EA charging FAIL FAIL FAIL

[thecoloradokid]

@PanameraFrank just mic dropped on this entire thread. He is exactly right.

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[BayAreaJay]

@daveo4EV is one of the most knowledgeable, helpful people on this forum and I guarantee he knows a lot more about EVs than you do.

As for your "I drove cross country first day of my Tesla" well I've driven 10k+ miles in my Taycan and charged at EA superchargers dozens of times. I have exactly one experience that I'd consider poor and the car still got charged.

You had bad luck, that sucks, but the charging network is quite functional in many parts of the country. It absolutely needs to be improved but I'd also absolutely go cross country in my Taycan with exactly zero worries. Sure, some stops might take longer and I'd need backup plans but I guarantee I could make it tomorrow without any significant hassles.

+1

 

[hshm]

while the early model S cars had many flaws that were troubling the supercharger network was working as intended from day 1

I’m sorry but that’s simply not true. Tesla charging stations were notoriously bad in the early days.

 

[Scandinavian]

@kort have had your car checked by the dealer for HPC issues. I really feel sorry for you with the experience at that truck stop, and I can fully understand your wife’s reaction not to want to get back into that car. It certainly does not sound like an experience anybody wants.

I am most surprised by the facts that ALL chargers did not work. That sounds more like that place being without any charging power in total. Or your car having a problem with 800 volt chargers. If the station was out of power it was surprising that EA could reset chargers and not identify other issues or problems?
Has your car ever succeeded charging at a 800 volt station? Your charging at 50 kW and 150 kW chargers could well be only 400 volt??

Reading all the issues mentioned in this forum, there certainly is an issue with EA stations in parts of the US.

However I am gobsmacked by the fact that the Taycan was the fastest EV on that Canonball run by Kyle and the two guys! And their navigation in the car did not work so they could not preheat the battery between stations. This did not expose any charging problems on that trip.

Kyle beat his earlier record from a trip with a Model3 using Tesla Superchargers! And the M3 Performance is not a bad mover or slow charging car either.

And I remember @louv completed a trip from west coast to East coast with his Taycan without any major disaster in the US part of his trip.

EA certainly need to improve their service with Ford Emach, VW ID4 etc coming along strongly now and using the EA network.

Maybe forum users in the US could try charging at a few local stations on a regular basis and report in PlugShare or build up a separate spreadsheet on this forum? Facts properly documented over a large number of charges could help a lot in discussion wit EA?

 

[kort]

@kort have had your car checked by the dealer for HPC issues. I really feel sorry for you with the experience at that truck stop, and I can fully understand your wife’s reaction not to want to get back into that car. It certainly does not sound like an experience anybody wants.

I am most surprised by the facts that ALL chargers did not work. That sounds more like that place being without any charging power in total. Or your car having a problem with 800 volt chargers. If the station was out of power it was surprising that EA could reset chargers and not identify other issues or problems?
Has your car ever succeeded charging at a 800 volt station? Your charging at 50 kW and 150 kW chargers could well be only 400 volt??

Reading all the issues mentioned in this forum, there certainly is an issue with EA stations in parts of the US.

However I am gobsmacked by the fact that the Taycan was the fastest EV on that Canonball run by Kyle and the two guys! And their navigation in the car did not work so they could not preheat the battery between stations. This did not expose any charging problems on that trip.

Kyle beat his earlier record from a trip with a Model3 using Tesla Superchargers! And the M3 Performance is not a bad mover or slow charging car either.

And I remember @louv completed a trip from west coast to East coast with his Taycan without any major disaster in the US part of his trip.

EA certainly need to improve their service with Ford Emach, VW ID4 etc coming along strongly now and using the EA network.

Maybe forum users in the US could try charging at a few local stations on a regular basis and report in PlugShare or build up a separate spreadsheet on this forum? Facts properly documented over a large number of charges could help a lot in discussion wit EA?

I think the issue was related to the porsche connect app. the reason I feel that was the issue was that while I was at the greenlots unit I rebooted the porsche connect app and when I went to the next EA charger on the route I was able to charge without any issue. to further that theory, looking at plugshare someone in an audi Etron was able to charge at that location after I departed.

The car is a 2021 and there is no reason to think that it is misconfigured, aren't all taycans 800v? no I have not been able to get a charge from a 350 unit. and as a side issue I was using the porsche nav and the car was not preheating for the charge stop, maybe that was part of the issue.

