New Electrify America (EA) Chargers failing in cold weather

[Jhenson29]

There are no EA stations near me or where I drive. I can’t decide if that’s good or bad. ?

Sponsored

 

[Tooney]

There are no EA stations near me or where I drive. I can’t decide if that’s good or bad. ?

So THAT'S WHY you posted you had never had any problems with EA charging

 

[Archimedes]

It’s not EA’s job to electrify America.

Oh wait.

Now that’s funny.

 

[DerekS]

Yeah so far on the GTS I've only fast-charged once. Did it at an EVSlow station just to make sure the DC charging works, all other charging has been at home.

 

[bsclywilly]

These new chargers apparently also tend to brick some vehicles due to supplying more power than the vehicle is asking for.

I’m disappointed in EA because their older 2nd Gen chargers seem to be neglected and instead of maintaining them it seems they’re replacing them with these third Gen BTC chargers that are showing to be even less reliable when new.

 

[Jhenson29]

These new chargers apparently also tend to brick some vehicles due to supplying more power than the vehicle is asking for.

How would they do that?
Is the output voltage out of spec?

They don’t “force” energy into the vehicle. It’s not a pump feeding a passive receptacle.

 

[bsclywilly]

How would they do that?
Is the output voltage out of spec?

They don’t “force” energy into the vehicle. It’s not a pump feeding a passive receptacle.

That's what Kyle from out of spec observed and concluded. They were seeing higher than normal power numbers for a brief period. Some vehicles handle it better than others. Rivian's not so well (watch from about 12:30).

 

[Archimedes]

While continuing to have no problems with EA chargers, I still don’t understand why anyone would buy an EV if they have to rely on public charging infrastructure except in the most rare circumstances. The infrastructure isn’t there yet and that’s not a secret. I don’t get all the whining about something that is and was patently obvious to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock. Public EV charging infrastructure is unreliable, period. Accept it or don’t own an EV at the moment. Or buy a dental dam, I mean Tesla.

Oh and in that video, it’s negative six degrees. Shit doesn’t work as well in those temps. Shocking I know.

 

[Tighlines]

I was at that same station just 4 days ago with my '23 4S. As I pulled up to charger #2 I guy in an Ioniq5 who was charging at station #4 said that #2 wasn't working. So I pulled into #3 where I charged for 35 min and never received more than 90kw. These are 'up to' 350kw chargers. So, even when they are working, they're not really working...

 

[Archimedes]

I was at that same station just 4 days ago with my '23 4S. As I pulled up to charger #2 I guy in an Ioniq5 who was charging at station #4 said that #2 wasn't working. So I pulled into #3 where I charged for 35 min and never received more than 90kw. These are 'up to' 350kw chargers. So, even when they are working, they're not really working...

So you added what, about 135 miles of range in 35 minutes? That’s not acceptable to you as an EV owner?

 

[Wakesurfer]

While continuing to have no problems with EA chargers, I still don’t understand why anyone would buy an EV if they have to rely on public charging infrastructure except in the most rare circumstances. The infrastructure isn’t there yet and that’s not a secret. I don’t get all the whining about something that is and was patently obvious to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock. Public EV charging infrastructure is unreliable, period. Accept it or don’t own an EV at the moment. Or buy a dental dam, I mean Tesla.

Oh and in that video, it’s negative six degrees. Shit doesn’t work as well in those temps. Shocking I know.

Agree 100% - if you are going to drive an EV you need at least one ICE vehicle as a back-up, for all of the reasons that you mention...................and it does not matter who the manufacturer is, but with a smidge more confidence in the Tesla charging infrastructure (but I don't want a Tesla). Yes, your EV should be capable of getting you to a destination just like an ICE car but with the current state of EV charging stations I just wouldn't count on it just yet. Will the infrastructure get there - of course. Is the current infrastructure capable today - yes................but I just don't have that much confidence in it. But I do have 99.5% confidence in taking one of our ICE vehicles anywhere, anytime. (.05%, or less, chance of a mechanical breakdown).

 

[Tighlines]

So you added what, about 135 miles of range in 35 minutes? That’s not acceptable to you as an EV owner?

Not even that. I started the charge at 19% and around 40miles of range, so in 35min I added around 85miles. This pic was taken at 1:16pm, it would have taken another hour to go from 53% to 85%. The app showed all chargers were working fine. Luckily, I live 7 miles from this station and wasn't reliant on it. I just wanted to see how this public charging process worked ?‍.

 

[Jhenson29]

That's what Kyle from out of spec observed and concluded. They were seeing higher than normal power numbers for a brief period. Some vehicles handle it better than others. Rivian's not so well (watch from about 12:30).

Well, that doesn’t really sound right.

I don’t know who Kyle is or what his electrical background is, but I think something is getting lost in the messaging from Rivian engineers

Again, the EVSE doesn’t “push” energy that way.

 

[bsclywilly]

Well, that doesn’t really sound right.

I don’t know who Kyle is or what his electrical background is, but I think something is getting lost in the messaging from Rivian engineers

Again, the EVSE doesn’t “push” energy that way.

I think the common analogy of the car “pulling” energy and the station being a passive or dumb part is not accurate. The car communicates with the charger to request a certain voltage. It’s possible that the charge station calibration or regulation has some flaws resulting in a difference in what the car asks for and what is supplied.

Earlier in that video it’s noted this phenomenon happens on many cars, not just Rivian. The commonality is the BTC charger.

 

[Replika]

While continuing to have no problems with EA chargers, I still don’t understand why anyone would buy an EV if they have to rely on public charging infrastructure except in the most rare circumstances. The infrastructure isn’t there yet and that’s not a secret. I don’t get all the whining about something that is and was patently obvious to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock. Public EV charging infrastructure is unreliable, period. Accept it or don’t own an EV at the moment. Or buy a dental dam, I mean Tesla.

Oh and in that video, it’s negative six degrees. Shit doesn’t work as well in those temps. Shocking I know.

The frustration is that the technology IS here and has been for years, but Electrify America is so poorly run that they muck up several key components of the chargers.

What you are saying is reasonable, but the unreasonable part of me refuses to spend $100k on a vehicle and not travel with it.

Sponsored