EA (Electrify America) Sucks - that is all

[Jhenson29]

True story. I have never once had a problem charging at EA nor have I ever been to an EA station they wasn’t 100% operational.

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[diegomedinaf]

HELP with setup: After I connected/activated my EA in the Porsche app after getting my car, is there anything else I need to do on the EA App side?

 

[FlyingPoint]

I tend to make the same trip weekly and have found the EA stations mostly functional. I have never had a completely failed attempt. I have had to move from one station to another in the same complex. However, I can't seem to obtain anything above 125kW at a 350kW station no matter what I attempt. Having a low SOC, pre-conditioned battery, battery optimization on or off, nothing changes the delivery to above 125kW.
I think they put labels on these things without really knowing what the station delivers.

 

[Fsudoles]

Eastern Broward County Florida is currently a nightmare with EA. One station west of downtown Fort Lauderdale has ten dispensers…all down due to “maintenance” presumably.…for days now weeks. My backup location in Deerfield Beach has four dispensers…one is dark, one says it’s unavailable, one 150/Chademo combo….the 150 is pushing out 30kw out maximum….leaving a single 150 dispenser that Is working. That said, I arrived yesterday to charge, and a Hummer EV was in the 150/Chademo spot and had the charger from the functioning unit pulled over to his vehicle…thus, no spots. I waited at least a half hour for him to return….and eventually got a charge but it took me well over an hour plus. Total joke. I report the down dispensers every time I go….nothing changes.

 

[RPSRPS]

80 minutes wasted today trying to get my local EA stations to charge my 2020 Taycan Turbo - what a joke!

customer support is nice, friendly, polite and professional - but ultimately the following vehicle's could not charge today:

• my 2020 Taycan Turbo
• a brand new shiny Lucid Air
• VW ID.4
• KIa something
• Mach-E
• Chevy Bolt

4 out of 4 stations dysfunctional - EA customer support "shows" them as online and functional - all failing with the same error - EA agent tries and tells me it must be my car - I tell her other cars can't charge and I just completed a charge in Los Gatos, CA - and she's bewildered as to what to tell me.

they will put in a "trouble ticket" and suggested I try again in a week or so when they get out to diagnose the situation.

OMG soooooo bad - just so so so so bad…

brand new Lucid Air owner (less than 12 hours old) - travels a lot - transitioned from a Tesla Model S - all their driving is "long distance" - is now horrified by their purchase - has used the Supercharger network for years - never occurred to her the fast charging "couldn't work"…

OMG this is just so bad.

words fail me.

Had the same situation in Albany, NY. Two level 2 stations working, the other 8 level 2/3 stations not. Guys were there working on them. After waiting for almost an hour for one to free up, went to plugin and that station stopped working as well. The people for EA working there and online could not get it going or any of the others for that matter. Swore I would never go there again but ended up there due to lack of choice a month later - all the stations working perfectly. Can't operate that way not knowing and not being able to confirm before you arrive. Been using ChargePoint stations and paying the $5-$10 when I need to charge on the road - at least they're reliable.

 

[Tooney]

HELP with setup: After I connected/activated my EA in the Porsche app after getting my car, is there anything else I need to do on the EA App side?

Take a look at video linked in this post https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...rify-america-free-charging.12436/#post-183781
If you are signed up for Porsche charging service, you should not have to use the EA app to charge your Taycan. If your Taycan is 2021 or later, charging can be done with plug and charge, which does not require any app, as long as plug and charge is enabled in the PCM.

I do use the EA app to check on the status of chargers. MyPorsche app will also report status of EA chargers. Some people have set up an account with EA to use as a backup method of payment if plug and charge and MyPorsche app do not work.

 

[ThePaddyWan]

I've noticed they've become less reliable here in Bay Area, CA. With the parts shortages and greater number of EVs on the road, it's going to be tough for EA for a while. Though, from what I can tell they're at least self-aware unlike other charging networks.

We've switched to mostly charging at home and use EA sparingly in a 'if it works, available, and we're nearby why not' approach and using our ICE vehicle for trips over 100 miles away.

 

[DRR]

80 minutes wasted today trying to get my local EA stations to charge my 2020 Taycan Turbo - what a joke!

customer support is nice, friendly, polite and professional - but ultimately the following vehicle's could not charge today:

• my 2020 Taycan Turbo
• a brand new shiny Lucid Air
• VW ID.4
• KIa something
• Mach-E
• Chevy Bolt

4 out of 4 stations dysfunctional - EA customer support "shows" them as online and functional - all failing with the same error - EA agent tries and tells me it must be my car - I tell her other cars can't charge and I just completed a charge in Los Gatos, CA - and she's bewildered as to what to tell me.

they will put in a "trouble ticket" and suggested I try again in a week or so when they get out to diagnose the situation.

