First practice charge in the wild, some newbie questions.

[DrAchoo]

I'm getting ready to take a 300 mile trip to Seattle so I thought I'd work the kinks out of how to charge on the road by using a local EA station. Some notes and questions:

1) Wow. The length of the charging cord was short! I had to move my car three times and then inch as close as I could to the charging station to get it to plug in. Are there better techniques? I was generally following the painted lines on the asphalt, but it seems the better move would have been to park two feet to the right so the charging port is directly in front of the charging station cord.

2) I have a RWD, st. battery setup so I can expect up to 110 kw/h charging, correct? This station has good reviews on Plugshare, but I was pulling 35 kw/h for the 14 minutes I used it to go from 64-75%. I'm assuming I did nothing wrong. Is it just how fast the hamsters decided to run that day? Was it because it was a short charge? because it was starting from a relatively low battery discharge state? (EDIT: I'm reading other reviews of this station and they are saying they were getting about 40 kw/h on their charges. Perhaps it's the charger.) When you charge, how long before you get a good feel for how fast you are going to be drawing power?

3) The cost was $0.43/kw. I was using the Ford Pass and had free credits so it didn't cost anything, but in the future, will I be charged at the higher rate reported on EA chargers or on the "member" rate?

4) I've read a few "etiquette" guides and wondered if people really do leave notes if they step away from the car?

Thanks for the help!

Sponsored

 

[RickMachE]

1) Did you take pictures? Some are better to back in and take the cord that way. If it's a head on charger, use the camera to pull close, then set the brake so you don't roll forward. Feel free to pull to the right.

2) It hits top speed in under a minute. You had a bad charger., not unusual for EA.

3) If you want the member rate with EA, you pay $4 a month to be a member.

4) Never seen 1 yet.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

1. The charge cords are short. It's much easier at locations where the station is at the side of the car ... rather than at the front of the car.

I will often pull part-way into the space, get out ... pull the charge cords around to the side of the charger (they are often at the front ... sticking a couple of feet into the parking space) and then pull the car the rest of the way into the space (so it doesn't end up hitting the charge cords.) When I do that, it reaches without a problem.

2. The stations vary the power according to what the car wants to pull and what the station can handle (based on things such as temperature). HOWEVER... 35 kW/h is suspicious because that's the fall-back rate that an EA charger will provide when the computer needs a reboot. You can phone EA (the phone number of the station) and they can reboot them remotely. It will (hopefully) charge must faster. You can also move over to another charging stall if one is available.

While the actual rate depends on the state of charge in the car, the temperature, etc. they normally are in the range of 90-150 kW/h rate (or even 160 kW/h ... but very briefly). When the car is mostly charged they do slow down... but by "slow down" it should still be giving you better than what you got (probably closer to 80+ kW/h).

3. Currently there is no way to take advantage of the lower Pass+ member rate (about 25% cheaper than the pay-as-you-go rate) if you use Plug & Charge. Ford did announce (but hasn't yet launched) an option where you can pay $50/year to get the Pass+ rate tied to your FordPass Charging rate (so you would get that rate using Plug & Charge once they offer this). To get the better rate now (once your EA credits expire) you would join via the EA app ... pay $4/month and get that rate (but you would have to use the EA app to initiate the charge session ... NOT Plug & Charge).

4. I have never seen a note at an EA station. EA self-enforces the notion that someone might plug-in and leave ... not returning to move the car after it completes the charge because EA has "idle fees". You get a 10 minute grace period to move the car after charging completes... then they start charging you for occupying the charger while not actually using it.

This isn't true of Level 2 AC charging (e.g. staying at a hotel that has a charger). It would be nice if owners left a note so that someone else can reach you in the event that your car has finished charging and they *need* the charge.

 

[generaltso]

I have a RWD, st. battery setup so I can expect up to 110 kw/h charging, correct?

115kW

 

[timbop]

1. The charge cords are short. It's much easier at locations where the station is at the side of the car ... rather than at the front of the car.

I will often pull part-way into the space, get out ... pull the charge cords around to the side of the charger (they are often at the front ... sticking a couple of feet into the parking space) and then pull the car the rest of the way into the space (so it doesn't end up hitting the charge cords.) When I do that, it reaches without a problem.

2. The stations vary the power according to what the car wants to pull and what the station can handle (based on things such as temperature). HOWEVER... 35 kW/h is suspicious because that's the fall-back rate that an EA charger will provide when the computer needs a reboot. You can phone EA (the phone number of the station) and they can reboot them remotely. It will (hopefully) charge must faster. You can also move over to another charging stall if one is available.

