Electrify America vs BMW i3-REx

Discussion in 'General' started by bwilson4web, Aug 24, 2018.

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  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web Well-Known Member Subscriber

    August 1, I drove to Manchester TN to try the new Electrify American (VW diesel penalty) charging station. It was awkward but after about 15-20 minuets, I was able to get a charge started. So I took a break and came back to find it had stopped at about 44%. I restarted it and completed the charge but there were a lot of aborted starts. Regardless, I got home and called to check on the credit card charges. They only charged for the second half and took my report.

    I still needed to know if I could use it reliability so I drove there this morning, August 24:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I started with the same station I'd used before and no luck. So I called the support number. An hour later, we had tried each of the four chargers, multiple times, including support doing a remote reset. There were several times when they reported "Payment accepted" only to have it stop within 10 seconds. The worst was this error message:
    [​IMG]

    So I pointed to Huntsville and the REx carried me home. There I tested the CCS, fast DC charger with a Nissan unit and it worked. I called Electrify America to let them know my car is OK. They plan to call me when their technician resolves the problem(s).

    Bob Wilson
     
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  3. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    That is really bad that it was such a problem to initiate a charge, and so many charging problems... Electrify America is obviously aware of the issues as every site they have open, they have posted this notice on plugshare to let potential customers know they are dealing with some anomalies, and will need tome time to work through system bugs...

    "Aug 15, 2018
    infoElectrify America, LLC
    We are excited to be live in the market with our first few Electrify America LLC stations. During these initial deployments, some of our dispensers may experience an intermittent issue rendering them temporarily unavailable. Dispensers at this location may be affected and Electrify America is working to address this issue. If you are unable to initiate a charge at a particular dispenser, please contact us at 833-632-2778 for assistance. -- checkin created before location officially marked open"

    This is pretty typical of a new system and I am sure this will be but a distant memory soon! BTW EA opened another station Yesterday...

    https://www.electrifyamerica.com/locations

    Electrify America 2 .png
     
  4. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web Well-Known Member Subscriber

    It looks like Electrify America has 9 stations operational:
    [​IMG]

    If possible, please visit one near you and test CCS charging. This will give us a clue if there is a problem between our CCS cars and Electrify America stations. Be sure and leave a comment and if a problem, open a ticket with their support staff. More importantly, it will help others avoid being badly surprised.

    Bob Wilson
     
  5. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    Well Bob, as always you have trouble counting... let me help by sending you their direct link... 10 Bob... 10...

    I was at an EA site today in Everett WA... The super and I had lunch together...

    https://www.electrifyamerica.com/locations
     
  6. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web Well-Known Member Subscriber

    FYI, this is what it looked like:


    Bob Wilson
     
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  8. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    Bob, Electrify America posted on plugshare last week at every one of those locations that they were having problems with communications, how many times do you have to be told? Maybe the counting problem is actually a reading comprehension problem? Here is the note Electrify America posted on the station you went to...

    "Aug 13, 2018
    infoElectrify America, LLC
    We are excited to be live in the market with our first few Electrify America LLC stations. During these initial deployments, some of our dispensers may experience an intermittent issue rendering them temporarily unavailable. Dispensers at this location may be affected and Electrify America is working to address this issue. If you are unable to initiate a charge at a particular dispenser, please contact us at 833-632-2778 for assistance."
     
  9. JyChevyVolt

    JyChevyVolt Active Member

    Bob, it's not a gas station. You don't get 4% back using your Costco credit card by Citi :)

    Have you tried the other stall. Clarity has a problem with charge point. I have to set the parking brake before it can communicate with charge point. No problems with EvGo.

    Two Electrify America are opening near me. I'll test it out when they come online.
     
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  10. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    Awesome, What area are you in? Are the stations nearing completion, or just starting construction?
     
  11. JyChevyVolt

    JyChevyVolt Active Member

    Southern California. The one in Montebello is actually a great location that would have been useful two months ago.
     
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  13. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    It seems like they picked some good locations in CA... I saw in EA's 2Q report they have 71 properties with leases signed, so I assume you are going to see a bunch of stations start popping up very soon.... Once the CA government starts giving them permits. EA says the cities in CA have been brutal to get permits, but EA hired Black & Veatch, as a contractor, they are the same ones that build most of Tesla's Supercharger stations. The superintendent I went to lunch with is also running the Issaquah Tesla station in addition to the EA sites here in WA.
     
  14. JyChevyVolt

    JyChevyVolt Active Member

    We need some chargers along the 5 (San Francisco), 15 (Vegas), and 10 (Phoenix).
     
  15. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    You will see them this winter... The super told me he is here until October, then off to Phoenix for the winter, they are planning for the winter weather, that is why they are hitting NW area hard now.
     
  16. JyChevyVolt

    JyChevyVolt Active Member

    Pacific Northwest needs charger more than us. I went to high school in Edmonds, WA. Thinking about retiring in Vancouver and shopping in Portland.
     
  17. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    Wow, I live not to far from Edmonds, Did you go to Edmonds Woodway high school?
     
  18. JyChevyVolt

    JyChevyVolt Active Member

    Yup. Back in the old days when downtown Seattle was ghetto.
     
  19. JyChevyVolt

    JyChevyVolt Active Member

    15351801583581863876028.jpg
     
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  20. David Green

    David Green Well-Known Member

    Its still a bit rough, so many homeless people. When you went to Edmonds Woodway did you know a teacher named Quinn?
     
  21. JyChevyVolt

    JyChevyVolt Active Member

    Haha, I don't remember my college professors name. All I remember was the PE teacher that taught Russian study.
     
  22. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web Well-Known Member Subscriber

    We tried three Visa cards: bank, Citi, and Chase. I tested one card buying some window cleaning liquid and paper towels.

    For good measure, I'll use Connect to open a ticket and see if BMW USA might test some of the other Electrify America stations. If we can get BMW talking with the VW team, life is good.

    Bob Wilson
     
  23. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I surveyed the open Electrify America stations and "Mark BMW i3" reports a successful charge, August 15, at the Stratford Square station in Stratford, Connecticut.

    Bob Wilson
     
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