Congestion Reduction Pilot for EA

[smunro622]

Electrify America’s 85% state of charge pilot
EA launched its Congestion Reduction Pilot at stations in Southern California at select high utilization charging stations with congestion issues. The stations are also in areas where there are more EV chargers to ensure EVs with less range aren’t adversely impacted.

The point of the pilot is to reduce wait times. If someone sets their EV to charge to 90-100%, then it takes a much longer time to charge and can cause congestion.

https://electrek.co/2024/07/08/electrify-america-pilot-state-of-charge-85-percent/

I get the reason why on the sites they picked, I think this also shows multiple short stops and charging to the 80-85 percent is the sweet spot. My belief is this will help get more vehicles thru faster. Looking for thought please be civil to each other as this will be hotly debated. Hopefully EA notifies users charging they the are at a pilot site and do not expect a full charge

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[Killer95Stang]

The biggest issue with EA chargers near me has to do with VW, Kia, Hyundai, BMW, and Porsche dealers offering 1 to 2 years of free charging with purchase. The same people in the long line of cars waiting for the same 4 chargers every single day. I don't blame them, since it was probably a huge deciding factor for some, but it was enough of a hassle for me to just cancel my membership.

 

[Joe Hoffman]

They should only limit when all chargers are in use. If there’s a free charger and someone wants to camp out and wait for 100% go ahead.

 

[ads75]

They should only limit when all chargers are in use. If there’s a free charger and someone wants to camp out and wait for 100% go ahead.

Unfortunately it seems like EA doesn't always know when one of their chargers is broken (also applies to other providers). Someone could also, plug in, walk away, and then a line form while they are gone. I have read about other people's ideas in edge cases to allow charging to 100%, I do think it's best just to limit it to 85% at all times just for consistency.

 

[docwhiz]

Tesla has done this for years at busy SC.
You can override it but the time to get that last bit of charge is not worth it.

 

[mwexler2]

Tesla has done this for years at busy SC.
You can override it but the time to get that last bit of charge is not worth it.

Agreed that charging to 100% at busy public chargers in charger dense areas is both a waste of time to the person charging and the people waiting. I disagree that charging to 100% at a public charger is always a bad idea.
I’ll give a concrete example:
https://www.plugshare.com/location/605354
I charged to 90% here on the way to Bella
Coola. Both times I charged there, nobody else was using or waiting for either of the chargers. When I returned from Bella
Coola I had <10% charge and had to heavily limit my driving in the Bella Coola area.
I’ve had similar experience in other rural, charger poor areas. As I said, 100% agree for urban charger rich locations.

 

[Tango45]

They should only limit when all chargers are in use. If there’s a free charger and someone wants to camp out and wait for 100% go ahead.

Unfortunately it seems like EA doesn't always know when one of their chargers is broken (also applies to other providers). Someone could also, plug in, walk away, and then a line form while they are gone. I have read about other people's ideas in edge cases to allow charging to 100%, I do think it's best just to limit it to 85% at all times just for consistency.

Both good points and I hope that they can get good data from the pilot program to drive their next steps and find a good compromise. Either way, I think it's a step in the right direction to address a problem they had a part in creating through their free charging deals. There's still a lot of education that needs to happen with etiquette at chargers and it can be frustrating to see someone displaying bad behavior.

To give credit where it's due, I think Tesla's approach in not having screens on the chargers helps. I don't think I've been at an EA charger where there wasn't at least one person seeing what everyone else's charging session is doing. Also, having all the chargers (AFAIK) on the same rating would help alleviate the "why are you on the 350?" issues.

 

[smunro622]

I agree with pints here if the charger doesn’t have a wait list and no busy day 2 am remove the charge limit… this also goes to while DCFC is great there needs to be some slower chargers say a 60-150 available. Nothing worse than a slow charging EV sitting on a 350 kw charger.. this should also be considered and should have a resolution

 

[COdogman]

I think it’s a good place to start. Without knowing much about the locations they chose, it’s hard to say if it will punish people who are road tripping and may actually need to go above 85%.

I definitely understand why they are trying this first. It will get right to the problem and should move people through much faster. I guess the hope would be that those EV owners who unnecessarily charge to 100% will be educated by this and stop doing it. Maybe they don’t even know they could be damaging their battery along with clogging up the chargers…

 

[smunro622]

I think it’s a good place to start. Without knowing much about the locations they chose, it’s hard to say if it will punish people who are road tripping and may actually need to go above 85%.

I definitely understand why they are trying this first. It will get right to the problem and should move people through much faster. I guess the hope would be that those EV owners who unnecessarily charge to 100% will be educated by this and stop doing it. Maybe they don’t even know they could be damaging their battery along with clogging up the chargers…

Found them in the video here… looks all west coast…

 

[Aardvark]

If they are serious about reducing congestion they should first-
1. Build stations with more than 4 chargers.
2. Keep all chargers operational at a given station, not just half, or fewer, of them
3. Install chargers that don't throttle to 41 kW every time the temperature hits 90 degrees

 

[smunro622]

If they are serious about reducing congestion they should first-
1. Build stations with more than 4 chargers.
2. Keep all chargers operational at a given station, not just half, or fewer, of them
3. Install chargers that don't throttle to 41 kW every time the temperature hits 90 degrees

I agree with you, I am just sharing information as I didn’t see anything posted about it. Found the video from state of charge on you tube. I really only used EA when I had my Mach E as I had 250 kw free.

 

[HaveBlue]

4. stop giving away free charging
5. Put up a sign telling 50kwh bolts to stop hogging 350 units. Haha

 

[Aardvark]

I agree with you, I am just sharing information as I didn’t see anything posted about it. Found the video from state of charge on you tube. I really only used EA when I had my Mach E as I had 250 kw free.

I appreciate you posting. It's a good heads up especially in areas where in cold weather one might need 85% to make the next desired station. So more planning might be involved.
I was just venting frustration that EA is moving to penalties, when they have self-inflicted wounds that cause congestion today.
During our last cross country trip earlier this month, for example, we purposely bypassed the Indianapolis station after multiple Plugshare reports that only 4 of 8 chargers were operational, and cars were backed up waiting in line.

 

[ThumprMN]

I’ve always thought it would be convenient if they installed 50kw “Top Charging” stalls next to 350 stations. Then If you need to top charge, you get cut off at 80 and move over nd free up a station for others. Maybe even have a discounted rate vs. the fast charger rate to incentivize the behavior.

Overall they need better reliable chargers, more education, stop giving away free charging, and MORE CHARGERS per site. But yes, I agree with cutting off at 80% if you can shift people to top chargers for those that need it.

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