"Charging power limited by station" explained by CS

[dscafetta]

Got this dreaded message at the 2 chargers in Victor that I got to work at all so I called EA and Lucid. Lucid CS says that they are aware that some EA chargers don't know how to handle the higher voltage of Lucid cars and therefore limit the power to avoid a problem. EA said they are aware of problems with Lucid charging and Signet chargers. I don't know what to believe anymore. I thought Signets were the 'good' chargers. Yet here I sit charging at a pathetic 25 kW. View attachment 10577

Victor where? New York?

 

[SM_NCarolina]

Got this dreaded message at the 2 chargers in Victor that I got to work at all so I called EA and Lucid. Lucid CS says that they are aware that some EA chargers don't know how to handle the higher voltage of Lucid cars and therefore limit the power to avoid a problem. EA said they are aware of problems with Lucid charging and Signet chargers. I don't know what to believe anymore. I thought Signets were the 'good' chargers. Yet here I sit charging at a pathetic 25 kW. View attachment 10577

I think we need to go to other chargers and pay money for satisfaction and good service. This is LUCIDs failure IMO.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Got this dreaded message at the 2 chargers in Victor that I got to work at all so I called EA and Lucid. Lucid CS says that they are aware that some EA chargers don't know how to handle the higher voltage of Lucid cars and therefore limit the power to avoid a problem. EA said they are aware of problems with Lucid charging and Signet chargers. I don't know what to believe anymore. I thought Signets were the 'good' chargers. Yet here I sit charging at a pathetic 25 kW. View attachment 10577

Both sides are telling the truth. EA is also being cautious on high voltage vehicles. When an EV is asking that much voltage, conservative programming gets shy not to fry in case of error in requesting.

Well, there's still a chance they may work out okay. On a whim after an hour at 25 kW, I went back and plugged into the 350. I got 115 kW that time.

I usually don’t bother anything under 60 kW. If you see speed is low, unplug and try again or try different stall.

So perhaps taking my Lucid cross country for a move is not advisable then. So disappointing to be hearing about all these pathetic charging station issues.

You can do it. People told me just ship my Rivian from California to Texas bc EA network isn’t as reliable as Tesla SC Network. I survived with no issue anyway.

Yeah, my dream of hitting national parks in Wyoming/Montana might remain a dream for now. The level 2 charging at hotels is an excellent point and I don’t intend to drive for more than 400 miles a day so I’m thinking it should be ok. I just don’t want to get stranded with two fully grown labradors whining in the car haha

Get extension cord, Tesla destination charger adapter, Nema 14-30 adapter in case needed during road trip. Hotel charging to 100% overnight beats waiting in the car at DCFC station to get to 80%.

 

[Bill55]

I think we need to go to other chargers and pay money for satisfaction and good service. This is LUCIDs failure IMO.

There really isn’t another viable partner at this time. EA was funded out of Volkswagens diesel settlement. The IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) will help accelerate installations, but it will take some time as there is a made in America requirement. Not to mention, permitting, adequate infrastructure…..

For Dc fast charging:

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Tesla has over 1,600 Supercharger stations in the U.S., with over 17,000 fast-charging ports. Electrify America is next in line, with about 800 stations and 3,600 fast-charging ports. While EVgo has about 2,200 fast-charging ports, ChargePoint has about 1,800.

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/ev-charging-stations?ssp=1&darkschemeovr=0&setlang=en-US&safesearch=moderate

 

[Bill55]

Both sides are telling the truth. EA is also being cautious on high voltage vehicles. When an EV is asking that much voltage, conservative programming gets shy not to fry in case of error in requesting.

I usually don’t bother anything under 60 kW. If you see speed is low, unplug and try again or try different stall.

You can do it. People told me just ship my Rivian from California to Texas bc EA network isn’t as reliable as Tesla SC Network. I survived with no issue anyway.

Get extension cord, Tesla destination charger adapter, Nema 14-30 adapter in case needed during road trip. Hotel charging to 100% overnight beats waiting in the car at DCFC station to get to 80%.

I’ve been pretty far from Interstates and any DC fast chargers in Texas, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Definitely takes some planning. RV parks have 14-50 plugs. I look for hotels with level 2 chargers and RV spots not too far away as a backup. Relatively common when you are in small town around national parks. I’ve paid $10-$20 to charge over night at RV parks with an open spot.

