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I'm gonna ask a stupid, and probably redundant question about Electrify America

7K views 53 replies 20 participants last post by  toddggg 
#1 ·
So I used an EA station for the first time today, and it went about as poorly as I expected. Not clear at all how to do it, ended up paying for the session with my digital wallet, and had to call in and get a refund for the charge. It's all very confusing, and I'm still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do. Apparently you are supposed to 1) plug in, 2) open the app and select the charger number at the location you are at, 3) pick the payment method (the free 30 minute plan, which is where I screwed up). I don't recall being asked to select the payment type in the app, and the screen at the charger told me to hold my phone up to the credit card/NFC processor. Whatever...next time I'll go more slowly and make sure I select the free session.

But my main question is about the charger itself. There are two CCS plugs on one charger, but only one can be used. The reason I keep seeing for this is because different cars have different port locations on the vehicle, and the two charging plugs are there because then at least one will reach the port. But then I'm looking at the charger, and it's basically set up like a gas pump. There are two equal length cords about 2 feet apart on the same side of the charger station. So how does a 2 foot separation between the plugs actually make a difference depending on where your port is? I don't understand this. I know some are CCS/Chademo or whatever it is, but if it's 2 CCS plugs, it makes no sense for the reason to be that one might reach when another would not. It's 2 feet.
 
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#2 ·
The plug in location is different on each car. Some are in the front hood (Nissan Leaf), some are in the front quarter panel (Audi E-Tron), others are more traditional like drivers or passenger fuel side (like ICE cars).

In theory how you park determines whether you need the left or right side plug.
 
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#3 ·
So I used an EA station for the first time today, and it went about as poorly as I expected. Not clear at all how to do it, ended up paying for the session with my digital wallet, and had to call in and get a refund for the charge. It's all very confusing, and I'm still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do. Apparently you are supposed to 1) plug in, 2) open the app and select the charger number at the location you are at, 3) pick the payment method (the free 30 minute plan, which is where I screwed up). I don't recall being asked to select the payment type in the app, and the screen at the charger told me to hold my phone up to the credit card/NFC processor. Whatever...next time I'll go more slowly and make sure I select the free session.

But my main question is about the charger itself. There are two CCS plugs on one charger, but only one can be used. The reason I keep seeing for this is because different cars have different port locations on the vehicle, and the two charging plugs are there because then at least one will reach the port. But then I'm looking at the charger, and it's basically set up like a gas pump. There are two equal length cords about 2 feet apart on the same side of the charger station. So how does a 2 foot separation between the plugs actually make a difference depending on where your port is? I don't understand this. I know some are CCS/Chademo or whatever it is, but if it's 2 CCS plugs, it makes no sense for the reason to be that one might reach when another would not. It's 2 feet.
Hmm.... I used EA for the first time couple days back.
I had the app installed and configured for the free 2yr program before leaving home.
Went to a 150KW offering location without knowing anything on how to use the chargers.
Plugged in the connector, EA display said it is communicating with the car, then it just started charging.
I charged from ~35% to ~75%. Max rate I saw was 111KW/h but it was mostly at ~50-75KW/h I think. I didn't do any battery preconditioning and it was getting a bit cold at night.

I checked my account and it show the amount charged and an equal discount applied.
So it seems like that the car and charger communicated and knew that the car is in the promotion program.
 
#5 ·
So I used an EA station for the first time today, and it went about as poorly as I expected. Not clear at all how to do it, ended up paying for the session with my digital wallet, and had to call in and get a refund for the charge. It's all very confusing, and I'm still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do. Apparently you are supposed to 1) plug in, 2) open the app and select the charger number at the location you are at, 3) pick the payment method (the free 30 minute plan, which is where I screwed up). I don't recall being asked to select the payment type in the app, and the screen at the charger told me to hold my phone up to the credit card/NFC processor. Whatever...next time I'll go more slowly and make sure I select the free session.

