Electrify America chargers are 💩

[brie22]

Never again!

I took a trip from eastern Ohio to Chicago this week, via the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90). There are a couple rest stops in western OH with Electrify America (the only charging option on the turnpike) charging banks. I checked the app the day before I left; everything was reported functional. I get to the first - attempt to connect - no luck. Call EA support; they reset the CHAdeMO station a couple times - still can't charge. OK, I still have enough charge to make it to the next rest stop with EA chargers. Same failure to start charging, even after remote resets. Fortunately there was a L2 charger close enough to get to. I charged there long enough to get to another L3 charger, and then limped to Chicago. Same issues on the way home - took way longer than it should have, as the EA CHAdeMO chargers just weren't working. (There was one that the app said was working but I didn't try, but given that 3/3 I tried were broken, I wasn't going to risk being stranded.)

I haven't had this unilateral problem with EA chargers before - maybe some software update that they didn't test adequately? Whatever the reason, it will be a loooong time before I trust an EA charger to be functional - can't risk it here, where CHAdeMO stations are far and few between.

 

[cwerdna]

Did you check Plugshare first? Willing to list the problem locations so we can look at on Plugshare?

Depending on the charging network's app to tell you if a site is reliable or not is a bad idea, esp. when EA doesn't let you leave reports of success or failure.

There are many other DC FC networks. EA is a terrible choice for CHAdeMO since their sites have only 1 or 0 CHAdeMO plugs vs. a ton of CCS1 plugs.

 

[rgs]

Right now the only EV I would take on road trip is a Tesla, preferably one with a CCS adapter. When other brands can charge at all Tesla chargers and all CCS chargers, I would consider one. That is probably two or three years from now. Thanks to gross mismanagement at Hertz, used Tesla M3's are bargains.

 

[RYoungberg]

Never again!

I took a trip from eastern Ohio to Chicago this week, via the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90). There are a couple rest stops in western OH with Electrify America (the only charging option on the turnpike) charging banks. I checked the app the day before I left; everything was reported functional. I get to the first - attempt to connect - no luck. Call EA support; they reset the CHAdeMO station a couple times - still can't charge. OK, I still have enough charge to make it to the next rest stop with EA chargers. Same failure to start charging, even after remote resets. Fortunately there was a L2 charger close enough to get to. I charged there long enough to get to another L3 charger, and then limped to Chicago. Same issues on the way home - took way longer than it should have, as the EA CHAdeMO chargers just weren't working. (There was one that the app said was working but I didn't try, but given that 3/3 I tried were broken, I wasn't going to risk being stranded.)

I haven't had this unilateral problem with EA chargers before - maybe some software update that they didn't test adequately? Whatever the reason, it will be a loooong time before I trust an EA charger to be functional - can't risk it here, where CHAdeMO stations are far and few between.

Yes, two years ago I took a trip with my 2019 Leaf Plus from Denver to Albuquerque, (to attend the American Solar Energy Society annual conference) normally about 6 hours - took 16 hours! CHAdeMO chargers that did not work, 15 kWh instead of 50 kWh promised on the CHAdeMO, the Tesla chargers were providing over 200 kWh! At one CHAdeMO charger it said 152 minutes for a full charge - 2-1/2 hours with me standing at 100 F with no shade, no toilets, etc. under a full New Mexico sun! I love my LEAF around town and short local trips but no more road trips!

 

[brie22]

Did you check Plugshare first? Willing to list the problem locations so we can look at on Plugshare?

Depending on the charging network's app to tell you if a site is reliable or not is a bad idea, esp. when EA doesn't let you leave reports of success or failure.

There are many other DC FC networks. EA is a terrible choice for CHAdeMO since their sites have only 1 or 0 CHAdeMO plugs vs. a ton of CCS1 plugs.

Yes, I checked Plugshare first, and left reviews there of them being out of order.

Sounds like you work for Electrify America?

There are indeed many other DC FC networks, but not in that area of the country, for me on the OH turnpike. However, as you probably know, CHAdeMO plugs are always in the minority at a charging location - at best, there are ChargePoint chargers with 1 CHAdeMO on each charger.

