.

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[bbonkk]

Sorry I thought you wanted to start a game called the EA Challenge where you have go from A to B and only using EA chargers!!! No one will finish…. However I do have a friend who had an Audi e-tron catch fire at EA.

 

[Riviot]

I'm resigned to avoid EA unless absolutely necessary. The scare tactics worked.

 

[COdogman]

Without knowing specifically what “issue” this random BMW dealer employee is referring to, how often it has happened across all EVs, I would hesitate to put too much stock in that type of comment. It is completely anecdotal.

 

[SwampNut]

I've never had a good experience at any EA ever, and default to anything else if possible. I'd rather not play Rivian Roulette with multiple pedestals and cables, or whether it will even charge at all, or stop at random.

Emotional stages of a Rivian charging stop

Denial...there's simply no way that these companies can make chargers that are so incredibly unreliable. How can this whole station be dead?

Anger...they've let me down again!

Bargaining...the third time you reconnect, and hold your arms in a certain way, to let the charger know that you mean business. Fourth time you start praying to your deity of choice that you will stop drinking, eating junk food, and searching Google for...well, you know.

Depression...how am I supposed to get where I'm going now? What will I do for the next hour? What have I done???

Acceptance...well, I can walk. There's Uber and Lyft. And tow trucks. I probably won't die.

Hope...Oh look, EA just announced (AGAIN) that they are retrofitting chargers to be more reliable! YAY!

 

[mikehmb]

My experience with EA has been equal parts:
1) Worked great with no issues
2) Station down, could not connect, etc
3) Borked the truck which then needed to be reset and drive to find another (non-EA) charger

On the positive side, it’s never a dull experience.

 

[Killer95Stang]

I cancelled my membership, because of the line of "free-loaders" (Kia, Hyundia, VW, BMW) that make charging at them a miserable experience. As a sidenote, I would be one of them if Rivian gave us free charging, but they don't and I won't wait 45 minutes to charge.

 

[Doug]

This seems to be a bash EA thread. In the midwest we have had pretty good success with EA other than one or two broken chargers out of 4 to eight to pick from.. They are the fastest around for charging. I live in a rural area with plenty of 50kw "fast" chargers so EA actually is pretty good for us. Also some of them charge by the minute instead of KW which is really cheap. earlier this week i traveled thru WI and used a couple EA stations which worked well and were only about $9 to $11 to charge.

 

[ndmiller]

Used EA, EVGO, CHARGEPOINT, TESLA with no issues, but I do a bit of research before I go and avoid problem stations identified by reviews.

 

[RivAW]

Used EA, EVGO, CHARGEPOINT, TESLA with no issues, but I do a bit of research before I go and avoid problem stations identified by reviews.

Same here! A little research before hand goes a long way…

 

[Riviaenz]

I spoke yesterday with someone that works for a BMW dealer, who shared that BMW has had 4 instances where BMW EV's have had "issues" with Electrify America chargers to the point that they are warning or preventing their customers from using them. In one case the plug had melted, and there was mention of a fire, etc. ... but there were all Electrify America related. Has anyone heard of this? This guy wasn't messing around, and was sharing it as a legit concern. Seems like word of this kind of issue would spread quickly, so looking for some kind of validation.

Is that BMW NA that is issuing the warning to BMW owners or the dealer with anecdotal evidence or an incident that’s independently warning?

Without knowing specifically what “issue” this random BMW dealer employee is referring to, how often it has happened across all EVs, I would hesitate to put too much stock in that type of comment. It is completely anecdotal.

Exactly!

 

[Riviaenz]

Sorry I thought you wanted to start a game called the EA Challenge where you have go from A to B and only using EA chargers!!! No one will finish…. However I do have a friend who had an Audi e-tron catch fire at EA.

Audi’s are prone to catching fire. Here’s one at work that started late in the day and caused the garage to be inaccessible for a few hours.

 

[Riviaenz]

Used EA, EVGO, CHARGEPOINT, TESLA with no issues, but I do a bit of research before I go and avoid problem stations identified by reviews.

Same, except for EVgo. I avoid them like the plague - they price gouge. The only time I’ve tried them I got ripped off to the tune of $1.23/kWhr plus 2 session fees that they conveniently tacked on when their station blipped and forced a restart.

 

[bbonkk]

Audi’s are prone to catching fire. Here’s one at work that started late in the day and caused the garage to be inaccessible for a few hours.

1 for 1 that a gas Q6 I think. My friends E-tron the caught fire just came back from the dealer that installed a new rear motor and maybe made a bo bo....

 

[bbonkk]

I've never had a good experience at any EA ever, and default to anything else if possible. I'd rather not play Rivian Roulette with multiple pedestals and cables, or whether it will even charge at all, or stop at random.

Emotional stages of a Rivian charging stop

Denial...there's simply no way that these companies can make chargers that are so incredibly unreliable. How can this whole station be dead?

Anger...they've let me down again!

Bargaining...the third time you reconnect, and hold your arms in a certain way, to let the charger know that you mean business. Fourth time you start praying to your deity of choice that you will stop drinking, eating junk food, and searching Google for...well, you know.

Depression...how am I supposed to get where I'm going now? What will I do for the next hour? What have I done???

Acceptance...well, I can walk. There's Uber and Lyft. And tow trucks. I probably won't die.

Hope...Oh look, EA just announced (AGAIN) that they are retrofitting chargers to be more reliable! YAY!

Exactly, could not have explained it better.....

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