But my main question is about the charger itself. There are two CCS plugs on one charger, but only one can be used. The reason I keep seeing for this is because different cars have different port locations on the vehicle, and the two charging plugs are there because then at least one will reach the port. But then I'm looking at the charger, and it's basically set up like a gas pump. There are two equal length cords about 2 feet apart on the same side of the charger station. So how does a 2 foot separation between the plugs actually make a difference depending on where your port is? I don't understand this. I know some are CCS/Chademo or whatever it is, but if it's 2 CCS plugs, it makes no sense for the reason to be that one might reach when another would not. It's 2 feet.
I will try to help by adding a few obvious (stupid) questions:

Have you set up a free account, using the code provided by your bmw dealer?

Have you set that free account as the default payment method?

For my first charging session I also thought I was being charged and filed a complaint via the app. I later discovered that I had already been given the credit automatically.

I'd bet that EA is accustomed to first time customers complaining about being charged.

I don't know whether the unit can potentially charge two vehicles, but sometimes one cable can be out of order.

So another thread about EA plug issue
 
#6 ·
I just got my car 2 days ago. I tried EA charging last night. I had the app setup and free code entered at the dealership at pickup. I wanted to test out the charging since I was by an EA charger and had heard so many bad experiences (all EA customers complain as Kia is also giving the 2-year free charging service). There was 1 of 6 open chargers so I was hoping it would work. I followed the instructions. 1) plug in the car and wait for the digital handshake. 2) from the app - as MANY people on the forum have stated to start from the app NOT the EA charger screen - picked my free EA account and hit start charging.

The charger started immediately charging my car. The initial rate was ~1kWhr per minute. That seemed pretty slow (was not a 350kW charger though, it was the 150kK). It was charging me $0.43 a kWhr. My credit card was charged $10 for the minimum reload on EA when you have less than $5 remaining in your account (I had $0 but did add my credit card during setup). Since I didn't need to charge and $.43 is a high rate I canceled the charging after 2 minutes and the EA screen said I was charged $.86 but then with my promotion was discounted -$.86, so in the end I didn't have to pay (but EA does have $10 from me now... 😁).

Would like to test at a 350kW charger soon.
 
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#10 ·
My test charge at an EA station got me a max rate of 204 for a few minutes at the start. I don't recall exactly, but I think I was at 20% when I started.

Pretty sure that a 150 station won't go that high, and there was 2 cars using "4" stalls. Four in quotes because there was a ChaDemo-only stall and a L2/240V stall that I'm not including in the number 4.
 
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#7 ·
So I used an EA station for the first time today, and it went about as poorly as I expected. Not clear at all how to do it, ended up paying for the session with my digital wallet, and had to call in and get a refund for the charge. It's all very confusing, and I'm still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do. Apparently you are supposed to 1) plug in, 2) open the app and select the charger number at the location you are at, 3) pick the payment method (the free 30 minute plan, which is where I screwed up). I don't recall being asked to select the payment type in the app, and the screen at the charger told me to hold my phone up to the credit card/NFC processor. Whatever...next time I'll go more slowly and make sure I select the free session.

But my main question is about the charger itself. There are two CCS plugs on one charger, but only one can be used. The reason I keep seeing for this is because different cars have different port locations on the vehicle, and the two charging plugs are there because then at least one will reach the port. But then I'm looking at the charger, and it's basically set up like a gas pump. There are two equal length cords about 2 feet apart on the same side of the charger station. So how does a 2 foot separation between the plugs actually make a difference depending on where your port is? I don't understand this. I know some are CCS/Chademo or whatever it is, but if it's 2 CCS plugs, it makes no sense for the reason to be that one might reach when another would not. It's 2 feet.
 
#11 ·
Ha, yeah, 150 ain't goin to 350. But the 350 nearest my house doesn’t either!

I'll admit my experience is limited because I've haven’t taken the car on an actual road trip yet, and completely anecdotal because I don’t stand there and watch it. However, I was curious during my first EA charging experience, which was at a 350, and a Lucid Air (first and only I've ever seen IRL) was on the other cable. I was expecting to see something approaching 350 since that's what the sticker said, or maybe half, so 175 (what do I know? never done it before).

That session started in the single digits, ramped up to about 130 (when I had to run to the store and buy dog food) and when I returned was in the 80-90 range. That took it from 16% to 71% in 30 mins. So that's an average of around 100.