 

[cwerdna]

Yes, two years ago I took a trip with my 2019 Leaf Plus from Denver to Albuquerque, (to attend the American Solar Energy Society annual conference) normally about 6 hours - took 16 hours! CHAdeMO chargers that did not work, 15 kWh instead of 50 kWh promised on the CHAdeMO, the Tesla chargers were providing over 200 kWh! At one CHAdeMO charger it said 152 minutes for a full charge - 2-1/2 hours with me standing at 100 F with no shade, no toilets, etc. under a full New Mexico sun! I love my LEAF around town and short local trips but no more road trips!

Charging rate is measured in kW, not kWh.

Yes, I checked Plugshare first, and left reviews there of them being out of order.

Good.

Sounds like you work for Electrify America?

Nope. I don't and never have nor any charging provider (network, equipment or otherwise).

There are indeed many other DC FC networks, but not in that area of the country, for me on the OH turnpike. However, as you probably know, CHAdeMO plugs are always in the minority at a charging location - at best, there are ChargePoint chargers with 1 CHAdeMO on each charger.

Yes, EA has been CHAdeMO saboteur probably ever since they began installing DC FCing but installing a single 50 kW CHAdeMO handle vs. multiple 150 or 350 kW CHAdeMO handles at each site. One of the worst i'd seen is one in Everett, WA when it had the old ABB units. From https://www.plugshare.com/location/163287, if the listing is right, there are probably 19 CCS1 handles and 1 CHAdeMO. I thought it was worse before and I am not sure if the pics are still right. The pics show old ABB units and EA has been replacing them all over the country.

Based on their sabotage, of course EV makers are going to choose CCS1 instead of CHAdeMO. EA shifted the market. Other than Rivian and Tesla, for ages, nobody else was installing such a skewed ratio of plugs across their entire network.

I've posted about this sabotage many times. Here were a few from before:
https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/chademo.33745/#post-627582
https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/chademo-to-ccs.33988/#post-629895
https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/2023-us-market-leaf.33259/page-3#post-623224

 

[henrydehoja]

I have never been successful with charging on EA stations in my area. The only DCFC stations that work for me are EVGo and ChargePoint.
And as @cwerdna mentioned about EA being a "CHAdeMO saboteur", the EA stations in my area have slowly been changed over the years to drop the single CHAdeMO plug they had and replaced them with CCS1 plugs.

 

[cwerdna]

I have never been successful with charging on EA stations in my area. The only DCFC stations that work for me are EVGo and ChargePoint.
And as @cwerdna mentioned about EA being a "CHAdeMO saboteur", the EA stations in my area have slowly been changed over the years to drop the single CHAdeMO plug they had and replaced them with CCS1 plugs.

Bummer.

Yes, one EA site near me removed its old dual handle CCS1 + CHAdeMO charger and replaced it with a next gen single handle CCS1. Earlier at that site, they just upgraded 2 CCS1 dual handle EVSEs and left the dual-standard one alone.

Another EA site opened up semi-recently here in CA and it has 0 CHAdeMO.

As for well, I've taken three road trips (about 1000 miles for the first, 450 miles for the second and third was >1100 or maybe 1200) for the latter a year apart and every time I wanted to charge at EA for free (complimentary session) or paid, I was able to. But, I have a CCS1 car, not CHAdeMO.

On the second trip, I only used EA once. The rest of the charges were free on https://www.plugshare.com/location/359277 (no longer free) and https://www.plugshare.com/location/303845. On the others, I wasn't using EA only. There were all in California.

EA sites that I used on those trips included Walmart Salinas (complimentary), https://www.plugshare.com/location/342680 (complimentary several times), Pismo Beach (comp), Santa Clarita Walmart, Solvang (was a paid session but there was a glitch so I wasn’t billed and session isn’t in my history), Goleta, https://www.plugshare.com/location/180119 and https://www.plugshare.com/location/198205 (one time, two Lucid Air test vehicles (before the went on sale) were there to charge, spoke to a driver).

