Horrible first EA experience today

[scoopman]

I took my new GTPE to the nearest EA station to my house today to try DCFC on it for the first time, and to see if Plug & Charge would work.

I got far more than I bargained for, as out of the 6 spots, one had an ID.4 charging, one had a broken charger, and 3 were taken up by 2 Teslas shopping at Walmart, and one by a homeless person living in their van parked permanently at an EA stall.

One of the Tesla owners (I think it was a Plaid? who cares) had the entitled attitude enough to come over to my car and go into a Teslarage as I waited for him to put his shopping in and leave. He was a big dude and was looking for a fight. (Hear his delightful banter here: )

I called EA while charging, and they basically told me they couldn't care less about the ICEd charger or the fear I expressed for my personal safety at this location.

I just gotta say that I'm glad I didn't have my family in my car, and that these fundamental ownership experiences need to be improved if Ford and EA want to legitimately compete.

 

[ARK]

That’s unfortunate, I would think the owner of the shopping center would be the one to patrol this sort of thing. Not unlike someone parking in a handicap spot when they aren’t disabled or parking in a drop-off only spot to go shopping.

 

[DevSecOps]

I have said so many times that they need to put chargers at the back of parking lots. Putting them near the entrance is NEVER going to work. If idiots will illegally park in fire lanes and handicap spots so that they don't have to take 20 extra steps, they will do that with EV chargers as well.

(I'm not saying you are alleging this Scoop) So many EV owners think that they deserve to park up front ... no we don't. We are just like everyone else. Move the damn chargers to a location where no one will bother them.

Ok rant over ... It sucks you had to go through this. BTW where is the "L" in Tesla. His 150k car is probably a salvage title that he got for 20. But that's beside the point.

I agree however with @ARK that these spots are normally under the rules of the lot that they are in, so it would be Walmart who would have to act on it... good luck with that!

Also, I know there's gonna be a lot of people who correct you on Tesla's at CCS stations. They can use them and they do have adapters for them, so if they were charging they would be in the right being there. However, EV's in charging stalls, while not charging, bothers me more than an ICE in a charging stall. The irony and hypocrisy of those who do that is beyond believable.

The homeless guy ... well, what can I say ... we are in good ol' California. Wouldn't be surprised if the homeless are exempt from ICING laws.

How about something good coming from this? Did you get to charge? Did you use Plug and Charge? Did it work okay? Did you get free electricity from Ford? There's got to be some light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[scoopman]

1. Yes the problem with this EA install is it's right near the Walmart entrance. Most other EA locations I've seen have them all the way away from the store.

2. I didn't get attacked by the Model 3 "TES A" owner. I'm sure they'd love to tell me their story.

3. The gentleman I met had a black Model S, and he wasn't charging, he was shopping.

4. Yes, I got free electrons. But Plug & Charge didn't work. I'm figuring out why not now, such a great UI and onboarding process they have for this!

I have said so many times that they need to put chargers at the back of parking lots. Putting them near the entrance is NEVER going to work. If idiots will illegally park in fire lanes and handicap spots so that they don't have to take 20 extra steps, they will do that with EV chargers as well.

(I'm not saying you are alleging this Scoop) So many EV owners think that they deserve to park up front ... no we don't. We are just like everyone else. Move the damn chargers to a location where no one will bother them.

Ok rant over ... It sucks you had to go through this. BTW where is the "L" in Tesla. His 150k car is probably a salvage title that he got for 20. But that's beside the point.

I agree however with @ARK that these spots are normally under the rules of the lot that they are in, so it would be Walmart who would have to act on it... good luck with that!

Also, I know there's gonna be a lot of people who correct you on Tesla's at CCS stations. They can use them and they do have adapters for them, so if they were charging they would be in the right being there. However, EV's in charging stalls, while not charging, bothers me more than an ICE in a charging stall. The irony and hypocrisy of those who do that is beyond believable.

The homeless guy ... well, what can I say ... we are in good ol' California. Wouldn't be surprised if the homeless are exempt from ICING laws.

How about something good coming from this? Did you get to charge? Did you use Plug and Charge? Did it work okay? Did you get free electricity from Ford? There's got to be some light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[scoopman]

I will say that I have everything set up correctly -- Plug & Charge just didn't work despite following all of the instructions and setting it up properly as far as I can see. I'm going to try again tomorrow at another EA location to see if I can get this working before my first road trip next week.

 

[DevSecOps]

I will say that I have everything set up correctly -- Plug & Charge just didn't work despite following all of the instructions and setting it up properly as far as I can see. I'm going to try again tomorrow at another EA location to see if I can get this working before my first road trip next week.

It shows active in FP right?

I have used PaC 5 times now. Most recently at Safeway in Redwood City and each time it works flawlessly. So here's what I did.

• Turned off the car, phone in pocket
• Got out of the car and grabbed the charger
• Plugged it in and waited a few seconds.

That was literally it.

I have a video of it here. https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ruise-after-a-300-mile-trip.10214/post-257948

 

[zvez]

I took my new GTPE to the nearest EA station to my house today to try DCFC on it for the first time, and to see if Plug & Charge would work.

I got far more than I bargained for, as out of the 6 spots, one had an ID.4 charging, one had a broken charger, and 3 were taken up by 2 Teslas shopping at Walmart, and one by a homeless person living in their van parked permanently at an EA stall.

