Electrify America complaints

[Guss-E 2021]

I finally tried DCFCing at an EA charging station. I was in no hurry and didn't really need to charge. I just wanted to see if I could use some of the free kW that come with the MME.

I know see what all the YouTube criticism is about. When I pulled up to the four chargers there were two ID.4s and a Mach-E already charging.

Issue #1: Charger Placement

There were four charging station, each with two cables placed parallel to the spaces. The layout, when faced from the aisle, was: space, chargers, space, space, chargers, space (see attached photo at the bottom – taken from PlugShare app fyi). With the exception of the top left charger in the photo (when facing from the aisle), no matter how a Mach-E pulls in, the charge port is not near the charging cables. Nose in (motorcycle space) and the cable facing the space barely reaches the port. Boot in, and you have to drag the nasty hose across the hood (um, yah no thank you). Even then the cables are so inflexible, I doubt. you’d be able to twist them so as to be able to plug in, if they even reached at all.

NOTE: The photo is not of the moment I was there. When I pulled up, the left side chargers were occupied by the ID.4s. (including the one space that could have worked easily for a Mach-E). The Mach-E was parked in the space occupied by the motorcycle in the photo. It was nose in. It was able to simply pull the cable from the charger in the top right around and plug in. Of course, if it was raining, and you wanted to sit in your car, you’d have to keep getting out and walking around the charger to monitor your session.

By contrast, the charge port on an ID.4 is on the rear side of the vehicle. This, to me, explains the choice of positioning for these VW owned EA chargers. The ID.4s could simply park in the space with the passenger side closest to the charger and their ports lined up. How nice for them.

Issue #2: Initiating Session

As I circled around to position my car, the other Mach-E left (motorcyle space) so I took that spot. The right cable on the charger facing the space was Charger #2. After setting up my EA app (I went with the no monthly charge option for my test) I was able to initiate charging. However, I was unable to get Ford Pass to activate my free charging on #2. Then I got a charging fault. I gave it several more tries, plugging in first (as instructed on the charger), not plugging in first, restarting my phone, clearing cache, etc. I ended up moving my car to the other side, boot in to try out #1. This time I was finally able to initiate free charging. On a side note both EA and Ford Pass need to do a much better job if indicating free charging is in session. It was not until I was done, that the charges display indicated I had not been charged (double check my credit card to be sure). I consider myself a tech savvy individual and it was simply too much work to intiate a session.

In summary

I’m telling you it is this shit that will completely turn off ICE owners. Yes, I’ve had some POS issues at gas pumps as well but those were due to a malfunction with the pump or the POS system. The nonsense at the EA station detailed above is essentially the result of poor design. Even if everything had worked perfectly from the start, it was still way too many steps, too much vehicle wrangling and too many taps in the apps.

In comparison to the above...

This account is not me bashing public EV charging. It was specifically to share my first Electrify America experience in light of all the bad press EA is getting right now. I’ve only DCFC’d two other times in public (so my test sample is likely much smaller than others in this forum). However, I can only speak to my own experiences thus far.

The first time I charge in public was at a Ford dealership in St. Johnsbury, VT. The second time was at the Town Hall in Richmond, RI. Both times I used brand new ChargePoint chargers. They were located at the top of the space and the cable easily reached my charge port. In fact, it would not have mattered which fender the port had been near, the cable would still have reached. Even easier for cars with ports on the front or back.

Initiating charging was easier than starting a fueling session at a gas pump, yah easier. At the gas pump, I would have to insert my credit card, wait for the prompt to insert my loyalty card, wait for authorization, select my grade and then start fueling. Now mind you, when I charged in St. Johnsbury, I had never used a public charger before. I had unlocked my phone and opened the ChargePoint app because I assumed I would need to. The lovely large, bright touchscreen display told me to tap my phone to the screen so I did. It then told me to plug into my car. That was it, charging initiated. I was only charging at 62 kW but it was more than fast enough for the 40~ miles or so I wanted to add back on. The charger’s display was great. Big text and numbers with charging rate, miles added, incurred cost and time on the charger all displayed and easy to read. I had the same experience at the RI charger.

So now I say WTF EA? Based on my two ChargePoint sessions, it appears that it is possible to have a “Tesla” like CCS charging experience. The only improvement I can think of would have been true plug and charge (no tapping of the phone at all). But if the only extra step I have to do is tapping my phone to a screen, I can live with that. I guess EA just got another round of funds from VW to improve things. Hopefully beyond simply putting new stickers on its chargers. Well if you have actually read this far, thanks for indulging me.

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[MachTee]

It's been free for all at EA since last Tuesday. They've been doing upgrades and the EA app has been down since, so payment and different charging plans members have cannot be accessed. More than likely this also affected FordPass and your charge session did not count against your free FP credit.

The team at EA handling this upgrade has got to be having a bad week

 

[Tampamike]

A couple things.
First, I haven’t had too much heartburn positioning the car to plug in at EA. The units have 2 plugs, either of which (not both) can be used. You can park the car on either side of the unit and use the plug which works best. You don’t have to be facing the screen. I’ve backed in the spot many times to access the open unit. Usually there’s enough fore and aft room to pull forward or slide back a little to access the plug.

