Is Electrify America an oil industry psy op?

[Jenovalente]

EA’s reliability is one thing and that can be hit or miss. I’m in NC and all of the stations I have charged at since I got my truck in 2023 have worked - maybe one was out.

What I do have an issue with, though, is their pricing. They are generally the most expensive in this area, up to 56 cents/kwh, which makes long distance travel expensive. Unfortunately in my area, EA seems to have the largest network, so I’m scoping out alternatives.

In any case, I’m fully aware of Dieselgate and VW’s commitment, I agree that it takes and investment to open charging stations, but if other companies can make a profit at a lower cost, why use EA? Unfortunately I don’t travel enough to warrant paying the $7 or whatever to join as a “member” and receive discounted rates. I do feel that if EA was the only player in town and I could not charge at home, I would not have bought an EV since EA charging is approaching gas-level costs. I do 99% of my charging at home, so the few times I have to charge out of town is fine with me, but the cost is not competitive - whether it’s a conspiracy theory or not.

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[On the Road with Ralph]

I’m in NC…

If I lived in North Carolina, I’d be checking out all the new iONNA stations in the state - they are cheaper, faster, and better in almost all ways than EA. I do a lot of long-distance EV travel and now make it a point to see if there are iONNA locations on my route.

 

[Jenovalente]

If I lived in North Carolina, I’d be checking out all the new iONNA stations in the state - they are cheaper, faster, and better in almost all ways than EA. I do a lot of long-distance EV travel and now make it a point to see if there are iONNA locations on my route.

I have been to the Ionna in Apex twice. It’s a really nice facility and - case in point a cheaper than EA.

I’m in Charlotte, but have not been out to the newest Ionna station in Concord.

 

[Jseis]

Been to Montana 3X (‘22, ‘23 twice) before the adapter available so EA was it. Back then 25% of EA stations chronically not working. Don’t ask about Cow Creek as I never got one of the four to work back then. I became a repositioning expert. Or taught more than one confused driver how to charge. In Portland a few times last year and all EA & TSLA stations were 100% fine.

I'm willing to swallow the ~40 cents + per kWh for the few times we are traveling. Not a single DCFC in our county. 2 that were proposed will likely be put off a few years. All new chargers are hospitality-workforce related so tend to be 6-20 kWh. DCFC north in Aberdeen & south in Astoria-Warrenton.

Our local utility at $.064 cents per kWh means power cheap gas expensive ($3.50-$4.50) thus charging at home is hot ticket. As EV range crawls up, going to be an odd universe in ruralandia.

 

[Maxx]

They know that internal combustion cars are finished in Canada, even moreso now that they're allowing Chinese imports. The USA is the last market they can maintain control over.

The next Ford EV you buy may be Chinese:

 

[carys98]

If I lived in North Carolina, I’d be checking out all the new iONNA stations in the state - they are cheaper, faster, and better in almost all ways than EA. I do a lot of long-distance EV travel and now make it a point to see if there are iONNA locations on my route.

If you’re in NC come out to the Garner Ionna this Saturday, Feb 7 from noon to 2. The Carolinas Lightning Club is meeting there for the Ionna 2nd anniversary. There will be free Ford and Ionna merchandise and charging is free all day Saturday. There are events at other Ionna locations if you can’t make it to Garner.

 

[Jseis]

The next Ford EV you buy may be Chinese:

China’s investment in building universities to churn out engineers has been bonkers in the last decade+ thus they are churning out the cutting edge of tech at an extreme accelerating rate. Meanwhile our CinC likes suing our best universities. Nothing more ironic than locals using iPhones, laptops, watching big screens, driving somewhat barely cutting edge cars & and wanting cheap cutting edge medical technology. Then complaining about “an education is over-rated”.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

If you’re in NC come out to the Garner Ionna this Saturday, Feb 7 from noon to 2. The Carolinas Lightning Club is meeting there for the Ionna 2nd anniversary. There will be free Ford and Ionna merchandise and charging is free all day Saturday. There are events at other Ionna locations if you can’t make it to Garner.

It is this sort of thing that impresses me about iONNA. This is a company that celebrates the EV community. I’m not sure EA even tolerates us. My home bases are in the mid- and far west; I am really looking forward to seeing more iONNA stations out here. They are easy to use, don’t require a membership, are fairly priced, and usually have decent amenities. Not even Tesla can match that.

 

[Shmoe]

If I lived in North Carolina, I’d be checking out all the new iONNA stations in the state - they are cheaper, faster, and better in almost all ways than EA. I do a lot of long-distance EV travel and now make it a point to see if there are iONNA locations on my route.

IONNA rules with those Alpatronic units man.. I hope they overtake Tesla in the next 5-10 years.

 

[Charge_Rob]

I have used EA multiple times all has been good, except for that #&$@! Station at the Walt-mart in Gallup NM. I Saw a ID4 stuck on a EA charger in Payson AZ we but we got it released. Dispenser or VW issue? Actually guess they would both be a VW issue... Price a little high but they are a good back up if there is not a Supercharger available..

Lordsburg and Wagon Mound are up for rip-and-replacement this week and next week, respectively. I don't know if Gallup is next, but there's hope. The old ABB locations in the West and Southwest are getting a lot of attention in the first few weeks of the year. IONNA is also open at Gallup now.

 

[Charge_Rob]

If I lived in North Carolina, I’d be checking out all the new iONNA stations in the state - they are cheaper, faster, and better in almost all ways than EA. I do a lot of long-distance EV travel and now make it a point to see if there are iONNA locations on my route.

It's awesome to see more options, and now with Plug & Charge IONNA gets more interest from me.

 

[bc1]

Sounds like I can make a couple trips from Kansas to Marysville, WA this year without any trouble finding chargers and not breaking the bank account. I'll be staying for a few weeks each time. Plan to take along some wiring, receptacle, and one of my breakers. Daughter and SIL has a garage with a panel in the garage close to the door and opposite the outdoor 120v receptacle. I'll just rewire it to 240v while I'm there but will probably need to buy a breaker to fit the panel in their rental.

 

[Maxx]

The Carolinas Lightning Club is meeting there for the Ionna 2nd anniversary.

Don't forget to roll down your windows and pump up the volume while playing some relevant music at the event

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/lightning-is-alive-my-ode-songs.33491/

 

[FloridaMan655321]

I think it may have been created to deliberately slow down the adoption of EVs. Hear me out:

• It tends to fail in subtly irritating ways, like degraded service for one or two stations, and always during busy weekends or weather events
• The stations themselves are located in busy parking lots, ensuring that non-EV bystanders have to see people struggling with the machines as they walk into Wal-Mart
• Failures are rarely fixed in a reasonable time frame, leading to even more irritation on the return journey
• The stations are expensive enough to dissuade 3rd-party operators from wanting to get involved
• It's just good enough to string people along, ensuring that the small vocal minority of EV drivers will have complaints over the long term
• But it's also not bad enough for people to demand an alternative

It also helps bring down NEVI with it, by being compliant to the letter of the law while failing to actually deliver a reliable nationwide infrastructure.

I'm aware of Hanlon's Razor. But the oil industry does a lot of shady things, and I'm not sure someone could have designed a better scheme to sandbag the EV revolution.

I don't think so, but I like the way you think

 

[DavidS]

My experience is that EA reliability seems to have improved in the 18 months. Also while plug and charge is convenient, if you are charging more than once a month, you really should spring for a Tesla and/or EA membership as the first 10-80 charge pays it off. But you do have to then start your charge session from the respective app. Either one lets you cancel your monthly subscription when you don’t need it and then resubscribe when you do.

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