EA Charging Issues

[Mmauer]

I have two issues with the Electrify America and one with battery range.
1. I live in the near north suburbs of Chicago. I have not been able to find an unused charger the last 2-3 weeks. I have four EA locations located within 15 miles of my house. Whenever I look at the EA app, it says that all chargers in all 4 locations are in use. I had to wait till after 1:00 AM Sunday to charge my Lucid Air. I check these four charging stations on the EA app several times a day and the app consistently says that are all being used. There were also a few times when the app said 1 or 2 chargers are available but are then occupied by the time I get to that location. Sometimes there are 2-3 other electric cars waiting to use a charger. Extremely frustrating.
2. I also have issues with the EA charging rates. I was at 7% battery life yesterday AM when I finally plugged into a 350 kW "Hyper Fase" charger. The fastest charging rate I got was 138 kW. This charger is a half a mile away from where is live, so I was only able to pre-condition the battery for 3-4 minutes before plugging in. This 138-kWh rate is the highest I have ever gotten when charging my Lucid. These slow charging rates happens regardless of what my battery percentage is. I have had instances where the Hyper Charger is only charging at the rate of 10-12 kW when my battery is half empty. What am I doing wrong?
3. I am also getting abut 50-60% of the range that my Lucid says I should get when I am done charging. For example, I charged battery my Lucid to 450 miles. I was only able to get 250 miles before the battery got to 10%. Please note, I do not drive fast or crazy like some aggressive drivers do. Do other owners have the same or similar issues?

 

[hydbob]

I have two issues with the Electrify America and one with battery range.
1. I live in the near north suburbs of Chicago. I have not been able to find an unused charger the last 2-3 weeks. I have four EA locations located within 15 miles of my house. Whenever I look at the EA app, it says that all chargers in all 4 locations are in use. I had to wait till after 1:00 AM Sunday to charge my Lucid Air. I check these four charging stations on the EA app several times a day and the app consistently says that are all being used. There were also a few times when the app said 1 or 2 chargers are available but are then occupied by the time I get to that location. Sometimes there are 2-3 other electric cars waiting to use a charger. Extremely frustrating.
2. I also have issues with the EA charging rates. I was at 7% battery life yesterday AM when I finally plugged into a 350 kW "Hyper Fase" charger. The fastest charging rate I got was 138 kW. This charger is a half a mile away from where is live, so I was only able to pre-condition the battery for 3-4 minutes before plugging in. This 138-kWh rate is the highest I have ever gotten when charging my Lucid. These slow charging rates happens regardless of what my battery percentage is. I have had instances where the Hyper Charger is only charging at the rate of 10-12 kW when my battery is half empty. What am I doing wrong?
3. I am also getting abut 50-60% of the range that my Lucid says I should get when I am done charging. For example, I charged battery my Lucid to 450 miles. I was only able to get 250 miles before the battery got to 10%. Please note, I do not drive fast or crazy like some aggressive drivers do. Do other owners have the same or similar issues?

1. Have you tried sitting at a charger and checking real time to know if the EA app is accurate? EA has been known for reporting station availability inaccurately for some time now.

2. Was someone else plugged in on a different charger? Next time take a picture. The newer 350kw chargers are on a shared transformer which is called a balanced charger. If someone else is also charging with you take the max of 350 - that person's charging rate and that is your new theoretical max of the stars are aligned.

3. North Chicago seems cold? EV range can lose as much as 50% in cold weather and the condition of the batteries.

 

[DeaneG]

Yes, CCS charging isn't always easy, currently.

1) Charger availability will improve over the next 12-18 months as $5 billion for federal NEVI funds are deployed, and Tesla opens its network to others. In the meantime, look for EVGo, Chargepoint, etc stations using the Plugshare app or website.

2) Your battery will charge much more slowly if cold, same as any EV. Preconditioning for 45 minutes solves this, though it isn't always practical to do so. Charging stations do not always provide full output power if there are hardware issues, or power limitations due to "balanced" power sharing or the local electrical grid.

3) Cold weather will reduce range substantially in any EV.

 

[Mmauer]

1. Have you tried sitting at a charger and checking real time to know if the EA app is accurate? EA has been known for reporting station availability inaccurately for some time now.

2. Was someone else plugged in on a different charger? Next time take a picture. The newer 350kw chargers are on a shared transformer which is called a balanced charger. If someone else is also charging with you take the max of 350 - that person's charging rate and that is your new theoretical max of the stars are aligned.

3. North Chicago seems cold? EV range can lose as much as 50% in cold weather and the condition of the batteries.

1. It took 70 minutes to charge the battery from 7% to 95%.
2. There was another car plugged into a 350-kW charger. One of the charging stations was out of order. The 4th charger is a level 2 7kW charger. So I don't think that would affect the charging rate.

 

[Adnillien]

See this thread on range https://lucidowners.com/threads/how-much-range-are-you-actually-getting.993/

 

[DeaneG]

1. It took 70 minutes to charge the battery from 7% to 95%...

That's not far off of ideal timing. See this article on the Dream Edition's charging curve. Non-Dream cars charge slightly slower. Note the decline in charging rate as the state of charge (SOC) increases. Generally, people charge to about 80% maximum unless needed on a long road trip - both for battery health and for faster charging speed.

