Fed up: Charging Edition

[bruceski88]

The US Department of Energy maintains spreadsheets of all US EV charging stations by state:
https://afdc.energy.gov/stations/states

The spreadsheets are loaded with information about each station - pretty much any question that you may have about it.

I downloaded NH for myself, and, so far, the data checks out as accurate and up-to-date.

I suggest that anyone (like me!) who is uncertain about the availability of charging stations should download the spreadsheets for the states you are most interested in.

I hope this helps!

smp

The app Plugshare has all the chargers you can use on a map on your phone. Electrify America has always worked for me at high speed. 3 out of 12 times they either had to reset the charger or I switched to another one.
Volta chargers are always free and slow.

I would not have gotten an EV without home charging. Some people can get by with 120V

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[tuminatr]

I feel your pain. I do own a home, but my wife was opposed to me changing it here. I originally was going to a few DCFC and Public Chargepoint stations and it was a PITA. I found out how many stations do not work near me it is a bunch of them. One Network Greenlots has 2 CCS DCFC stations close to my home but neither are operational. I have used some other DCFC in my travels and it is not an issue with my car. I finished the install of a 50a 240v circuit and bought a 40a EVSE.

On a side note until the car has 1000 miles on it the battery was still wearing in. I would get around 200 miles on a full charge but now I see the full range. Overnight it charged to 90% it read 242 miles of range. Or maybe the car trained me to be more efficient.

All my wiring is new in the home and my charger reads 245v charges the equivalent of 26mph. I installed the 50a circuit, it is not impossible but do not do it yourself unless you know what you are doing. Also, as a note I used a GFI 50a breaker and it has not tripped.

I Do not know how long you plan on living at your current apartment, but I have a friend that has an EV and he paid to have a separate meter installed in the parking garage with a 50a plug and charger. It was not cheap like $2500 but for him, it was worth it. YMMV and your apartment or city may not allow it. At the minimum, if you could find a 120v outlet in your garage that may do it. If not, choices get harder. Good Luck

 

[bwr1338]

So there are things I love (power, comfort, sportiness) and things I don't love (creakiness, glitchiness, size) about my Mach-E, but if there is one thing that borderline makes me hate it, it's the charging experience. I have had such bad luck here I'm just about fed up and am considering selling it.

Before that, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has had some luck improving their Fast Charging experience. My problem is that I do apartment living and the garage doesn't have a EV hookup, so I need to go to a Fast Charge station to avoid sitting there charging for a full day. After 2-3 minutes, the thing fails. I sat at a station for an hour yesterday trying to get any of the chargers to work and just kept getting an error. I've had the same problem at other stations and the provider doesn't seem to matter (or they all stink perhaps). The car tells you _nothing_, no logs, no error codes, just look in the manual (thanks)! I'm at 15% right now and am not sure where I should gamble trying to get back to 80%.

It's all the stress of my own personal and recurring gas shortage. Maybe it's the chargers/charging network. Maybe it's the car. Frankly it doesn't matter - the experience sucks and gives me major buyers remorse.

Does anyone have any advice as to what I could do about this?

I had 45 days where my home charging would not work at 240. Problem with car and Comed. Seems to be fixed after ford installed an update. During that time I plugged my charger into a 110- outlet whenever at home and was able to keep my battery at 85%.

 

[226ra]

So there are things I love (power, comfort, sportiness) and things I don't love (creakiness, glitchiness, size) about my Mach-E, but if there is one thing that borderline makes me hate it, it's the charging experience. I have had such bad luck here I'm just about fed up and am considering selling it.

Before that, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has had some luck improving their Fast Charging experience. My problem is that I do apartment living and the garage doesn't have a EV hookup, so I need to go to a Fast Charge station to avoid sitting there charging for a full day. After 2-3 minutes, the thing fails. I sat at a station for an hour yesterday trying to get any of the chargers to work and just kept getting an error. I've had the same problem at other stations and the provider doesn't seem to matter (or they all stink perhaps). The car tells you _nothing_, no logs, no error codes, just look in the manual (thanks)! I'm at 15% right now and am not sure where I should gamble trying to get back to 80%.

It's all the stress of my own personal and recurring gas shortage. Maybe it's the chargers/charging network. Maybe it's the car. Frankly it doesn't matter - the experience sucks and gives me major buyers remorse.

Does anyone have any advice as to what I could do about this?

I would not recommend EV ownership without the ability to top up at home.

 

[DocOfClocks]

On a side note until the car has 1000 miles on it the battery was still wearing in. I would get around 200 miles on a full charge but now I see the full range. Overnight it charged to 90% it read 242 miles of range. Or maybe the car trained me to be more efficient.

