NACS Charging at Tesla SCs

[hmp10]

Aside from a paucity of locations, my East Coast CCS issues have always been lack of reliability and upkeep at the CCS sites and location. Invariably, multiple chargers are out of service and/or deliver far less than their stated kw. The apps say stalls are open when they’re not, etc. Also, the only times I’ve had negative interactions with fellow EV owners has been at the CCS sites, for whatever reason.

When an EA site, for example, IS working, it’s almost always way at the edge of a Walmart parking lot with nothing around. So you sit in your car for 20 minutes or whatever. Much nicer experience with Tesla as they’re almost always at a Sheetz or Wawa on East Coast so you plug in, go get food and use the restroom, and leave.

This discussion today made me decide to see if EA plug-and-charge works in our Gravity. We had tried about two weeks ago at an EA station in Sarasota, FL but found the entire station shut down for equipment replacement. Today we went to an EA station at a Walmart in Naples, the only EA chargers anywhere near us.

There were four charge spots. One had a piece of yellow police tape across it as well as a blank screen. Two other spots had blank screens, one of which we tried to no avail. There was a Kia charging at the last remaining spot. When it pulled off we pulled in and plugged in. We got a message that charging was being initiated, followed by a message that charging was interrupted. We tried again. Same result.

So I went into the Lucid app to initiate the charge there. The Lucid app showed charging was being initiated but quickly switched to a red message saying charging required either a credit card at the site or through the EA app. We tried swiping a credit card at the charge post, but it did not work. I called Lucid Customer Care for assistance. They tried but were unable to initiate charging. The service advisor said he was going to check with the charge team and text or call me with what he found out but that there was no point in waiting at the charger. About 15 minutes later he texted me that the EA station was not working.

I'm wondering if, with NACS coming to most EV brands, Electrify America is just quietly throwing in the towel and not even trying to keep their system operating. About all it ever really did well was keep VW execs out of jail for Dieselgate.

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

This discussion today made me decide to see if EA plug-and-charge works in our Gravity. We had tried about two weeks ago at an EA station in Sarasota, FL but found the entire station shut down for equipment replacement. Today we went to an EA station at a Walmart in Naples, the only EA chargers anywhere near us.

There were four charge spots. One had a piece of yellow police tape across it as well as a blank screen. Two other spots had blank screens, one of which we tried to no avail. There was a Kia charging at the last remaining spot. When it pulled off we pulled in and plugged in. We got a message that charging was being initiated, followed by a message that charging was interrupted. We tried again. Same result.

So I went into the Lucid app to initiate the charge there. The Lucid app showed charging was being initiated but quickly switched to a red message saying charging required either a credit card at the site or through the EA app. We tried swiping a credit card at the charge post, but it did not work. I called Lucid Customer Care for assistance. They tried but were unable to initiate charging. The service advisor said he was going to check with the charge team and text or call me with what he found out but that there was no point in waiting at the charger. About 15 minutes later he texted me that the EA station was not working.

I'm wondering if, with NACS coming to most EV brands, Electrify America is just quietly throwing in the towel and not even trying to keep their system operating. About all it ever really did well was keep VW execs out of jail for Dieselgate.

You’re spot on with your last sentence. My sense is VW has done the bare minimum to comply with whatever the settlement terms were and there’s little/no incentive to do more.

Your experience is precisely why I don’t trust EA sites or the app.

FWIW I tried an EA site earlier this week and it was fast and easy - but it’s one that’s at an upscale mall and well cared for. Four stalls, eight chargers - all were online.

 

[DeaneG]

...I'm wondering if, with NACS coming to most EV brands, Electrify America is just quietly throwing in the towel and not even trying to keep their system operating. About all it ever really did well was keep VW execs out of jail for Dieselgate.

I think EA does "defer" maintenance on sites slated for equipment upgrades.

 

[hmp10]

I think EA does "defer" maintenance on sites slated for equipment upgrades.

They've been "deferring" maintenance for the entire three and a half years we've had our Air. And even when they do install new equipment, they just throw the cables on the ground and walk away. (This is what we found in Sarasota.)

