EV Charging Memberships

[MoreTrout]

EA is pretty common and my most frequently used fast charge. PlugShare is really one of the most important apps to have IMO. ABRP and Rivian can both tell you where there are chargers but PlugShare will let you get intel on whether or not they are actually working. For example one of my EA stops driving from Seattle to California last weekend was limited to 50KW a station due to some maintenance issue which I only learned from PlugShare. Because of that I was able to stop earlier and charge enough to skip that location.

I tend to map things out for charge stops on ABRP then double check those in PlugShare to confirm they're functional. Finally put that charger as the destination into the onboard navigation so the battery will pre-condition for charging.

^This.

I map out trips on ABRP first. I prefer the full size screen of my laptop over the phone. I'll also map out the same starting and stopping points on Google maps just to see if there are any significant route differences. Usually there aren't. You'll see that you can adjust the starting SOC in ABRP, so pay attention to that as it will significantly change the stops.

Then check all the charging stops ABRP mapped and check them for issues on Plugshare.

I then check Plugshare for all other charging options in the area just in case. Sometimes it's a single point of failure, and those are the stops that will generate the max range anxiety. Start by filtering out the level 2 and I usually look for the 150 or at least 100 kW and above first. Then add them back in for the slower backup options around your stop.

Based on what brand of chargers are mapped out by this, it should be obvious which apps you will need to download. EA will no doubt be one of them, but most of the others mentioned will be worth downloading since it is likely you'll come across them eventually.

Use the truck NAV as your last option on this first trip. I find it ok, and not nearly as bad as some claim, but it can give you an oddball route now and then. Use it to set the destination as the next charger that ABRP mapped out instead of trying to get it to map out the entire route.

You'll learn that the range left displayed on the driver screen is significantly more than what the NAV predicts. I regularly do a trip with a stop at 118 miles. If I leave the house with anything less than 150 or 160 miles on the range "guess o meter", it tells me I won't have enough to make the trip. Even with temps in the 20s and heater on full time I have made it with at least 10% remaining. While I don't get as much range as the guess o meter said, the two numbers kind of converge over the trip.

On your trip, you will probably see that you will arrive at the next planned stop with more range then the NAV and ABRP predicted, so you will either have a shorter stop or more range than needed for the next leg it calculated. Also, try to coordinate what you will be doing at each stop. ABRP might have you stop for 15 minutes at one, and 1 hour at another. If the 15 minute stop is at noon, you might be better off just charging for 45 min to an hour there while you eat lunch. Just redo the remaining route in ABRP and it will adjust.

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[NC-Rivian]

^This.

I map out trips on ABRP first. I prefer the full size screen of my laptop over the phone. I'll also map out the same starting and stopping points on Google maps just to see if there are any significant route differences. Usually there aren't. You'll see that you can adjust the starting SOC in ABRP, so pay attention to that as it will significantly change the stops.

Then check all the charging stops ABRP mapped and check them for issues on Plugshare.

I then check Plugshare for all other charging options in the area just in case. Sometimes it's a single point of failure, and those are the stops that will generate the max range anxiety. Start by filtering out the level 2 and I usually look for the 150 or at least 100 kW and above first. Then add them back in for the slower backup options around your stop.

Based on what brand of chargers are mapped out by this, it should be obvious which apps you will need to download. EA will no doubt be one of them, but most of the others mentioned will be worth downloading since it is likely you'll come across them eventually.

Use the truck NAV as your last option on this first trip. I find it ok, and not nearly as bad as some claim, but it can give you an oddball route now and then. Use it to set the destination as the next charger that ABRP mapped out instead of trying to get it to map out the entire route.

You'll learn that the range left displayed on the driver screen is significantly more than what the NAV predicts. I regularly do a trip with a stop at 118 miles. If I leave the house with anything less than 150 or 160 miles on the range "guess o meter", it tells me I won't have enough to make the trip. Even with temps in the 20s and heater on full time I have made it with at least 10% remaining. While I don't get as much range as the guess o meter said, the two numbers kind of converge over the trip.

On your trip, you will probably see that you will arrive at the next planned stop with more range then the NAV and ABRP predicted, so you will either have a shorter stop or more range than needed for the next leg it calculated. Also, try to coordinate what you will be doing at each stop. ABRP might have you stop for 15 minutes at one, and 1 hour at another. If the 15 minute stop is at noon, you might be better off just charging for 45 min to an hour there while you eat lunch. Just redo the remaining route in ABRP and it will adjust.

