EA Megathread

Here is the response I received last evening from Lucid CC when I inquired again about the status of EA charging failures.
I had same, frustrating issues using EA charges in Waterford CT. Several unplug messages intol I gave up. After a trip to service center in Natick, MA, the car DID charge at same charger. re: getting fewer Kwh than advertised (150kwh/350kwh) CC told me some towns are throttling because of drain on local electric resources.
 
I wanted to throw this out there, especially with the last response where someone said battery charging was limited due to car being stuck in preconditioning mode..

My road trip where I had basically no problems charging, I didn't precondition at all, and the last few times I attempted to charge at EA and it was in the 30's KW, I preconditioned...
I'm going to Vegas in a few hours, I'm going to try my theory and not precondition at all, just keeping battery warm by driving it from stop to stop, and let's see how that does.
 
I wanted to throw this out there, especially with the last response where someone said battery charging was limited due to car being stuck in preconditioning mode..

My road trip where I had basically no problems charging, I didn't precondition at all, and the last few times I attempted to charge at EA and it was in the 30's KW, I preconditioned...
I'm going to Vegas in a few hours, I'm going to try my theory and not precondition at all, just keeping battery warm by driving it from stop to stop, and let's see how that does.
Since you are going to experiment, do 1 way with precondition and the trip back without. Thank you in advance!
 
I wanted to throw this out there, especially with the last response where someone said battery charging was limited due to car being stuck in preconditioning mode..

My road trip where I had basically no problems charging, I didn't precondition at all, and the last few times I attempted to charge at EA and it was in the 30's KW, I preconditioned...
I'm going to Vegas in a few hours, I'm going to try my theory and not precondition at all, just keeping battery warm by driving it from stop to stop, and let's see how that does.
The problem is this assumes some sort of consistency with EA. As others have posted, you can go to the same EA on different days and have totally different experiences. When I hook up to a charger, I don't know if I'm going to get 30 kwh or 160 kwh on a 150. I have never gotten over 110 without preconditioning. Living in SoCal, 5 to 10 minutes of preconditioning is all that is required to get higher charging levels. But I've gotten the dreaded power limited by message and gotten low charging rates both preconditioned and not. It just depends on what that station/charger is doing that day. Like @HC_79 posted about Panoche EA, got low charging rate on one charger so he switched to another and got a decent rate. Which charger are you going to get on your visit?
 
The problem is this assumes some sort of consistency with EA. As others have posted, you can go to the same EA on different days and have totally different experiences. When I hook up to a charger, I don't know if I'm going to get 30 kwh or 160 kwh on a 150. I have never gotten over 110 without preconditioning. Living in SoCal, 5 to 10 minutes of preconditioning is all that is required to get higher charging levels. But I've gotten the dreaded power limited by message and gotten low charging rates both preconditioned and not. It just depends on what that station/charger is doing that day. Like @HC_79 posted about Panoche EA, got low charging rate on one charger so he switched to another and got a decent rate. Which charger are you going to get on your visit?
You are pretty much correct, this is from me who had zero problems on any Electrify America charger on my entire 2,500 Mile Road trip (19 chargers) . And now I'm getting power limited by station for the very first time ever. So I don't know if it's a coincidence of software updates, or if Electrify America made a change, or something else

But it's very odd
 
I have used, or attempted to use, three different Electrify America charging station locations 4 times in the past 2 weeks. In not 1 instance has a connection been successful without numerous attempts to connect and calls to both Lucid & EA. Today, the first 45 minutes in what I had hoped would be a half hour charge, was spent trying multiple chargers & making calls to Lucid & EA. EA did its part by resetting the system, sending me a free charge etc., Nothing has worked. Each time, the car gets connected, goes through Authorization and Payment checkboxes and then fails with an error. The Lucid app keeps prompting me to unplug and replug and the cycle keeps on repeating itself. I have noticed other cars (Kia, Hyundai, VW etc.,) pull up before/after me and successfully charge at the same station.

I tried to pay for the EA service with my own personal account in hopes of getting reimbursed later and that didn't work either. Next step, I am going to attempt charging at EVGO and/or Chargepoint.
 
Just got home from EA. 17 -> 90% (long trip tomorrow). This was on a 350, max I saw was 145. The charger in Rancho Penasquitos (San Diego) has never let me down but I’ve never seen more than 145 on any of them. They were 2 out of 10 not working today. It was like a car meet (Car and Charging?) today, there was a Taycan wagon in a good looking burgundy, a Mercedes EQS SUV, an i4, and a bunch of Ionics and ID4s. There was a Model Y there and I asked him why he doesn’t just use the nearby supercharger and he said because it is much more expensive. The Lucid definitely got the most attention.