One of the Tesla owners (I think it was a Plaid? who cares) had the entitled attitude enough to come over to my car and go into a Teslarage as I waited for him to put his shopping in and leave. He was a big dude and was looking for a fight. (Hear his delightful banter here: )

I called EA while charging, and they basically told me they couldn't care less about the ICEd charger or the fear I expressed for my personal safety at this location.

I just gotta say that I'm glad I didn't have my family in my car, and that these fundamental ownership experiences need to be improved if Ford and EA want to legitimately compete.

wow, what a dipshit.

Is that right, his 150k TES A is missing the "L" ?

 

[scoopman]

Yep all set up properly in the app and the connected services site. When I plugged in, after the "connecting to vehicle," EA prompted me for payment instead of the "check" on the screen that your video showed.

I'm going to try again tomorrow at a different EA station and see if it might have been the station.

 

[RickMachE]

It seems clear to me that people in California, with a huge population of Teslas, experience things that we elsewhere don't experience.

Should be fairly simple to research the ownership of that piece of real estate, and complain to them about the homeless person as well as the accosting. We have a strip mall with Home Depot, Kroger, Belle Tire, and a few others, and it had huge potholes, especially by the entrances. Swallow up car sized. We contacted the Township it was in and asked if they could exert some influence. They did, telling the owner that they'd cite him for the condition, AND they repaved the entrance on their side of the property where there were potholes. Took a lot of nagging them, but it got done. Also pushed because one exit had a left and a right turn lane, but the indicators were worn off the pavement, and people sat in the wrong lane block traffic. Got that repainted also.

As to putting chargers at the rear of the stores, that's a horrible idea. I would call most back of strip mall parking lots "very unsafe". At the majority of EA / Walmart locations we've been to, the EA chargers are well out in the parking lot. One exception was the ever-poor-performing Huber Heights, Ohio location.

Some EA locations in Massachusetts were in bad locations. One was in a mall parking lot at a Sears store that was closed, we were the only vehicle in site. I wouldn't charge there at night. Another was in a mall parking lot in the dark ground floor of a parking structure. Ditto. A third, and poorly performing location was in the back parking lot of a Bank of America. I believe all of these locations are fairly old.

 

[leeman]

I have found that most target location put theEA charges at the back of the lot always a good experience .I did a test late one night too went to all the fast charge points and tested the service for all my around town driving in a 20 mile radius and mark them as a fav. also when a go out for a long drive I try a couple location on my trip and mark them . it just like having your fav gas stations you always stop at

 

[Kevin P]

This has absolutely nothing to do with Ford. Telling Ford that they need to stop people from being a$$holes at an EA station is just silly. Would you get mad at Budweiser if someone robbed a convenience store while you were trying to buy a 12 pack? I suspect your comments were born of frustration, which I too would have after being accosted like that. Can you let us know what happened to start that confrontation? Did you say something to the guy?

 

[RickMachE]

If someone parks in an EV spot and isn't charging, or takes multiple spots, it's easy to realize that they're not only an a-*ole, but they also know it. Therefore, engaging in conversation of any type is simply not a good idea.

 

[yngwenli]

Pretty annoying/sad situation and a typical nice car owner thinking they are better than anyone else since their car was more expensive...

This situation could've ended violently if it was someone else in your position with everything I see in the news lately.

Glad I never plan to fast charge pretty much to never have to deal with these crazies.

 

[timbop]

I'm confused as to why Ford is responsible? It seems to me that the owner of the parking lot would be responsible for policing it, although the real burden is on the state/local legislature to put teeth into ordnances like they have done with handicapped spaces. Until that happens, then what exactly are Ford and EA supposed to do for you? They can't legally send a tow truck out to remove those cars as they have no standing to do so.

The ones at whom you should be angry are the arrogant Tesla owners. As for the vagrant living out of his van, one would expect the shopping center to evict him as it's not good for business.

 

[scoopman]

1. Yep, I'm already reaching out to someone I know...

2. Most EA locations at Walmart stores out here are indeed placed a distance away from the entrance of the store. They are well-lit and I've never had any problem charging at any of them. These chargers in question literally are like the best parking spots right next to Walmart, especially, apparently if you're a douchy Tesla owner.

It seems clear to me that people in California, with a huge population of Teslas, experience things that we elsewhere don't experience.

Should be fairly simple to research the ownership of that piece of real estate, and complain to them about the homeless person as well as the accosting. We have a strip mall with Home Depot, Kroger, Belle Tire, and a few others, and it had huge potholes, especially by the entrances. Swallow up car sized. We contacted the Township it was in and asked if they could exert some influence. They did, telling the owner that they'd cite him for the condition, AND they repaved the entrance on their side of the property where there were potholes. Took a lot of nagging them, but it got done. Also pushed because one exit had a left and a right turn lane, but the indicators were worn off the pavement, and people sat in the wrong lane block traffic. Got that repainted also.

As to putting chargers at the rear of the stores, that's a horrible idea. I would call most back of strip mall parking lots "very unsafe". At the majority of EA / Walmart locations we've been to, the EA chargers are well out in the parking lot. One exception was the ever-poor-performing Huber Heights, Ohio location.

Some EA locations in Massachusetts were in bad locations. One was in a mall parking lot at a Sears store that was closed, we were the only vehicle in site. I wouldn't charge there at night. Another was in a mall parking lot in the dark ground floor of a parking structure. Ditto. A third, and poorly performing location was in the back parking lot of a Bank of America. I believe all of these locations are fairly old.

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