On a long interstate trip with DC fast charging, a strategy of charging more frequently from ~40% to 80% gives you a lot more options than trying to minimize stops and going to a low state of charge. Going 80-40% in the Lucid still gives you a couple hours between stops.

 

[Halodde]

Victor where? New York?

Yes. Outside of Rochester

 

[Halodde]

Better not to rely on EA chargers on long trip

It wasn't a long trip... Well not by my standards lol. It was during a day of work

 

[HariK]

5% starting soc. And I tried all 4 chargers there

Man! That was the worst I know of. I would just avoid that location.

 

[DeaneG]

Man! That was the worst I know of. I would just avoid that location.

Mojave CA is similarly bad. I got 60kW from one charger, zero from the other three.

 

[Ksa23]

350kW is not the bar. The Air under perfect conditions is going to max out around 300kW and only below 15% state of charge.
At 29% max is below 250kW.

 

[Tesla2.0]

 

[HariK]

View attachment 10911

Very promising. I will try charging 20% to 60% after pre conditioning and see what I get in the same locations.

 

[TCIslandTime]

There really isn’t another viable partner at this time. EA was funded out of Volkswagens diesel settlement. The IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) will help accelerate installations, but it will take some time as there is a made in America requirement. Not to mention, permitting, adequate infrastructure…..

For Dc fast charging:

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Tesla has over 1,600 Supercharger stations in the U.S., with over 17,000 fast-charging ports. Electrify America is next in line, with about 800 stations and 3,600 fast-charging ports. While EVgo has about 2,200 fast-charging ports, ChargePoint has about 1,800.

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/ev-charging-stations?ssp=1&darkschemeovr=0&setlang=en-US&safesearch=moderate

Is it just me, or does it seem like EA has a sweetheart deal with the dieselgate money.......Install them, but don't worry about the O&M?

 

[Tesla2.0]

Is it just me, or does it seem like EA has a sweetheart deal with the dieselgate money.......Install them, but don't worry about the O&M?

They do maintain them. I watched maintenance guys working on them a few times when I was at station charging. They drive Rivian R1T with tools tucked away in truck’s gear tunnel. They are always on the phone troubleshooting with remote engineer while they open up the stall to access circuit box.

 

[Bill55]

Is it just me, or does it seem like EA has a sweetheart deal with the dieselgate money.......Install them, but don't worry about the O&M?

That certainly seems to be the case, but Volkswagen realizes that what was punishment has potential to be a moneymaker.

 

[Bill55]

View attachment 10908

Very nice. i stand corrected. I should not have presented 300kW as an absolute. Average or typical max rates would have been a better choice.

 

[SM_NCarolina]

Very nice. i stand corrected. I should not have presented 300kW as an absolute. Average or typical max rates would have been a better choice.

Average is not a suitable matric here. Average will vary based on various factors e.g. your SOC.

 

[Ksa23]

Very nice. i stand corrected. I should not have presented 300kW as an absolute. Average or typical max rates would have been a better choice.

To be fair, I've only gone above 300 once

 

[Bill55]

Average is not a suitable matric here. Average will vary based on various factors e.g. your SOC.

There are lots of factors. Including when you go over 300 it’s not going to be for long. 3-5 minutes max. In the testing that’s been done the Air typically self limits to ~300 as pulling more requires it to reduce faster as heat builds.

The Air is better than all the rest, so for other EVs a 350kW vs a 175kW has even less difference.

There is a lot of focus on 350kW chargers when there is not a significant time difference than charging with a 175. If you’re starting from 30% charge or more virtually none and only a few minutes if your starting from single digits.

30kW in 5:30 at 330kW or 30kW in 10:20. After the first 30kW charging times will be virtually the same.

This is generous as Seeing 330 is not going to be common.

Going from 20-80% in 35 minutes or 40 minutes I don’t think warrants the hype around 350kW and 350kW sets an unrealistic target for those who are new to EVs and unfamiliar with the many variables associated with real world charging rates.

 

[Tesla2.0]

IMO experience on older EA stations, 350kW stalls never really work for me on Lucid, so I generally don’t bother and go straight to 150kW. But when I road tripping find newer generation EA stalls and SOC does go below 20%, I would love to see that marvelous speed at 350kW, most of time it’s N/A to my use case. For Rivian, I’ve pulled fastest at 206kW at EA 350kW stalls, Lucid at 300+kW ONLY for brief moment.