EA is a f**kng joke

My main concern at this point is: are there are any qualified companies in the USA to install new charging systems using the federal money - companies with a proven track record of maintaining operable fast charging stations. The money is there, but can it be properly used? In the EU, sure (their CCS network is reliable), but not here yet other than Tesla?
Give all of the money to Tesla to build more "open" chargers. They have a proven track record building chargers.
 
As a soon-to-be Touring owner, and having never owned an electric car, this is probably my least favorite thread. I'm bracing myself for potential mechanical and software defects, but if I can't reliably charge away from home, what does it matter?

While I prefer the promised free charging at EA stations, I certainly don't mind paying for a charge if there are reliable providers. Is there a preferred go-to EV charger provider and/or app. that accurately reports station status? I've seen a few apps. mentioned, but they all seem so basic and generally don't have updated information.
My thought is that we'll have a rough couple years until federally-driven installations start, if reliable vendors are found.
For now, check Plugshare for the names of charging vendors along your planned route (they're different depending on state/region), download each of their apps, establish an account with each using your credit card, and make sure each phone app works before setting out.
 
Give all of the money to Tesla to build more "open" chargers. They have a proven track record building chargers.
That's my guess as to a likely outcome. I think Tesla's V4 charger supports 1000V charging (their recent plug redesign does), and it would be easy enough to add a CCS cable to get federal money. If not, I'll certainly be buying Tesla's V4 Tesla to CCS adapter if/when it exists.
 
not sure ...maybe an investment into reliable charging ....that is what Musk did and that decision was essential to Tesla's success.
He didn’t have a choice as there was no charging network so if he wanted to sell EVs as anything other than for going around town, he had to build a network. EA has the most extensive network so was the logical choice and I don’t think tiny startup Lucid was in any position to make demands. When you look nationally, the other networks are just fallback choices when talking about dcfc
 
Don't believe that figuring on 500 miles is wise. I would love to know if anyone is getting close to 500 miles. My experience is about half of miles that the car shows. I do drive "normally" ...that is not under the speed limit and have 21 tires and listen to radio and use A/C. Assume everyone uses those features pretty much all the time.
From the Motortrend article:
“If you combine the pre- and post-meal legs of our journey, 205 plus 204 miles, that adds up to a 409-mile trip. The 2021 Tesla Model S Long Range's range rating according to the EPA: 405 miles. And yes, both 2022 Lucid Airs made it to San Francisco with plenty of juice left in their "tanks." My Lucid showed 69 miles of range remaining, and Rawlinson's was good for another 107. Why the discrepancy? The Lucid CEO is much better than I am at hypermiling.”

Just because we haven’t done it, doesn’t mean 500 can’t be done. I’m not close to the 500 either that’s why I said nearly 500… but I digress. Range anxiety is disappearing.

DC to Boston is 441 miles and here is a pic of the chargers between:

75EEE760-3886-4011-BF97-0A3480380B6B.jpeg


Motortrend
 
What choice did they have?
That right there is the problem. They didn't have a choice and regardless of Lucid giving us free charging or not we would have all been forced to use EA regardless because it's really the only cross country fast charging network. It does make Lucid's fast charging advertisements look like a joke though because none of us really ever get to see these fast speeds due to how poor the performance is on the network. Not Lucid's fault but it shows how much of a valuable asset that supercharger network is to Tesla. The moment you rely on a 3rd party you're beholden to them and it doesn't make sense for every car company to deploy a charging network.

EA only appears to be getting worse and it seems the government isn't too interested in forcing some uptime standards on them or can't because they're a private company.
 
As a soon-to-be Touring owner, and having never owned an electric car, this is probably my least favorite thread. I'm bracing myself for potential mechanical and software defects, but if I can't reliably charge away from home, what does it matter?

While I prefer the promised free charging at EA stations, I certainly don't mind paying for a charge if there are reliable providers. Is there a preferred go-to EV charger provider and/or app. that accurately reports station status? I've seen a few apps. mentioned, but they all seem so basic and generally don't have updated information.
EVGo is generally more reliable than EA. The problem is that a majority of there network is 50Kw and they've only just started to roll out more 100Kw and 350Kw chargers. Given Tesla's and GM can do plug and charge on EVGo I hope Lucid is looking into this also as I'd use EVGo over EA any day but it's just annoying that I need to use another App to activate the charger etc.
 
