Electrify America just screwed me...now I’m waiting for a tow.

[scoopman]

I have an ID.4 and a GTPE, and I've now roadtripped both, relying on EA for all my charging needs. Our experience has been up and down the interstates of California from the SF Bay Area as far south as Palm Springs, and in temperatures that went as high as 120 deg F.

I've had EA problems with my ID.4 once on I-5 (at Fireborough), and in Desert Springs (Palm Springs area) when it was super-silly insanely hot out (110+ F).

The stations were just cooking themselves and the screens and other electronics didn't seem very happy and were in some kind of thermal shutdown issues. All the plugs I tried for both just really didn't connect to the car properly.

When I visit these chargers, I have one primary objective: get a quick, reliable charge. When I wasn't able to do so in both instances, I just called EA. It was easy to do so via a prominent link in their app or their number is listed right on each charger. You have to look at the charger anyhow to give them the exact charger ID when you call, so pro tip, just look at the charger for the number or take a photo before retreating to your car.

EA is definitely set up to answer the phone with you at the charger as their #1 way to help, and they are always super-silly nice at helping you get the thing going. One time, they just had me plug in and started the charger remotely to give me a free charge. The other time, they rebooted all of the chargers at the whole station to get the thermal fans going and them back online.

Just like many of you, I *hate* talking to humans and I wish this stuff would just work. But ..... remember my #1 objective, just get the thing charged quickly. Calling EA in situations where a charger is down has always worked for me to get things going.

How did I know it was really f#$ing hot? Rivian pulled up next to me back in July doing hot-weather charger testing in Desert Springs!

That's funny. I've reported chargers not working via the app and not once received a phone call. In fact, I reported chargers and the app having issues and was told by EA via email days later "you should have called us when you had the issues", because my time is of course not worth anything and I should call them and waste time on my trip reporting broken chargers, when switching to a different charger worked and is much faster.

Reported multiple chargers at multiple locations on 10/1, and on each requested they contact me, which is an option. On 10/9 they emailed me:

Hi Rick,

Thank you for your interest in Electrify America and thank you for reporting this information. In order to assist you with charging it would be beneficial for you to try to give us a call while at a charging station. Our charging specialists are available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week to assist with charging and can be reached at 1.833.632.2778.

Regards,
Chiara

I complained to their Twitter account, saying using the app created a "trackable event" so they'd have to fix the chargers, vs. a phone call may not. They response from the Twitter account:

Thank you for reaching out, Rick. Electrify America strives to provide a seamless charging experience throughout our network and we understand the importance of having reliable chargers available for use. We appreciate you taking the time to report each of your concerns directly through the Electrify America mobile app. Our team investigates and actions all reports brought to our attention – this includes when our customers call in. However, we do recommend giving us a call at 1-833-632-2778 if you are needing immediate assistance while at a charger – this way our specialist can do their best to address any concerns right away. Your feedback is valued and we will ensure this is relayed to our broader team for review.

Sponsored

 

[MachEr]

OP ghosted us.. I call Troll!

 

[Logal727]

I haven’t had any terrible issues at EA stations yet, though I’ve only had to use them two times. Had successful 124kw peak charge over the weekend and had us back up to 75% in 20 minutes. But I do wonder how much of this basically being a punishment for VW and they probably aren’t making money on it yet has to do with their maintenance plans. Hopefully this money from infrastructure will sort things out and hopefully there’s money for continued maintenance.

 

[OON7]

OP ghosted us.. I call Troll!

They were probably hoping for some commiserating and needed to get out their frustration. In all likelihood they were probably upset with themselves for not considering some of these fairly obvious solutions in the heat of the moment. Instead they became the poor soul who pulled their EV into a gas station to get a tow.

 

[Logal727]

They were probably hoping for some commiserating and needed to get out their frustration. In all likelihood they were probably upset with themselves for not considering some of these fairly obvious solutions in the heat of the moment. Instead they became the poor soul who pulled their EV into a gas station to get a tow.

I do feel bad if this is the case, this is pretty new for a lot of people. And to hear "oh I never have problems" when clearly experiences with all of this is VERY inconsistent or "you should've done this!" doesn't help any at all.

 

[Chicago-E]

I wonder --- will there ever be "attendants" at these charging banks? Maybe 8-16 banks may have enough business to justify someone with knowledge to be on hand to help.

I imagine this will happen when charging banks have minimarts attached to them like gas stations do now

Sponsored