It's true what they say about EA

[dduffey]

Okay, some real time updates. Tried the EA in Forth Worth today and all 350K chargers are out of order.

The 150K charger is giving me errors (both cables). So first I am putting it into sleep mode for 10 minutes before trying a hard reset.

Sponsored

 

[dduffey]

So the sleep did it again. Cable 1 threw a different error (actually connected and then tried to initiate but failed). Cable 2 is working fine.

This is the last EA charger I am going to use. Will find a hotel on the way home to slow charge overnight.

Overall I would give the charging experience an F. Not pointing fingers but 50% of the chargers in Ennis and Forth Worth we're down. All but 1 350K was down, and the one that worked was slower than the 150K station next to it.

I didn't try a hard reset, I am sure that would have worked as well and a bit faster/easier than waiting for sleep to kick it. This EA station is at a Sam's Club so there wasn't much to do but try to find some shade under a tree and wait.

 

[jjswan33]

Out of curiosity, did to check which of those were ABB vs signet chargers?

I did not. I meant to check yesterday in Hood River but I forgot. I was just happy to be in civilization after I beached my R1T on a snow drift and had to dig it out

 

[jjswan33]

So the sleep did it again. Cable 1 threw a different error (actually connected and then tried to initiate but failed). Cable 2 is working fine.

This is the last EA charger I am going to use. Will find a hotel on the way home to slow charge overnight.

Overall I would give the charging experience an F. Not pointing fingers but 50% of the chargers in Ennis and Forth Worth we're down. All but 1 350K was down, and the one that worked was slower than the 150K station next to it.

I didn't try a hard reset, I am sure that would have worked as well and a bit faster/easier than waiting for sleep to kick it. This EA station is at a Sam's Club so there wasn't much to do but try to find some shade under a tree and wait.

I agree a sleep cycle is a better path. When I first encountered this issue I was in Barstow CA and it was also in excess of 100F and I had my dog (with black fur) and there was 0 shade nearby so when Rivian suggested a sleep cycle I refused.

Glad to hear youre getting along but sucks that the truck is causing these charging issues, even if a sleep cycle fixes it Rivian needs to address this ASAP. Adding 10-15 minutes for a sleep cycle to even 25-50% of charging stops is no good, especially on road trips where this seems to happen more frequently (at least for me).

For what it’s worth its a bummer that those 350kW stations are not working but if you are not going to trust EA chargers road tripping a Rivian is going to be tough. Good luck on the rest of your trip.

 

[chrismc]

Also, while I was waiting for a spot to open in Waco, someone came up to me and said "Hey, I saw you trying to charge here and I think you are paying for my charge because it just started charging without asking."

When I plugged in and it "worked" as well without logging in. At the end it said "Thank you, Free" instead of my name and then it showed a charge, then a discount of the same and Total of $0". It then went to the main screen and said "complimentary".

So maybe the sleep cycle fixed it, or maybe EA switched those chargers into some free for all mode which made it work.

I have gotten free charges on EA stations on multiple occasions. It seems that if they have an upstream connectivity issue with accessing your account/payment, they fail to free mode (much better than leaving you stranded).

 

[Acoustic71]

I did not. I meant to check yesterday in Hood River but I forgot. I was just happy to be in civilization after I beached my R1T on a snow drift and had to dig it out

Do some employers still buy that old trick?

 

[Acoustic71]

Edit: Sorry, as I did not read the latest posts that clearly show the units giving issues. I will post what a "good" charger looks like the next time I travel to Salem or Newport in Oregon (unless of course someone has already posted that as well). Man you guys are fast!

OK, so here is what a Signet looks like. These 4 units are installed at the Walmart in Newport OR. Being a novice I was surprised to see that the charging units were not set in a straight line, but instead were set in pairs of two for each parking space. It makes sense, but throws you for a moment. Here they are.

Walmart Newport has 4 chargers. #1 has CCS 150kw/CHAdeMO 50kW, #2 has CCS 350kW/CSS 350kW, #3 has CCS 350kW/CSS 350kW, and #4 has CCS 150kW/CCS 150kW. And of course some idiot had a non-EV parked at one of the chargers.

I found it interesting that all four chargers had the same exact rating plate. That would suggest that they make one primary unit that can be configured in three or more different configurations. This may be obvious to the more seasoned members of our community, but it was news to me.

I will post similar set of pics once I get over to the Walmart in Salem, OR. Now that I have seen them up close and personal, the data presented on the EA app makes a lot more sense to me now.

 

[dduffey]

I thought I would close out this story/thread. We are back home and had to stay an extra night in Dallas (due to family missing their connecting flight).

We stayed at Aloft Dallas Entertainment just south of DFW that had two Tesla destination chargers to give use the best chance to skip charging en route. We left in the AM with 100% in conserve mode, about 190 miles / 3.5 hrs from home.

We arrived with 88 miles left (in all purpose mode, forgot to look before switching it back), that includes a couple of stops (to recharge the humans).

It was accurate in predicting arrival state of charge (but you would need to cancel the route and reroute to get an updated estimate).

Overall I am impressed by the range/efficiency of the truck.

I also installed the EVGo app, but the app and website are still out of sync for EVGo plans/payment methods so have not had the chance to try it yet, but will make sure that EVGo works before our next outing.

 

[ajdelange]

I found it interesting that all four chargers had the same exact rating plate. That would suggest that they make one primary unit that can be configured in three or more different configurations. This may be obvious to the more seasoned members of our community, but it was news to me.

The first line on the nameplate says that this product is a "dispenser". It is connected to a cabinet that contains the actual charger. What it does dispense depends on the rectifier (charger) it is connected to but It is capable of dispensing anything within the CHarIn HPC-350 envelope (which covers CHAdeMO).

 

[Acoustic71]

The first line on the nameplate says that this product is a "dispenser". It is connected to a cabinet that contains the actual charger. What it does dispense depends on the rectifier (charger) it is connected to but It is capable of dispensing anything within the CHarIn HPC-350 envelope (which covers CHAdeMO).

Thank you for the clarifying that part. Part of my problem may be that when I went to Aviation Electronics A & B schools, things were just barely transitioning from tube to transistor technology. As that horrid commercial used to say, "You've come a long way, baby!"

 

[TXKidd]

Considering I live in Dallas and would probably be using EA chargers in Fort Worth a decent amount, along with the chargers on the way to/from Austin, I find this a bit disconcerting. My Tesla charging experience has been essentially flawless. I really hope this improves with time!

 

[Longreach]

Considering I live in Dallas and would probably be using EA chargers in Fort Worth a decent amount, along with the chargers on the way to/from Austin, I find this a bit disconcerting. My Tesla charging experience has been essentially flawless. I really hope this improves with time!

Agreed…. We’ve got a long way to go in Texas, especially outside the 4 main cities.

Changing some of the local anti-EV attitudes would be a good place to start.

 

[whereismyr1t]

Considering I live in Dallas and would probably be using EA chargers in Fort Worth a decent amount, along with the chargers on the way to/from Austin, I find this a bit disconcerting. My Tesla charging experience has been essentially flawless. I really hope this improves with time!

The Waco and Denton chargers have been flawless for me. Probably wise to check plugshare before your trip just to see if anyone is reporting problems.

Sponsored