Yeah EA is crap. I just tried again and cannot charge on any station at my local EA (2nd gen ABB units). Meanwhile the Signer units work fine for me, at 3 different sites I’ve tried. I’ve got EVGo and ShellRecharge and Chargepoint in as backups for my upcoming road trip.
 
Yeah EA is crap. I just tried again and cannot charge on any station at my local EA (2nd gen ABB units). Meanwhile the Signer units work fine for me, at 3 different sites I’ve tried. I’ve got EVGo and ShellRecharge and Chargepoint in as backups for my upcoming road trip.
It’s gotten to point where I don’t trust EA to have availability on weekends during peak daytime hours, precisely when I would need them for trips.
 
It’s gotten to point where I don’t trust EA to have availability on weekends during peak daytime hours, precisely when I would need them for trips.
So I should be safe then on Black Friday at a Wal-Mart or shopping outlets location then right?…..🤣🤣🤣 I’m screwed for my road trip, might just try to hypermile it then try park the car at a L2 charger near my destination like a camp site or something. Or else I can hit a couple EVGo stations on the way for 5-10 minutes each I guess. The problem is it’s gonna be 32 degrees probably so on 19” I’m gonna get 3.2-3.4 mi/kWh max.
 
Interesting article


… of course EA is 2nd from the bottom! Supposedly gov money comes with a requirement for 100% working, I have no idea how they plan on enforcing unless there is serious fines!
A 350Kw charger that’s power limited and delivering 50Kw is still technically a “functioning” charger. That’s the loophole they’ll all use and billions of taxpayer money will be handed out to companies who won’t implement, manage or maintain these networks properly.

When government gets involved in this stuff and hands cash to the private sector it’s always a disaster. EA is a prime example of a government forcing a private company to do something and look what they delivered. No one in congress is coming after them and will be the same for all the others who mess it up as well.
 
Interesting article


… of course EA is 2nd from the bottom! Supposedly gov money comes with a requirement for 100% working, I have no idea how they plan on enforcing unless there is serious fines!
Interesting that EVGo is dead last, they’ve actually been the most reliable for me. Volta’s spot at #2 after Tesla is well deserved, unfortunately their chargers aren’t too common. I’d charge at Volta every time and just pay if there were more of them, never had an issue.
 
Interesting that EVGo is dead last, they’ve actually been the most reliable for me. Volta’s spot at #2 after Tesla is well deserved, unfortunately their chargers aren’t too common. I’d charge at Volta every time and just pay if there were more of them, never had an issue.
Same for me, EVGo has been very reliable.
 
Consider a Tesla Tap for any destination chargers. They don’t work with super chargers but if your hotel has one you can juice for free 😃
Got a mini several months ago. It works well. I’ve used it at our own airBnB without a hitch.
 
So I should be safe then on Black Friday at a Wal-Mart or shopping outlets location then right?…..🤣🤣🤣 I’m screwed for my road trip, might just try to hypermile it then try park the car at a L2 charger near my destination like a camp site or something. Or else I can hit a couple EVGo stations on the way for 5-10 minutes each I guess. The problem is it’s gonna be 32 degrees probably so on 19” I’m gonna get 3.2-3.4 mi/kWh max.
I’ve been in the 30s as well, but been able to get about 3.6-3.8 for my current driving. If you can tolerate it, seat heaters and steering wheel heater over the main heater should allow your efficiency to see what I’m seeing. You should be good!
 
JD Powers only ranked the top three DC Fast charging companies: "Customers ranked DC fast charging companies in the order of ChargePoint (644), Electrify America (614), and EVgo (573)."
 
which EA stations did you visit? i'm doing this route soon (SF to LA).

also, I had better luck once i started following this trick in this video. maybe a placebo but worth trying next time you're having troubles with EA.
On Sunday, every station from Santa Clarita in LA to the Pacheco Pass had most of the chargers “unavailable” and the one or two at each site that were available were in use. I kept passing them hoping for better luck. Had to wait 30’ in Santa Clarita for someone to leave as I was finally out of juice.

The stations that were unavailable were awaiting upgrades per EA.
 
......The stations that were unavailable were awaiting upgrades per EA.
Sounds like they broke, and EA isn't going to fix them, and that will have to wait until EA gets new units and time to install them. Could get worse before it gets better.
 
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With thanksgiving weekend coming up. Is anyone concerned that there won’t be enough EA fast chargers on the peak travel times over the weekend? Has me worried. Seems like people don’t understand charging etiquette.
 
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