[rcomeau]

Used a 200kW Petro Canada charger for comparison. And you it was -8c and blowing hard, so most of the charging was at 70kW and tapered down to ~50. Note

Energy delivered: 63.1 kWh
Charging time: 00:54:57
Charging total: 18.13 CAD (that's $13.50 USD!)

Compare with my last EA session:

Charging cost: $26.01
Sales tax (8.000%): $2.08
Total energy delivered: 29.2 kWh
Max charging rate: 48.68 kW
Charging time: 00:43:07

So EA charged twice as much for less than half the electricity. Thieves I tell ya.

 

[sciencegeek]

That EA cost is awful! It looks like the charging rate was very low, did you start at like 50% and push to 90%?

 

[rcomeau]

I think it was from 52% to 86%. The next DC charger was far away (and this was the first one since the hotel where I charged overnight). Still never got past 50kW.

 

[rcomeau]

I've been trying to log some of my trips to try to estimate the battery capacity. If I note the distance and efficiency to estimate the total consumption and the change in SOC, it should yield the capacity. The results are pretty variable though, from 76kW to 82kW (but mostly in the high 70s. Is the efficiency estimate really that variable?

 

[sciencegeek]

I think it was from 52% to 86%. The next DC charger was far away (and this was the first one since the hotel where I charged overnight). Still never got past 50kW.

Yup that makes sense. Above 50% SoC it doesn't like doing more than 50kW and further throttles as the SoC goes up.

I've been trying to log some of my trips to try to estimate the battery capacity. If I note the distance and efficiency to estimate the total consumption and the change in SOC, it should yield the capacity. The results are pretty variable though, from 76kW to 82kW (but mostly in the high 70s. Is the efficiency estimate really that variable?

Your experience is similar to mine; even in the mild CA temps I get variable estimates not only from the API but also from the OBD port.

 

[Pseudonym]

I've had a few charging sessions at an EVGo 80kW station in San Jose where I averaged ~77kw delivered for the entire time in between the 20-75% SOC range. That is based off the power delivered from the charger.

 

[Bucky]

I have the same issue with many of the Greenlots chargers I encounter. They initialize, start the charge and then shut off. Very frustrating. I did a 21-95% charge at the I80 truck stop using a charge point charger. .$.42/kWh. Holy crap that was expensive. More expensive than gas. I did find a free charger across the street from my hotel in Des Moines and filled up nightly for the next three days. Nice. Any one else have this problem with Greenlots?

 

[Ayepace]

Here's a look at the guts of an EA charger.

The power comes in from the bottom and electronics down there handle the charging (DC voltage, etc.)
Above that is the cooling for the cables.
The rest of it controls the communications with the car and with EA, and the operation of the unit (display, etc.).

I happened to stop at an EA site that was down for maintenance. The servicing person allowed me to take the picture and gave me those brief descriptions.

The person had finished with one unit so I got to charge my car while servicing of the other units took place. The servicing involved cleaning everything and testing everything. They have a large electronic "suitcase" that is used to test each cable as if it is connected to a car. A cable is connected to the box, screen interactions are done, card reader is tested, and RFID reader is tested. The servicing person also has to take pictures of various things along the process. A report needs to be filled out for each one, including uploading the pictures (the most tedious part of the whole process).

I was given a tip that if one comes up to a site and the screen is difficult to read (such as it faces the sun a lot and is discolored), one can use a little headlight restorer to make it more readable. I don't personally drive around with one of those kits handy. Maybe I'll get one for a very long journey where I don't know what I'll come across.

 

[CurtSprings2]

In a pinch, I've used toothpaste to restore oxidized plastic including headlights. Works well and no cavities to boot. 😉

 

[SeanM1]

On three occasions, I was unable to "initialize" on a DC charger. In fact, after several tries at different stations, my charging port was disabled, and I was not even able to charge at home on a Level 2 or Level 1 charger. I had to have my car towed to dealership on two occasions, and a new port was replaced. It took the dealership over 10 days on both occasions to repair the port.

Has anyone had this experience? Do you have any tips on using the Electrify America chargers?I am afraid to even use a commercial DC charger. Consequently long range travel has become problematic.

Please note that I did use the disconnect protocol of 3x unlock, wait 6 seconds, remove the charger within 60 seconds.

I have been using EA charging in many locations in Arizona and California never had any issues. I only use the app . There was a few occasions where I had to unplug and plug back. Overall it has worked very well for me.