Subsequently, I only use EA if I'm going to drive beyond the point of return to home. On those days I plan for the location that I can arrive at with ~20%, only charge to 80%, and get home with more than 10%. One of those stations has 350 and the other only has 150. Either or, the total time has been between 25 and 30 minutes due to the charging curve of the car.
 
#16 ·
I was expecting to see something approaching 350 since that's what the sticker said, or maybe half, so 175 (what do I know? never done it before).
The i4 will only go to 200kW and only at relatively low SOC. Maybe the sticker on the "pump"' said that, but it's not a charge rate to be expected on the i4. See the charge rate curve.
 
#13 ·
i mean technically you're right but it's a pretty pedantic point. You can say the same thing about "free refills" or "free ketchup" or whatever. But as long as the price isn't higher due to the specific thing, it doesn't really translate that way. Of course customers ultimately pay for everything that a company does. But when you see a new brochure or youtube video from BMW do you think "I paid for that."?

for all practical purposes, the charging is free for two years. if you never use it but i do constant road trips using EA, you don't get a refund. So arguing against the charging being free is pretty silly.
 
#14 ·
Not arguing - it's NOT FREE. It's pre-paid. And that's a fact.

OTOH the car includes 20 FREE lugnuts to mount the wheels. You even get to keep them beyond the two years of pre-paid charging (but ONLY at EA) - at no additional charge.

If you don't buy the car, there's no free lugnuts or charging.
<grin>
 
#15 ·
Not arguing - it's NOT FREE. It's pre-paid. And that's a fact.

OTOH the car includes 20 FREE lugnuts to mount the wheels. You even get to keep them beyond the two years of pre-paid charging (but ONLY at EA) - at no additional charge.

If you don't buy the car, there's no free lugnuts or charging.
<grin>
like i already pointed out, that's not the same. We all have the lugnuts. But you have to go use the charging and it's not limited to a certain number of times during the period and you won't get a refund if you don't use it. So yes, of course we paid for it. But we have two years during which charging is free.
 
#18 · (Edited)
So I used an EA station for the first time today, and it went about as poorly as I expected. Not clear at all how to do it, ended up paying for the session with my digital wallet, and had to call in and get a refund for the charge. It's all very confusing, and I'm still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do. Apparently you are supposed to 1) plug in, 2) open the app and select the charger number at the location you are at, 3) pick the payment method (the free 30 minute plan, which is where I screwed up). I don't recall being asked to select the payment type in the app, and the screen at the charger told me to hold my phone up to the credit card/NFC processor. Whatever...next time I'll go more slowly and make sure I select the free session.

But my main question is about the charger itself. There are two CCS plugs on one charger, but only one can be used. The reason I keep seeing for this is because different cars have different port locations on the vehicle, and the two charging plugs are there because then at least one will reach the port. But then I'm looking at the charger, and it's basically set up like a gas pump. There are two equal length cords about 2 feet apart on the same side of the charger station. So how does a 2 foot separation between the plugs actually make a difference depending on where your port is? I don't understand this. I know some are CCS/Chademo or whatever it is, but if it's 2 CCS plugs, it makes no sense for the reason to be that one might reach when another would not. It's 2 feet.
Electrify America - SIGN-UP INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Install the App.
Step 2: Select “Choose Membership Plan” then “Premium Offers.”
Existing Electrify America members may select “Premium Offers” in the Account tab, then “I have an enrollment code.”
Step 3: Input your enrollment code, your "code" is <prod number>-MY. Example 1234567-23 for a 2023 i4 with a production number of 1234567.
Then select 2022/2023 BMW i4 30-minute Charging plan and Input your vehicle’s 17-digit VIN 3 for verification.
Step 4: Accept Plan Disclosure, then tap “Select this plan.”
Step 5: Enter payment info and set up auto-reload.
Step 6: (optional for iPhone users): on the EA app, go to account, all the way at the bottom select “Add to Apple Wallet”
---
CHARGER ACTIVATION INSTRUCTIONS
Option 1:

Step 1: Plug the charge cable in your car
Step 2: Open up Apple Wallet and select the EA Card and tap the NFC sign with your phone. Done.

