Electrify America Network

[DougWantsALeaf]

Plugnchug reported that the Williamsburg Iowa chademo is also a Signet charger. It’s been down now for over a month.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

The units at both Waterloo and Herkimer NY are Efecac. CHAdeMOs are out of order at both locations, and CCS is throttled back to 50kW due to issues with the cooled cables.

 

[GRA]

Had another look at the Castro Valley site yesterday. Things are moving slowly, but they are making progress. While they still have some concrete/asphalt fill and painting to do, stallards and power cabinets are installed, and the transformer pad is poured and awaits the transformer. This will be an urban site, with two 150kW CCS, 1 150/50kW CCS-CHAdeMO, and 1 L2. The highway sites seem to have at least one 350kW CCS stallard. [Edit] Had a look at the site yesterday, and the L2 at least is BTC. I couldn't get close enough to read the placards on the QCs.

 

[GRA]

Re EA (lack of) reliability, see this IEVS Niro EV review (he likes the car):

Road-Tripping In 2019 Kia Niro EV Is No Easy Feat: Extensive Review

https://insideevs.com/reviews/364082/2019-kia-niro-ev-intensive-test-drive-review/

So, that's issues with both Signet and Efacec chargers. ISTR we've also had reports about ABB issues. Anyone experiencing any problems with BTC units? The author is another person impressed with the courtesy and professionalism of EA's CS people, if not the reliability of the chargers.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

EA’s call center is super nice, but can do little to solve the reliability issues.

I do have growing worry that EA has no budget to repair stations or at least exhausted it for this year already.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

I was just reviewing my Chicago to Denver route options, and while getting to Kansas City has plenty of choices, the West side of Kansas is EA only optioned and both Chademos are out of service.

What is going on??? Any one get anything definitive from EA. Does anyone have a contact with insideevs or another media outlet to help put some pressure on them to fix the stations?

 

[Evoforce]

They told me they need to hire and train more repair technicians. Yep, I would say so.... :roll:

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Da should put a secured Tesla Chademo adapter at each station. (And advertise it)

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Williamsburg appears to be back online.

 

[GRA]

Here's the official announcement via GCC:

Electrify America launches first mobile app, new membership options and new power-level pricing structure

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/06/20190604-ea.html

. . . How Electrify America determines an EV’s power level and its associated pricing:

• Car communicates its charging capability: If your EV tells the charger that it can accept a maximum charging power of 95kW, for example, it is placed in the 1-125kW power level.
  
  Per-minute price is locked in for the session: The power level set according to your EV at the start of your charging session determines the per-minute price, which stays the same throughout the session. You’ll be shown the power level in which your car is placed at the start of the session. Your power level pricing will be shown on the charger screen or on the Electrify America app.
  
  Session begins, but charging speed may vary: The charging speed may fluctuate throughout your session based on the vehicle’s requested power level depending on: the vehicle model; external temperature; battery age; and the battery’s state of charge when the charging session begins.

So, if EA doesn't allow you to reduce the max. charge rate, then Hyundai/Kia need to reduce it to 75 kW, or allow the owner to do so.

I'm not the only person noticing that the Niro and Kona get screwed by EA's tiers:

How Electrify America Is Handling Kia Niro EV, Hyundai Kona Electric, and Other Charging Issues

An update from Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia Niro EV, and Chevy Bolt EV drivers on the challenges facing the rapidly expanding Electrify America EV charging network.

https://www.torquenews.com/7893/how-electrify-america-handling-kia-niro-ev-hyundai-kona-electric-and-other-charging-issues


It seems a bit unclear whether or not EA's pricing takes account of the max. rate the car can accept at the moment the charge starts, the max. rate at any time, or only the max. theoretical rate at any time, as the article includes several cases where the actual rate was at or below 75kW throughout, yet Tier 2 pricing was charged. This will seriously restrict Kia/Hyundai owners' use of these chargers, but until lots of people complain to the government agencies involved and/or EA let's the charge rate (tier) be chosen by the customer, they are the last place you'd charge if there are any other options. If EVgo can join up their regional clusters into a national system, they can give EA some serious competition.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

I do hope evgo’s new charges help fill out their national network. They aren’t bad in the east coast, then CO then west coast.
They need the blank spots in between.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

EA called me today unprompted.

First, sadly, Williamsburg is not yet functional. The rep confirmed that for me when I had her check on the phone, but she promises it will be fixed soon. Hmm... it’s down for 2 months already.

Second, they told me that second Chademo handles were in their plan, but wouldn’t commit to timelines.

