EA: Give 'em hell (that's what they want)

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SparkE

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https://electrek.co/2019/11/26/interview-electrify-america-chargers/

Interview: Electrify America expects you to raise hell if chargers don’t work
- Nov. 26th 2019 2:33 pm ET


Curse Electrify America (EA) if you want. Giovanni Palazzo, the CEO of the nationwide charging network, invites criticism if you have a terrible experience at an EA location. We spent a full hour last week with Palazzo, and COO Brendan Jones, discussing the challenges of creating an open nationwide network of ultra-fast EV chargers. Electrify America has made a lot of progress, but its leaders admit it has a long way to go to serve the next generation of EV drivers.


Palazzo told us that the company has commissioned about 341 sites, a rate of about one location per day in the past year. He highlighted that most of these stations offer 150-kW and 350-kW chargers with liquid-cooled cables.

Palazzo explained that the company’s top leadership looks at every single PlugShare comment about an EA charging event. According to Giovanni, 56% of EA check-ins are ranked between 9 and 10 ­— and 27% are between 7 and 9. But what gets his attention are the reported problems.

We do a root cause analysis to understand the KPIs for our network. When we have crashes, we define the fixes.

We cluster every single ticket into a category. In each category, it’s time and cost. We need to go on the site immediately and add a fix within 24 hours.

It’s about the team’s ability to understand what’s going on minute by minute.


Palazzo praised what Tesla was able to do with its SuperChargers network over the past seven years. “What they did was fantastic,” he said. “We are trying to do the same on the CCS side as an open network for every single car in the market.” To be fair, the complexity of building a network obviously increases if you’re accommodating every new EV, and doing it at a breakneck speed.

But we didn’t let Electrify America off the hook. Our round of questions started with why it’s taking so long to get fast chargers on main highway routes, like I-5 between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Harris Ranch was the location for Tesla’s very first Supercharger, but EA still isn’t live there.

Gaps in the map

“We had to work hard on Harris Ranch. It took a while to get that agreement written on top of the Tesla agreement and for them to allocate space,” said Jones. He explained that Harris Ranch had to allocate additional space and give up more parking spaces. “But it’s now in build,” Jones confirmed.

Palazzo asked for patience:

We started 15 months ago. Give us a couple of weeks to be everywhere. After 15 months of operation, the distance between sites is, on average, 70 miles. On the highway, the highest range is 120 miles.

Palazzo and Jones outlined Electrify America’s methodology for choosing a charging location, which includes a gap analysis to discover where distances between chargers are still too long.

The organization’s efforts recently shifted from highway infrastructure to cities. The team looks at zip codes based on projected EV sales. Then they analyze how “friendly” the local utility is regarding fees for high demand and the local authorities are for permitting. “There’s a lot of complexity,” said Palazzo. Specific sites need to have amenities, such as good lighting, a bathroom, and 24/7 services.

“Sometimes, they want to put you in the back by the dumpster,” Jones said. “We prohibit that. It has to be on front sightlines.” If the conditions aren’t met, Electrify America walks away.

Fastest charging so far

On the day we met with Electrify America, the team could see that a Porsche Taycan had charged in Burbank, California, at 247 kilowatts. The highest rate they’ve seen is 286 kilowatts.

On the previous Friday afternoon, at a location in Pennsylvania, three Audi e-trons simultaneously charged at 150 kilowatts. “It was no problem,” said Palazzo. “Every charger delivered at normal capacity.”

The drivers paid about $20 each, but the bill from the local utility for so-called demand charges to the network totaled a shocking $1,300 — just for that session. Palazzo said that EA is adding battery storage to more than 100 of its locations, but it’s only enough to mitigate about 30% of those high-demand costs.

Jones called for more utility rate reform, like what Southern California Edison authorized last year. “We need more of them across the United States,” he said. “The negative impact of demand charges remains the dirty little secret behind the scene that nobody really wants to talk about.”

Electrify America faces other problems that impatient EV fans might see as excuses. Getting a building permit takes 73 days, on average, in California — compared to 55 days as a national average. Change orders are rampant causing further delays, sometimes based on local officials not liking the “aesthetics.”

One of the biggest problems is faulty credit-card readers. Not only do many of Electrify America’s stations have connectivity problems, but even when a connection is made, a charging session can be dropped halfway through. That’s because the financial session is open until a final payment amount is determined. The connection gets lost in the middle, causing the driver to start all over again. Using the Electrify America app solves the problem.

Other bugs include miscommunication between the vehicle and the charger. E-tron drivers have been unable to remove the cord after the session is completed. (That problem was on the vehicle side. Audi separately told us that a software update will be deployed this week to solve the issue.)

Jones said that “two more fixes” for the credit-card issue will be put in place by the end of this year.

Problems like these are partly why Electrify America has multiple charging stations at each location. If one fails, try another. “It’s the gas pump with the bag on it,” said Jones. “We are working to avoid customers moving from one charger to another.”

The long-term fix is plug-and-charge, based on the ISO 15118 standard. Tesla drivers roll up to a SuperCharger, plug in, and the payment happens in the background. Electrify America is working to install the same approach “on the network side.” But it doesn’t mean that every EV on the market will make the necessary handshake or set up its systems to complete a credit-card payment.