7A1BE6E9-A67D-4B0E-8343-3F683C0F17E9.jpeg
 
I had same, frustrating issues using EA charges in Waterford CT. Several unplug messages intol I gave up. After a trip to service center in Natick, MA, the car DID charge at same charger. re: getting fewer Kwh than advertised (150kwh/350kwh) CC told me some towns are throttling because of drain on local electric resources.
What did service do to make your car work at EA charger?
 
Just got home from EA. 17 -> 90% (long trip tomorrow). This was on a 350, max I saw was 145. The charger in Rancho Penasquitos (San Diego) has never let me down but I’ve never seen more than 145 on any of them. They were 2 out of 10 not working today. It was like a car meet (Car and Charging?) today, there was a Taycan wagon in a good looking burgundy, a Mercedes EQS SUV, an i4, and a bunch of Ionics and ID4s. There was a Model Y there and I asked him why he doesn’t just use the nearby supercharger and he said because it is much more expensive. The Lucid definitely got the most attention.

View attachment 8859
I think you wrote that you never precondition - try it a couple of times.
 
Several attempts to connect with EA 350 in Port. St. Lucie Successful on the fifth attempt! Didn't have to call either Lucid or EA so I consider it a success. Max'd out at 154kw.
I'll take what I can get 😀
 
Several attempts to connect with EA 350 in Port. St. Lucie Successful on the fifth attempt! Didn't have to call either Lucid or EA so I consider it a success. Max'd out at 154kw.
I'll take what I can get 😀
Was that the fifth attempt on the same charger or cable? Or different chargers/cables?
 
Just did a round trip from Prescott to LA. Stopped at 3 EA locations. Quartzite, Indio and La Mirada. Had no issues connecting or charging. Max charge rate was 140kW, even on a 350kW. New style stations were all plug and play with no need to use the Lucid App to select station.

The issue was there being a queue to charge at all locations. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to wait long. Those behind me did. Biggest culprits being Rivians. Big batteries and charging much slower than the Lucid. All needing to charge to 100% to cross the desert.

Did charge in Indio with a Dream Edition with Nevada plates!
 
Max charge rate was 140kW, even on a 350kW.
Depending on what your SoC was this is a real issue. Just because a charger works doesn't mean it's going to give you the correct speed so I wouldn't say it worked. There are 2 factors to a successful charge

1) Did it actually start
2) Did you get the correct speed

80% to 90% of the time I have no issues with point 1 but on point 2 I would say that 90% yo 95% of the time i'm not getting the right speed. People may not think it's not a big deal, i'm charging so that's all that matters but as you mention, that line of cars could be a result of slow charging speeds. (along with people charging to 100%) There is a ripple effect to EA not delivering on both points.
 
What did service do to make your car work at EA charger?
Sorry..been off in covid-land. They did something with the certificates and tested it at local EA charger. It has worked since, whatever they did. Now if they could only fix EA…
 
I've been to EA three time, twice at 350kW charger and once at 150kW charger.

Attempt #1 350kW EA charger (no precondition):
Try #1: Authorization failure. Wasn't aware I had to open the app and push a white button.
Try #2: Paid out of pocket using EA app. Charged with max 70kW on 350kW charger

Attempt #2 350kW EA charger (no precondition):
Try #1: Authorization failure. No white button showed in the app.
Try #2: Unplug and try again. White button showed up. Charged with max 61kW on 350kW charger

Attempt #3 150 kW EA charger (20 minutes of precondition):
Try #1: Authorization failure. No white button showed in the app.
Try #2: Unplug and try again. White button showed up. Charged with max 84kW on 350kW charger

What's the minimum amount of precondition time I should allow for, assuming 45 degrees outside?
 
I've been to EA three time, twice at 350kW charger and once at 150kW charger.

Attempt #1 350kW EA charger (no precondition):
Try #1: Authorization failure. Wasn't aware I had to open the app and push a white button.
Try #2: Paid out of pocket using EA app. Charged with max 70kW on 350kW charger

Attempt #2 350kW EA charger (no precondition):
Try #1: Authorization failure. No white button showed in the app.
Try #2: Unplug and try again. White button showed up. Charged with max 61kW on 350kW charger

Attempt #3 150 kW EA charger (20 minutes of precondition):
Try #1: Authorization failure. No white button showed in the app.
Try #2: Unplug and try again. White button showed up. Charged with max 84kW on 350kW charger

What's the minimum amount of precondition time I should allow for, assuming 45 degrees outside?
20 minutes
 
Back
Top