EA Pass+ and pricing change update

[Joe schmoe]

I understand your sentiment but I will disagree they are not making impactful progress on reliability. For example they completely replaced the chargers at Hood River and Bend with the new stations and they have worked perfectly for me. Same was true when I was in Cali and used EA stations in Chico and Yuba City over the 4th.

Locally to me at least, they don't seem to be making progress.

The Memphis EA station (only "fast" DCFC in the city except for 3 Tesla supercharger sites) has been completely down for 2 months, since the beginning of Memorial Day weekend. The next closest EA sites on I40 east (Jackson, TN) and west (Forest City, AR) both appear to be chronically throttled, and not making anywhere near "rated" current.

The closest EA station to Memphis on the I22 corridor in Alabaster, AL is chronically throttled, and the 350kw cabinets there have been down I think since March at least which is the last time I drove through.

So...

My experience in the Southeast is the only a minority of EA sites are fully functional. The overwhelming majority of 350kw cabinets either don't work at all or are throttled, and when sites or cabinets are reported as broken they stay broken for months. The uptime for EA stations in my area has deteriorated significantly since My R1S was delivered in March, and the stations/cabinets that were broken then are still broken.

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[jjswan33]

Locally to me at least, they don't seem to be making progress.

The Memphis EA station (only "fast" DCFC in the city except for 3 Tesla supercharger sites) has been completely down for 2 months, since the beginning of Memorial Day weekend. The next closest EA sites on I40 east (Jackson, TN) and west (Forest City, AR) both appear to be chronically throttled, and not making anywhere near "rated" current.

The closest EA station to Memphis on the I22 corridor in Alabaster, AL is chronically throttled, and the 350kw cabinets there have been down I think since March at least which is the last time I drove through.

So...

My experience in the Southeast is the only a minority of EA sites are fully functional. The overwhelming majority of 350kw cabinets either don't work at all or are throttled, and when sites or cabinets are reported as broken they stay broken for months. The uptime for EA stations in my area has deteriorated significantly since My R1S was delivered in March, and the stations/cabinets that were broken then are still broken.

I notice that both TN and AL are charge by the minute states. If I were to guess EA has a lot less motivation to fix chargers in those states, at 0.37/min they are basically giving away money. At a 200kW charge rate that works out to <0.12/kWh.

Not an a great excuse but running those chargers has to be very expensive. Honestly I would be curious if there is a reliability difference in by kWh vs by min states.

 

[Tahoe Man]

The reliability of EA has been so bad that the agreements with Tesla SuC were drafted.

Anyone getting repeatedly getting burned at EA and elsewhere, it erodes confidence for public fast charging, thus the agreements.

 

[Joe schmoe]

I notice that both TN and AL are charge by the minute states. If I were to guess EA has a lot less motivation to fix chargers in those states, at 0.37/min they are basically giving away money. At a 200kW charge rate that works out to <0.12/kWh.

Not an a great excuse but running those chargers has to be very expensive. Honestly I would be curious if there is a reliability difference in by kWh vs by min states.

I’ve had that exact thought.

I want them to have a viable business, and they need to charge enough to do that, but right now it seems to be very poorly managed.

this is why NACS:/supercharger access will change things so much.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Funny. They do this 7 hours after I sign up.

 

[BigE]

The EA where I travel are so bad, I canceled my subscription and hopefully never have to use another. There are other/better options.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

I cancelled after my recent experiences in SC and southern NC. Their stations are almost always broken or severely throttled in those areas. Makes for an awful EV road trip experience. It shouldn't be that way.

I cancelled effective 8/10

 

[Riviot]

The bigger issue was coming back to Seattle from Montana last summer. The EA in Ritzville was working at like 50kw, the Ellensburg one wasn't working at all. We ended up sitting at the 50 kw EVgo in Ellensburg just enough to make it back to the EA in North Bend, WA.

Every. Freaking. Time. This is our route 3-4 times a year. We're headed there this afternoon, I'm not looking forward to hitting it at 4pm in this heat. When you need 47kWh to get to Spokane, and Ritzville is down too, it really tests your patience.

 

[Craigins]

I notice that both TN and AL are charge by the minute states. If I were to guess EA has a lot less motivation to fix chargers in those states, at 0.37/min they are basically giving away money. At a 200kW charge rate that works out to <0.12/kWh.

Not an a great excuse but running those chargers has to be very expensive. Honestly I would be curious if there is a reliability difference in by kWh vs by min states.

In Madison, WI the chargers seem to be derated to 100kW. WI is also a charge by minute state so I just figured they derated it intentionally to generate more money.

 

[azbill]

This will kick in right after my return trip Boston to Denver, which is great for me. Can cancel on the 15th and pick it back up for next summer, if we don’t have supercharger access by then.

FWIW, I have done 3k mikes in 3 weeks and I have found EA to be in good locations and reliable from an equipment/ability to charge standpoint. They are often busy, but I guess that says something as well. I have more complaints about the prices EVGo charges. Makes me feel like I’m back at the gas pump. The pass has more than paid off for me, I have $68 in savings in less than a month.

Get ready for EA to be more in line with EVGO pricing and TOU rates. Peak hours will be much more expensive, Tesla also has TOU pricing in many places.

 

[Joe schmoe]

In Madison, WI the chargers seem to be derated to 100kW. WI is also a charge by minute state so I just figured they derated it intentionally to generate more money.

Isn’t that special :/

I’m planning to drive through there next week. Looks like the next one north on 39 (Rockford, IL) is also throttled

I’m happy to see idle fees, which should help with availability. Perhaps the increased revenue will help them to maintain the chargers.

Up until now, the network seems to be very poorly managed.

 

[jjswan33]

In Madison, WI the chargers seem to be derated to 100kW. WI is also a charge by minute state so I just figured they derated it intentionally to generate more money.

Or lose less money..

Off topic but, at least they are finally bringing DC fast charging to Wausau from the photos on Plug Share it looks like its getting close. Also with the DC fast charger at the Chevy dealership in Rhinelander and a new 150kW charger in Prentice driving to my dads place in Eagle River will be a lot easier this summer.

 

[Craigins]

Isn’t that special :/

I’m planning to drive through there next week. Looks like the next one north on 39 (Rockford, IL) is also throttled

I’m happy to see idle fees, which should help with availability. Perhaps the increased revenue will help them to maintain the chargers.

Up until now, the network seems to be very poorly managed.

The station isn't fun for Rivians. I typically back into charger 1 (near the transformer box) at an angle. You can pull into one of the 350kW spots. The other 350kW spot you have to park on the opposite row of parking spots to reach. The last one is unusable by a Rivian.

I've had 3 people almost ram my truck while charging as they back out from picking up groceries.

 

[Craigins]

Or lose less money..

Off topic but, at least they are finally bringing DC fast charging to Wausau from the photos on Plug Share it looks like its getting close. Also with the DC fast charger at the Chevy dealership in Rhinelander and a new 150kW charger in Prentice driving to my dads place in Eagle River will be a lot easier this summer.

I keep checking! It will be much nicer than the 62.5kW charger at Stevens Point. Thankfully I installed my rivian charger up there so I don't have to worry about local DCFC.

For me, I'm hoping RAN drops a charger in portage. That way I can make it up in one charge stop.

 

[Tango45]

Well, you can avoid all this by just buying a new Hyundai or other EA-incentivized EV every two years...

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