My (good) first impression using Electrify America fast charging for the first time

[gnaark]

Hey guys,

We took a trip yesterday (~272 mi) and I was planning a fast charging stop so we could try it for the first time but still have a possibility to come home if it crapped out.
I was reading the forums yesterday (this thread & this one) and people were bitching hard at EA saying it was broken beyond repair and never working so I wasn't feeling to confident but I wanted to see for myself.

I know where the charger was but I used the find EV charger feature of the SYNC and it found my charger and directed me to it.
It was easy to find, in a Walmart parking lot.
We pulled up, plugged in and within a minute or so we were charging at 126kw.
While that was pumping we went to get a snack at Walmart, came back and the car was almost at 80%.

I was very impressed by the ease of use and how fast it was to top off the car.
I have configured Plug & Charge properly a couple weeks ago and I made sure to activate it in the app: I used this guide.

So I am not sure if I got really lucky or what the big deal is but so far so good. Charging more than a 100 miles in 20min is satisfactory to me.

One of the 3 charging stations was broken though so I used the EA app to send feedback and notify them about it.

My only complain at the moment is that the 3.19.1 version of the Ford Pass app on iOS is bugged and you can't monitor the state of charge: kinda suck when you fast charge and wanna go eat a bite but still monitor what's going on.

Sponsored

 

[Tampamike]

Hey guys,

We took a trip yesterday (~272 mi) and I was planning a fast charging stop so we could try it for the first time but still have a possibility to come home if it crapped out.
I was reading the forums yesterday (this thread & this one) and people were bitching hard at EA saying it was broken beyond repair and never working so I wasn't feeling to confident but I wanted to see for myself.

I know where the charger was but I used the find EV charger feature of the SYNC and it found my charger and directed me to it.
It was easy to find, in a Walmart parking lot.
We pulled up, plugged in and within a minute or so we were charging at 126kw.
While that was pumping we went to get a snack at Walmart, came back and the car was almost at 80%.

I was very impressed by the ease of use and how fast it was to top off the car.
I have configured Plug & Charge properly a couple weeks ago and I made sure to activate it in the app: I used this guide.

So I am not sure if I got really lucky or what the big deal is but so far so good. Charging more than a 100 miles in 20min is satisfactory to me.

One of the 3 charging stations was broken though so I used the EA app to send feedback and notify them about it.

My only complain at the moment is that the 3.19.1 version of the Ford Pass app on iOS is bugged and you can't monitor the state of charge: kinda suck when you fast charge and wanna go eat a bite but still monitor what's going on.

Just curious, which level charger did you use? 350 ccs or 150 ccs?

 

[gnaark]

Just curious, which level charger did you use? 350 ccs or 150 ccs?

Oh, it was a 150 ccs

 

[DBC]

I'd say a bit lucky. @Mach-E VLOG had no end of trouble at an EA charger one weekend. Went back the next weekend and it worked fine. Same MME. Same procedure. Same credit card. Hard to explain the different experiences.

On the other hand, you're obviously careful and have kept things simple, which has to help. Some people seem to jump between apps and the car and PAAK which is going to create a lot of room for confusion on the charging side.

 

[Addos]

Problem I had was that for some reason I couldn't just plugin a charge cable at EA, and swipe a credit card to charge. I had to either setup Ford Pass, which seems to be a PITA. Or I had to create an account with EA, so I could "swipe first" in the EA app to initiate charging, and then plugin. Not sure why I couldn't just plugin the cable and swipe my card like any other electric vehicle. Hopefully Ford allows people to do that, so they don't have to mess with any apps if they don't want/need to. Seems like a case of taking something simple, and over complicating it. Can't get too much more simple than plugging in and swipping a card, like paying for gas at a gas pump.

 

[Mach-E VLOG]

I'd say a bit lucky. @Mach-E VLOG had no end of trouble at an EA charger one weekend. Went back the next weekend and it worked fine. Same MME. Same procedure. Same credit card. Hard to explain the different experiences.

On the other hand, you're obviously careful and have kept things simple, which has to help. Some people seem to jump between apps and the car and PAAK which is going to create a lot of room for confusion on the charging side.

The first time with problems, I was using Plug and Charge. The next time with no problems, I disabled P&C and just used my credit card. I was livestreaming with my phone so I didn't want to use that. I also had another easy session at an EA charger using the EA app. My guess is that there is a hiccup with Plug and Charge. And it may be related to using P&C with the free 250 kWh combined. It could be that as it is charging it is verifying that there are still free kWh's left. If the authorization doesn't come quick enough, the EA session errors out. These are just guesses but whatever the case, disabling P&C seemed to fix it.

 

[SirronD]

I also had my first Electrify America Fast Charge today (4 Apr 2021). It was pretty easy. The hardest part was backing in to the parking stall. The Mach-E is a MUCH LONGER car than my other car. And you absolutely cannot see well when reversing. I will have to learn to trust the cameras.

Plug and Charge worked first time without any issues.

 

[gnaark]

I also had my first Electrify America Fast Charge today (4 Apr 2021). It was pretty easy. The hardest part was backing in to the parking stall. The Mach-E is a MUCH LONGER car than my other car. And you absolutely cannot see well when reversing. I will have to learn to trust the cameras.

Plug and Charge worked first time without any issues.

Dude yes the spot I went to had SO NARROW LANES the sensors were flipping out and I could barely open the driver door

 

[DBC]

The first time with problems, I was using Plug and Charge. The next time with no problems, I disabled P&C and just used my credit card.

Thanks for the clarification. I thought you were using your CC when it failed as well.

I suspect you're right about Plug & Charge. "Luckily" for me the Connected Services hasn't worked so P&C isn't even a temptation. LOL

 

[BradCA]

Hey guys,

We took a trip yesterday (~272 mi) and I was planning a fast charging stop so we could try it for the first time but still have a possibility to come home if it crapped out.
I was reading the forums yesterday (this thread & this one) and people were bitching hard at EA saying it was broken beyond repair and never working so I wasn't feeling to confident but I wanted to see for myself.

I know where the charger was but I used the find EV charger feature of the SYNC and it found my charger and directed me to it.
It was easy to find, in a Walmart parking lot.
We pulled up, plugged in and within a minute or so we were charging at 126kw.
While that was pumping we went to get a snack at Walmart, came back and the car was almost at 80%.

I was very impressed by the ease of use and how fast it was to top off the car.
I have configured Plug & Charge properly a couple weeks ago and I made sure to activate it in the app: I used this guide.

So I am not sure if I got really lucky or what the big deal is but so far so good. Charging more than a 100 miles in 20min is satisfactory to me.

One of the 3 charging stations was broken though so I used the EA app to send feedback and notify them about it.

My only complain at the moment is that the 3.19.1 version of the Ford Pass app on iOS is bugged and you can't monitor the state of charge: kinda suck when you fast charge and wanna go eat a bite but still monitor what's going on.

I have been pretty lucky with EA and Plug & Charge as well.