Every new EV buyer should ask: “Is this car compliant for 15118 plug-and-charge?”

Palazzo told us that EA has seen its first end-to-end, plug-and-charge transactions in action. And the company’s Herndon, Virginia-based labs are overbooked, with OEMs coming in to test all charging protocols.

Electrek’s Take

Everything we heard from Palazzo and Jones gave us hope about Electrify America’s progress. Of course, it doesn’t mean that all of the charging network’s problems will be solved tomorrow. But EV adoption is relying on Electrify America and its 150-kW and 350-kW chargers to get the kinks worked out as fast as possible — ahead of the faster-charging EVs coming soon.

The extent to which EA can get things fixed depends partly on EV drivers. “We take Palazzo at his word when he says this: We read every single PlugShare comment. Every single one. No kidding. We look every single time when every customer says what is going on.”

If you have a great experience at an Electrify America station, say so in a PlugShare comment. But more importantly, if you encounter a problem or don’t like the experience in any way, raise hell in the PlugShare comment. It’s a direct line to the people who can fix it.
 
The two or three times I have tried to use EA in Southern California, I have trouble withthe creditcard reader and the last time did notwork at all.

I have to remember to order a fob.

I continue to experience good results from my monthly subscription to EVGo
 
I have heard that the credit card readers at EA suck (i.e., they often don't work).

However, I have also heard that if you sign up for an account at EA then you can use their app to start charging, and that works a lot better.

EA (like EVgo) has a "free" (no monthly charge) membership, as well as a "pay" (monthly) subscription membership. Both EA memberships allow use of the app to start a charge, I believe (as well as showing "which/how many chargers are free at that location").

I have never used an EA charger. Once they are more dependable, and more prevalent, I might. At the moment, they are about the cheapest charging network - if you don't count "free" ;).
 
SparkE said:
I have heard that the credit card readers at EA suck (i.e., they often don't work).

That explains the similar problems I was encountering.

Once they are more dependable, and more prevalent, I might. At the moment, they are about the cheapest charging network - if you don't count "free" ;).
I agree and ordered the $0 per month account which is more expensive to use than my EVGo account.
 
Yeah, but if you use it 4 times a month, the 4 "connection fees" are the same as the $4 monthly fee for the subscription account (and the rates go down to $0.18/min).

Through CSAA one can get a FREE 'subscription' account from EVgo - I think I posted the link on this site.

Comparing the two ($0.18/min @EA, $0.23/EVgo), it seems that the break-even point would be when the $0.05 difference adds up to the $4 sub fee for EA, so 80 kWh. Of course, that supposes that all of the EVgo units can pump 55 kW into the Bolt (and they don't, the opposite is actually true: many EVgo DCFCs are 100A, and some are 125A delivering about 38 kW and 45 kW, respectively). Most EA sites have 150 kW (250A) or better DCFCs. So while the per-minute cost may be higher (if you have $1 connect fees or pro-rate the sub fee), one is getting more electricity per minute (while charging, up to around 50-55% SoC). Probably more of an issue during longer trips than during Uber driving (I would imagine more charges starting at 10% when driving 400 miles than when doing Uber trips).

However, it doesn't matter much if they can't be turned on, or they aren't in the area(s) that one drives. The EA map for the L.A. area is starting to fill in (the SF Bay Area isn't anywhere near as filled in, yet).
 
.
Some tough love from another thread:

BoltEV wrote:
I just tried an Electrify America 350Kw charger yesterday in Mojave and was disappointed to see a 34Kw charging rate on the dashboard when EVGo gives me 45!

I've had the exact same issue with EA chargers in the SF Bay Area.
Yet I'm seeing reports on Plugshare showing an Audi e-tron getting 150kW.

Pretty disappointing considering their nameplate and all the hype around higher EA charger kW ratings.

-- It feels like VW is pushing a proprietary DCFC network out primarily for their own cars .. similar to the way Tesla does.

IMO: Not a good way to introduce EV adoption to the mass market.

AJ
 
AyeJay said:
.IMO: Not a good way to introduce EV adoption to the mass market.
The EA network is a result of the settlement of VW’s fraudulent diesel emissions scandal, so their motivation may be muted.

Not unlike when the EVGo network was initiated as part of the State of California vs NRG ten year litigation over the fraudulent Enron induced brownouts in California back in 2000.

Their consumer-friendliness grew dramatically aftrr NRG sold it off.
 
AyeJay said:
Pretty disappointing considering their nameplate and all the hype around higher EA charger kW ratings.

-- It feels like VW is pushing a proprietary DCFC network out primarily for their own cars .. similar to the way Tesla does.
(10/23/2021 update) ..

After a recent 2000 mile trip with my 2020 Bolt EV I'm revising my opinion here ..

I'm pleased to report that charging at Electrify America locations worked out well and I averaged 55kW at their DCFC units over a dozen separate sessions. I joined their $4/month plan to get the good pricing as was suggested here and used the EA app to start charging sessions.

I'm actually very grateful for the continuous Pacific Coast (Interstate 5) network they've created! Completing the trip from SF bay area to the Canadian border and back would have been more difficult, more expensive without them .. THANK YOU EA! ..

-- It's great to see MANY more chargers available than was the case seven years ago when I first joined the EV community.

AJ
 
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