Lucid Air Dream Edition Fast Charging Comparison: 350 kW vs 150 kW

We charge a 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition from zero to 100% on both a 150 kW and a 350 kW DC fast charger and analyze the differences.

insideevs.com

 

[joec]

1. It took 70 minutes to charge the battery from 7% to 95%.
2. There was another car plugged into a 350-kW charger. One of the charging stations was out of order. The 4th charger is a level 2 7kW charger. So I don't think that would affect the charging rate.

You definitely don’t want to charge to 95%. Unless you need to in order to reach the next station. Charging from 80-95 will take longer than charging from 20-80.

 

[Bill55]

You definitely don’t want to charge to 95%. Unless you need to in order to reach the next station. Charging from 80-95 will take longer than charging from 20-80.

I frequently charge to ~85%. Usually about 4-5 minutes for 80 to 85%. I'll stop at 80 if anyone is waiting and go higher if the next stop has any uncertainty.

 

[APSenec]

I have two issues with the Electrify America and one with battery range.
1. I live in the near north suburbs of Chicago. I have not been able to find an unused charger the last 2-3 weeks. I have four EA locations located within 15 miles of my house. Whenever I look at the EA app, it says that all chargers in all 4 locations are in use. I had to wait till after 1:00 AM Sunday to charge my Lucid Air. I check these four charging stations on the EA app several times a day and the app consistently says that are all being used. There were also a few times when the app said 1 or 2 chargers are available but are then occupied by the time I get to that location. Sometimes there are 2-3 other electric cars waiting to use a charger. Extremely frustrating.
2. I also have issues with the EA charging rates. I was at 7% battery life yesterday AM when I finally plugged into a 350 kW "Hyper Fase" charger. The fastest charging rate I got was 138 kW. This charger is a half a mile away from where is live, so I was only able to pre-condition the battery for 3-4 minutes before plugging in. This 138-kWh rate is the highest I have ever gotten when charging my Lucid. These slow charging rates happens regardless of what my battery percentage is. I have had instances where the Hyper Charger is only charging at the rate of 10-12 kW when my battery is half empty. What am I doing wrong?
3. I am also getting abut 50-60% of the range that my Lucid says I should get when I am done charging. For example, I charged battery my Lucid to 450 miles. I was only able to get 250 miles before the battery got to 10%. Please note, I do not drive fast or crazy like some aggressive drivers do. Do other owners have the same or similar issues?

I have found the EA app to update very quickly. Within a minute as I've watched other vehicles around me start or leave a station. I just looked at Chicago, and sure enough 5 EA locations are showing FULL. You must be having a lot of EV adoption there with complimentary charging. My 9pm jaunts to EA here in ME are a no lines, no waiting affair.

When you achieved the 138kwh rates was the car showing a message indicating "charge speed limited by the station"? That's an obvious sign the station is limited, or the battery is not conditioned.

Range has a lot of variables. I'm at 3.5mi/kwh after 4K miles of driving. Since the temps in the North East have dropped, I routinely see 2.9-3.0 mi/kwh. On the flip side, I ran around town this weekend and achieved 4.6mi/kwh.

 

[Bill55]

I have two issues with the Electrify America and one with battery range.
1. I live in the near north suburbs of Chicago. I have not been able to find an unused charger the last 2-3 weeks. I have four EA locations located within 15 miles of my house. Whenever I look at the EA app, it says that all chargers in all 4 locations are in use. I had to wait till after 1:00 AM Sunday to charge my Lucid Air. I check these four charging stations on the EA app several times a day and the app consistently says that are all being used. There were also a few times when the app said 1 or 2 chargers are available but are then occupied by the time I get to that location. Sometimes there are 2-3 other electric cars waiting to use a charger. Extremely frustrating.
2. I also have issues with the EA charging rates. I was at 7% battery life yesterday AM when I finally plugged into a 350 kW "Hyper Fase" charger. The fastest charging rate I got was 138 kW. This charger is a half a mile away from where is live, so I was only able to pre-condition the battery for 3-4 minutes before plugging in. This 138-kWh rate is the highest I have ever gotten when charging my Lucid. These slow charging rates happens regardless of what my battery percentage is. I have had instances where the Hyper Charger is only charging at the rate of 10-12 kW when my battery is half empty. What am I doing wrong?
3. I am also getting abut 50-60% of the range that my Lucid says I should get when I am done charging. For example, I charged battery my Lucid to 450 miles. I was only able to get 250 miles before the battery got to 10%. Please note, I do not drive fast or crazy like some aggressive drivers do. Do other owners have the same or similar issues?

Do you live somewhere that it is impossible to charge Level 2? If I am within 100 miles of home, I’m not going to be stopping at EA.

 

[Eagle 113312]

I tried an EA charger in Tarzana twice. Both times the best rate I could get was 40KW/h

Another site at a different location gave me 175 KW for the initial part of the charge but at 20 minuites it was less than half that rate. Both cases my Pure had full 20 minute precondition.

