May 2026 Trip, Massachusetts to Minnesota Roundtrip (3100 miles)

[Zcd1]

Fun to see the complete version after receiving a quick summary while I was ... charging at an EA station!
For the first time in -- a long time.
And I will do my best to achieve another long interval before my next EA visit.

My first plan was to charge at Merrimack NH.
This station was kind of a big deal when it opened in August 2023 since EA had only two or three (IIRC) stations across all of VT and NH at the time.
And this station had six, count 'em, SIX chargers: that's 50% than all the other EA stations anywhere in the region!
When I checked the current status, I learned that it had only recently reopened in May 2026 after being closed since January 2026.
So that original installation lasted only ~2.5 years before an extended closure.

For unrelated reasons, I went to Nashua NH instead.
On the plus side, all four chargers were available (despite the timing of Friday night on Memorial Day weekend) and plug-and-charge worked.
On the negative side ... plus-and-charge was actually a bit slower to initiate charging than flashing my credit card Apple Wallet at MB, Ionna, or Rivian.
At MB and Ionna, I immediately hit the 240s upon charge initiation, and usually get into 250s, before eventually declining into the low 200s.
At EA, I instead started off in the 140s, maxed out at 150, then went down into the high double-digits while still in the 50s for SoC%.
Overall, similar charge curve to Rivian, except that Rivian doesn't have big "350" proclamations on its chargers.
(And yes, all these experiences have been with a preconditioned HV battery at optimal temps and with comparable SoC.)

Ugh.

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[snstevens]

Fun to see the complete version after receiving a quick summary while I was ... charging at an EA station!
For the first time in -- a long time.
And I will do my best to achieve another long interval before my next EA visit.

My first plan was to charge at Merrimack NH.
This station was kind of a big deal when it opened in August 2023 since EA had only two or three (IIRC) stations across all of VT and NH at the time.
And this station had six, count 'em, SIX chargers: that's 50% than all the other EA stations anywhere in the region!
When I checked the current status, I learned that it had only recently reopened in May 2026 after being closed since January 2026.
So that original installation lasted only ~2.5 years before an extended closure.

For unrelated reasons, I went to Nashua NH instead.
On the plus side, all four chargers were available (despite the timing of Friday night on Memorial Day weekend) and plug-and-charge worked.
On the negative side ... plus-and-charge was actually a bit slower to initiate charging than flashing my credit card Apple Wallet at MB, Ionna, or Rivian.
At MB and Ionna, I immediately hit the 240s upon charge initiation, and usually get into 250s, before eventually declining into the low 200s.
At EA, I instead started off in the 140s, maxed out at 150, then went down into the high double-digits while still in the 50s for SoC%.
Overall, similar charge curve to Rivian, except that Rivian doesn't have big "350" proclamations on its chargers.
(And yes, all these experiences have been with a preconditioned HV battery at optimal temps and with comparable SoC.)

Does anyone know why it is that EA stations can never deliver 350 KW even when charging a preconditioned battery at a low state of charge?

I understand that sometimes if you have multiple vehicles charging, they have to share power, but in the instance above, that wasn’t a thing. I’ve had a similar experience to @Jonathan S. and there doesn’t seem to be any reason other than possibly inaccurate advertising.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Does anyone know why it is that EA stations can never deliver 350 KW even when charging a preconditioned battery at a low state of charge?

I understand that sometimes if you have multiple vehicles charging, they have to share power, but in the instance above, that wasn’t a thing. I’ve had a similar experience to @Jonathan S. and there doesn’t seem to be any reason other than possibly inaccurate advertising.

I got in the low 200s at an EA that is part of the NY state govt network.
And apparently the NY agency keeps its contractors’ feet to the fire, or however the analogy goes.
Otherwise, EA on its own just doesn’t care.
By contrast, Ionna and MB aren’t designing their own chargers like Tesla. Instead, Ionna and MB just … care.
Or at least that’s the only explanation I can come up with for my consistently disappointing experiences with EA vs Ionna and MB.

 

[gnr3312]

Does anyone know why it is that EA stations can never deliver 350 KW even when charging a preconditioned battery at a low state of charge?

I understand that sometimes if you have multiple vehicles charging, they have to share power, but in the instance above, that wasn’t a thing. I’ve had a similar experience to @Jonathan S. and there doesn’t seem to be any reason other than possibly inaccurate advertising.

