My First Public Charge @ Electrify America (EA) - Massive Fail!

[evanevery]

I located a nearby set of EA Chargers (150 & 350) and I wanted to do a dry run to see what the "flow" was to get things charged. I'm on my 4th EV in 7 years and I've never visited a station, but if any EV was made for a raod trip... ;-)

So anyway, I roll into an EA station about 15 miles from my home. I have about 50% charge left so no worries in any case.

I locate one of the 2 350KW EVSE units and plug in my car. I open the Charging NA app, see two buttons to select 150KW connectors or 350KW connectors. I tap on the "Select 350KW connector" but all that shows up is a long list of 150KW chargers. I do this over and over, search the app for settings and such, but no matter what I do, I can not get the 350KW stations to show up. All it will show me is the 150KW ones. It does say that 2/2 350KW stations are available, but both those station ID's are conspicuously absent from the Charging NA list.

I call EA and they reset the station thinking this will maybe help it show up in the Charging NA app but it doesn't. The gal offers to give me a free session but I tell her I really don't need the charge, I just wanted to do a dry run on accessing my free charging from Porsche.

I roll over to a 150KW station and everything gets rolling as expected. I let it run for a few minutes and then disconnect and leave (as I really didn't need the charge). As a test run, this was a total fail. I'm glad I wasn't on the road trying to get somewhere!

I don't think this is an EA problem. It simply appears that the Porsche Charging NA App is not showing me the requested stations. I try to call Porsche but they are closed for the weekend. :-(

So, what the hey? Am I doing something wrong? Why won't the Porsche Charging NA app show me any 350KW stations? Especially when I click on the "show me 350KW stations" button?

*** Is the Charging NA App the only way to get our Free Charging Service? (I have accounts at all the major app providers: EA, ChargePoint, ChargeHub, PlugShare) but I'ld like to get the free Porsche Charging Service working...

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[Reg]

I roll over to a 150KW station and everything gets rolling as expected. I let it run for a few minutes and then disconnect and leave (as I really didn't need the charge). As a test run, this was a total fail. I'm glad I wasn't on the road trying to get somewhere!

You were able to charge at the 150kw station without a problem and would have had no problems if you were on the road trying to get somewhere. I am not sure I would call that a massive fail and not even a total fail, especially since unless your are at 10% charge or so, you probably aren't getting anywhere close to 200kw anyway.

And even then, EA would have enabled you to get to use the 350kw without charge.

 

[evanevery]

You were able to charge at the 150kw station without a problem and would have had no problems if you were on the road trying to get somewhere. I am not sure I would call that a massive fail and not even a total fail, especially since unless your are at 10% charge or so, you probably aren't getting anywhere close to 200kw anyway.

And even then, EA would have enabled you to get to use the 350kw without charge.

Its a massive fail because I specifically went out to try and see what I needed to do to get a high speed charge at an EA station BEFORE I actually take a road trip I have planned in Sept. (I actually didn't need ANY charge). In attempting that, I completely failed and I do not understand WHY. If I was on my trip (5-6 stops required), and unable to use any of the 350KW stations (fo free), It would have been a much worse situation.

I spent over an hour screwing around trying to get the service started. I ultimately had to fail over to 150KW service. ...and of course I could also use a credit card, but its all the screwing around and inability to attain the max available charging service, that makes this a huge fail. It still would have wasted over an hour if I was trying to get somewhere (maybe even a couple of more hours since I still don't know WHY this failed).. That's a huge fail in my book. ...I ultimately FAILED to get a "free" service I should have been able to access.

Rather than telling me how lucky I was to get the 150KW service, how about answering the questions I posted? Why couldn't I see the 350KW stations? Is this a problem with the App, the real time data being provided by Porsche (even though it indicated that 2/2 350KW stations were available), or something I am doing wrong? Is "Charging NA" the only way to enable our "free" service?

 

[Reg]

Well, I spent over an hour screwing around trying to get the service started. I ultimately had to fail over to 150KW service. ...and of course I could also use a credit card, but its all the screwing around that makes this a huge fail. It still would have wasted over an hour if I was trying to get somewhere. That's a huge fail in my book. ...and I ultimately FAILED to get a "free" service I should have been able to access.

Rather than telling me how lucky I was to get the 150KW service, how about answering the questions I posted? Why couldn't I see the 350KW stations? Is this a problem with the App, the real time data being provided by Porsche (even though it indicated that 2/2 350KW stations were available), or something I am doing wrong? Is "Charging NA" the only way to enable our "free" service?

If I was trying to get somewhere and cared about time, I would have plugged into one of the many working 150kw chargers since that would have given me almost exactly the same charging rate anyway (unless I was at 10%). I wouldn't have spent an hour trying to get an optimum charge rate at a 350 charger - especially when they only charge at even a 270kw rate for a small percentage of time and only if you are in the 10% or so battery capacity left.

Rather than telling me how lucky I was to get the 150KW service, how about answering the questions I posted?

I never said you were lucky. I just said the 150kw would have given you almost the same rate of charge.

Why couldn't I see the 350KW stations?

That seems to be a question for EA and Porsche. Were they visible in the EA app?

Is "Charging NA" the only way to enable our "free" service?

edit. I just remembered, you can also initiate a charge in the Connect app. Go to explore (the map) and from the chargers will show up there too.

If I were to show up at a charging area and have to spend a little more time charging at 150k, or needing to spend a couple minutes to get EA to enable me for a 350kw charger (assuming a am 10% charge and in a rush for an 80% charge and need that rate), I would view that as a minor inconvenience, not a massive fail. But I get that other people have different levels of tolerances.