 

[gmcjetpilot]

What do you pay for charge per kW? I know Tesla opened up their chargers to other brands. I think Nissian is the hold out. Of course CHAdeMO is the Batamax of VCR's. CHAdeMO is not compatible with Tesla.

There are CCS-1 to Tesla adapters. There are CCS-1 to CHAdeMO adapters. Even if Tesla charging was opened up to Nissian, CHAdeMO may not be compatible even with adapters? You need to adapt to Tesla charging plug.

Never used Electrify America, but inquired since they had chargers in a shopping center parking lot. The price I recall was very high, like over 50 cents a kW. Worse is, it is by the minute so if you are slow charging the rate I believe is higher. Also the CHAdeMO at this local location was broken. Reading the thread I did not know EA was anti CHAdeMO.

My 2015 LEAF SV has 75 mi range (that is 100% to ----- range and % indication). My car is for local ONLY.

Not to troll but my other car is a VW TDI JSW diesel. I get 52mpg, 700 mile range. Filled up today, $2.89/gal. That is about 6.5 cents/Gal. So EV's for cross country is a no go for me. Love the VW. However for local the LEAF is great.

The down side of two cars for one driver, yearly car registration, state city road tax, plus $100 EV penalty and insurance. Owning two cars is a liability. If I could only have one car it would NOT be an EV. Hybrids, plug ins, are an option but I find them boring, You lose the simplicity of pure EV, but you eliminate range issues.

Blue Oval (Ford) has announced their EV Truck factory in Tennessee opening is delayed 4 yrs, but they will finish the massive factory building. The same duplicate factory in Kentucky has stopped being built and likely will not ever be finished. I like EV's but think Gov should not subsidize and mandate quotas. Did you know Tesla has so much extra EV credits (money given Tesla) they sell the credits to other manufactures to meet the mandates. Does that sound logical? Is that saving planet (and does planet need saving). This is our tax dollars. People get rich off "green" and make us poorer. Do EV's make a difference in changing the global thermostat?

 

[cwerdna]

What do you pay for charge per kW?

Energy is measured in kWh, not "kW". When charging, you will either by billed for energy (kWh) or time or a combo of both.

Look at your electric bill. At min, you are being billed per kWh. If you have demand charges too (rare for US residential plans), you will also be billed for demand (in kW).

If you DC fast charge (and some L2), watch the displays. kW is the power level. kWh (energy dispensed), until the session stops.

I know Tesla opened up their chargers to other brands.

Yes, but right now in the US only Ford and Rivian can do it via adapters (not including Magic Dock stations that can charge most CCS1 cars). See https://www.tesla.com/support/supercharging-other-evs#vehicles.
"NACS Superchargers, which will become available gradually, by vehicle manufacturer, and can be accessed through an adapter. The adapter has to be provided by your vehicle manufacturer. For new vehicles that are NACS-equipped, no adapter will be necessary.

The following vehicle manufacturers have access to NACS Superchargers:

Ford
Rivian"

I think Nissian is the hold out.

No! See https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...-standard-nacs-for-ariya-and-future-ev-models. Click on Automaker at https://evstation.com/tesla-nacs-charger-adoption-tracker/.

Virtually every automaker selling consumer BEV automobiles in the US as new or will sell, has jumped onto the NACS bandwagon except Vinfast.

CHAdeMO is not compatible with Tesla.

No! https://web.archive.org/web/2015112.../collections/model-s/products/chademo-adapter had been on sale for years until it was quietly discontinued for the US. There was even https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/chademo-charging-the-model-3.160882/ when finally the Model 3 could use the adapter.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/chademo-charging-the-model-3.160882/page-10#post-5087415 uses a tripod to take the stress off the inlet.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/japan.15586/page-10#post-752139 in Japan got his before it went on sale in the US. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/japan.15586/page-12 was true at the time.

I held their CHAdeMO adapter (same as the US one as Japanese Teslas have the same inlet as North American ones) in 2019: https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/tokyo-motor-show-2019.29000/#post-571131.

