EA Megathread

[Lucken]

Significant. I have noticed almost a 100kW difference if I precondition or don’t.

I’m also coming off the highway, as I almost always only use EA on road trips.

Braggart or not, the reason I post these things is because I don’t have nearly as many “at bats” as most people here because I mostly charge at home. But my experiences have generally been really positive, especially the last 6-9 months, and it helps paint a more realistic (or at least broader) comparison than the barrage of complaints about EA on average.

I really do wonder if part of it is just a numbers thing. Because I have fewer sessions, I have less of a chance of error or failure.

A 100kW difference is very impressive. I was not aware the difference could be that great, especially coming off a highway. What’s the average amount of preconditioning time you’ve seen where a significant difference in charging time could be expected? I just never thought in warm weather, especially after a highway run, that preconditioning would amount to a worthwhile difference.

 

[borski]

A 100kW difference is very impressive. I was not aware the difference could be that great, especially coming off a highway. What’s the average amount of preconditioning time you’ve seen where a significant difference in charging time could be expected? I just never thought in warm weather, especially after a highway run, that preconditioning would amount to a worthwhile difference.

Honestly, I haven’t been that scientific about it. I typically try to precondition about 30ish minutes before, +/-. But I just throw it in the nav and let the car figure it out.

When I don’t precondition, speeds aren’t exactly slow, but more in the 170-220 range initially, and go down from there, in my experience.

 

[Bill55]

This is from July, hit 311kW in the Sapphire at EA station at Concord Mills north of Charlotte

 

[Wolfman]

Those are great numbers. Wonder if pre-conditoning has a bigger impact on Lucid than other brands? Definitely will try that.

I did notice that the miles per minute charges are a bit different. Even at low 125kw I get 10 miles a minute…

 

[Lucken]

I also wonder how much energy is used in 30 minutes of preconditioning? Obviously this will be a number that varies with temperature, so I’m just looking for a ballpark number. IOW preconditioning does come with a price, additional used energy. If I was running a very low SOC I don’t think I’d use preconditioning unless I was sure the chargers I was headed to were both operational & available.

 

[pjdcorp]

I also wonder how much energy is used in 30 minutes of preconditioning? Obviously this will be a number that varies with temperature, so I’m just looking for a ballpark number. IOW preconditioning does come with a price, additional used energy. If I was running a very low SOC I don’t think I’d use preconditioning unless I was sure the chargers I was headed to were both operational & available.

Assuming that chargers are operational and available is always a crapshoot with EA. Although recently I have found more of them working more often. But my almost 3 years of experience with EA has taught me to remember how to pray

 

[ViperSSD]

I also wonder how much energy is used in 30 minutes of preconditioning? Obviously this will be a number that varies with temperature, so I’m just looking for a ballpark number. IOW preconditioning does come with a price, additional used energy. If I was running a very low SOC I don’t think I’d use preconditioning unless I was sure the chargers I was headed to were both operational & available.

This has to depend a lot on what speed you're going as well, for fresh off of the highway, I would bet preconditioning is closing shutters and diverting coolant....I could see it saving energy in some situations when it's not too cold outside

 

[Bus Driver]

Question for the great hive mind – if I am navigating to an Electrify America station using the Lucid navigation app, will the car start preconditioning automatically?

If I have to start reconditioning myself, how far in advance do I start?

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Question for the great hive mind – if I am navigating to an Electrify America station using the Lucid navigation app, will the car start preconditioning automatically?

If I have to start reconditioning myself, how far in advance do I start?

If you are going to a nearby station, I think it is best to use the charger icon to identify the stations on the Lucid app, and then send the one you want to the car. It will then automatically start preconditioning when you download the station and set it into the car's navigation, but that might not be enough time if the charging station is close by. (That's what is so nice about being able to now start preconditioning from the app.) If you are planning a trip, and the Lucid navigation factors in your charging stops, it will automatically start preconditioning on the road for each stop. I think the app plans about 40 minutes for preconditioning, but I think about 20 minutes is enough if you are in comfortable outdoor temperatures.

If you enter a station into the navigation using the station's address, the car will not recognize it as a charging station, and won't start preconditioning.

 

[Bobby]

Question for the great hive mind – if I am navigating to an Electrify America station using the Lucid navigation app, will the car start preconditioning automatically?

If I have to start reconditioning myself, how far in advance do I start?

Yes.

 

[Bus Driver]

If you are going to a nearby station, I think it is best to use the charger icon to identify the stations on the Lucid app, and then send the one you want to the car. It will then automatically start preconditioning when you download the station and set it into the car's navigation, but that might not be enough time if the charging station is close by. (That's what is so nice about being able to now start preconditioning from the app.) If you are planning a trip, and the Lucid navigation factors in your charging stops, it will automatically start preconditioning on the road for each stop. I think the app plans about 40 minutes for preconditioning, but I think about 20 minutes is enough if you are in comfortable outdoor temperatures.

If you enter a station into the navigation using the station's address, the car will not recognize it as a charging station, and won't start preconditioning.

Thank you! And indeed the notification just came up. I’m still well over an hour away from the EA charging station.

 

[tonybot]

If you are going to a nearby station, I think it is best to use the charger icon to identify the stations on the Lucid app, and then send the one you want to the car. It will then automatically start preconditioning when you download the station and set it into the car's navigation, but that might not be enough time if the charging station is close by. (That's what is so nice about being able to now start preconditioning from the app.) If you are planning a trip, and the Lucid navigation factors in your charging stops, it will automatically start preconditioning on the road for each stop. I think the app plans about 40 minutes for preconditioning, but I think about 20 minutes is enough if you are in comfortable outdoor temperatures.

If you enter a station into the navigation using the station's address, the car will not recognize it as a charging station, and won't start preconditioning.

Agree - you have to add it as “charging” stop for auto pre condition.

 

[scal_air]

My usual EA station recently upgraded from 2/6 350kW chargers to all 6/6 being 350kW. Unfortunately, now 2/6 are often offline

 

[HC_79]

My usual EA station recently upgraded from 2/6 350kW chargers to all 6/6 being 350kW. Unfortunately, now 2/6 are often offline

General rule of thumb, if you see an EA location with available chargers its safe to say that the chargers available aren't working

 

[scal_air]

Absolutely true. Can't tell you how many people pulled up to the out of order chargers while other were waiting

 

[DeaneG]

General rule of thumb, if you see an EA location with available chargers its safe to say that the chargers available aren't working

Or the cars parked in those spaces aren't plugged in.

 

[bikeriderbryan]

This is from July, hit 311kW in the Sapphire at EA station at Concord Mills north of Charlotte View attachment 23881

WOW that is some killer speeds. I visit that location as well.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Thank you! And indeed the notification just came up. I’m still well over an hour away from the EA charging station.

I'm surprised that it would start automatic preconditioning well over an hour in advance.

I was going to suggest that you may want to cancel preconditioning until you got closer, but I see that you have probably already arrived at the charging station.

 

[mcot2]

Electrify America replaces EV charges in Scarborough after reliability complaints

wgme.com

This story is pretty cool. One of the local news stations in Maine did a story on how bad the EA station in Scarbrough Maine was from a reliability standpoint. They did acknowledge it and said it was already slotted to be upgraded. And now 5 months later they have actually gone and replaced the entire station with all 350kW latest generation chargers.

I will be charging there soon with my Air and report back.

 

[bikeriderbryan]

Isn't EA upgrading all of their stations to 350kW?