While the actual rate depends on the state of charge in the car, the temperature, etc. they normally are in the range of 90-150 kW/h rate (or even 160 kW/h ... but very briefly). When the car is mostly charged they do slow down... but by "slow down" it should still be giving you better than what you got (probably closer to 80+ kW/h).

3. Currently there is no way to take advantage of the lower Pass+ member rate (about 25% cheaper than the pay-as-you-go rate) if you use Plug & Charge. Ford did announce (but hasn't yet launched) an option where you can pay $50/year to get the Pass+ rate tied to your FordPass Charging rate (so you would get that rate using Plug & Charge once they offer this). To get the better rate now (once your EA credits expire) you would join via the EA app ... pay $4/month and get that rate (but you would have to use the EA app to initiate the charge session ... NOT Plug & Charge).

4. I have never seen a note at an EA station. EA self-enforces the notion that someone might plug-in and leave ... not returning to move the car after it completes the charge because EA has "idle fees". You get a 10 minute grace period to move the car after charging completes... then they start charging you for occupying the charger while not actually using it.

This isn't true of Level 2 AC charging (e.g. staying at a hotel that has a charger). It would be nice if owners left a note so that someone else can reach you in the event that your car has finished charging and they *need* the charge.

What he said ^

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I’ll add to everyone else here.
Your max charge rate (115KW) is only achievable with a warm battery and low state of charge. From 20-50% or so, you’ll probably see your max rate. It slows as you get closer to that 80% drop off.
I agree with @TheVirtualTim that 35KW is suspicious. But I would T expect to pull in at 64% and get full speed charging.

 

[DrAchoo]

Thanks for the replies. Here's a picture of how I was situated. It looks like there is room in the cord, but the issue (as you probably know) being able to make the CCS plug parallel with the port so as to be able to insert it.

 

[RickMachE]

Pull in 2 feet to the right.

 

[hybrid2bev]

Thanks for the replies. Here's a picture of how I was situated. It looks like there is room in the cord, but the issue (as you probably know) being able to make the CCS plug parallel with the port so as to be able to insert it.

Also try to avoid charging on the station that has the Chademo handle (usually blue). If you’re charging on that station then someone who can only use Chademo cannot charge at that location because there’s usually only 1 of those plugs per location.

 

[IamIA]

before your trip, pay attention to long climbs and plan to have extra energy in your battery because the change in elevation is not being accounted for in the range computation well. This goes for driving in the opposite direction as well. I had a bit of a scare when i noticed my range going up was decreasing faster than i anticipated--having experienced climbing in a BMW i3 BEV in the past--but fortunatelly made it with few miles (single digits) of range to spare. On the other side, going from a 8k feet elevation to sea level, the GOM was off by 100 miles plus.

 

[DrAchoo]

Also try to avoid charging on the station that has the Chademo handle (usually blue). If you’re charging on that station then someone who can only use Chademo cannot charge at that location because there’s usually only 1 of those plugs per location.

Thanks! Being the first time I was just trying to figure it all out. I did have in my mind to look for a 150 kw charger and not use the 350 kw chargers since my car can't take advantage of it, BUT I didn't realize there would be only one Chademo. (thanks for the color tip)

 

[DrAchoo]

Looking at the picture again, I assume it is physically impossible to charge 6 vehicles at the same time on these six chargers. Am I wrong?

 

[RickMachE]

That is 3 chargers, not 6. 2 hoses each, pick 1.

 

[DrAchoo]

That is 3 chargers, not 6. 2 hoses each, pick 1.

That doesn't make sense to me. While the charger I'm at has two different charger types, the middle one is two 150 kw/h CCS and the right one is two 350 kw/h CCS. I know if you charge two cars at the same time you'll split the rate in half, but do they really have two cords simply to help with whether your port is on the right or left of you car?

If there were three cars already charging and I arrived, would I need to wait? or assuming I can actually fit my car in, could I use one of the available cords?

 

[RickMachE]

That doesn't make sense to me. While the charger I'm at has two different charger types, the middle one is two 150 kw/h CCS and the right one is two 350 kw/h CCS. I know if you charge two cars at the same time you'll split the rate in half, but do they really have two cords simply to help with whether your port is on the right or left of you car?

If there were three cars already charging and I arrived, would I need to wait? or assuming I can actually fit my car in, could I use one of the available cords?

There are chargers that EA has where they have displays on both sides. You pull in to whatever side, and grab the hose that matches up with that screen.

In the picture you show, there are 3 parking spaces and 3 chargers.

Below is a picture of EA's location Huber Heights, Ohio, a location nefarious for working poorly. As you can see, there are 6 chargers. There are 6 parking spaces that reach the 6 chargers, and there are not screens on the backside. 6 vehicles can charge.

Sponsored