 

[thyname]

I'm wondering if, with NACS coming to most EV brands, Electrify America is just quietly throwing in the towel and not even trying to keep their system operating.

Depends on the location. Where I am (Northern part of the Great Commonwealth of Virginia), EA has been doing very well lately. Less broken stalls. Also, brand new station with 6 chargers all 350 kW, lights, camera, etc.) was just opened a few months ago within 5 miles from where I live. My favorite EA station near me (roughly 1.5 miles away, 4 stalls) was just upgraded to their Hyper-Fast speeds of 350 kW.

 

[hmp10]

Depends on the location. Where I am (Northern part of the Great Commonwealth of Virginia), EA has been doing very well lately. Less broken stalls. Also, brand new station with 6 chargers all 350 kW, lights, camera, etc.) was just opened a few months ago within 5 miles from where I live. My favorite EA station near me (roughly 1.5 miles away, 4 stalls) was just upgraded to their Hyper-Fast speeds of 350 kW.

I just checked the EA charger map and found the Naples station has been removed as an active station and is now marked as"coming soon". (Although that Kia seemed to be able to charge at the one post where the Gravity wouldn't.) This has created the longest stretch of Florida interstate with no EA chargers along the way -- from Ft. Meyers on the Gulf coast to the Miami area on the Atlantic coast.

That supports @DeaneG's point about coming upgrades. But I'm surprised that EA would let a station on such a major route fall into that kind of disrepair in the meantime, especially as the EA station further north in Sarasota is also out of commission for equipment upgrade. Every time we went by the Naples station over the past four years it had traffic. Kyle Conner's dad (from Out of Spec Motoring) filmed several YouTube videos there with his various EVs, and they always showed heavy use.

 

[DeaneG]

I just checked the EA charger map and found the Naples station has been removed as an active station and is now marked as"coming soon". (Although that Kia seemed to be able to charge at the one post where the Gravity wouldn't.) This has created the longest stretch of Florida interstate with no EA chargers along the way -- from Ft. Meyers on the Gulf coast to the Miami area on the Atlantic coast...

A couple years ago, EA did the same with a location in the Mojave desert and a location 50 miles away at the same time. They created a 100-mile hole in the desert without the possibility of CCS charging.

 

[hmp10]

A couple years ago, EA did the same with a location in the Mojave desert and a location 50 miles away at the same time. They created a 100-mile hole in the desert without the possibility of CCS charging.

There was a huge publicity disaster in 2020 when EA shut down a 500-mile stretch of chargers along I-95 during a Labor Day weekend to do "upgrades" with no prior notice, leaving many EV drivers stranded.

They have learned nothing about customer needs or sentiment since. I think they have done more to fuel EV anxiety in the popular mind over the past few years than any other charge provider.

Electrify America Shuts Down 500-Mile Charging Corridor Over Labor Day

Rather than shutting down a few charging points or a few locations, Electrify America did a mass shutdown over Labor Day weekend leaving people stranded.

insideevs.com

 

[tonybot]

I find PlugShare’s information about their chargers much more accurate than EA's own. For example, EA was showing chargers at Round Rock, TX, to be available even on August 4th, when the chargers were all being taken down for upgrade. It is a busy 10 charger site.

It never made it to EA’s network upgrade, whereas PlugShare had the warning for this location several days before the site was taken down, indicating it would be taken down on August 4th. The possible positive news is that they are replacing those chargers with Alpitronic chargers - still rumors though.

 

[Pragmatic]

EA has been changing out chargers to more reliable units and has announced most new location will be 10 stall rather than their typical 4.

The ones I use travelling to/from central VT have been much better now that the number of people with free charging has decreased. If they are unreliable in you're location don't use them. There are plenty of alternatives.

 

[hmp10]

There are plenty of alternatives.

Not everywhere and not with (supposed) plug-and-charge capability with Lucids.

Until every station implements simple credit card swiping, it's partly a question of just how many apps you want to download and how many accounts you want to set up. And with most charging stations still unprotected from the weather, the speed and ease of plug-and-charge should not be undervalued.