EA Megathread

[Tim-in-CA]

And .... just in time for the 4th Holiday weekend , of the 13 EA chargers within about a 20 mile radius from me only 6 are working (that's 46% functional rate!!). The nearest one is 1 out of 4 working! All this "excitement" about adding NACS connectors to EA isn't going to solve the sh*tty performance issues of EA. I REALLY hope that the NEVI penalties kick in once EA starts accepting funds.

 

[Tenorcnj]

At this EA 150kw charger near me, I started out great. After about 5 minutes or so, I've been watching the rate ping pong from 80 to 100 and back again. 1 out of 4 non functional, two others in use, one person waiting.

 

[hmp10]

However I am curios to know if anyone has been advised by EA of their network implementation strategy to build stations every (70) miles from one one another? And if so, if they can provide additional insights on their plans?

Electrify America claims that on two cross-country interstates routes they already have charging stations 70 miles apart on average, with greater concentrations around major urban areas. This, of course, does not mean that there is always a charger within 70 miles of where you might be on these cross-country routes. Also, there are still large stretches of the U.S. that have no EA coverage. There are no EA chargers at all in North Dakota, and quite a few states (including some large ones such as Montana and Maine) have five or fewer EA chargers.

Also, in the 2018-19 timeframe Electrify America published a long-range plan consisting of four phases extending to 2026. Upon completion of this plan, EA claimed that you would never be more than 170 miles from an EA charging station at any point in the continental U.S.

With the adoption of an NACS standard and the continuing rapid expansion of Tesla's Supercharger network, I'm wondering if Electrify America will even be around long enough to implement its full four-phase plan . . . or whether anyone will care, as few customers with experience of EA thus far would program EA as their first-choice charging stop on a road trip if alternatives were widely available.

 

[joec]

Electrify America claims that on two cross-country interstates routes they already have charging stations 70 miles apart on average, with greater concentrations around major urban areas. This, of course, does not mean that there is always a charger within 70 miles of where you might be on these cross-country routes. Also, there are still large stretches of the U.S. that have no EA coverage. There are no EA chargers at all in North Dakota, and quite a few states (including some large ones such as Montana and Maine) have five or fewer EA chargers.

Also, in the 2018-19 timeframe Electrify America published a long-range plan consisting of four phases extending to 2026. Upon completion of this plan, EA claimed that you would never be more than 170 miles from an EA charging station at any point in the continental U.S.

With the adoption of an NACS standard and the continuing rapid expansion of Tesla's Supercharger network, I'm wondering if Electrify America will even be around long enough to implement its full four-phase plan . . . or whether anyone will care, as few customers with experience of EA thus far would program EA as their first-choice charging stop on a road trip if alternatives were widely available.

Good questions. I think it's important to remember so few Americans have gone electric at this point that any past experiences or word of mouth will be minimal a few years from now. People are largely pretty forgiving, despite their immediate frustrations when things go wrong. Southwest Airlines is still in business after that massive débâcle earlier this year.

How many on this forum remember version 1.0 of the Lucid OS?

So I think there's plenty of time for EA to build out their network and succeed. And I don't think their poor behavior up to this point will hurt their chances much.

Having said all that, to date EA have shown little evidence they are dedicated to getting better. Perhaps a change of leadership would make a difference? Or maybe this NACS thing will be the kick in the pants they needed? Who knows? I wouldn't bet on the stock at this point, let's put it that way. But I do think anything is possible.

 

[joec]

I also am still dreaming of a disruptor who will come along and break the charging business wide open. I still think even the big dog, Tesla, is missing a huge opportunity with their charging network. Reliable? Sure. But when I had my Tesla, I still spent the bulk of my charging time on road trips sitting in my car, reading Twitter, when I could have been spending money on food and entertainment. Half the time there wasn't even a public restroom at these stations.

Dropping chargers in random parking lots off highway exits, often without even a cover over your head for bad weather, feels stupid to me, when gas stations figured out years ago you can make a killing by simply placing a convenience store at every station. And that's just the obvious idea.

Feels like a no-brainer for a chain like BUC-EES, WaWa, Cracker Barrel, etc. to plop 20-30 charging spots at every location and rake in the dough while people spend 30-40 minutes inside their facilities.

 

[hmp10]

I think it's important to remember so few Americans have gone electric at this point that any past experiences or word of mouth will be minimal a few years from now. People are largely pretty forgiving, despite their immediate frustrations when things go wrong.

True. However, I wonder if this will slow down EV adoption for a while. While non-Tesla EV buyers are still relatively few, many potential buyers go to the internet, particularly YouTube, when considering an EV purchase. And three of the most prominent EV reviewers -- Kyle Conner, Tom Moloughney, and Marquess Brownlee -- have all recently taken positions that the current CCS charging infrastructure is unreliable to the point that purchasers should either hold off the purchase of CCS vehicles for a while or choose Tesla instead if they want to purchase now.

How many on this forum remember version 1.0 of the Lucid OS?

