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Setting up and using Electrify America free charging

23K views 88 replies 30 participants last post by  Magicrat 
#1 · (Edited)
Finally picked up my i4 on Wednesday and went to the nearest EA station yesterday to confirm the free charging is working.
I was able to get the free charging setup based on an internet search, but today I received an email from BMW with all the same details.

A couple of issues I ran into that might help
1. When setting up the account - the EA app would not accept my code by following the "I have this car" path - I had to use the "i have a code" path
2. The charger would not read the NFC code from the app. I called EA and they walked me through the "swipe method" below to start a charger

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SIGN-UP INSTRUCTIONS

Get going with 2 years of complimentary 30-minute CCS charging sessions on Electrify America’s DC fast charging network. Just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Download the Electrify America app, create your account, and select “Set Up Public Charging.”
Step 2: Select “Choose Membership Plan” then “Premium Offers.”
Or, search for Premium Offer by vehicle information.
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 your production number followed by "-22" - example "1234567-22"
Then select 2022 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.
You will need to enter a payment method4 to cover any incurred Idle Fees or applicable taxes.

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CHARGER ACTIVATION INSTRUCTIONS

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 4: Scroll down until you see a green slider labeled "swipe to activate"
Step 5 : Swipe the slider and the charger should start

ANDROID AUTO INSTRUCTIONS (assume this also works with Carplay)
Step1 : Customize Android Auto to display the Electrify America App in the car view
Step 2: Open Electrify America app in Android Auto
Step 3 : Select Nearby, then select the charger you wish to use
Step 4 : Push the green button labeled Start Charger
Step 5: Exit the car and a plug the cable into the car
Step 6 : Light next to charge port will turn blue when charging starts

This method avoids having to depend on the flaky NFC readers
 
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#2 ·
Finally picked up my i4 on Wednesday and went to the nearest EA station yesterday to confirm the free charging is working.
I was able to get the free charging setup based on an internet search, but today I received an email from BMW with all the same details.

A couple of issues I ran into that might help
1. When setting up the account - the EA app would not accept my code by following the "I have this car" path - I had to use the "i have a code" path
2. The charger would not read the NFC code from the app. I called EA and they walked me through the "swipe method" below to start a charger

---
SIGN-UP INSTRUCTIONS

Get going with 2 years of complimentary 30-minute CCS charging sessions on Electrify America’s DC fast charging network. Just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Download the Electrify America app, 2 create your account, and select “Set Up Public Charging.”
Step 2: Select “Choose Membership Plan” then “Premium Offers.”
Or, search for Premium Offer by vehicle information.
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 your production number followed by "-22" - example "1234567-22"
Then select 2022 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.
You will need to enter a payment method4 to cover any incurred Idle Fees or applicable taxes.

---
CHARGER ACTIVATION INSTRUCTIONS

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 4: Scroll down until you see a green slider labeled "swipe to activate"
Step 5 : Swipe the slider and the charger should start

This method avoids having to depend on the flaky NFC readers
I'm an existing EA member so all of this looks familiar. Yeah, I don't bother with trying to use the NFC readers, just plug in and swipe on the app works well.
 
#3 ·
Finally picked up my i4 on Wednesday and went to the nearest EA station yesterday to confirm the free charging is working.
I was able to get the free charging setup based on an internet search, but today I received an email from BMW with all the same details.

A couple of issues I ran into that might help
1. When setting up the account - the EA app would not accept my code by following the "I have this car" path - I had to use the "i have a code" path
2. The charger would not read the NFC code from the app. I called EA and they walked me through the "swipe method" below to start a charger

---
SIGN-UP INSTRUCTIONS

Get going with 2 years of complimentary 30-minute CCS charging sessions on Electrify America’s DC fast charging network. Just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Download the Electrify America app, 2 create your account, and select “Set Up Public Charging.”
Step 2: Select “Choose Membership Plan” then “Premium Offers.”
Or, search for Premium Offer by vehicle information.
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 your production number followed by "-22" - example "1234567-22"
Then select 2022 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.
You will need to enter a payment method4 to cover any incurred Idle Fees or applicable taxes.

---
CHARGER ACTIVATION INSTRUCTIONS

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 4: Scroll down until you see a green slider labeled "swipe to activate"
Step 5 : Swipe the slider and the charger should start

This method avoids having to depend on the flaky NFC readers
my production code with 22, doesn't work. Suggestions for what I'm doing wrong.
 
#7 ·
It was easy to enroll. If you had setup your car as 2022 i4 in the app, it even automatically lists BMW offer in Premium Offers. Then just follow @wdtoddnix steps above to complete.
 
