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

louv

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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.
I totally agree. I hate 50kW charging stations. (I'm spoiled by the 150 to 350kW stations!). :cool:

In general, a 150kW station, as pointed out, will get you almost as fast a charge as a 350kW station, since most of the "time spent charging" the Taycan it can't take more than 150kW anyway.
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dnanian

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Which of the stations had all those problems? Scarborough or Seabrook?
It was Seabrook. I didn't try Scarborough when I left Portland (picking up from Hunt & Alpine) since my SOC was pretty high.

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
I was definitely able to round trip from Boston, so you'll probably make it. Note that Assembly Row has a charger as well., but I don't think it's a 350.

Today my plan is to check Auburn, MA and Northborough to try to rule out the car.
 
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dnanian

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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).
I certainly did, and made the argument that they'd end up with a lot of people on flatbeds if they didn't improve the network. I didn't insist on an escalation, and they didn't offer one, nor did they take info...it was, in essence, just a "talk to the dealer" response.
 

domin1720

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Wow, just wow.

Has me reconsidering getting the Taycan or any other EV at this stage.
I have had Electrify America issues and they are super nice but certainly their newer status comes with problems, but reality is I charge overnight at home and rarely need it.

The Taycan is simply the most enjoyable driving I have ever had. DON"T let EA steer you away if you really like the car. This is my first EV and I went all in with the Taycan Turbo and I could not be happier. Amazing vehicle :muscle:
 
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dnanian

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Wow, just wow.

Has me reconsidering getting the Taycan or any other EV at this stage.
Let me also say that I was a very early Tesla owner, and they had lots of problems with their own Supercharger network years ago. They've mostly worked through that, but have an 8 year head start.

No doubt things will get better (and there are other charging networks, like Chargepoint and EVGo, to fall back on). But just be aware that the EA network can be problematic, so you should ensure you have a backup plan...something that should always be the case (even with gas - I've had some tense moments in an ICE car where a closed station almost left me stranded in the middle of nowhere).
 


louv

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One other explanation (not excuse) for the EA stations (apparently) not being Well Maintained:
It's Construction Season. The Electricians who work on these are probably local contractors, NOT full-time EA employees. So it's constructions season in New England, and they probably have lots of other jobs on their schedule.

COVID-19: There are probably issues in supply chain, spare parts, transportation, etc that are slowing down the Maintenance.

Maybe.

(NOTE: This is pure speculation, not actual facts)
 

louv

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One other partially relevant comment:

EA doesn’t make their own charging stations, they source them from FOUR different companies. So, they aren’t directly at fault if the charging stations don’t work (due to software problems).

Just saying.
 
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dnanian

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One other partially relevant comment:

EA doesn’t make their own charging stations, they source them from FOUR different companies. So, they aren’t directly at fault if the charging stations don’t work (due to software problems).

Just saying.
So, I drove out to Auburn, MA to see if the EA site there worked. It did not - I tried all eight chargers, 350kW and 150kW, and all failed in a variety of ways - errors 25005, 4400, 10025. Was on the line with EA the whole time after the first failure, but everything we tried failed.

The EVgo charger at the same location, while only 50kW, works fine. I'm getting enough charge there to get home, and then I'll try the Northborough charger, which I think is by a different company. This one is the same as the Seabrook one - starts with an e, hoop at the top, chargers on the sides.

The EVgo charger here is an ABB.

Note, too, that as a special bonus feature, the chargers are positioned so the sun shines directly on the screens, they were covered with dirt and sand, and the combination made the screen virtually unreadable. A petty complaint, yes.

Off to Northborough.
 


epirali

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Note, too, that as a special bonus feature, the chargers are positioned so the sun shines directly on the screens, they were covered with dirt and sand, and the combination made the screen virtually unreadable. A petty complaint, yes.

Off to Northborough.
Petty until the heat from the sun thermally shuts off the credit card reader and you can't pay...
 
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dnanian

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So, at Northborough they had a different kind of charger: these were a similar shape, but the connector plugged into the front - a Canadian charger, I think.

Instead of error codes, these chargers produced an actual message. And there were four different ones, all of which point to some sort of issue with the car.

Mostly there was VEHICLE_TIMEOUT and Communication_Failed. Once there was a privilege error. And then there was "VEHICLE_CHARGER_INTERNAL_ERROR". All are relatively ominous.

Weird that it charges at 50kW without any problem at two different EVgo chargers, but there's definitely something weird going on, and I don't think it's Electrify America.

Dealer has bubbled the info up, so we'll see where we get.
 

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Could it be that the 50 kW charger is a 400 volt charger and the EA chargers are all 800 volt?? In such case you might have a fault in the 800 volt charger on the car?
 
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dnanian

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Could it be that the 50 kW charger is a 400 volt charger and the EA chargers are all 800 volt?? In such case you might have a fault in the 800 volt charger on the car?
It's quite possible - even likely. The car itself doesn't flag a fault, though, which is curious.
 

louv

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So, I drove out to Auburn, MA to see if the EA site there worked. It did not - I tried all eight chargers, 350kW and 150kW, and all failed in a variety of ways - errors 25005, 4400, 10025. Was on the line with EA the whole time after the first failure, but everything we tried failed.

The EVgo charger at the same location, while only 50kW, works fine. I'm getting enough charge there to get home, and then I'll try the Northborough charger, which I think is by a different company. This one is the same as the Seabrook one - starts with an e, hoop at the top, chargers on the sides.

The EVgo charger here is an ABB.

Note, too, that as a special bonus feature, the chargers are positioned so the sun shines directly on the screens, they were covered with dirt and sand, and the combination made the screen virtually unreadable. A petty complaint, yes.

Off to Northborough.
So, I took an afternoon drive to see if I could reproduce the problems at Seabrook, NH.

As I arrived, the local electrician was there on a repair call. He was testing Pad #4, and it was not failing for him. However, they have a bunch of diagnostic logs saying the users were disconnecting.

I tried to charge at #4 four times. All four times it started charging then stopped. Error code said user had canceled session. But clearly I hadn’t.

The tech tried a few things. His test equipment hadn’t found a problem because it automatically passes the test after 7 seconds. The car tests failed after 15-90 seconds.

All other stations (#1,2,3) worked fine for my car.

My conclusion (based on your tests and mine) is that your car has a problem.

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