 

[Bobby]

I tried an EA charger in Tarzana twice. Both times the best rate I could get was 40KW/h

Another site at a different location gave me 175 KW for the initial part of the charge but at 20 minuites it was less than half that rate. Both cases my Pure had full 20 minute precondition.

This sounds like the normal charging curve. The rate of charge will decrease as the battery fills itself up.

 

[Bill55]

I tried an EA charger in Tarzana twice. Both times the best rate I could get was 40KW/h

Another site at a different location gave me 175 KW for the initial part of the charge but at 20 minuites it was less than half that rate. Both cases my Pure had full 20 minute precondition.

Attached is a charging test of a DE in optimal conditions in table format.
IMO there is way too much focus on 350kW chargers.

If you are at or above 40% a 350kW vs EA 150kW (175kW) is going to be less than a minute.

From any lower state of charge the maximum time difference is going to be about 5 minutes.

It's nice to see the car charging at 300+kW, but the reality is very little time is saved.

From 20% to 48% it's about a 2 minute difference and from 48% and up there will be no time difference.

 

[Lucken]

Bill, that’s consistent with my experience. I see no reason to seek out 350s.

 

[suchluke]

Attached is a charging test of a DE in optimal conditions in table format.
IMO there is way too much focus on 350kW chargers.

If you are at or above 40% a 350kW vs EA 150kW (175kW) is going to be less than a minute.

From any lower state of charge the maximum time difference is going to be about 5 minutes.

It's nice to see the car charging at 300+kW, but the reality is very little time is saved.

From 20% to 48% it's about a 2 minute difference and from 48% and up there will be no time difference.

I second that. After charging at multiple 150 vs 350 EA stations the time difference is negligible. I no longer focus on finding 350 station specifically. As long as there are 150 stations I am good. At least this is true for my Pure charging curve.

 

[Bill55]

I second that. After charging at multiple 150 vs 350 EA stations the time difference is negligible. I no longer focus on finding 350 station specifically. As long as there are 150 stations I am good. At least this is true for my Pure charging curve.

My experience is also that the 150kWs work the first time more often than the 350s.

 

[GKR]

Similar experience here. I usually charge once a week at an EA station in Fairfax, VA located behind a Home Depot. The station has four (4) 150 KW outlets, and I almost never have to wait for an open charger. I always pre-condition the battery for 20 minutes before charging. If the battery is very low I will get 140KW for the first few minutes (about 10 miles/minute) then the charge rate starts dropping off. When I get to the 300 mile mark the charge rate is down to about 80 KW. I have tried two other 350 KW charging stations but see little or no difference in the charging rate. When my one-year free EA service expires in the next few months I will switch to my home charger. Lesson learned is that if I am on a road trip it doesn't pay to search for a 350KW station. Any 150KW station works just as well.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I have two issues with the Electrify America and one with battery range.
1. I live in the near north suburbs of Chicago. I have not been able to find an unused charger the last 2-3 weeks. I have four EA locations located within 15 miles of my house. Whenever I look at the EA app, it says that all chargers in all 4 locations are in use. I had to wait till after 1:00 AM Sunday to charge my Lucid Air. I check these four charging stations on the EA app several times a day and the app consistently says that are all being used. There were also a few times when the app said 1 or 2 chargers are available but are then occupied by the time I get to that location. Sometimes there are 2-3 other electric cars waiting to use a charger. Extremely frustrating.
2. I also have issues with the EA charging rates. I was at 7% battery life yesterday AM when I finally plugged into a 350 kW "Hyper Fase" charger. The fastest charging rate I got was 138 kW. This charger is a half a mile away from where is live, so I was only able to pre-condition the battery for 3-4 minutes before plugging in. This 138-kWh rate is the highest I have ever gotten when charging my Lucid. These slow charging rates happens regardless of what my battery percentage is. I have had instances where the Hyper Charger is only charging at the rate of 10-12 kW when my battery is half empty. What am I doing wrong?
3. I am also getting abut 50-60% of the range that my Lucid says I should get when I am done charging. For example, I charged battery my Lucid to 450 miles. I was only able to get 250 miles before the battery got to 10%. Please note, I do not drive fast or crazy like some aggressive drivers do. Do other owners have the same or similar issues?

There is an EA Charging station that is about 10 minutes from my house. What I do is look to see if all three chargers are in use. If they are I head over and usually by the time I get there one of the three is open or about to become open. Works perfectly almost every time. The other thing is you need to make sure after you check the EA app that you completely close it out before you check again. If you just leave it open it won't always show when someone leaves.

 

[DeaneG]

... I always pre-condition the battery for 20 minutes before charging. If the battery is very low I will get 140KW for the first few minutes (about 10 miles/minute) then the charge rate starts dropping off...

Lucid is currently auto-preconditioning for 45 minutes. Espeically in cold weather, you might get a higher charging rate if you precondtiion for a longer period of time. You're trying to warm up a 1000-lb hunk of metal and fluid to about 80 degrees.

 

[HariK]

Back in July I charged 2 times at a bofa in Chicago area.