Having lived with it for the first 10 months of Lucid ownership, it is a hard memory to put aside -- and I think it threw an early reputational pall over Lucid that has not yet been thrown off. However, it has made UX 2.0 and its progeny of updates all the sweeter, now even surpassing the software of our Tesla Model S Plaid in my estimation. At last the stellar hardware product that is Lucid can shine through.

Having said all that, to date EA have shown little evidence they are dedicated to getting better. Perhaps a change of leadership would make a difference? Or maybe this NACS thing will be the kick in the pants they needed? Who knows? I wouldn't bet on the stock at this point, let's put it that way. But I do think anything is possible.

EA recently replaced its CEO with someone from the technical side of the business. He went on a recent road tour to experience for himself what EV owners have experienced. Based on recent posts I've seen about EA, he's not yet making a difference . . . but it is early days in his tenure, so perhaps there is hope.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

I can't see myself changing my heart about Musk and Jobs, who went out of their way to make their stuff incompatible. So goodbye GM, Ford, etal for siding with gemboy's network. I have not had the issues with EA that others describe, but have not traveled far. A recent trip to the Jersey Shore led me to look at the EA network along the coast...was shocked to see NOT ONE EA station on the vacation coast from Central New Jersey to South Carolina ! WTF ? None in Atlantic City, Cape May, the Outter Banks, all the way down the coast. A lot of wealthy folk there ... guess all of them have a Betty Boop in their vacation home garages. Why does the shore hate Lucid owners ??? Can the mayors of these vacation towns solicit EA to build EA charging stations ? I like to day-trip and travel, but I won't be spending money in your town if I have to wait for hours and hours at a micky mouse low voltage charger....assuming i can find one at all.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

At this EA 150kw charger near me, I started out great. After about 5 minutes or so, I've been watching the rate ping pong from 80 to 100 and back again. 1 out of 4 non functional, two others in use, one person waiting.

That sounds "normal" to me. The 150 kW "Ultra" and 350 kW "Hyper" are just names, not promises. With pre-conditioning and a initial
SOC of 30% or lower and going to 80%, on a 350kW, starting at over 200kW I typically unhook getting 80-90 kW. I got 62 kWh in 28 min. Was able to find a place to pee and have a nice walk. With a very low initial SOC I've pulled 170kW on a "Hyper" 150kW charger...for a moment...

As for one or more EA chargers at the station being "unavailable"....that too, is "normal". To insure that one will give something at all ( my used-to-be-good local station now tops out at 56kW after being "serviced") you need to build at least 4 chargers.

 

[quantum]

Volkswagen needs a kick up their backside to get EA chargers working as they should and improve expansion. One way to do that is for a competitor ( Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes for example) to start advertising- " Do you want to buy an EV from the company that gives you Electrify America charging network ?" with a few quotes from disgruntled EA customers.

I'm never buying a Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche!

 

[hydbob]

@hydbob could you make the main nacs thread sticky got lots of questions

Why? We've already beaten a dead horse to death multiple times. The only thing that has changed is Lucid announced the switch. Everything else is the same as it was yesterday.

 

[blueice89]

Why? We've already beaten a dead horse to death multiple times. The only thing that has changed is Lucid announced the switch. Everything else is the same as it was yesterday.

This is probably the biggest news Lucid has announced so far and there isn’t a thread discussing it. Lot of questions but I don’t think we got answers

 

[joec]

This is probably the biggest news Lucid has announced so far and there isn’t a thread discussing it. Lot of questions but I don’t think we got answers

Every possible question that could be asked was asked 8 times on multiple threads. And the only ones we now have answers for are

1) Will they? Yes.
2) When? 2025.
3) Will adapters be available for current cars? Yes.

Literally everything else you could ask won't be answered until 2025.

If you want to open a thread in 2025, feel free.

 

[blueice89]

Every possible question that could be asked was asked 8 times on multiple threads. And the only ones we now have answers for are

1) Will they? Yes.
2) When? 2025.
3) Will adapters be available for current cars? Yes.

Literally everything else you could ask won't be answered until 2025.

If you want to open a thread in 2025, feel free.

My question is on the 400v vs 800v charging capability. So you are saying we won’t know that until we see what happens in 2025

 

[Babyrocko1908]

My question is on the 400v vs 800v charging capability. So you are saying we won’t know that until we see what happens in 2025

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bunnylebowski]

My question is whether @OutofSpecDave will get another Lucid now.

 

[DeaneG]

My question is on the 400v vs 800v charging capability. So you are saying we won’t know that until we see what happens in 2025

Tesla has not announced anything about this. Whatever happens, it will take a few years for Tesla to roll out in a meaningful manner.

 

[blueice89]

My question is whether @OutofSpecDave will get another Lucid now.

I had this question as well.

 

[hydbob]

KEEP THIS THREAD ABOUT EA!

 

[Adnillien]

Back to EA, last I checked it was 1000V. Did something change?

 

[joec]

Okay. From here on out, any and all posts on this thread that are NOT about EA will be deleted.

Sorry, but hijacking threads people actually need in order to talk about other topics is not allowed.

People come here to find help with their EA problems.