EA charging FAIL FAIL FAIL

[kort]

just in case you haven't seen some of my diatribes from this evening let me relate to you my disastrous 500 mile road trip this weekend.
ponte vedra beach FLA to tampa FLA. about 220 miles each way. the car itself ran fine, the guess o meter was accurate, but I was only going to go about 207 miles on a full charge at the outset.
the problems began at my first attempt to charge heading south, we stopped at bushnell fla, an EA site. I couldn't get the car to initiate a charging session on a 350kwh unit, I called EA support and we jockeyed the car from unit to unit and finally got a 150kwh unit to work, time wasted, close to 45 minutes plus a slower charging session. made the 4+ hour trip into a 5.5 hour trip.
on the return trip today we set out with about 120 miles of range on the car and headed east on I 4 to an EA charger in haines city on FL24. 8 units not one would link to the car or charge the car despite each on being reset remotely. it got to the absurd level when I called porsche and got roadside because tech support is CLOSED on sunday. road side offered to have the car "towed", I hope they didn't really mean tow, to a porsche dealer, who are closed on sunday. and the absurdity was when I said to the porsche agent, now that you would take the car for service where does that leave me? she said I was on my own and maybe the tow truck driver would allow both my wife and I to ride with him. I said thanks but no thanks and came up with a plan B which was a greenlots CCS 50kwh unit a few miles away, after an hour or so of charging I took a gamble to move on. the plan was to get to an EA charger in melborne FLA which is only about 75 mile from my home and if the car was stranded it would be better to take a 75 mile uber ride than a 170 mile ride but somehow I was able to get a 150kwh to link with the car on the first try with no assistance. whew it only took 7 hours to make a 4 hour trip.
my wife now refuses to get into the car for any sort of trip that would require charging. this lack of reliability of the EA chargers has rendered my brand new taycan 4s a very expensive limited range EV, I could have gotten 3 or 4 bolts, 3 leafs for what I spent for this otherwise great car. but it the car cannot find a dependable source of fast charging on the road it is kinda useless to me.

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[andrewket]

Tesla‘s supercharger network, combined with vertical integration, continues to give them a significant advantage. I’m about to sell my Model S for a Taycan. I wouldn’t do it if I also didn‘t have other Teslas in the garage that I can use for long trips. I really want to be able to take the Taycan on road trips. I hope Porsche and EA are listening. Based on other reported experiences, it seems more likely the problem is with Porsche vs. EA. Perhaps the “large software update” coming in “a few weeks” will help.

Btw, the chargers are measured in kW — a measure of power. kWh is a measure of energy. If you’re talking chargers, it’s kW; batteries, kWh.

 

[daveo4EV]

yeah charge network reliability is a liability for non-Teslas at this point in time...

I’m hoping it gets better of time, but at the moment I’m concerned that this is one more way in which the existing “big guys” aren’t all in with this whole EV thing…I think they are hoping it will all just go away and we can return to gas cars…

 

[kort]

Tesla‘s supercharger network, combined with vertical integration, continues to give them a significant advantage. I’m about to sell my Model S for a Taycan. I wouldn’t do it if I also didn‘t have other Teslas in the garage that I can use for long trips. I really want to be able to take the Taycan on road trips. I hope Porsche and EA are listening. Based on other reported experiences, it seems more likely the problem is with Porsche vs. EA. Perhaps the “large software update” coming in “a few weeks” will help.

Btw, the chargers are measured in kW — a measure of power. kWh is a measure of energy. If you’re talking chargers, it’s kW; batteries, kWh.

all that I can say is that you might like driving the taycan so much that when forced to drive the tesla because of the EA charging failures you will not be too happy about it

 

[andrewket]

all that I can say is that you might like driving the taycan so much that when forced to drive the tesla because of the EA charging failures you will not be too happy about it

I’m hoping this is the case. They will get it working .. eventually. I bought my first Tesla in 2013 and back then there were many places you just couldn’t reach due to charging. For those that you could reach it required significant planing. Some “hops” you could only make with a 100% charge or in extreme cases going below the speed limit / drafting. We take an annual trip to a location that is so rural that we have to charge at a KOA (RV camping site) on a 14-50. We‘ve even slept in the car with an air mattress.

The fact that there was a “backup” 50kW charger nearby you could use is still progress.

 

[chrisk]

Most of the new EVs coming out in the US in next couple of years count on EA, including Lucid Air, Etron gt, VW id, Ford etc. Most of these brands will include some kind of membership or free sessions at EA.
I hope EA fixes their network and they should not allow every manufacturer to create their own charging app. EA should control the app and they should be responsible for any failures instead of ping-ponging the customers between the manufacturer and EA

 

[caytan]

I honestly would not do any travelling with any EV. Tesla or Taycan. Tesla chargers are always full and you end up waiting and waiting on top of minimum 20 minute charge. EA chargers don't work, its a hit or miss...

I bought both Tesla and Taycan only because I will be charging them at home. No way I would go on road trip where I have to charge them on the road. That's just not ready, or better said, its not nearly as convenient as gas cars. I don' want to wait 20-30 minutes in potentially shady spot to charge the car.

Once I can charge for 5-10 minutes to get 200 mile range and have chargers as freely available as gas stations I'd take EV on road trip. Otherwise, ICE, ICE, baby!

 

[kort]

I’m hoping this is the case. They will get it working .. eventually. I bought my first Tesla in 2013 and back then there were many places you just couldn’t reach due to charging. For those that you could reach it required significant planing. Some “hops” you could only make with a 100% charge or in extreme cases going below the speed limit / drafting. We take an annual trip to a location that is so rural that we have to charge at a KOA (RV camping site) on a 14-50. We‘ve even slept in the car with an air mattress.

