Horrible first EA experience today

[yngwenli]

What specific action would you like EA and Ford to take to correct the chargers being blocked? By specific action I mean exactly that, not a vague platitude of "make better infrastructure"?

For me, when I see these all the time, it's simply, move the charger to a much much farther location where lazy/inconsiderate people won't park there since it's farther away.

That is a very concrete action that I think will eliminate 90% of these issues since yeah, people are selfish AND lazy...everywhere.

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[DYohn]

Why are EA stations at Wal Marts? Are they partners in the EA venture?

(by the way, I have never shopped at a Wal Mart and never will. Call me elitist if you like.)

 

[DR.J56]

Maybe the L is gone for aesthetics. I remember a day the TO TA was painted over to show YO only on the small pickups. You know, because it’s cool. The older I get, the more I dislike people. There, I said it. Sorry for your bad experience.

 

[SnBGC]

Why are EA stations at Wal Marts? Are they partners in the EA venture?

(by the way, I have never shopped at a Wal Mart and never will. Call me elitist if you like.)

I think it was an easy way for EA to lease parking spaces since Walmarts are more prolific and have surplus parking at most of their locations.

You can find EA at other places but Walmarts are the most common.

 

[timbop]

1. First and foremost, the management of Walmart (from whom EA is leasing space in my understanding) should police these spots right outside the entrance to the store to ensure they are not blocked in this manner, and there are not hostile people hanging out there.

100% agree

2. EA should evaluate the usage engagement on these chargers, which I bet they will discover are left unused most of the time due to this issue. This is the main charging location for the heart of Silicon Valley next to Palo Alto for EA, and I would suggest it's probably a super non-ideal location for them.

For me, when I see these all the time, it's simply, move the charger to a much much farther location where lazy/inconsiderate people won't park there since it's farther away.

That is a very concrete action that I think will eliminate 90% of these issues since yeah, people are selfish AND lazy...everywhere.

EA invested at least $250,000 in that location. That includes zoning, site surveys, getting high voltage lines run underground to the location, and of course the equipment itself. It may not be "ideal" because of assholes, but they can't simply move the chargers. Certainly going forward they can encourage their partners to put the chargers further away from the door, but moving chargers like these would be prohibitively expensive.

3. This is where my Ford nav system sent me. I submit that Ford should pull this location from its FordPass database as you're probably guaranteed to have a poor time here.

Given the paucity of charging locations even in california, that seems like a very poor solution indeed. While it was an ordeal to get a charge there, you were able to get a charge. Had you been on a road trip would you prefer running out of juice or dealing with assholes?
A much better solution is to work with plugshare and report the scores of the chargers when the NAV shows you the list of chargers on your routes and let you choose. THAT is something Ford should do anyway, as well as prioritizing/filtering DCFC chargers by power output.

 

[DevSecOps]

EA invested at least $250,000 in that location

I was actually in charge of getting L2 chargers installed at our office complex in 2019. It's really not that expensive in California with all the tax credits. Each L2 (I know these are L3), was only like 5k fully installed and because these large corporations in California must have XX% renewable energy these stations count towards their credit, which means they don't have to purchase credits from elsewhere. In this case it would be Walmart that owns them and it count's towards Walmart's credit.

There's a solar farm not far from my house that was purchased by Google about 10 years back. They don't need a solar farm in the middle of the boonies for their operations. It was just to comply with the renewable energy credits that they get by owning it.

So for Walmart, IMO they could care less if people use it, they are just using the stations to comply with California regulations which saves them money in the long run.

 

[ARK]

I was actually in charge of getting L2 chargers installed at our office complex in 2019. It's really not that expensive in California with all the tax credits. Each L2 (I know these are L3), was only like 5k fully installed and because these large corporations in California must have XX% renewable energy these stations count towards their credit, which means they don't have to purchase credits from elsewhere. In this case it would be Walmart that owns them and it count's towards Walmart's credit.

