Chargepoint and EVGO Ruin EV Experience

[MXA121]

Charging related, but I was in a Polestar 2 not a Rivian.

Bay Area
Last night I needed just a quick energy boost to get home. We are talking a 5 minute charge stop. I could have driven the Model 3, but hey it's just a short stop no big deal, right? Wrong.

1st went to a Chargepoint station with 6 available. Nobody there. Tried 2 chargers, with app, multiple times, no dice.
Left and went to next closest, an EVGO station, with many available and two cars charging. Plugged into 2 machines only for them to immediately stop charging and canceling. Got charged for each session I attempted too.
Then went to EA further away, had to re-park since 3/5 stations were broken, but luckily one was open. FINALLY started charging.

THIS is why people do not want Electric Cars.

The Chargepoint station has tons of reviews in their own app how they have been broken for over a year, no maintenance or fixes.
The EVGO station I have no idea why it was tripping each time and stopping. $0.56/kwh plus a session fee also.

I will avoid Chargepoint and EVGO like the plague moving forward.
I suppose EA is my only hope for this year. They only burn cars down occasionally...
Tesla network cannot open soon enough.

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[Dark-Fx]

Had a perfect experience at chargepoint yesterday in my Polestar 2.

 

[MXA121]

Happy for you @Dark-Fx

 

[electrictaco]

@MXA121 what chargepoint stations did you try and use?

 

[BeanEW]

After my first road trip in the R1S last year, I cancelled my EVGo monthly membership right away. The Chargepoint charger that I have ever used was L2 during an emergency. My goto charging sites are RAN and then EA (not nearly perfect but better than the other two).

 

[emoore]

After my experience with EVGo at target in Minneapolis I’ll probably try to avid them too. I’ll stick to EA unless I really need a Tesla or chargepoint to get somewhere.

 

[sherold]

For what its worth, I had my first R1T road trip experience from Indianapolis to just north of Milwaukee over this last weekend and had only positive charging experiences, including 2 EVgo stops.

2 stops @ EVgo on the north side of Chicago - painless and quick, also reasonably priced.
1st - $18.89 for 101kWh @ 52 minutes
2nd - $9.00 for 76kWh @ 30 minutes

Overnight hotel EV Connect - $17.33 for 70kWh @ 11 hours
1st station did not work, moved to 2nd no problems

1 stop @ Electrify America in Lafayette - painless and quick, but pricey
$39.55 for 78kWh @ 27 minutes

 

[Tahoe Man]

Charging related, but I was in a Polestar 2 not a Rivian.

Bay Area
Last night I needed just a quick energy boost to get home. We are talking a 5 minute charge stop. I could have driven the Model 3, but hey it's just a short stop no big deal, right? Wrong.

1st went to a Chargepoint station with 6 available. Nobody there. Tried 2 chargers, with app, multiple times, no dice.
Left and went to next closest, an EVGO station, with many available and two cars charging. Plugged into 2 machines only for them to immediately stop charging and canceling. Got charged for each session I attempted too.
Then went to EA further away, had to re-park since 3/5 stations were broken, but luckily one was open. FINALLY started charging.

THIS is why people do not want Electric Cars.

The Chargepoint station has tons of reviews in their own app how they have been broken for over a year, no maintenance or fixes.
The EVGO station I have no idea why it was tripping each time and stopping. $0.56/kwh plus a session fee also.

I will avoid Chargepoint and EVGO like the plague moving forward.
I suppose EA is my only hope for this year. They only burn cars down occasionally...
Tesla network cannot open soon enough.

The fanboys will reply with two rebuttals. First you mostly charge at home anyways, so who cares about roadtrip charging. Second, they didn't have a problem charging away, so your charging issue is a non-issue as far as they are concerned.

This is why GM and Ford did what they had to do. You don't invest billions in EV products and ignore the charging issue.

 

[derekmw]

I agree with you. I can't wait for RAN to have a lot more sites available and/or Tesla network available.

I did a road trip to the Grand Canyon, Phoenix, and back to San Diego, something which I have done multiple times in the past in a Tesla. I was frustrated on more than a few occasions trying to charge. With Tesla it just always works, there are so many locations and SO many chargers at each of those locations.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Had a perfect experience at chargepoint yesterday in my Polestar 2.

Only required minimal off-roading, eh? Not like that other guy who had to traverse a curb stop, LOL. ?

 

[ohseedee]

For me EA has been mostly fine (maybe 75% success rate) , but the others not so much. Like yesterday I had to try 3 Chargepoint stalls before i could get a 50kW max charge. The main issue for me is the inconsistencies. Some times my charging experience is perfect, some times it's painful, other times it just doesn't work. Really hard to plan around. I'm now in the habit of charging early and often on trips just in case. My expectation is Tesla is mandating hardware and software in a way that we can expect a flawless charge experience on Tesla SC next year like Teslas enjoy today.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I've had nothing but bad experiences at EVGO. EA has had some mixed results but more good than bad. I avoid EVGo at all cost. Haven't had any really bad experiences at Chargpoint but those have been almost exclusively Level 1 charging.

 

[R1T Preds Fan]

For ChargePoint success I’ve always relied on the physical card or the digital card in my Apple wallet… Do not use their app to initiate charging the communication is terrible… I’ve not had any EVgo experience thus far; but flawless at EA and destination chargers…

 

[Marchin_MTB]

For ChargePoint success I’ve always relied on the physical card or the digital card in my Apple wallet… Do not use their app to initiate charging the communication is terrible… I’ve not had any EVgo experience thus far; but flawless at EA and destination chargers…

I second this. The digital card almost always works for me on the first try. I have given up on the ChargePoint App.

 

[emoore]

I've had nothing but bad experiences at EVGO. EA has had some mixed results but more good than bad. I avoid EVGo at all cost. Haven't had any really bad experiences at Chargpoint but those have been almost exclusively Level 1 charging.

Same here. Just one clarification, ChargePoint doesn’t have level 1 charging. Its either level 2 or DCFC.

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