 

[evanevery]

Look, the APP is supposed to work. It didn't get me hooked up to the best available charger (there were two 350KW). If I am going to do a road trip in this car, I need to ensure I can get access to the required service using the intended method. Saying that I can call EA and get a free charge is NOT the intended method. All I want is to be able to charge my car the way it is supposed to work. Rather than telling me I wouldn't be stranded on the side of the road is NOT helpful. How about you help me determine why the intended method didn't work?

(Yes, they were available and visible in the EA app. They were also available and visible in the Charging NA app. I just couldn't select any of them using the Charging NA App. So, my test failed. I will go back tomorrow and try again IF I can determine what the issue is...)

I also did a few other tests using the Charging NA app. I Fired up the EA app and located THREE more stations with 350KW terminals. I then fired up the Charging NA app, located all three of those stations, opened up the station information, went to the "Select your Plug Type" category and clicked on the 35KW CCS button. IN ALL THREE CASES, the Charging NA app refused to show me the 350KW terminals! (So that's effectively FOUR EA stations I have tried to "select" a 350KW terminal and failed). It should also be noted that if I select CHADEMO, i see those fine, if I select CCS 150KW I see those fine, and if I select CCS 350KW I just get the CCS 150KW stations. (Please, go ahead and try this yourself!)

THIS IS A PROBLEM!

The fact that the App lets me select either CHADEMO or CCS 150KW without issue, but NOT CCS 350KW really seems to indicate an issue with the Charging NA App! (I don't think its anything I am doing wrong).

So, rather than just being satisfied that I can get to 150 KW terminals, I plan on calling Porsche tomorrow and see what they have to say about not being able to access and enable 350KW terminals. I was planning on routing my trip fully through 350KW stations. Maybe you don't care, but I do...

 

[Brassfactory]

Let us know what they say. I look forward to the Electrify America network improving and the ‘plug and play’ functionality said to be available in January.

 

[evanevery]

Will someone please see if they can access a 350KW charging terminal at ANY EA station using the Charging NA App?

You don't need to actually be at the station, just use the EA app to find a station with at least one one 350KW terminal, and then use the Charging NA app to try and open up the "CCS 350KW" plugs for that station...

It appears there was an Aug 18 Update to the Android APP and I'm wondering if this capability was somehow broken. (I can see 150KW and even Chademo plugs - it just keeps showing me 150KW plugs when I request 350KW on EVERY station that I have tried (4)).

(If its a bug in the app it could very well matter if you are using the IOS or Android version!)

 

[Brassfactory]

I have done that. (I see what you mean though...currently the location I used a 350 at shows 150 in the app)

 

[Brassfactory]

I’m also pretty sure Don used 350 chargers many times in his journey (documented on this forum).

 

[evanevery]

Let us know what they say. I look forward to the Electrify America network improving and the ‘plug and play’ functionality said to be available in January.

I don't think this is an EA problem. Both terminals I tried appeared to be working and responding without issue. The gal I spoke with (at EA) said they also looked OK to her and she even reset one for me. None of this helped. This appears to be a Charging NA (Porsche) issue. I'm sure I could have gotten a 350KW charge if I paid for it, but that's not the point, is it?

 

[evanevery]

I have done that.

...and?

When did you last do this? What did you see? What version of the App were you running? What O/S are you running it on? Tell me what station you are looking at and I will try and view it as well...

 

[evanevery]

I’m also pretty sure Don used 350 chargers many times in his journey (documented on this forum).

I've already dropped him a PM...

 

[evanevery]

I have done that. (I see what you mean though...currently the location I used a 350 at shows 150 in the app)

So, when you select a 350KW "plug type", all it shows you are 150KW terminals?

Are you using the Android or IOS app? Cause the Android App doesn't appear to be working (at least for me)... If this is an APP problem, it would be helpful to know if this potentially effects BOTH Android and IOS...

 

[Brassfactory]

I have an iPhone. It doesn’t work as you describe. Currently it only lists 150kw chargers at a location I know has 350. There is no option to select 350 now, just a button to start charging. It may be, as you suggested, a bug that has crept in with an update.

But when I said I looked forward to EA improving I wasn’t referring only to this issue. People have reported many issues with their network being spotty. Fortunately they have multiple chargers at each place so usually you can get one to work. 150 is just fine for me if I’m on a long trip, since it’s rare to get maximum charge rate anyway. But I have no idea if this particular problem is EA, Porsche, or both. Software glitches can arise in a variety of ways.

 

[wemct]

So, when you select a 350KW "plug type", all it shows you are 150KW terminals?

Are you using the Android or IOS app? Cause the Android App doesn't appear to be working (at least for me)... If this is an APP problem, it would be helpful to know if this potentially effects BOTH Android and IOS...

I have the Android Charging NA app. I just looked at a location that I have used in the past with 350kW chargers. The location shows both 350kW chargers as available and I can choose them on the list to activate (it won't actually activate since the car is not connected to the charger and the app says I am not at the charger location).

What @Reg said is true. I have taken a 1000 mile roadtrip in my Taycan (3 - 350kW stops and 1 - 150kW stop b/c the 350 charger would not initiate) and have also used the EA 350kW and 150kW chargers many other times. Unless you are at a very low State of Charge (10% or less), the difference between the 350kW and 150kW chargers will be 5 to 10 minutes to get you to 85%-90% charge. Also know that many of the newest EA charging locations are 150 kW chargers (not 350kW). The more you use 350kW vs. 150 kW chargers in the real world, you will come to realize that there is very little impact on your down time between the two during your charging stops.

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