1760 mile trip - 0 EA charging

[On the Road with Ralph]

For a couple years I have put up with the abysmal service delivered by the Electrify America network. Sure, I had over 160 billed sessions in eight different states, but that didn't include probably 100 failed sessions or arrivals at a station where I was unable to get a charge.

So, when I set off this week on my 12th EV journey of more than 1500 miles in my SR Pro, I was determined to see if I could do it without ever using an EA station. My starting point was NW Arkansas, to Canton (GA), side trip to Waynesville (NC), then to St. Augustine and Orlando (FL), and finally arriving in Fort Lauderdale (FL).

I made my trip with 11 charging stops, plus one overnight hotel charge - ALL USING THE TESLA NETWORK (including the hotel destination charger).

Was it perfect? No. Late at night, in Florence (AL), I was unable to get a charge at a relatively new Tesla Supercharger station with v4 dispensers, despite trying four different units. All gave me a communications error. But at every other stop it was painless and I never encountered a Tesla location where there were not MANY open charging spots. I also had the opportunity to use a few v4 dispensers that could deploy the CCS adapter with the NACS plug. On the others, I used my A2Z adapter.

I am not enamored with the idea of paying Elon Musk for charging, but the world is imperfect and I like that Superchargers are generally at good locations, well maintained, plentiful in number, and (with a Tesla membership) significantly cheaper than EA's crappy stations.

This experience has me seriously rethinking my EA Pass+ membership.

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[RickLightning]

Was the problematic V4 location marked as non-Tesla?

As to memberships, I never join until the morning of the trip, then immediately downgrade, which takes effect in 30 days for both EA and Tesla.

 

[Charge_Rob]

Glad to hear you had a great road trip! I'd been avoiding EA for a while, but took a a 5,400 mile road trip and thought I'd give them a try again after years, and now after 18 sessions and perfect 100% success rate, they've actually become the most reliable network for me. It's really interesting how variable experiences can be. The only issues I have had charging over the last year have in fact been at Tesla Superchargers with derated cables and stalls that go offline mid charge.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Was the problematic V4 location marked as non-Tesla?

It was a NACS compatible site, I could choose the dispensers from the Tesla app, initiate the charge, and then it reported a loss of connection. After 4 tries at different units, I just drove onto my destination, for which I barely had enough charge.

And yeah, I turn my Tesla membership on and off, but in the past have left my EA subscription running. I think that is going to change.

 

[Robert1380]

Hey guys. Pardon the dumb question but I literally picked up my new Lightning day before yesterday and know very little regarding the charging on this vehicle. I was told that they would go into detail and answer any questions at delivery but the kid who delivered the truck was a new employee with 3 months on and knew absolutely nothing about the truck. Was a joke.
So reading your post I wanted to ask if you have to have the membership you mentioned in order to even use the Tesla or other charge sites, or can you just pull in and hook up and enter your credit card info?

Thanks guys.

 

[F150Flash]

For a couple years I have put up with the abysmal service delivered by the Electrify America network. Sure, I had over 160 billed sessions in eight different states, but that didn't include probably 100 failed sessions or arrivals at a station where I was unable to get a charge.

So, when I set off this week on my 12th EV journey of more than 1500 miles in my SR Pro, I was determined to see if I could do it without ever using an EA station. My starting point was NW Arkansas, to Canton (GA), side trip to Waynesville (NC), then to St. Augustine and Orlando (FL), and finally arriving in Fort Lauderdale (FL).

I made my trip with 11 charging stops, plus one overnight hotel charge - ALL USING THE TESLA NETWORK (including the hotel destination charger).

Was it perfect? No. Late at night, in Florence (AL), I was unable to get a charge at a relatively new Tesla Supercharger station with v4 dispensers, despite trying four different units. All gave me a communications error. But at every other stop it was painless and I never encountered a Tesla location where there were not MANY open charging spots. I also had the opportunity to use a few v4 dispensers that could deploy the CCS adapter with the NACS plug. On the others, I used my A2Z adapter.

I am not enamored with the idea of paying Elon Musk for charging, but the world is imperfect and I like that Superchargers are generally at good locations, well maintained, plentiful in number, and (with a Tesla membership) significantly cheaper than EA's crappy stations.