 

[nath_h]

Just a general thought about EA chargers...I had to use them a couple years ago, as they were my only choice in Iowa. It was terrible...always took multiple tries, phone calls to EA, and maybe it eventually worked. We got Greenlots in Iowa, and I did not go back to EA for maybe 18 months. I was recently on a road trip, when i had to try EA again. And, it worked on the first try. Then I tried a couple more locations...same result. I think I had 6 EA charging sessions on my trip, and all worked perfectly. This can't be coincidence. They must have done some software updates to make them work better.

 

[Ayepace]

Experiences the last few days at EA chargers:

"outbound trip"

1) Stop one - Tried one charger and it would not talk to the car. Moved to next charger over and had no problems. Charged 45% to 85% with peak 58.2kW. Total 33kWh.

2) Stop two - No issues. Charged 29% to 90% with peak 82.3kW. Total 50kWh.

3) Stop three - No issues. Charge 13% to 100% peak 90.9kW. Total 71kWh.

"inbound trip"

1) Stop one - Connected but it took a long time to start charging. App briefly showed an error message but charger continued to initiate charge. Car's LED had stopped blinking before charging actually started but it started without any disconnecting/reconnecting/or any other actions. Charged 9% to 91% with peak 84.7kW. Total 67kWh.

2) Stop two - Return to outbound stop. A Kia was charging without issue. Several chargers not working at this location. Used a different charger due to Kia driver's door open and blocking the charger I had used above. No issues, but took longer to start than normal. Charged 52% to 96% with peak 67.4kW. Total 36kWh.

While charging a Bolt arrived and tried to connect to the charger I used above but could not connect. It moved over one charger since Kia had left, I suggested being patient and waiting longer for the charger to work. Driver did and it eventually connected and charged. A Rivian R1T arrived, tried all other available chargers but always got "an error occurred" and failed to connect. Driver said several previous charging sessions at the site had never had a problem. Waited for me to finish charging before trying the one I was at, with alternate plan to go find a slower ChargePoint charger. I don't know if it had success. Kia, Bolt and Rivian people all said "you've got a nice car" or similar drooling words.

3) Stop three - Return to outbound stop one site. Chose a different charger and had no issues. Charged 34% to 61% with peak 83.7kW. Total 23kWh. A Mach-E was charging when I got there. I noticed its charging rate was 89kW at 69% full. An Audi e-tron arrived and tried to charge at the first charger I tried at outbound stop one, but it too would not succeed. It moved over one charger and had success.

All it took to start the EA charging was opening the app, locating the charger in it, connecting the cable to the car, waiting for the locking pin noise, swiping the "start charging" in the app. No swiping of an ID card or credit card. The process seems to have improved over time, but some sites have individual charger issues. I can't speculate about the slowness of initiating charging this last weekend.

Ambient temps ranged mid 30sF to upper 50sF. Battery was probably not at optimum temps at any charging session even after driving more than 100 miles between chargers at interstate speeds. Car reported higher electron usage probably due to some cabin warming. Final charging was at a ChargePoint charger that is not in the ChargePoint app so I have no stats for it.

 

[rcomeau]

Experiences the last few days at EA chargers:

"outbound trip"

1) Stop one - Tried one charger and it would not talk to the car. Moved to next charger over and had no problems. Charged 45% to 85% with peak 58.2kW. Total 33kWh.

2) Stop two - No issues. Charged 29% to 90% with peak 82.3kW. Total 50kWh.

3) Stop three - No issues. Charge 13% to 100% peak 90.9kW. Total 71kWh.

"inbound trip"

1) Stop one - Connected but it took a long time to start charging. App briefly showed an error message but charger continued to initiate charge. Car's LED had stopped blinking before charging actually started but it started without any disconnecting/reconnecting/or any other actions. Charged 9% to 91% with peak 84.7kW. Total 67kWh.

2) Stop two - Return to outbound stop. A Kia was charging without issue. Several chargers not working at this location. Used a different charger due to Kia driver's door open and blocking the charger I had used above. No issues, but took longer to start than normal. Charged 52% to 96% with peak 67.4kW. Total 36kWh.

While charging a Bolt arrived and tried to connect to the charger I used above but could not connect. It moved over one charger since Kia had left, I suggested being patient and waiting longer for the charger to work. Driver did and it eventually connected and charged. A Rivian R1T arrived, tried all other available chargers but always got "an error occurred" and failed to connect. Driver said several previous charging sessions at the site had never had a problem. Waited for me to finish charging before trying the one I was at, with alternate plan to go find a slower ChargePoint charger. I don't know if it had success. Kia, Bolt and Rivian people all said "you've got a nice car" or similar drooling words.

3) Stop three - Return to outbound stop one site. Chose a different charger and had no issues. Charged 34% to 61% with peak 83.7kW. Total 23kWh. A Mach-E was charging when I got there. I noticed its charging rate was 89kW at 69% full. An Audi e-tron arrived and tried to charge at the first charger I tried at outbound stop one, but it too would not succeed. It moved over one charger and had success.