Option 2:
Step 1: Open the Electrify America App
Step 2: Browse the map and click on the icon for the station where you are currently located
Step 3: Plug the charge cable into your car
Step 4: Select the charger you want to activate to view the details for that charger
Step 5: Scroll down until you see a green slider labeled "swipe to activate"
Step 6: Swipe the slider and the charger should start

The 2 cables/plugs are for different type of parking layouts and different plug types. Go to an EA station with a charger stall with a parking spot in front and one behind it. One car charging at a time and one waiting. It will make more sense to you. You can only charge with 1 cable at a time.
 
#19 ·
The 2 cables/plugs are for different type of parking layouts. Go to an EA station with a charger stall with a parking spot in front and one behind it. One car charging at a time and one waiting. It will make more sense to you. You can only charge with 1 cable at a time.
So only one car can charge at a time even though there are two plugs?
 
#20 ·
OK im on android and unless apple is different I dont need to tap anything or add a card or anything like that. I just added the ea app. activated the 2 year bmw charging with the code and all I do is when I pull up I open the app (i already have plan set as default) plug in the car and then click the charger number on the phone app and off it gos. I dont need to interact with the charger at all or tap anything or nfc anything. think perhaps so of you are over complicating this. you shouldn't have to tap anything or nfc anything on the charger itself. the app is tricky though. you open the app click on the location and then when the little icon appears click it again and it will show all the chargers at that location. just plug in your car and on the app click the charger you are using.

I literally have the app open and charger picked before i even park. I get out plug in car click the icon on the app and walk away. Takes 10 seconds and I ever touch the charger. now it will show you a dollar amount but when finished it credits it. sorry not trying to insult anyone but several times I see people talking about tapping phones to chargers and opening apple pay and selecting wallets and cards.... I dont have to do any of that and my guess is you dont on apple either... not for the free charging anyway.
 
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#22 ·
OK im on android and unless apple is different I dont need to tap anything or add a card or anything like that. I just added the ea app. activated the 2 year bmw charging with the code and all I do is when I pull up I open the app (i already have plan set as default) plug in the car and then click the charger number on the phone app and off it gos. I dont need to interact with the charger at all or tap anything or nfc anything. think perhaps so of you are over complicating this. you shouldn't have to tap anything or nfc anything on the charger itself. the app is tricky though. you open the app click on the location and then when the little icon appears click it again and it will show all the chargers at that location. just plug in your car and on the app click the charger you are using.

I literally have the app open and charger picked before i even park. I get out plug in car click the icon on the app and walk away. Takes 10 seconds and I ever touch the charger. now it will show you a dollar amount but when finished it credits it. sorry not trying to insult anyone but several times I see people talking about tapping phones to chargers and opening apple pay and selecting wallets and cards.... I dont have to do any of that and my guess is you dont on apple either... not for the free charging anyway.
It should be possible to tap the charger like doing an Apple Pay payment. But, my experience is it's very unreliable. Swiping on the app worked every time as you outline.
 
#25 ·
Newer and rebuilt stations seem to put the charger in the center with the single longer cable. With these you only need to worry about which side your charge port is, not where it is. I seem to have more consistent results with the 150kw chargers. The highest charge rate I've ever achieved so far is 174kw, and that was on a 150kw charger. Many of the older 350's have issues with the charging cable cooling system where they will cap the charge rate to about 35KW if the cooling is not working properly.

Just completed a 1500 mile trip and used EA about 8 times. The virtual EA card in the iphone wallet worked every time on the trip. Seems to be better since they did software upgrades a few months back.
 
#33 ·
So IM confused here a bit. IM not slamming apple but I am curious why are yall doing all the wallet and nfc and tap to pay and wallet cards and and and...? Im talking out of not knowing but it seriously just sounds like yall over complicating it. I mean you just need the app . set up the free two year charging and thats it. you pull up, plug in the car, open the app, click on the charger you are plugged into and bingo you are charging. Zero need for all that other stuff or to interact with the charger screen at all or the nfc. Ive been charging on ea for over a year with three cars and never once tapped to do anything or touched a charger screen. I mean is there something im missing that is different when using a iPhone? It just seems when I do come on here there is always a syncing , software , phone or charger issue and it overwhelmingly seems to be iphones. again just curious is all.
 
