[JRRF]

I doubt any chargers will free up simply by eliminating the "free" tier. As EVs become more common the availability will decrease at the current rate of things.

Yes. But currently with all these free deals out there, plenty of people occupy chargers near their homes to fill up rather than doing so at home. This is particularly true for chargers at shopping centers. What's most galling about that is these are people with expensive cars, who are killing 30 minutes of their time to save maybe $5-10. It's the same psychology with buying gas (which people are very price sensitive about). Well to do people will drive out of their way to reach a gas station and save 5 cents/gallon -- a whole dollar saved on a fill up. The behavior is weird, but is well known.

 

[soylentgreen33]

I have found Teslas using completely full EA stations when a nearly empty Supercharger is nearby. They do so because EA is significantly cheaper. Some of us find it irritating when Tesla has a "superior" network available for their cars and the drivers take up one or our limited spots just to save a buck or two.

Yeah, I have to say, I was just irritated. It was clear that the Ioniq 5 and VW ID4 were just using their free charge to top all the way up to or over 80 and with the Tesla up to 100. I can say until Tesla's network is open to all, I will still be irritated by Teslas at EA stations, just saying. Waiting for 20 or 30 minutes while these yahoos topped up, barely managing 5-30KW when all I needed was a few minutes so I wouldn't arrive home with less than 5% was just upsetting. I also have issue with EA only having 3 or 4 stations. I know future locations are supposed to have at least 6, but when are they going to retrofit and add a few more units to existing sites?

(Edit)
Oh and to be fully clear, we'd already been to 2 EA's that were full with others waiting and an EVGO that no longer existed, so maybe I was just venting a little..

 

[AMIRZA786]

Yeah, I have to say, I was just irritated. It was clear that the Ioniq 5 and VW ID4 were just using their free charge to top all the way up to or over 80 and with the Tesla up to 100. I can say until Tesla's network is open to all, I will still be irritated by Teslas at EA stations, just saying. Waiting for 20 or 30 minutes while these yahoos topped up, barely managing 5-30KW when all I needed was a few minutes so I wouldn't arrive home with less than 5% was just upsetting. I also have issue with EA only having 3 or 4 stations. I know future locations are supposed to have at least 6, but when are they going to retrofit and add a few more units to existing sites?

I've yet to see a Tesla at an EA station. I've used different EA's in San Jose, Milpitas and Fremont (at the Milpitas EA Tesla has a network right across). I've used EA's travelling to SoCal, and in SoCal I've used EA's in Ontario, Orange County and LA. The way Tesla charges is by time of day...between 9PM to 4PM the rate is between .17 cents and .22 cents per kWh and between 4pm and 9PM it can be up to .58 cents per kWh (peak rates). I usually see Tesla's charge at Great Mall in Milpitas at the lunch hour where they are getting the lower rates.

I barely want to use a slow ass EA charger, not sure why a Tesla owner would unless they let their charge go too low and are desperate

 

[JRRF]

Since when can Teslas use DCFC connections? I thought they only had an adapter for L2 CCS.

 

[soylentgreen33]

Since when can Teslas use DCFC connections? I thought they only had an adapter for L2 CCS.

They had what appeared to be one of these: Lectron CCS Charger Adapter for Tesla - For Tesla Owners Only - Fast Charge Your Tesla with CCS Chargers (Black)Default Title

I've yet to see a Tesla at an EA station. I've used different EA's in San Jose, Milpitas and Fremont (at the Milpitas EA Tesla has a network right across). I've used EA's travelling to SoCal, and in SoCal I've used EA's in Ontario, Orange County and LA. The way Tesla charges is by time of day...between 9PM to 4PM the rate is between .17 cents and .22 cents per kWh and between 4pm and 9PM it can be up to .58 cents per kWh (peak rates). I usually see Tesla's charge at Great Mall in Milpitas at the lunch hour where they are getting the lower rates.

I barely want to use a slow ass EA charger, not sure why a Tesla owner would unless they let their charge go too low and are desperate

I see Teslas charging at EA quite frequently here in Southwest Riverside county and North San Diego County, during the day as well at night.

 

[darkmode]

Yes. But currently with all these free deals out there, plenty of people occupy chargers near their homes to fill up rather than doing so at home. This is particularly true for chargers at shopping centers. What's most galling about that is these are people with expensive cars, who are killing 30 minutes of their time to save maybe $5-10. It's the same psychology with buying gas (which people are very price sensitive about). Well to do people will drive out of their way to reach a gas station and save 5 cents/gallon -- a whole dollar saved on a fill up. The behavior is weird, but is well known.