That isn't the battery wearing in. That is the car's estimate of how far you can go based on driving history, and more importantly in Minnesota, outside temperature. It is not a reliable estimate of range. It is mostly going up now because the weather is getting warmer. For a better estimate, take the miles/kWh showing on your trip computer and multiply it by 88.

 

[tuminatr]

That isn't the battery wearing in. That is the car's estimate of how far you can go based on driving history, and more importantly in Minnesota, outside temperature. It is not a reliable estimate of range. It is mostly going up now because the weather is getting warmer. For a better estimate, take the miles/kWh showing on your trip computer and multiply it by 88.

It is currently at 3.3 and has gone up from 3.1 a few weeks ago. The change could be temperature related its been real cold or just a new ev driver related

 

[theo1000]

Isn't there legislation requiring CA apartment complexes to allow tenants to install EV charging facilities. EVSE's can be installed in the building near a parking spot and then power up with extension cables.

Otherwise you kinda have to search for charging locations. Man I'm not a big fan of FED intervention but I can't wait for them to step in and force the DC charging issue a little...

 

[mark360]

Did you do some thorough research before buying the car? I know others have stated, but you need to raise this issue to your dealer and let them update the vehicle. If that’s been done and it still won’t charge at the station then take it back to your dealer.

I’m not trying to rush you out of your vehicle, but now would be the time to exit if you are not happy with it. I highly discourage anyone who asked about my Tesla from buying one unless they had home charging of at least 240v. The idea of going Electric is to add convenience and low cost of operation to your life. In your case, you have restricted your freedom without having home charging. The infrastructure won’t be there to satisfy you for years unless you can charge at home on 240v.

 

[RedStallion]

Anybody considering an EV should think about home charging before purchasing a vehicle. Perhaps one day DC chargers will be on every corner working flawlessly, but we are not living in that world yet. So 220v home charger is a must.
Sell the car, or move to a place where you can charge at home. What you are doing makes no sense.

 

[saurez7777]

I've only had a couple of quick fails when DCFC charging over a dozen times now.

Never had any issues with fast charging or for that matter any form of chargers.

 

[RetiredDP]

So there are things I love (power, comfort, sportiness) and things I don't love (creakiness, glitchiness, size) about my Mach-E, but if there is one thing that borderline makes me hate it, it's the charging experience. I have had such bad luck here I'm just about fed up and

Does anyone have any advice as to what I could do about this?

Rent a house, or find an apartment owner who is pro-ev, and will put in a 240v line to the parking area.. And copy-and-paste a list of all of the EA charging stations that have failed you, to Ford. Good luck. California is mandating that apartment dwellers have access to 240v, I believe.

 

[theo1000]

I wonder if disabling plug and charge would work for the OP. Didn't some early Mach-E have the issue of disconnecting due to plug & charge....

 

[ARK]

I don’t think OP needs to have home charging to make it work. Always fast charging isn’t cheap, but not a huge thing if he doesn’t pack a lot of daily miles and can fast charge at a shopping center he wouldn’t mind spending time at.

At least if I didn’t have home charging, it wouldn’t be a big deal for me to charge elsewhere. Doubt I’m alone in this.

 

[noname]

If you have 15% left, I would drive straight to the dealer. If they can't charge, maybe you can get a loaner

 

[vinny2487]

So there are things I love (power, comfort, sportiness) and things I don't love (creakiness, glitchiness, size) about my Mach-E, but if there is one thing that borderline makes me hate it, it's the charging experience. I have had such bad luck here I'm just about fed up and am considering selling it.

Before that, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has had some luck improving their Fast Charging experience. My problem is that I do apartment living and the garage doesn't have a EV hookup, so I need to go to a Fast Charge station to avoid sitting there charging for a full day. After 2-3 minutes, the thing fails. I sat at a station for an hour yesterday trying to get any of the chargers to work and just kept getting an error. I've had the same problem at other stations and the provider doesn't seem to matter (or they all stink perhaps). The car tells you _nothing_, no logs, no error codes, just look in the manual (thanks)! I'm at 15% right now and am not sure where I should gamble trying to get back to 80%.

It's all the stress of my own personal and recurring gas shortage. Maybe it's the chargers/charging network. Maybe it's the car. Frankly it doesn't matter - the experience sucks and gives me major buyers remorse.

Does anyone have any advice as to what I could do about this?

Unless your apartment complex offers EV charging, I would highly recommend against getting an EV. At this point in BEVs you need at home charging. Not only is it cheaper to charge at home compared to DCFC, constant use of DCFC will wear out your battery faster.

Couple piece of advice: take your car to dealer and let them check everything. Second, you may need to find a new apartment that offers EV charging.

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