fgwinn
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2021
- Threads
- 44
- Messages
- 388
- Reaction score
- 273
- Location
- Philadelphia
- Vehicles
- MY22 FBM CT4 (sold), MY23 EQS 450 4Matic SUV
- Thread starter
- #1
In preparation for a short trip to Vermont I identified only two EA charging stations that were on my preferred route. Both were at Walmart locations in New York State - one at about 150 miles and another at 240 miles. I also searched for some non-EA alternative stations that were nearby in case I encountered problems at the EA sites. On 24-Dec we left home with a 100% SoC and arrived at the first EA location with about a 30% SoC. I took about 20 minutes at the 350kWh charger to get to 85% SoC. We could have made it to our destination with less than a 10% SoC, but since we had to rely upon a 110v 15 amp circuit at the destination we stopped at the second EA station to top up at the 240 mile mark.
We arrived at the Airbnb with a 61% SoC and I immediately parked in the garage and plugged in the Porsche mobile EVSE. We added about 1% to the SoC every hour that the charger was running. We ventured out from the Airbnb on the second, third, and fourth days of our trip clocking about 50 miles on each of those days. When we departed on the fifth day the SoC was at 98%. On the return trip we skipped the first EA site and charged from a 39% SoC to a 98% SoC at the EA site located at the midpoint of the trip. We peaked out at 145kWh and spent 43 minutes at the charger. Fortunately, EA was offering free charging at this location today so it did not matter that we exceeded the 30-minute charging time limit. We arrived home with a 46% SoC.
Since taking delivery of the CT4 in mid-November, I have only used EA stations four times, three of which were on this short 600 mile round trip. The two EA stations we stopped at on this trip each had two 350kWh chargers and two 150kWh chargers. At every charger stop, there was never more than one other car (at a time) using the chargers. However, someone with a slow charging car was always using one of the 350kWh chargers. After reading the reviews on PlugShare for these locations, it's clear to me that some owners of slow charging cars believe that using the 350kWh chargers will reduce their charging time.
I find the set up of the EA stations to be somewhat confusing. Each of the chargers has two cables and one display screen. I don't think all EA customers realize that only one cable can be used at a time. I parked on the side of the charger without a display, plugged the cable into the DC port, started the charging process at the display, and then went to my car to confirm it was in fact charging. In the meantime another slow charging car pulls up to the display side of the 350kWh charger. I return to the display to enter my cell phone number to get text messages with the charging status and the other driver challenges me indicating that he plans to use the charger for his car. I explain to him that I am already charging my car (with the missing cable) and the reason I am standing between his car and the charger is that there is no screen on the other side of the charger. I suspect that this happens a lot.
We arrived at the Airbnb with a 61% SoC and I immediately parked in the garage and plugged in the Porsche mobile EVSE. We added about 1% to the SoC every hour that the charger was running. We ventured out from the Airbnb on the second, third, and fourth days of our trip clocking about 50 miles on each of those days. When we departed on the fifth day the SoC was at 98%. On the return trip we skipped the first EA site and charged from a 39% SoC to a 98% SoC at the EA site located at the midpoint of the trip. We peaked out at 145kWh and spent 43 minutes at the charger. Fortunately, EA was offering free charging at this location today so it did not matter that we exceeded the 30-minute charging time limit. We arrived home with a 46% SoC.
Since taking delivery of the CT4 in mid-November, I have only used EA stations four times, three of which were on this short 600 mile round trip. The two EA stations we stopped at on this trip each had two 350kWh chargers and two 150kWh chargers. At every charger stop, there was never more than one other car (at a time) using the chargers. However, someone with a slow charging car was always using one of the 350kWh chargers. After reading the reviews on PlugShare for these locations, it's clear to me that some owners of slow charging cars believe that using the 350kWh chargers will reduce their charging time.
I find the set up of the EA stations to be somewhat confusing. Each of the chargers has two cables and one display screen. I don't think all EA customers realize that only one cable can be used at a time. I parked on the side of the charger without a display, plugged the cable into the DC port, started the charging process at the display, and then went to my car to confirm it was in fact charging. In the meantime another slow charging car pulls up to the display side of the 350kWh charger. I return to the display to enter my cell phone number to get text messages with the charging status and the other driver challenges me indicating that he plans to use the charger for his car. I explain to him that I am already charging my car (with the missing cable) and the reason I am standing between his car and the charger is that there is no screen on the other side of the charger. I suspect that this happens a lot.
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