The fact that there was a “backup” 50kW charger nearby you could use is still progress.

I know I had an early tesla as well

 

[kort]

I’m hoping this is the case. They will get it working .. eventually. I bought my first Tesla in 2013 and back then there were many places you just couldn’t reach due to charging. For those that you could reach it required significant planing. Some “hops” you could only make with a 100% charge or in extreme cases going below the speed limit / drafting. We take an annual trip to a location that is so rural that we have to charge at a KOA (RV camping site) on a 14-50. We‘ve even slept in the car with an air mattress.

The fact that there was a “backup” 50kW charger nearby you could use is still progress.

the backup that takes hours to charge is not progress. I bought the car with the assurance that RELIABLE HIGH SPEED CHARGING was available, apparently Porsche has misled me.

 

[kort]

I honestly would not do any travelling with any EV. Tesla or Taycan. Tesla chargers are always full and you end up waiting and waiting on top of minimum 20 minute charge. EA chargers don't work, its a hit or miss...

I bought both Tesla and Taycan only because I will be charging them at home. No way I would go on road trip where I have to charge them on the road. That's just not ready, or better said, its not nearly as convenient as gas cars. I don' want to wait 20-30 minutes in potentially shady spot to charge the car.

Once I can charge for 5-10 minutes to get 200 mile range and have chargers as freely available as gas stations I'd take EV on road trip. Otherwise, ICE, ICE, baby!

that is you and as long as you are satisfied with that great, but I bought a car with the promise of there being HIGH SPEED CHARGING available. not this hit or miss nonsense we currently have. and FWIW I have driven my teslas all around the USA and never once had a fail to charge event or even a wait for a charger. then again I do not go to CA often where waits are common in some areas.

 

[andrewket]

that is you and as long as you are satisfied with that great, but I bought a car with the promise of there being HIGH SPEED CHARGING available. not this hit or miss nonsense we currently have. and FWIW I have driven my teslas all around the USA and never once had a fail to charge event or even a wait for a charger. then again I do not go to CA often where waits are common in some areas.

This has been my experience as well. Countless road trips (probably 30,000 miles over 7 years) and I’ve only had to wait in line twice. Both times were in California. The SpC network is so broad and reliable that I do very little if any planning anymore.

 

[wemct]

Similar to those on the forum who have problems with their cars, and those who don't, some of us have had decent experiences at the EA chargers. I have done the trip back and forth from Georgia to Connecticut several times (900+ miles). I am planning another trip to Georgia in a couple of weeks and I am comfortable making the trip with confidence that the EA chargers will work. I have not been stranded at any of the EA chargers. Many of us have learned to park in between the 350kW and 150kW chargers. If the 350kW charger fails, I just unplug from the 350kW and plug in the 150kW without moving the car.

Unless you are at an extremely low SOC and the correct battery temperature, the 150kW charger provides a very similar rate of charge as the 350kW charger. Tonight, on the way home I stopped at a 350kW charger in Connecticut I have used before. I was at 40% SOC when I arrived. The 350kW gave me a problem, so I plugged into the 150kW charger. 29 minutes later, I left at 92% SOC. When I first got the car and started to use the EA chargers, I would call the EA customer service number if I had a problem. The 10 minutes that I used to spend on the phone with EA is the same time difference between using the 350kW and 150kW chargers. These days I just move over to the 150kW charger and don't bother calling EA unless there are problems with multiple chargers.

 

[kort]

that's great, but for the first time out on a road trip the failure, TWICE, to easily charge and almost being stranded was not a very good start for me. and my wife has said she will not go on any road trips in that car and when you lose the wife's confidence you've lost me. as for multiple charger failures I had EIGHT that they couldn't initiate a charge on 4 350 kw units and 4 150 kw units.
so you are fortunate never to have a near stranding experience but I just did and it is quite unsettling to say the least.
conversation with porsche roadside, we'll be happy to pick your car up from the charger and tow it to the nearest dealer, me; and what do I do, porsche; maybe the tow truck driver can give you and your wife a ride.
do you think that is acceptable? I was 170 mile from my home and that was unacceptable to me.

 

[andrewket]

that's great, but for the first time out on a road trip the failure, TWICE, to easily charge and almost being stranded was not a very good start for me. and my wife has said she will not go on any road trips in that car and when you lose the wife's confidence you've lost me. as for multiple charger failures I had EIGHT that they couldn't initiate a charge on 4 350 kw units and 4 150 kw units.
so you are fortunate never to have a near stranding experience but I just did and it is quite unsettling to say the least.
conversation with porsche roadside, we'll be happy to pick your car up from the charger and tow it to the nearest dealer, me; and what do I do, porsche; maybe the tow truck driver can give you and your wife a ride.
do you think that is acceptable? I was 170 mile from my home and that was unacceptable to me.

Btw, you didn’t mention what app you were using, and what the car and/or the charger said on the failures. The fact that all 8 stalls wouldn’t work is .. odd.

 

[wemct]

@kort - It's unfortunate that it was your first road trip with a really bad experience. Don't bother calling Porsche. They will be clueless as you discovered regarding the EA chargers. Hopefully, the EA representative who tried to reset the chargers will report the location and get a technician out to get the stations working. In less than a year, the EA network has grown a lot. There is even a location less than 10 minutes away from my house in Georgia that wasn't there when I first got the car. Fingers crossed that my experience will become more of the norm.

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