All it took to start the EA charging was opening the app, locating the charger in it, connecting the cable to the car, waiting for the locking pin noise, swiping the "start charging" in the app. No swiping of an ID card or credit card. The process seems to have improved over time, but some sites have individual charger issues. I can't speculate about the slowness of initiating charging this last weekend.

Ambient temps ranged mid 30sF to upper 50sF. Battery was probably not at optimum temps at any charging session even after driving more than 100 miles between chargers at interstate speeds. Car reported higher electron usage probably due to some cabin warming. Final charging was at a ChargePoint charger that is not in the ChargePoint app so I have no stats for it.

Things seem to be improving with EA. Did their pricing improve as well? I did not look carefully, but it seems I was not gouged as much. I still prefer the ChargePoint chargers from a simplicity standpoint. Plug in, wave the card and away we go. Can't be easier. My last trip's hotel had a bunch of ChargePoint chargers (free) so it was great to recharge overnight and still use the app to see that the charging was not interrupted for any reason.

 

[Ayepace]

All locations charged $0.31/kWh. Sales tax was 6.75% or 7% depending on location. The total bill for the trip was $91.29 plus $4.00 monthly fee for "membership" to get the discounted rate.
The ChargePoint DCFC charging at the end was free. Its an older but reliable unit. I wave the phone, plug in, and then press the start button on the charger.

I forgot to mention that part of the high electron usage was due to high headwinds in both directions of the trip. Different days so the winds shifted to be against me all the time.

 

[rcomeau]

All locations charged $0.31/kWh. Sales tax was 6.75% or 7% depending on location. The total bill for the trip was $91.29 plus $4.00 monthly fee for "membership" to get the discounted rate.
The ChargePoint DCFC charging at the end was free. Its an older but reliable unit. I wave the phone, plug in, and then press the start button on the charger.

I forgot to mention that part of the high electron usage was due to high headwinds in both directions of the trip. Different days so the winds shifted to be against me all the time.

I note that shifting wind every time I ride my bike.

 

[pan+hro]

In Southern California, EA rates are $0.31/kWh with membership, and my off-peak home electric rate is now $0.20/kWh. I get a successful connection with EA about 90% of the time, but have learned not to make any of these units the only option when the battery gets low.

EvGo just started rolling out a ton of 150kW+ DC chargers, but their rates are a ridiculous $0.56/kWh + $0.99 transacion fee. Screw those guys. Chargepoint is a bit better, but fastest around there are about 80kW peak.

 

[Tomato]

Did an almost full charge on an EA station this weekend. Here's the session summary.

 

[pan+hro]

Did an almost full charge on an EA station this weekend. Here's the session summary.

@Tomato , looks like your are in California like me. You should consider joining Electrify America Pass+ . It reduces the kWh cost from $0.43 to $0.31, which on this charge along would have saved you $8.64. It cost $4 per month so if you 37kW or more in a month with EA you will be saving.

 

[SeanM1]

I have used EA many times, never had any issues. Some stations were down but always another up and running. The app is very useful when planning your route.

 

[Ayepace]

This last weekend I did about 880 mile round trip with charging at EA chargers. No problems at all whether 150 or 350kW chargers. All I did was bring up the app on the phone, select the charger I was at, connect cable to car, wait until the charger display showed the cost rate display, then swiped on the phone to start charging. The charger displayed recognition of the request ("initiating charging") and continued on from there.

Charged 63-82% in 20 minutes 4 sec. Peak 54.2 kW. $4.96
Charged 29-90% in 46 minutes 0 sec. Peak 95 kW. $16.25
Charged 18-100% in 1 hr 15 min 6 sec. Peak 89.3 kW. $20.46
Charged 22-100% in 1 hr 11 min 27 sec. Peak 96.8 kW. $19.84
Charged 30-85% in 38 min 26 sec. Peak 81.9 kW. $14.59
Charged 34%-67% in 22 min 14 sec. Peak 98.6 kW. $9.27
Final charging was at a free ChargePoint charger that went from 22%-100%. I didn't note the time of this (listening to a baseball game the whole time) and it was at a 50 kW charger so probably no better than 48 kW for a peak. It was approximately 1.5 hours as usual. The charger is not supported by ChargePoint app other than initiating the charging so I have no data.

Overall, I think with the high increase of $ for liquid fuels, the $0.31/kWh rate (plus taxes where applicable) cost less than if I had driven one of my ICE vehicles.
I did see a Rivian R1T charging successfully at a charger located at the site where another R1T had problems reported in my post above.