Near disaster, but is it charger(s) or car? (UPDATE: it's the car)

dnanian

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Just took my first long roadtrip from home near Boston up to Ogunquit, ME - then to Portland and then back home. I figured I'd see how the range estimate was, and how much more than the obviously ridiculous EPA rating I could achive.

Good things first: I made this drive without any problem, going mostly at the speed limit (which is 70 in ME) , 244 miles according to the trip-o-meter, with 54 miles left according to the guess-o-meter.

That seems about right, and was a mix of highway, city and rural driving. I think that's more than I ever achieved with my Tesla Model S P85.

But now the bad part: Electrify America.

There are only two EA chargers anywhere near this route. One is in Scarborough, ME, and the other is in Seabrook, NH.

Even though I had enough charge to get home, I figured I would give the EA charger a try, just to see how it worked.

First off, one of the four chargers (each with two cables) was dead, and it was oen of the 350kW units.

I tried the other 350kW unit first. It failed four times with error 85005 (as I recall). I called EA at that point, and they said it was a "communication problem" and reset the charger, but that didn't work. So, we tried charger #4, which was a 150kW charger.

Moved the car and tried that. Error again, 85005. Tried a few more times. Same thing.

Moved to the next charger - another 150kW. That one had a cable that was replaced wrong, and due to recent rain was full of water. Trying that gave error -1. Three times.

Finally tried the other lead on the 350kW charger that we started with. Same error - 85005.

So, four chargers, seven cables (one was CHADemo), three "working". Total of five potential charges, no success.

Had I arrived with a 5% charge, it would have meant a tow.

Now, I have no idea if the problem was my car or EA. This was my first DC fast charge attempt. But you'd think a new car wouldn't have a basic problem like that.

I know it's early days, but without a viable fast charge network, it's hard to see how EA and their partners - including the whole VW group - can possibly succeed. For me, this was a mild annoyance due to the wasted time. But what if I had needed the power?
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glennkreisel

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Just took my first long roadtrip from home near Boston up to Ogunquit, ME - then to Portland and then back home. I figured I'd see how the range estimate was, and how much more than the obviously ridiculous EPA rating I could achive.

Good things first: I made this drive without any problem, going mostly at the speed limit (which is 70 in ME) , 244 miles according to the trip-o-meter, with 54 miles left according to the guess-o-meter.

That seems about right, and was a mix of highway, city and rural driving. I think that's more than I ever achieved with my Tesla Model S P85.

But now the bad part: Electrify America.

There are only two EA chargers anywhere near this route. One is in Scarborough, ME, and the other is in Seabrook, NH.

Even though I had enough charge to get home, I figured I would give the EA charger a try, just to see how it worked.

First off, one of the four chargers (each with two cables) was dead, and it was oen of the 350kW units.

I tried the other 350kW unit first. It failed four times with error 85005 (as I recall). I called EA at that point, and they said it was a "communication problem" and reset the charger, but that didn't work. So, we tried charger #4, which was a 150kW charger.

Moved the car and tried that. Error again, 85005. Tried a few more times. Same thing.

Moved to the next charger - another 150kW. That one had a cable that was replaced wrong, and due to recent rain was full of water. Trying that gave error -1. Three times.

Finally tried the other lead on the 350kW charger that we started with. Same error - 85005.

So, four chargers, seven cables (one was CHADemo), three "working". Total of five potential charges, no success.

Had I arrived with a 5% charge, it would have meant a tow.

Now, I have no idea if the problem was my car or EA. This was my first DC fast charge attempt. But you'd think a new car wouldn't have a basic problem like that.

I know it's early days, but without a viable fast charge network, it's hard to see how EA and their partners - including the whole VW group - can possibly succeed. For me, this was a mild annoyance due to the wasted time. But what if I had needed the power?
The more I hear about the EA network the more it seems pathetic, useless. Why so unmaintained? How does Porsche and VW think they will sell mass consumer cars? Maybe they really don’t care and just want the PR of selling EVs. Not the practicality of using EVs. Seems so short sighted.
 