Finally I suggested on the call that they supply a Tesla - Chademo adapter at each EA stop to improve business. They said that was not in their plan and that I should go buy one from the Tesla site. I thought that comment was funny as they know I have a Leaf.

I have never worked with a company which had its customer support so far ahead of its ability to deliver a reliable service.

 

[jlv]

Finally I suggested on the call that they supply a Tesla - Chademo adapter at each EA stop to improve business.

Why would a Tesla owner want to charge slower and pay more to use an EA station?

And would you really want the lone CHAdeMO plug tied up with a Tesla?

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

1. If you knew you could go to any EA charger and be able to charge (without ahead of time buying a $500 adaptor), depending on where you needed to go and how much time you had, you might choose to pay the nominal fee for the EA charger. The Chademo fees are usually $.21 or $.25 a minute, and at the full 50KW rate is not that different than what you pay Tesla. While I know the adapter limits you to 50, I have pulled more then 70 at some EA stations in my Leaf Plus (at the same low rate).

2. I am "hoping" that if enough Chademo business comes EA's way, they will continue to invest and service those stations to maintain the service. A now all Tesla's have the abilitiy to use Chademo with the Adapter, it creates a new potential group of customers for them on that connector type.

We all know the Leaf population is not growing nearly fast enough to do it alone, and the Outlander is even a smaller use case (though I have to admit, I see a number of them checking in on plugshare, which I appreciate).

The very small volume cars and legacy cars, hardly hold any weight, especially looking forward.

 

[Tortoisehead77]

The very small volume cars and legacy cars, hardly hold any weight, especially looking forward.

Agreed. However, I'm seeing a lot of Model 3 drivers checking into Chademo stations on PlugShare now that they have an adapter. These Tesla drivers might help keep Chademo going for a while.

 

[jlv]

1. If you knew you could go to any EA charger and be able to charge (without ahead of time buying a $500 adaptor), depending on where you needed to go and how much time you had, you might choose to pay the nominal fee for the EA charger. The Chademo fees are usually $.21 or $.25 a minute, and at the full 50KW rate is not that different than what you pay Tesla.

Again, why would a Tesla driver skip a SuperCharger with 8 or 12 stalls and instead go to a single EA CHAdeMO station and pay almost double to charge slower? (SuC cost is $.13/minute at < 60kW and $.26/minute otherwise, like when you are pulling 135kW)

Maybe there are a few EA stations located with no SuC nearby such that this makes sense.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Its not .13 in all locations for Tesla. I will dig up the article, but some Tesla Superchargers charge close to 30 cents a kW for inner city metro locations.

Similarly, in some states, the EA price is .$21 without a plan, and less with a plan hence often. its a wash. ...so honestly if the I am driving more then 2 miles out of my way...I am just going to whatever is closest. the price and charging rate don't make up for the transit time.

 

[GRA]

EA hasn't opened any sites in over a week. I'm guessing (or at least hoping) it's because they've stopped doing so while they work out the bugs with chargers and billing.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Finally I suggested on the call that they supply a Tesla - Chademo adapter at each EA stop to improve business.

Why would a Tesla owner want to charge slower and pay more to use an EA station?

And would you really want the lone CHAdeMO plug tied up with a Tesla?

Because they don't want to drive 30 or 40 miles out of their way. I see Teslas on Chademo all the time. SC is great if you aren't stopping here but kinda sucks if you live here.

 

[SageBrush]

I am "hoping"

EA is not a 'business' in the sense you are thinking of when you try to motivate them to support CHAdeMO. Remember that this is VW operating under a consent decree. I can only discern two motivators:

1. Get out from under CARB
2. Meet the consent decree in a way that supports future VW EVs (that use CCS).

And remember, the electricity charges are not a profit center. They mostly cover demand charges.

--
That said, It would take so little for Tesla owners to flood the single CHAdeMO plug that your wish would quickly become a problem for you. It doesn't happen because the lion's share of Tesla drivers have home L2 charging and only use DC charging on trips where Supercharging is much preferred. An urban Tesla population that does not have L2 charging would be a possible audience ... for urban DC charging from EA, but that is not is not where they are being built.

VW could not care less if the single CHAdeMO plug is overwhelmed, and the notion that high demand for the plug by Tesla cars would prompt CARB to push EA to modify the installation is ... just not going to happen.

The bottom line to all this (unrelated to the anomaly that we call EA) is that a DC fast network is very expensive to build, maintain and run so it only happens as a business case when it is tied to car sales.