 

[thecoloradokid]

I think the issue was related to the porsche connect app. the reason I feel that was the issue was that while I was at the greenlots unit I rebooted the porsche connect app and when I went to the next EA charger on the route I was able to charge without any issue. to further that theory, looking at plugshare someone in an audi Etron was able to charge at that location after I departed.

The car is a 2021 and there is no reason to think that it is misconfigured, aren't all taycans 800v? no I have not been able to get a charge from a 350 unit. and as a side issue I was using the porsche nav and the car was not preheating for the charge stop, maybe that was part of the issue.

And there you have it -- USER ERROR.

Moderators, can we delete this thread now? It serves absolutely no purpose, and resulted in a new member insulting one of the more respected people on this board.

From what I can tell there are four ways to initiate a charge on an EA charger for your Taycan - the Charging app, the Electrify America app, swiping your credit card at the terminal, and calling EA to initiate a charge remotely.

Obviously, this owner did not use all of these options,, but still felt the need to complain on this board about a failed charging session. Maybe we need to change the thread title to USER FAIL FAIL FAIL? As with most of the internet,, people post before they think.

 

[epirali]

And there you have it -- USER ERROR.

Moderators, can we delete this thread now?

Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater please. Why would we delete this thread? Are we trying to pretend there are no charging infrastructure issues to deal with? That is simply not true.

I would rather this forum be a resource for any person considering a Taycan (or any EV) with REALISTIC expectations. There is nothing gained by overpromising and having unhappy experiences.

I am a VERY experienced EV owner. But even today I will NOT take along road trip in any EV. Not because of the technology, but simply because charging networks are NOT reliable. This is not because of "user error." Because as an experienced hardware and software engineer, if my "failures" are user errors then most people don't have a chance.

I would LOVE to take a long road trip with my Taycan (tipping my hat here to @louv and his pioneering spirit). I find myself planning various trips (including coast to coast with ABRP). And then I decide it simply is not feasible. Not because I have to wait a bit (I am ok with it), or that one out of three chargers may be down (no need for perfection). But because I have no trust that I can rely on EA.

That perception is based on experience, and even if its not fully accurate still is a problem in itself. I tried to explain this to a "supervisor" at EA. If I drove up to 1/2 the gas stations and they were out of gas, and when I asked when they would have more then said they have filed a report and there is no answer, what do you think would happen to ICE vehicles?

 

[JimBob]

....And, the free EA charging came with his purchase of the Porsche. He should not have to try multiple Apps to get it to work. Premium Car, Premium Experience. The problem is with EA/Porsche and not the user.

 

[Reg]

I remember when this board used to include useful information to help out other owners, and not just be a location for people to complain when things do not go exactly as they want.

Yes! unfortunately come here less and less for that reason. Maybe it is because we are at the point of diminishing marginal returns since (a) a lot of the learning about Taycan is already out there and (b) people have their cars and are out driving vs. waiting for it and reading up on it and (c) covid (seems one needs to give covid at least partial blame for everything )

I used to think these kind of detail was good to share with the board since many people on here lead an active lifestyle, but it seems now this board is just a tool for people to use to complain when something does not go exactly how they want, whether it is a faulty charging session or a 12v battery issue.

I learned from that older post (including some thoughts about an electric-enabled bike) and it encouraged me to use the roof rack for my bike - just for the fun of it. So maybe do keep posting good content and just ignore some of the other stuff.

 

[wemct]

While I agree that the reliability of the EA infrastructure needs further work, one owner's experience at two locations should not be applied to all EA locations. There are many of us starting with @louv, and continuing with others like @thecoloradokid, and myself who have completed many long distance trips using the EA network. I have never been stranded and have used locations in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

The biggest issue that I had on my last long distance trip was actually finding the EA chargers. I have become accustomed to the EA chargers being in plain sight in Walmart or Sheetz locations. New chargers are being added all the time, and I had two stops at very large malls which made it hard to find the EA chargers. Once located they worked. Also as some of us have mentioned, don't get hung up on using the 350kW chargers. In the real world you will get a very quick charge from the 150kW charger without adding any more time to the stopover. Even if you are going from 10% to 80% SOC, the 150kW only adds about 10 minutes. I am very comfortable using the Taycan for road trips WITH the right pre-planning. This is saying a lot as an EV newbie.

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