Haven’t had issues receiving 200+ kW so this might be a region issue. I’m in Texas. I used to take pictures every time but now I only take when they hit 260+ lol

 

[Jonathan S.]

Haven’t had issues receiving 200+ kW so this might be a region issue.

That's exactly what I thought at first.
Then Ionna and MB opened stations in northern New England.
So definitely not a regional issue.
And the one full-strength EA I charged at is in northern NY, but under the thumb of the apparently watchful NY govt.

 

[Zcd1]

That's exactly what I thought at first.
Then Ionna and MB opened stations in northern New England.
So definitely not a regional issue.
And the one full-strength EA I charged at is in northern NY, but under the thumb of the apparently watchful NY govt.

One always has to keep in mind that the EA network was built out with a “gun to the head” of the organization, so it’s extremely likely that they just don’t care - why would/should they?

Ionna and MB are “for profit” companies, not just in theory but in fact, so it’s logical that “they’d care”, especially by comparison.

 

[gnr3312]

One always has to keep in mind that the EA network was built out with a “gun to the head” of the organization, so it’s extremely likely that they just don’t care - why would/should they?

Ionna and MB are “for profit” companies, not just in theory but in fact, so it’s logical that “they’d care”, especially by comparison.

Tell me more about this EA theory

 

[Jonathan S.]

Tell me more about this EA theory

It was punishment for Dieselgate. The consent decree required VW to spend money on public charging infrastructure. No performance metrics.

 

[cometguy]

What was your efficiency?

not great, but generally 2.5-3.1 mi/kWh ... going typically 10 mph over the speed limit ...
In a typical long-drive day, 7 hr of drive time, avg 58 mph, 400 miles...
[not sure if your question was for me or Jonathan]

 

[Flying ace]

not great, but generally 2.5-3.1 mi/kWh ... going typically 10 mph over the speed limit ...
In a typical long-drive day, 7 hr of drive time, avg 58 mph, 400 miles...
[not sure if your question was for me or Jonathan]

For you.

Anything over 2.7 mi/kwh is great!

 

[Jonathan S.]

My first plan was to charge at Merrimack NH.

Turns out that I had far better options in southern NH than either of the EA stations there ...

I noticed today in the i4 forum a reference to charging at a MB station in MA.
I checked the MB website and ... wow, so many of these already in MA!
Then I noticed one in southern NH -- how did I miss that when I was researching my options?

Now I realize that when I checked PS on my phone, the Manchester NH MB was overlapping with the EA since they're in the same parking lot.
That EA in Manchester NH has gone through many bouts of severe dysfunction, sometimes with all four chargers broken.
Now they all work (to some extent), but still just four, despite being so busy.
But MB installs ten chargers, 400kW each, in the same parking.
So much for EA excuses about utility hookups or demand charges etc.

Both MB and Ionna are eliminating my public charging anxiety -- so different than when I first started driving our i4 three years!

 

[gnr3312]

Turns out that I had far better options in southern NH than either of the EA stations there ...

I noticed today in the i4 forum a reference to charging at a MB station in MA.
I checked the MB website and ... wow, so many of these already in MA!
Then I noticed one in southern NH -- how did I miss that when I was researching my options?

Now I realize that when I checked PS on my phone, the Manchester NH MB was overlapping with the EA since they're in the same parking lot.
That EA in Manchester NH has gone through many bouts of severe dysfunction, sometimes with all four chargers broken.
Now they all work (to some extent), but still just four, despite being so busy.
But MB installs ten chargers, 400kW each, in the same parking.
So much for EA excuses about utility hookups or demand charges etc.

Both MB and Ionna are eliminating my public charging anxiety -- so different than when I first started driving our i4 three years!

Can you add Ionna and MB as preferred charging stations in PS?

 

[Voltaire]

I don't charge at DCFC stations all that often, but I've hit 300+kw at multiple different EA chargers before (the J1.2 really can do that).

But MB opened a charger in New Haven and yeah, why would I go to the 4-slot EA charger when the 10-slot MB is right there? Since that's my most common destination, I haven't been to an EA in awhile.

MB isn't perfect though. The last time I charged at one I hit 315kw before dropping below 200 and getting the "charging speed limited by charger" message from the car.

The note on plugshare about the EA station in Merrimack that was out of service for so long mentioned that someone had hit it. Ouch, but it took much longer to fix than seems reasonable if EA is really trying to stay relevant.

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