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#34 ·
You can do that with an iPhone, of course.

Some of us have gotten used to using Apple Pay, though, and there's nothing else we need to do besides touch the phone to the reader and we're done. No app, no swiping, no nothing. When it works it's faster and simpler. When it doesn't... well, then you have to do the other.
 
#38 ·
well if yall really want your mind blown on EA not working as it is suppose too. But in my case for the good. I can charge any car on the BMW 2 year charging. I thought it would be locked to the car but nope... I for the heck of it one plugged in my audi and clicked the bmw charge account and... it charged the car for free. so I pushed it and with an adaptor plugged in my buddies tesla yup it started right up on the bmw account and charged the car for free. at least in my case it doesnt seem to care what car is plugged into and using the account.
 
#39 ·
Thanks for confirming this. I suspected it might be the case and will be useful since Mini does NOT offer 2 years of "free" charging with EA.
 
#50 ·
Also it's possible that they use the same chargers in other locations where it might have TWO parking spots, one in front and one behind (other side) and perhaps in those markets they both work at once? Dunno, but one never knows.

ANYWAY thanks for this thread, I was reading through all EA threads before picking up our car tomorrow (!) just to better understand. I now have my EA app all set up, BMW free plan entered, Credit Card entered... I just don't see any way to select the plan as the "primary" payment method... On the PAYMENT screen I see my EA Current balance at top, then my 2023 BMW Membership, and below that my saved Credit Card.
Am I missing something, or am I good to go?

BTW I was wondering if I could do this before actually taking delivery, and the answer is YES - but my car is already at the dealer waiting on me so for all it knows I am sitting with a Dealer employee trying to set it up. Might not work months in advance... IF it did you could charge other cars while waiting!!! Poorly defined promotion...
 
#52 · (Edited)
Oops, I meant to post this here but accidentally posted it in a similar thread I was reading...

I took our new-ish i4 to an EA fast charger (the only one in our city :-/ but luckily only ~13 mins away) just to go through the process to see how smooth it was, before we have to do it on a road trip someday. The car had only been charged once fully at our home, and another short session immediately before I decided to head to the EA station to try it. I used the onboard Nav, filtered to only show EA and nav'd to it to do the pre-conditioning. It went smoothly, but interesting to go through it the first time. BTW I also did use only the EA app to start the charging session. It also gave me notifications for "Your charging sessions started", "Your charging sessions stopped" and a final "Charging sessions summary", all notifications pop up the EA app if you click on them.

I arrived at ~44%, and it projected 31 minutes to hit 80%. Actually it got close to 80% well before the projected time, so I bumped the SOC target up to 85% to enjoy a bit more free juice. I stopped it manually at 84%. So a 40% charge in 24 mins.
And I felt slightly guilty about going above 80%... I rationalized it by driving home and using up maybe 2% so when I got home and stowed it in the garage it was sitting at only 82%.
I know I know it's not a big deal. I figured 80-target might be a bit conservative anyway.

BTW it started charging at a rate of 147 kWh, and slowed to about 55 by the time it was done. But Mission Accomplished - now I know that a 150 kWh charger will give me 40% in under our free 30 mins. And if I arrived at a lower SOC I can likely get over well 50% charge within the free session. In fact, I wish I had decided to go to the EA station before I started charging in the garage; I had charged from ~33 to ~44 at home before I disconnected. I could have gotten a bit better charge. But it's academic really.

One odd glitch - I was watching the charging session in the EA app, ready to hit the STOP button if it got up to 29 minutes. I minimized that window with the little double arrows at the top right, to check other parts of the app, thinking I would be able to go back to my charging session, but I never was able to see a way to bring it up again. Anyone know how? They need a highlighted button somewhere that reads something like "Active Session" so you can pull it up again. In my case, I got out and used the STOP button on the dispenser screen itself when I hit 84%.
 
#53 ·
I'm not sure if I understand your question. I think you're saying you reduced the window and lost your active session? In the past, I've just reopened the app and I usually can get back to the active session once the app is reopened. I think I've also used the text messages to get back to the active updates. Other than closing and restarting the app, I'm not aware of anyway to back up once you've left your original EA session.
 
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