I get what you're saying...I think. But I don't think this is a freetard situation. It's cashing in on the enticement to purchase an EV bundled with a huge payout from a mega corporation got caught lying and scaming the government and customers out of millions? of dollars. Without those two I doubt we would see the DC fast charging footprint we see today.

Personally I'm glad that I don't have to be limited to 50kW (fast) charging at the likes of EVGo.

 

[chrisjj_2]

I have the EA free plan as I have the 2022 PS2 but the other day, I was billed $9 for my charging session in San Francisco essentially because the Android App wasn't working and is generally buggy. After repositioning the car three times to be able to finally access what looked like a functioning charging station, even though it was available as far as the charger screen before I plugged it in, the app was telling me it was unavailable in that the charging station was greyed out in the app with the message 'in use'. So, I figured I could use my phone's NFC to tap on the charger and EA would know from my phone number and running app that I have the free plan, but no, it just triggered my Google Pay and billed my credit card. After the charge I phoned EA and requested a refund which took about 20 minutes on the phone to process as she had to enter the details manually, and the representative said that it needs to be submitted for approval: this was a week ago, and I have still not received neither and email nor the refund. The kicker was that the EA representative said that if my app is Android, I should always force stop and clear the cache before using it, and I should make sure the app is open and in view before tapping on charger with the phone. What an absolute farce.

 

[AMIRZA786]

I have the EA free plan as I have the 2022 PS2 but the other day, I was billed $9 for my charging session in San Francisco essentially because the Android App wasn't working and is generally buggy. After repositioning the car three times to be able to finally access what looked like a functioning charging station, even though it was available as far as the charger screen before I plugged it in, the app was telling me it was unavailable in that the charging station was greyed out in the app with the message 'in use'. So, I figured I could use my phone's NFC to tap on the charger and EA would know from my phone number and running app that I have the free plan, but no, it just triggered my Google Pay and billed my credit card. After the charge I phoned EA and requested a refund which took about 20 minutes on the phone to process as she had to enter the details manually, and the representative said that it needs to be submitted for approval: this was a week ago, and I have still not received neither and email nor the refund. The kicker was that the EA representative said that if my app is Android, I should always force stop and clear the cache before using it, and I should make sure the app is open and in view before tapping on charger with the phone. What an absolute farce.

That's the other thing...tap to pay has only worked twice and I can't get it to work, even though I reboot the phone, open the app, etc. Also for some reason, now I have to manually search for the location so I can select the charger I'm using. I have no idea why the app no longer automatically picks up the EA location. Multiple calls to support, and still no answer. Thus, the title of this post

 

[JRRF]

I get what you're saying...I think. But I don't think this is a freetard situation. It's cashing in on the enticement to purchase an EV bundled with a huge payout from a mega corporation got caught lying and scaming the government and customers out of millions? of dollars. Without those two I doubt we would see the DC fast charging footprint we see today.

I wish I had a dollar for every person I've talked to at an EA charger who was a local just sucking up free juice.

I should make sure the app is open and in view before tapping on charger with the phone. What an absolute farce.

I've always had to have the app open.

 

[AMIRZA786]

I wish I had a dollar for every person I've talked to at an EA charger who was a local just sucking up free juice.


I've always had to have the app open.

Free is good

 

[in2insight]

That's the other thing...tap to pay has only worked twice and I can't get it to work, even though I reboot the phone, open the app, etc. Also for some reason, now I have to manually search for the location so I can select the charger I'm using. I have no idea why the app no longer automatically picks up the EA location. Multiple calls to support, and still no answer. Thus, the title of this post

I had the same issue with the tap to pay and here is what works for me:
NOT tapping the phone backside like in any other location but rather, tap the top of the phone to the reader.
This has solved it for me but your miles may differ...

 

[Mick]

I have seen Teslas charging at EA stations several times but at stations just off the interstate. Not sure if there were also superchargers nearby. No one was waiting though and there was at least one open charger. No big deal here as of yet. And even though I get free EA electrons for another 8 months or so, I can't be bothered to go there to charge - even if I'm having to pull off the grid (cloudy/night so not from solar) it's just so much more convenient to charge at home. And I'm also one of those people who wouldn't drive 3 extra miles to save 5 cents a gallon for gas. My time is worth more to me than the savings.

 

[Sinister_Crayon]

I wish I had a dollar for every person I've talked to at an EA charger who was a local just sucking up free juice.