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Sounds quite bad that so many chargers should be out of service. Try another place to see if it was the charger / cables or your car? It would be good to go to Porsche service and ask them to check the car.
 
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dnanian

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Sounds quite bad that so many chargers should be out of service. Try another place to see if it was the charger / cables or your car? It would be good to go to Porsche service and ask them to check the car.
I would have tried another EA charger had there been one I could have reached. I'm going to do a light charge of the car this morning at home and head to two others within 50 miles to see if I can get a successful session.
 

epirali

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Just took my first long roadtrip from home near Boston up to Ogunquit, ME - then to Portland and then back home. I figured I'd see how the range estimate was, and how much more than the obviously ridiculous EPA rating I could achive.

Good things first: I made this drive without any problem, going mostly at the speed limit (which is 70 in ME) , 244 miles according to the trip-o-meter, with 54 miles left according to the guess-o-meter.

That seems about right, and was a mix of highway, city and rural driving. I think that's more than I ever achieved with my Tesla Model S P85.

But now the bad part: Electrify America.

There are only two EA chargers anywhere near this route. One is in Scarborough, ME, and the other is in Seabrook, NH.

Even though I had enough charge to get home, I figured I would give the EA charger a try, just to see how it worked.

First off, one of the four chargers (each with two cables) was dead, and it was oen of the 350kW units.

I tried the other 350kW unit first. It failed four times with error 85005 (as I recall). I called EA at that point, and they said it was a "communication problem" and reset the charger, but that didn't work. So, we tried charger #4, which was a 150kW charger.

Moved the car and tried that. Error again, 85005. Tried a few more times. Same thing.

Moved to the next charger - another 150kW. That one had a cable that was replaced wrong, and due to recent rain was full of water. Trying that gave error -1. Three times.

Finally tried the other lead on the 350kW charger that we started with. Same error - 85005.

So, four chargers, seven cables (one was CHADemo), three "working". Total of five potential charges, no success.

Had I arrived with a 5% charge, it would have meant a tow.

Now, I have no idea if the problem was my car or EA. This was my first DC fast charge attempt. But you'd think a new car wouldn't have a basic problem like that.

I know it's early days, but without a viable fast charge network, it's hard to see how EA and their partners - including the whole VW group - can possibly succeed. For me, this was a mild annoyance due to the wasted time. But what if I had needed the power?
This has been my experience also, and they will just give you lip service. I will not rely on them at all, the same reported charging stations will remain broken for weeks. Please I encourage you to call Porsche Customer Service, report your experience and tell them how having bought a Taycan for its fast charging ability how EA station had all failures and you were almost stranded. When I dI’d this they actually seem to care and take it seriously. They will ask you for the station ids that didn’t work.

I think we all need to do this.

Sounds quite bad that so many chargers should be out of service. Try another place to see if it was the charger / cables or your car? It would be good to go to Porsche service and ask them to check the car.
He can, but his car is just fine. This is a characteristic of EA network here in the US, like most things it has the APPEARANCE of a functional system, but its just for show. I even have had similar experiences with both my I-Pace and Taycan at the EA headquarters in Virginia. That should tell you something when the chargers in their national headquarters don’t work. They are a complete joke, and it has been like this for well over a year.
 


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dnanian

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This has been my experience also, and they will just give you lip service. I will not rely on them at all, the same reported charging stations will remain broken for weeks. Please I encourage you to call Porsche Customer Service, report your experience and tell them how having bought a Taycan for its fast charging ability how EA station had all failures and you were almost stranded. When I dI’d this they actually seem to care and take it seriously. They will ask you for the station ids that didn’t work.