There's a solar farm not far from my house that was purchased by Google about 10 years back. They don't need a solar farm in the middle of the boonies for their operations. It was just to comply with the renewable energy credits that they get by owning it.

So for Walmart, IMO they could care less if people use it, they are just using the stations to comply with California regulations which saves them money in the long run.

L3 chargers cost substantially more to install, see link.

 

[DevSecOps]

L3 chargers cost substantially more to install, see link.

Yes, but like I said the rebates are massive in California. CALeVIP rebates on DCFC are 75% of installation cost and 40-80k for each charger depending on its location. You have to consider the REC as well as that's a long term pay off.

Per the CALeVIP the cost to the owner is about 25% (1292/1683) and 75% reimbursed. This is specific to California so other states could possibly get no rebate and I have no idea if other states have REC.

 

[fayt349]

If this guy came up to me that hostile, I’d just start swinging with no warning or words or anything.

Imagine being so far up your own ass that you have to argue with people about cars and how much they cost. “What makes your $40,000 EV better than my $150,000 ev” he says.

Who the hell cares, I bought a car and so did you. People like this literally have nothing to live for and are just bored, literally the worst type of person. Nothing to live for. Pathetic.

 

[scoopman]

I did, and the EA agent on the phone basically didn't seem to know how to take a complaint about blocked chargers or safety issues.

I'm sorry about your experience. I would call Electrify America and complain about it. They are supposed to have people going around checking these chargers.

AS san alternative, try using EVGo, it's a bit slower but works very well.

 

[scoopman]

https://corporate.walmart.com/newsr...s-nationwide-with-plans-for-further-expansion

Why are EA stations at Wal Marts? Are they partners in the EA venture?

(by the way, I have never shopped at a Wal Mart and never will. Call me elitist if you like.)

 

[timbop]

I was actually in charge of getting L2 chargers installed at our office complex in 2019. It's really not that expensive in California with all the tax credits. Each L2 (I know these are L3),

What he said:

L3 chargers cost substantially more to install, see link.

Yes, but like I said the rebates are massive in California. CALeVIP rebates on DCFC are 75% of installation cost and 40-80k for each charger depending on its location. You have to consider the REC as well as that's a long term pay off.

Moving chargers from one end of the lot to another isn't going to be covered by any of that stuff. Certainly moving chargers to another site would likely mean they'd have to forfeit any advance incentives they received on the initial location.

 

[ab13]

The charge companies should have signs that say fine or tow if not charging. Then contract with parking and towing companies to take care if it. Also include camera to monitor.

This chart indicates there are laws already, but signs should be there and some process to enforce.

https://pluginsites.org/plug-in-vehicle-parking-legislation-reference/

 

[DevSecOps]

Moving chargers from one end of the lot to another isn't going to be covered by any of that stuff. Certainly moving chargers to another site would likely mean they'd have to forfeit any advance incentives they received on the initial location.

I completely agree with you on moving them. I wish they would, but I know they won't.

 

[scoopman]

Oh you can find these photos up at PlugShare along with mine and other reviews saying the same thing. Doesn't seem to have caused any changes (yet).

I know that this Walmart location is a high profile one for them because of its Silicon Valley location, and I will wager that EA does not want their brand represented in this area especially in this manner either.

100% agree



EA invested at least $250,000 in that location. That includes zoning, site surveys, getting high voltage lines run underground to the location, and of course the equipment itself. It may not be "ideal" because of assholes, but they can't simply move the chargers. Certainly going forward they can encourage their partners to put the chargers further away from the door, but moving chargers like these would be prohibitively expensive.


Given the paucity of charging locations even in california, that seems like a very poor solution indeed. While it was an ordeal to get a charge there, you were able to get a charge. Had you been on a road trip would you prefer running out of juice or dealing with assholes?
A much better solution is to work with plugshare and report the scores of the chargers when the NAV shows you the list of chargers on your routes and let you choose. THAT is something Ford should do anyway, as well as prioritizing/filtering DCFC chargers by power output.

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