OMG soooooo bad - just so so so so bad…

brand new Lucid Air owner (less than 12 hours old) - travels a lot - transitioned from a Tesla Model S - all their driving is "long distance" - is now horrified by their purchase - has used the Supercharger network for years - never occurred to her the fast charging "couldn't work"…

OMG this is just so bad.

words fail me.

I had a similar frustrating experience yesterday at an EA in Pennsylvania trying to charge my Taycan 4S . Four EA charging stations, two not working, 3 EVs waiting. Over Thanksgiving, I drove from Pittsburgh PA to Charlotte NC and back in my wifes Model Y. Tesla stations were plenty and open and work seamlessly. With no EA stations in West Virginia, this trip is not possible in my Taycan. Hope EA catches up soon or Tesla opens up to CCS.

 

[Viola]

As a new EV owner, I thought it was just me! Granted, there have been user errors for sure. ?

Even after doing everything right, I still have issues in my area. I’m basically calling every time I go to charge because it’s the only way it seems to work with the Porsche. Rivians, Volvos, Fords, Kias…all fine. Porsche told me it’s an EA server error. It feels like I’ve won the lottery when it starts working!

Anyway, beyond that of the four stations in the one location in my area…only two work. The other two are broken and I report them every day but they’re still down.

 

[Jrkennedy37]

Been there. Had chargers work fine plenty of times, but also some major fails like in the post and everything in-between. Electrify America says they have great reliability (how about being open with us and recognizing the problem?) , but they are also tearing out entire stations and replacing the junk hardware with better stuff. Choosing Thanksgiving week to do so is also questionable.

I’ve lucked out with EA stations but I did notice on PlugShare that the Waco station was ripped out before Thanksgiving (and I planned accordingly despite the car telling me to stop there). There are no fast charger alternatives in the area and I’d guess that’s the most trafficked interstate through Texas. Total miss by EA to do that work before thanksgiving weekend.

 

[Archimedes]

I get the complaints about EA, though the two times I’ve used them they worked fine, but I’m curious if people are using other providers like ChargePoint as well. There appear to be a fair number of them, as well as other providers out there, and the ones near me seem to always be working. I get the EA free charging, but geez if all you have to do is pay a few bucks to get a charge immediately, it seems like a no brainer to me.

 

[daveo4EV]

chargePoint and EVGo are in fact mucho more reliable vs. EA - for me cost is not the issue - the ChargePoint and EVGo chargers are overwhelmingly 50 kW (or 72 kW in case of charge point) - so while better than home charging - they are like 1/3rd the speed of what EA is supposed to offer.

I did have an excellent experience with a new EVGo charger (100 kW) in Los Gatos at the Nob Hill/Una Mas shopping mall

but EA is the only vendor with a deep installed based of 150kW or more chargers - but then again that may not account for much if they never work…

 

[daveo4EV]

NOTE: some chargepoint chargers are like 25 kW…so even slower than their 72 kW…

 

[Fedex77]

as ive stated in other posts, I will not use the Taycan for a road trip that relies on charing to get to my destination. It is way too unreliable, especially since the communication from the station to the car is non-existent (car will navigate to a dead charger) and it is really inconvenient/unsafe to whip out your phone and look up chargers while driving.

Main problems:
1. EA services all EVs outside of Tesla, so that means all the new electric Porsches, Audis, Fords, Hyundai's, KIAs, Chevys etc are going to be using EA given their 800V architecture. What is the investment in this charging grid to account for the glut of EVs hitting the market?
2. EA chargers are not repaired in real time. There are stories of a charger being down for "weeks" - you'd expect these things to be serviced daily.
3. Downed chargers do not communicate to EA letting them know they are down. Customer service rep told me that if the charger isn't up, it can't send a signal to EA telling them as such. REALLY? You can't tell if a charger isn't communicating or being used that it is likely down?

If Tesla does open up their network, I'd gladly pay to charge there, even at 150Kw knowing that another fast option is out there in the event EA is down.

 

[Replika]

I’ve lucked out with EA stations but I did notice on PlugShare that the Waco station was ripped out before Thanksgiving (and I planned accordingly despite the car telling me to stop there). There are no fast charger alternatives in the area and I’d guess that’s the most trafficked interstate through Texas. Total miss by EA to do that work before thanksgiving weekend.

I still can’t believe they took down Waco before Thanksgiving. The only stop between DFW and Austin. 200 miles on a 75 mph road. Busiest travel day of the year. EA really needs new management.

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