Also years ago, EVgo started adding CHAdeMO to Tesla adapters in a metal box with an extra long cable at some sites. See and https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thr...ling-high-power-chargers.223322/#post-5462279.

Unfortunately, where I took that YouTube video (at a Nor Cal Walmart), there were 2 BTC Fatboy CCS1 + CHAdeMO chargers but they were both removed awhile ago --> no public charging at all. It's happened to some other Nor Cal and So Cal Walmarts too.

Even if Tesla charging was opened up to Nissian

It will be: https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...-standard-nacs-for-ariya-and-future-ev-models. Don't expect any help from Nissan on this for CHAdeMO cars.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

Energy is measured in kWh, not "kW". When charging, you will either by billed for energy (kWh) or time or a combo of both.

Look at your electric bill. At min, you are being billed per kWh. If you have demand charges too (rare for US residential plans), you will also be billed for demand (in kW).

If you DC fast charge (and some L2), watch the displays. kW is the power level. kWh (energy dispensed), until the session stops.

Yes, but right now in the US only Ford and Rivian can do it via adapters (not including Magic Dock stations that can charge most CCS1 cars). See https://www.tesla.com/support/supercharging-other-evs#vehicles.
"NACS Superchargers, which will become available gradually, by vehicle manufacturer, and can be accessed through an adapter. The adapter has to be provided by your vehicle manufacturer. For new vehicles that are NACS-equipped, no adapter will be necessary.

The following vehicle manufacturers have access to NACS Superchargers:

Ford
Rivian"

No! See https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...-standard-nacs-for-ariya-and-future-ev-models. Click on Automaker at https://evstation.com/tesla-nacs-charger-adoption-tracker/.

Virtually every automaker selling consumer BEV automobiles in the US as new or will sell, has jumped onto the NACS bandwagon except Vinfast.

No! https://web.archive.org/web/2015112.../collections/model-s/products/chademo-adapter had been on sale for years until it was quietly discontinued for the US. There was even https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/chademo-charging-the-model-3.160882/ when finally the Model 3 could use the adapter.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/chademo-charging-the-model-3.160882/page-10#post-5087415 uses a tripod to take the stress off the inlet.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/japan.15586/page-10#post-752139 in Japan got his before it went on sale in the US. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/japan.15586/page-12 was true at the time.

I held their CHAdeMO adapter (same as the US one as Japanese Teslas have the same inlet as North American ones) in 2019: https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/tokyo-motor-show-2019.29000/#post-571131.

Also years ago, EVgo started adding CHAdeMO to Tesla adapters in a metal box with an extra long cable at some sites. See and https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thr...ling-high-power-chargers.223322/#post-5462279.

Unfortunately, where I took that YouTube video (at a Nor Cal Walmart), there were 2 BTC Fatboy CCS1 + CHAdeMO chargers but they were both removed awhile ago --> no public charging at all. It's happened to some other Nor Cal and So Cal Walmarts too.

It will be: https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...-standard-nacs-for-ariya-and-future-ev-models. Don't expect any help from Nissan on this for CHAdeMO cars.

Thanks for the units lecture. I am sorry no offense, I know the difference but I guess I don't care enough to be careful. Sorry. But you are correct I am wrong. I only charge at home, $0.116 per kWh. It is mis-leading because they charge monthly fixed fees that make it a cent or two higher. There is no peak / off peak power rate as they promised 8 yrs ago with smart meters. Why? They say their old billing system can not handle this. Great.

If I don't charge at home I charge L2 at the nice park where I bike and the one of 3 Nissan dealers in area if I am there. Both free. I don't bother with fast CHAdeMO any more. It is obsolete. The dealer had CHAdeMO for free. I tried it one or two times, but no longer. They charge for it. But L2 is free. I can say I had 12 bars and after doing a CHAdeMO charge it went to 11 bars. It could be coincidence. May be for a liquid cooled pack. Air cooled? Not so sure. I know that is a big argument debate. Again I do L2 only.