I mean... free is good... but man, what do these people do for fun if their idea of a good time is to go sit in a Wal Mart parking lot for 30 minutes every few days?!? I love free stuff as much as the next guy but I am not going to drive 20 minutes to my nearest EA just to sit in a car park for 30 minutes for that. Give me my cheap home electric and my wall unit so I can sit cozy in my own living room with a cup of tea if I need to charge LOL

 

[AMIRZA786]

I mean... free is good... but man, what do these people do for fun if their idea of a good time is to go sit in a Wal Mart parking lot for 30 minutes every few days?!? I love free stuff as much as the next guy but I am not going to drive 20 minutes to my nearest EA just to sit in a car park for 30 minutes for that. Give me my cheap home electric and my wall unit so I can sit cozy in my own living room with a cup of tea if I need to charge LOL

99.9 percent of the time I charge at home, I only use EA chargers while travelling. But SoCal is WAY bigger than the Bay area and there is probably a bigger need for Fast chargers for peoples everyday commute. My charge can easily last a week, but when I'm in SoCal, you can easily do 100 miles in a day commuting, visiting someone etc. Last summer when I was in SoCal, I literally did over 1000 miles in a 5 day stretch! My brother lives in Eastvale (Riverside County), my other brother lives in Redondo beach, my sister lives in Torrance (Los Angeles county), my daughter was going to school at UC Irvine (Orange county) so I had to depend on Fast chargers to keep me going.

I'm actually thinking of buying and installing a L2 charger at my brothers house so I can charge there. He has solar, so I can bum some of his sun power! It will pay itself off from the time not wasting going to EA chargers

 

[Cephas]

99.9 percent of the time I charge at home, I only use EA chargers while travelling. But SoCal is WAY bigger than the Bay area and there is probably a bigger need for Fast chargers for peoples everyday commute. My charge can easily last a week, but when I'm in SoCal, you can easily do 100 miles in a day commuting, visiting someone etc. Last summer when I was in SoCal, I literally did over 1000 miles in a 5 day stretch! My brother lives in Eastvale (Riverside County), my other brother lives in Redondo beach, my sister lives in Torrance (Los Angeles county), my daughter was going to school at UC Irvine (Orange county) so I had to depend on Fast chargers to keep me going.

I'm actually thinking of buying and installing a L2 charger at my brothers house so I can charge there. He has solar, so I can bum some of his sun power! It will pay itself off from the time not wasting going to EA chargers

You can just install a NEMA 14-50 first and use your cable to top off when you visit -- that's what I'm doing at my Mom's house (repurposing our 1980s hot tub wiring, which I found out last week was 6 gauge on the visible lengths, 8 gauge under the house, and no GFCI.)

The EA station near her, which was finished about a year ago, has yet to open and I'm also tired of fighting for slots with the local lunchers and shoppers at the other stations near there.

 

[AMIRZA786]

You can just install a NEMA 14-50 first and use your cable to top off when you visit -- that's what I'm doing at my Mom's house (repurposing our 1980s hot tub wiring, which I found out last week was 6 gauge on the visible lengths, 8 gauge under the house, and no GFCI.)

The EA station near her, which was finished about a year ago, has yet to open and I'm also tired of fighting for slots with the local lunchers and shoppers at the other stations near there.

That's actually a good idea, I can just use the existing charging cable and save the $400 for a L2 charger. Thanks man, I completely forgot it comes with a NEMA 14-50 adapter!

 

[ThunderEyes]

I've been traveling back and forth from the Bay Area to Kern County (Bakersfield area) for the past 8 months - up to 13k miles on the car from that time. I prefer to charge in Lost Hills and Panoche Shell EA stations because they're positioned optimally for the range of the P*2. However, both sites routinely have half of their chargers broken, which frequently leads to lines of cars. Only way I can avoid this problem is to drive late at night.

 

[davenport]

Calling Electrify America to report the broken chargers seems to be more effective than reporting in the app.
EA will reboot the machines that are hung-up on a bad session and that works most of the time, plus you get to watch the background boot process.
If you see the red X on both sides a call probably will not work, but it seems to be the fastest way to schedule a tech to repair for the next person.

 

[Cephas]

Calling Electrify America to report the broken chargers seems to be more effective than reporting in the app. The reports through the app do not seem to be as effective.
EA will reboot the machines that are hung-up on a bad session and that works most of the time, plus you get to watch the background boot process.
If you see the red X on both then they likely need to schedule a tech to repair.

Yes, they answer and are quite nice actually and are able to reboot the chargers and rectify some things with the accounts. Reminds me of what I was hoping for when I bought a certain car last year that boldly promised "remote diagnostics".

 

[stockae92]

Charging at EA station are always exciting. You never know if what you get, if they are up or not. 😅

doesn’t matter what the app or the charging station screen tell you, there is always a chance that the charging doesn’t work.

and it seems like it’s getting worse and worse.