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#9 ·
Can two different EA accounts register under the same car?
 
#13 ·
I thought it was just the EA chargers in my area, but that NFC reader needs a broader redesign as it worked only after trying like 5 times. Once the initial start up is done, the charging experience is pretty decent.

Does anyone know if charging automatically stops at 30 minutes, timewise, irrespective of charge? I timed it myself and shut off the charger as to not get charged, just wondering if EA does this automatically.
 
#17 ·
Does anyone know if charging automatically stops at 30 minutes, timewise, irrespective of charge? I timed it myself and shut off the charger as to not get charged, just wondering if EA does this automatically.
Ha. Heck no. They offer the sample so that you'll forget and get charged for overage. Then you get complacent, thinking that it's not that expensive to charge on the go, instead of at home.
 
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#23 ·
I presume you don't want to activate this code until you pick up your car (or maybe the day before) so you get the full benefit of the 2 years, right?
 
#42 ·
You wouldn’t be any faster on the 350.
 
#44 ·
There is little benefit to using a 350KW station. Under the right circumstances you might shave 5 minutes off a charge if you use a 350 and the batteries are in the proper state/charge instead of a 150. I often get 170KW or more out of the 150 chargers, until I hit the taper which starts at 30% for 170KW.
 
#45 ·
If you look at the charging curves, I think the 350 only boosts your charge for like the first 10% or so? As noted, even the 150 isn't fully used from 30% up...
 
#46 ·
See some details here:

 
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#47 ·
I should have come here first. I was down to 27% and was having a slow day at work so I decided to go over lunch to the closest EA charger, only a few miles away. Like someone who has been pumping gas my whole life, I pulled up tried to use my apple wallet to send my info to EA to activate the charger, no go. Plugged it in and the same. Tried the charger next to it, same thing. Then I remembered there was a start charging button on my app clicked that plugged in and it started charging.
I'm glad I went to test it out before the day that I actually need it. It hit 80% right at 30 minutes.
 
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#49 ·
I should have come here first. I was down to 27% and was having a slow day at work so I decided to go over lunch to the closest EA charger, only a few miles away. Like someone who has been pumping gas my whole life, I pulled up tried to use my apple wallet to send my info to EA to activate the charger, no go. Plugged it in and the same. Tried the charger next to it, same thing. Then I remembered there was a start charging button on my app clicked that plugged in and it started charging.
I'm glad I went to test it out before the day that I actually need it. It hit 80% right at 30 minutes.
You should be able to use the EA card in your Apple Wallet to tap-to-start the charge once you've plugged in. That gets you the 30-minute free benefit too since it's linked to your account. But it definitely doesn't always work. I've used three EA chargers so far; on two the tap-to-charge worked but one would not process and required swiping to start in the EA app. I believe nonfunctional RFID & card readers are extremely common.
 
#61 ·
I've never been able to get the EA card in the apple wallet to work. The closest I've gotten is it beeped, read the card, but said it was invalid. I've stopped trying as it is always just a waste of time. I also got an EVgo physical RFID card. The one time I tried EVgo for testing, the card did not work either. Must be something in NJ....
 
#62 ·
Ok… so for me with a MY23, it’s prod number dash 23?
 
#63 ·
I believe that's what it was for mine. My brain is jello though, I thought I kind of remembered that not working and taking the dash out. Guess I shouldn't have done all those drugs in college lol
 
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#64 ·
someone else wrote on here that 23 doesn't work and you have to use 22 even if you have a 23 car.
 
#65 ·
Not sure if it matters or not, but sometimes it's a timing issue. My production number didn't work in either configuration i.e. production with or without dash and model year. Then once it finished the VPC processing and was enrote to the PDC I tried it with the dash and it worked. Don't know if there is something activated at the processing center, but the EA app activated afterwards.
 
#67 ·
This worked for me, but not every path. Had to follow the instructions explicitly.
 
#69 ·
I had trouble getting signed up. Took a week to get it activated.
Following the instructions carefully is important (not following the most obvious way, that didnt work for me).

Nevertheless, only two weeks I got the activation email from BMW.
Note that the EA offer starts on the day of delivery, not the day you first activate the offer.

I did charge quite a bit on my first road trip in the first week, spent about $70 with EA. Because I had a ticket open with them regarding the inability to activate, I asked EA to see what they could do about my purchases in the premium offer active window. They refunded my purchases.

Nowadays I look at gas station prices and cannot help to think that the price of a gallon of gas gives me 100 miles of range, if I had to pay for charging.
 
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