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Do you need the EA app

399 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by darylp310, 4 d ago

noeticist

Discussion Starter · 5 d ago

Relatively new i4 owner (a month or so). EA wouldn't let me activate my BMW 2 year thing on their app and told me it had to be through the BMW app. So I activated through the BMW app, added the card to my wallet, and my one test charge went just fine. I deleted the EA app since I didn't want there to be any confusion or chance of incorrect charging (money) for the charging (power).

I do have a question though. Do I need the EA app if I want to charge more than the free 30 minutes? Let's say a roadtrip where I'm leaving the interstates and know I need to be at a really high charge to get to my destination (I'm in Texas so this is...common). How does it work if you want to charge more than the free 30 minutes?

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pjbm4

· #2 · 5 d ago

I use the EA app as I have seen so many issues on this forum about the migration to the myBMW app for charging. I added my credit card to the EA app and put $$ on my account for when I go over the 30 minutes. I don't know if the myBMW app will allow you to do that. The EA app is seamless.

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noeticist

Discussion Starter · #3 · 5 d ago

Seamless for prior users maybe. Now it was literally impossible to use the BMW code on the EA app (constant error messages when trying to do so), and after a lot of time on the phone with EA they basically said my only option was to use the BMW app. So that's what I'm doing.

Just need to know if I need the EA app for post-free 30 minute charging.

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pjbm4

· #4 · 5 d ago

I don't know as I won't transition until forced. I am curious if you have an EA card in your Apple Wallet (if you have an iPhone) Can you add funds to that?

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Elle BMW

· #5 · 5 d ago

noeticist said:
Seamless for prior users maybe. Now it was literally impossible to use the BMW code on the EA app (constant error messages when trying to do so), and after a lot of time on the phone with EA they basically said my only option was to use the BMW app. So that's what I'm doing.

Just need to know if I need the EA app for post-free 30 minute charging.

my guess is, and it's a guess, yes you will need the app for anything other than the free time.

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GotoLondon

· #6 · 5 d ago

Main difference is the BMW App you will have an authorization of $20 every time you plug in to an EA charger. With the EA App you will not. The authorizations drop off in about 4 days. On a recent road trip I had almost $200 in authorizations (They all dropped off).
The EA App was overly problematic for me to set up - spent over 3 hours trying to get it to work properly (All up with EA Tech Support involved) and about 5 minutes of migration to the BMW app - it’s works flawlessly for me.

Not sure why the EA App is so problematic.

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linerjoe

· #7 · 5 d ago

I use the myBMW app only, not the EA app. I think it really just depends on how you setup initially.

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darylp310

· #8 · 5 d ago

Technically you won’t need the EA app. Your credit card is already tied in to the My BMW version so if you go over the 30 minutes they can charge you that way. Each time you do the 30 minute free charge you get a $20 hold on your credit card right?

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FirmRip

· #9 · 5 d ago

I picked up my i4 in April and was set up in the EA app by my CA and BMW Genius. I did get a bunch of push notifications to move the charging from EA to the MyBMW app, which I haven't done yet (and likely won't do unless I'm forced).

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darylp310

· #10 · 5 d ago

There's no hurry to do the migration from EA right now, but eventually BMW will want everyone on their app so they can implement the "Plug and Charge" across multiple charging providers. You can see from their interface that eventually they'd expect everyone to add EA, EVGO, Chargepoint, etc. all to the My BMW App. Then when you plug it would just detect your car and automatically start charging without needing to do anything extra. This works so nicely on Tesla, and it looks like Ford will soon have a nice system too. The system is currently too complicated for most people. I can't even imagine how my elderly parents would ever be able to figure out how to charge my car!!

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JToddK

· #11 · 5 d ago

darylp310 said:
Technically you won’t need the EA app. Your credit card is already tied in to the My BMW version so if you go over the 30 minutes they can charge you that way. Each time you do the 30 minute free charge you get a $20 hold on your credit card right?

Although I rarely DCFC, I did retain the EA app on my phone but without the BMW free charge program. It’s a back up for me, just as is the EVGo, ChargePoint, Blink, Tesla and a couple of others. All of the back up apps are ready to go to pay for a charge if I need one badly. For EA, the “pay” back up is for when both the MyBMW app and the NFC reader are both down - happened once on a test charge. Also used EVGo once when that was the most convenient DCFC to the hotel. I’d rather pay a couple of bucks to get on my way, rather than getting stuck or hunting for another charger. YMMV

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JMoreno

· #12 · 4 d ago

I used the myBMW app to charge for free for more than 30 minutes. Just unplug it at 29 minutes, return the cable to the charger to reset it, and then initiate another charge. Works every time.

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darylp310

· #13 · 4 d ago

JMoreno said:
I used the myBMW app to charge for free for more than 30 minutes. Just unplug it at 29 minutes, return the cable to the charger to reset it, and then initiate another charge. Works every time.

Haha. Good idea. But I feel guilty if there are people waiting. So if I'm away from my car at a Starbucks I'll just sneak in an extra 5 minute and pay a couple dollars to sneak a few more ounces of juice!

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