I use the truck NAV to navigate to the next charger so that the battery will condition itself for faster charging.

 

[JeremyMKE]

Anyone know how widespread this slow EVgo thing is? I’m planning to use a well-rated EVgo charger prior to wilderness adventures in two weeks (Palm Desert, CA).

Some of the EVgo chargers are not high powered in general, just like EA. I will say when I used a 350 Kw EVGo charger on my road trip last week it was the best experience I have had.

 

[Riv_Ian]

We just got back from a SE Michigan trip to Bentonville, Arkansas (first road trip). We mostly let the Rivian NAV be the guide with the apps others have mentioned as backups. Other than the stop at Benton Harbor RAN chargers, all were fast EA chargers (350 kW) with 150kW option. All but one EA stop was in a Walmart parking lot. As mentioned above, sign up for the EA monthly $4 plan for the trip - it drops the price from $0.48/kWh to $0.36/kWh, so you’ll save the $4 many times over on your trip.

I added EA to my Apple wallet on the iPhone. When this worked, it was very convenient - plug in, call up EA in wallet, hold against reader and it starts charging. Sometimes this doesn‘t work and you need to open the EA app, pull up the location you’re at, select the specific charger you’re at and swipe right where it says swipe right to start charging (scroll down on screen). It took me a minute to work out method 2; doing so while the vehicle is plugged in can result in timing out the connection, which requires unplugging, waiting a short while and plugging back in. All easy enough once you get the routine down, but can be frustrating until you do.

I did have a couple of cases of EA chargers stopping sessions before I had the charge that I wanted. On one, it had been charging fairly slowly anyhow, so I switched to another which worked fine. In the future, I’ll just switch earlier if it’s going slow. We were generally getting over 400 miles per hour displayed as charge rate initially on 350kW chargers, which I think is ~150kW charging.

Mostly the Rivian NAV worked great (agree with range prediction statements above - also miles/kW dropped a fair bit above 65mph with 2 bikes on bed mounted racks). One exception was in MO where we were scheduled to stop in ~60 miles. I stopped to switch off driving with my wife and the planned charging stop just disappeared. NAV said no chargers in range - gulp! Pulled out the EA app since it was a Walmart EA charger that we were en route to. It ID’d a L3 charger ~60 miles away. Zooming in on the location in Rivian’s NAV showed the chargers greyed out with “out of network” next to them. I don’t know why since they were just the same as all of the others we stopped at.

On the way down, we planned to overnight charge at a hotel in Bloomington, IN (not far from the plant). We even called the hotel (Embassy Suites) ahead of time to check that they had EV charging, which they confirmed. We arrived at check in fairly late and were directed around the back of the hotel. There were 2 Tesla chargers with 2 Teslas plugged in, so that plan didn’t work and added a morning charge delay. I told them at the front desk that they should change their website description to “Tesla chargers” from EV chargers. They said I could plug any EV in, which is only really true if you take an adapter with you.

Some of the Walmarts had a fair number of other businesses around them as alternative options for entertainment while charging, a number did not, so that might be a consideration for planning stops. We picked up food or had leftovers to eat while stopped. One evening stop, we uber’d Into town while charging. Only had 1 time where 4 stalls were all occupied and one opened within 5 minutes of arrival.

 

[Trandall]

@moosetags

I tend to map things out for charge stops on ABRP then double check those in PlugShare to confirm they're functional. Finally put that charger as the destination into the onboard navigation so the battery will pre-condition for charging.

This is the way.
I enjoy rout planning for my upcoming adventures so I spend more time than needed checking things but as you gain confidence you will find that it road tripping doesn't take much planning effort at all. Also congrats your going to love your new ride.

 

[NC-Rivian]

We will be taking delivery of our R1T at the Factory in Normal in a couple of weeks. We will be driving back to Florida from there. We are new to EV's. As we will need to charge out in the wild, we are now wondering what EV charging networks we need to be members of. We also need to know what apps are available to help us locate chargers on our route.

We would appreciate any guidance that the group can provide.

Brian

Congratulations on your new truck! It is a very nice traveling machine! My wife prefers it to our Tesla for comfort and it has much longer legs than the Tesla. I prefer the Tesla because if the obvious charging convenience. You’ll need to plan your trips instead of hopping in and taking off. But that’s part of the fun I think.

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