I think we all need to do this.
Have you been able to determine what the errors mean? Did you get the same ones? (The EA rep said both were "communication problems" which is about as generic as it gets.)
 

epirali

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Have you been able to determine what the errors mean? Did you get the same ones? (The EA rep said both were "communication problems" which is about as generic as it gets.)
No, and there is no point. These are “error codes” from the EA charger hardware. There are handshakes and protocols between the car and charger to establish power delivery rates. So who knows what is “failing” in the EA system. They did the same things, reboot, move from station to station etc. I believe their 800v charging systems are garbage, and their 400v systems work better. But then I would not need a Taycan. I also have had where their credit card system won’t work so you can’t initiate a charge. Trust me don’t waste you time with them, call Porsche Customer Service.
 

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I had the same issue with EA chargers at the Sam's in Fort Worth. I went by to see if they were working and fortunately I didn't need a charge. Of the 4 chargers, 2 had blank panels (dead), and the other 2 had working panels, but the chargers showed as unavailable. I called EA and got the apology and promise to fix. Useless!
 


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dnanian

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Trust me don’t waste you time with them, call Porsche Customer Service.
I did, and while they were perfectly nice and expressed sympathy their response was basically "contact your dealer".
 

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Just took my first long roadtrip from home near Boston up to Ogunquit, ME - then to Portland and then back home.
...
But now the bad part: Electrify America.

There are only two EA chargers anywhere near this route. One is in Scarborough, ME, and the other is in Seabrook, NH.
...
But what if I had needed the power?
Bummer of an experience.

Which of the stations had all those problems? Scarborough or Seabrook?

I’m assuming Seabrook since Scarborough has more 350kW stations.

I’ll pass this on to the head of Customer Service at EA and see if I can get a timeframe for repairs. Because if I head down to Boston I’ll need that station operational

You are welcome to use my L2 charging station in Portland (yeah... I know, too slow).

Don
 

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Wow, just wow.

Has me reconsidering getting the Taycan or any other EV at this stage.
The charging network isn't perfect. But that a rare case (in my experience). 50% of the time, ONE of the stations is out of service or misbehaving. But I always found that one of the other stations worked.

(exceptions: The station in Kamloops where I blew the circuit by using the charger and took out a gas station and an A&W... good times...but hey, that's Canada... and we Americans aren't allowed there anymore... not my fault, I swear. But I digress.)

Don't be frightened away. But also, realize this is still early in the EV game. Distance traveling requires a sense of adventure. And preparedness.
 

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Wow, just wow.

Has me reconsidering getting the Taycan or any other EV at this stage.
While I have also had some issues with the EA chargers, I have had more positive experiences than negative ones. At one location the EA representative could not get the 350kW charger to communicate with the car and asked me to use the 150kW instead. Initially, I was not too happy due to the rate of charge. However, I was able to achieve a similar SOC with only an additional 10 minutes of time at the charging location (about 35 minutes vs 25 minutes). It is still important to keep the pressure on Porsche and EA to improve the infrastructure, but I have not been stranded at the locations I have used.
 

epirali

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I did, and while they were perfectly nice and expressed sympathy their response was basically "contact your dealer".
that’s weird when I have called and explained they had me talk to a manager, collected information, and understood why it’s a big deal. Specially if you point out it’s a feature of the Taycan (270k charging).

@louv I agree there are solutions but there is a big difference in charging at 50KW vs 150KW. I hesitate to recommend EVs as long drive vehicles just for this reason.
 

louv

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I had the same issue with EA chargers at the Sam's in Fort Worth. I went by to see if they were working and fortunately I didn't need a charge. Of the 4 chargers, 2 had blank panels (dead), and the other 2 had working panels, but the chargers showed as unavailable. I called EA and got the apology and promise to fix. Useless!
Travel Tip: If you get a charger that seems to be working, but the PORSCHE APP says it isn't available, that's a Porsche problem, not EA. You can switch to the EA App and Activate the Charging Session. You will be charged (on your EA account), but then you can call Porsche Customer Service and have them credit you for the fees associated with that session.
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