As far as commercial for fee charging. Never. As I said I am never going on long cross country road trips in an EV. I have the diesel car, motorcycle and airplane I like to travel in. Sitting in parking lots for 20 min or more to charge is no good for me. Even the promise of fast charging for Tesla and others is often a disappointment due to load on the system from other EV's charging. Such a hassle I am and will continue to avoid.

I am driving my LEAF until dead and likely not getting another EV. If Nissan gets rid of the CHAdeMO and liquid cools battery like everyone else I might be interested, Yes I know Ariyas. Very nice, but not for me.
.

 

[hradek]

Thanks for the units lecture. I am sorry no offense, I know the difference but I guess I don't care enough to be careful. Sorry. But you are correct I am wrong. I only charge at home, $0.116 per kWh. It is mis-leading because they charge monthly fixed fees that make it a cent or two higher. There is no peak / off peak power rate as they promised 8 yrs ago with smart meters. Why? They say their old billing system can not handle this. Great.

If I don't charge at home I charge L2 at the nice park where I bike and the one of 3 Nissan dealers in area if I am there. Both free. I don't bother with fast CHAdeMO any more. It is obsolete. The dealer had CHAdeMO for free. I tried it one or two times, but no longer. They charge for it. But L2 is free. I can say I had 12 bars and after doing a CHAdeMO charge it went to 11 bars. It could be coincidence. May be for a liquid cooled pack. Air cooled? Not so sure. I know that is a big argument debate. Again I do L2 only.

As far as commercial for fee charging. Never. As I said I am never going on long cross country road trips in an EV. I have the diesel car, motorcycle and airplane I like to travel in. Sitting in parking lots for 20 min or more to charge is no good for me. Even the promise of fast charging for Tesla and others is often a disappointment due to load on the system from other EV's charging. Such a hassle I am and will continue to avoid.

I am driving my LEAF until dead and likely not getting another EV. If Nissan gets rid of the CHAdeMO and liquid cools battery like everyone else I might be interested, Yes I know Ariyas. Very nice, but not for me.
.

I for one am good with kw, used it myself and I am guessing same guy corrected me for the use. If Nissan came out with a Leaf with CC2 and battery cooling I would trade up in a flash. I do travel with my Leaf and locating CHAdeMO chargers that work is an adventure and yes Nissan dealers are always a good choice. I think the reason for CHAdeMO early on was the though of a bidirectional system, Australia for some reason seems to be ahead of the curve on this, https://www.elitepowergroup.com.au/...-grid-charging-will-change-australias-energy/

 

[cwerdna]

I for one am good with kw, used it myself and I am guessing same guy corrected me for the use. If Nissan came out with a Leaf with CC2 and battery cooling I would trade up in a flash.

kW and kWh are totally different metrics. It would be like confusing miles per hour vs. miles.

See https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/62kw-battery-balancing.34097/#post-630781 and what I pointed to at https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/100-kw-chademo-more-and-more-coming-online.29461/page-2#post-564743. The Reeler guy (posted in 2017) had been driving pure EVs since at least Dec 2010.

Not sure what "CC2" is but Ariya is CCS1 in the US.

Per https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...-standard-nacs-for-ariya-and-future-ev-models:
"From 2024, Nissan will make available a NACS charging adapter for Ariya models which are currently equipped with the Combined Charging System 1 (CCS1) for DC fast charging. This will enable customers to connect their vehicle's charging port to NACS plugs at compatible chargers.

Starting in 2025, Nissan will begin offering EVs for the U.S. and Canadian markets with a NACS port. This will make charging on the Tesla Supercharger network seamless and convenient for drivers, significantly increasing the number of public fast-charging locations at which Nissan EVs can be charged1."

 

[SamBlackjack]

In my limited DC FC experience, I've had good experiences with ChargePoint, poor experiences with EVgo, and EA just didn't work at all.

 

[WetEV]

In my experience, ChargePoint varies by location, some great some horrible. I've had good experiences with EVgo with the LEAF, twice work day charges for several months with no problems. EA with CCS1 was good at the beginning, not so good last year, and has been better recently. Never tried EA with the LEAF.

Lots of cars are expected with J3400 starting next year. Not just Nissan.