Second, P&C and free charge credits - it’s easier than what you described. If you have P&C active on your Blue Oval network account and in the FordPass app, then all you have to do is plug and charge. Don’t use the EA app for those free credits from Ford. If you want to use your EA account to charge, maybe because your credits are used up and you want the cheaper Pass+ rate that you activated for the month, then you’ll HAVE TO use your EA app and activate the charger by swiping on the app BEFORE plugging in. If you don’t activate the unit first, by swiping in the app, then the car will talk with the charger automatically and go through the BlueOval network at the higher regular EA rate. You can also deactivate P&C but I leave it always on - I just use the app if I need to and P&C when I want to.

Hope that helps.

 

[RickMachE]

I'd suggest that instead of watching Youtube videos, the OP read some of the threads on here. As stated, positioning isn't an issue at that design of station, nor is using the free Plug and Charge.

Also note at that station you can pull in from the other side also.

 

[dbsb3233]

I'm not a fan of the placement of the chargers on the side either. Seems about half the EA chargers and that way, while the other half are in a row along the front of the parking spots. The ones on the side are usually tight parking spots, and they make it difficult to even open the car door without banging it into the protective bollard.

The side arrangement would be fine if they used wider spots. But that would take up more valuable space in the parking lots.

When they do use the side layout, I'd rather they place all 4 chargers in a single line of a 2x2 pull-thru, rather like a traditional gas station island. Even if it's just a Walmart parking lot, 2x2 instead of 4-across offers much more flexibility for parking the car from the best side, and being able to pull straight through if there's not a car blocking the front one.

 

[dbsb3233]

Also note at that station you can pull in from the other side also.

Maybe. EA has a bad habit of placing an EV Charging Only sign post right in the middle of the front of those spots that could otherwise be ideal for pulling in from either aisle. I've seen that on the rare 2x2 grid placement, where they ruin what would otherwise be a great pull-thru layout.

 

[RickMachE]

Although that photo's not an EA or EC station, so it's probably ok.

It is an EA station...

 

[dbsb3233]

It is an EA station...

Yeah, I was confusing 2 threads. Edited it quickly but you snuck in too fast.

I had just read a Petro-Canada thread too and mixed them up.

 

[ThatGuyLando]

Used an EA station yesterday for the first time. The only station that had the cable on the side I needed it was down , had to back up into another station really far in almost on the curb and was able to get the charge going.

Other than the station that was down, having plug and charge on the ford pass app made everything a breeze.

It was a bit confusing as I thought I needed the EA app, I wasn't aware that everything is done through the ford pass app (which is clunky at best).

 

[dbsb3233]

Used an EA station yesterday for the first time. The only station that had the cable on the side I needed it was down , had to back up into another station really far in almost on the curb and was able to get the charge going.

Other than the station that was down, having plug and charge on the ford pass app made everything a breeze.

It was a bit confusing as I thought I needed the EA app, I wasn't aware that everything is done through the ford pass app (which is clunky at best).

Could be worse... You could drive a Tesla have to back in every single time.

 

[ThatGuyLando]

Could be worse... You could drive a Tesla have to back in every single time.

Didn't really mind the backing in part other than it was raining and I had twin 3 year olds throwing a tantrum in the back seat . I was kinda blown away by how fast the charging was.

Also this may sound dumb but what's the right kwh I should go for so I'm not the douchebag in the high capacity station without a car that can take advantage of it? I was in the 330 kwh station because it was the easiest one to get into and because it was an empty lot.

 

[SpongeBad]

Also this may sound dumb but what's the right kwh I should go for so I'm not the douchebag in the high capacity station without a car that can take advantage of it? I was in the 330 kwh station because it was the easiest one to get into and because it was an empty lot.

There's not really any benefit to a charger faster than 150kW for the MACH-E. Having said that, I had to use a 350kW at Electrify Canada yesterday, because the 150kW that was open refused to work.

 

[Logal727]

Didn't really mind the backing in part other than it was raining and I had twin 3 year olds throwing a tantrum in the back seat . I was kinda blown away by how fast the charging was.

Also this may sound dumb but what's the right kwh I should go for so I'm not the douchebag in the high capacity station without a car that can take advantage of it? I was in the 330 kwh station because it was the easiest one to get into and because it was an empty lot.

Default to using the 150s, but if only a 350 is available, don’t feel bad using it to charge

 

[dbsb3233]

Didn't really mind the backing in part other than it was raining and I had twin 3 year olds throwing a tantrum in the back seat . I was kinda blown away by how fast the charging was.

Also this may sound dumb but what's the right kwh I should go for so I'm not the douchebag in the high capacity station without a car that can take advantage of it? I was in the 330 kwh station because it was the easiest one to get into and because it was an empty lot.

Ideally a 150. You only save about 20 seconds on a 350 (if all is working right). But it's not a huge deal either way. It usually just comes down to whatever works. 150 if it's convenient, otherwise 350.

And it's sure not worth changing chargers mid-session if a 200+ vehicle pulls in, IMO. The time to move and restart offsets any gains.

 

[RickMachE]

Used an EA station yesterday for the first time. The only station that had the cable on the side I needed it was down , had to back up into another station really far in almost on the curb and was able to get the charge going.

Other than the station that was down, having plug and charge on the ford pass app made everything a breeze.

It was a bit confusing as I thought I needed the EA app, I wasn't aware that everything is done through the ford pass app (which is clunky at best).

Actually, with Plug and Charge, nothing is done through the FordPass app...

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