This experience has me seriously rethinking my EA Pass+ membership.

For a couple years I have put up with the abysmal service delivered by the Electrify America network. Sure, I had over 160 billed sessions in eight different states, but that didn't include probably 100 failed sessions or arrivals at a station where I was unable to get a charge.

So, when I set off this week on my 12th EV journey of more than 1500 miles in my SR Pro, I was determined to see if I could do it without ever using an EA station. My starting point was NW Arkansas, to Canton (GA), side trip to Waynesville (NC), then to St. Augustine and Orlando (FL), and finally arriving in Fort Lauderdale (FL).

I made my trip with 11 charging stops, plus one overnight hotel charge - ALL USING THE TESLA NETWORK (including the hotel destination charger).

Was it perfect? No. Late at night, in Florence (AL), I was unable to get a charge at a relatively new Tesla Supercharger station with v4 dispensers, despite trying four different units. All gave me a communications error. But at every other stop it was painless and I never encountered a Tesla location where there were not MANY open charging spots. I also had the opportunity to use a few v4 dispensers that could deploy the CCS adapter with the NACS plug. On the others, I used my A2Z adapter.

I am not enamored with the idea of paying Elon Musk for charging, but the world is imperfect and I like that Superchargers are generally at good locations, well maintained, plentiful in number, and (with a Tesla membership) significantly cheaper than EA's crappy stations.

This experience has me seriously rethinking my EA Pass+

It was a NACS compatible site, I could choose the dispensers from the Tesla app, initiate the charge, and then it reported a loss of connection. After 4 tries at different units, I just drove onto my destination, for which I barely had enough charge.

And yeah, I turn my Tesla membership on and off, but in the past have left my EA subscription running. I think that is going to change.

It was a NACS compatible site, I could choose the dispensers from the Tesla app, initiate the charge, and then it reported a loss of connection. After 4 tries at different units, I just drove onto my destination, for which I barely had enough charge.

And yeah, I turn my Tesla membership on and off, but in the past have left my EA subscription running. I think that is going to change.

It was a NACS compatible site, I could choose the dispensers from the Tesla app, initiate the charge, and then it reported a loss of connection. After 4 tries at different units, I just drove onto my destination, for which I barely had enough charge.

And yeah, I turn my Tesla membership on and off, but in the past have left my EA subscription running. I think that is going to change.

It was a NACS compatible site, I could choose the dispensers from the Tesla app, initiate the charge, and then it reported a loss of connection. After 4 tries at different units, I just drove onto my destination, for which I barely had enough charge.

And yeah, I turn my Tesla membership on and off, but in the past have left my EA subscription running. I think that is going to change.

I try to use Tesla whenever I can. But a new Tesla Supercharger almost left me stranded on my current trip. I was excited when we stopped in Kit Carson CO and found some newly installed superchargers with long cables. There were even signs with instructions on how to access the newly provided CCS adapter. Multipe attempts using the provided adapter and my Ford adapter and an A2Z adapter I had along, at several different stations resulted in the same result. ‘Connecting’ then got a lost connection with charger message.
A call to Tesla resulted in asking me to try all the things I had already tried and then said it must be the truck and suggested I call Ford.

My suggested range at that point was 43 miles and the closest charger was 56 miles. At 50 miles an hour on a 65 mile an hour highway we made it with a 13 mile margin.

The Superchargers that failed for us did work for a couple of Teslas that charged during the 2 hours we were dealing with our unsuccessful attempt.

So my opinion of Tesla reliability has changed. The EA and ChargePoint chargers we’ve used so far have worked without issue.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Hey guys. Pardon the dumb question but I literally picked up my new Lightning day before yesterday and know very little regarding the charging on this vehicle. I was told that they would go into detail and answer any questions at delivery but the kid who delivered the truck was a new employee with 3 months on and knew absolutely nothing about the truck. Was a joke.
So reading your post I wanted to ask if you have to have the membership you mentioned in order to even use the Tesla or other charge sites, or can you just pull in and hook up and enter your credit card info?

Thanks guys.

Charging anywhere but home is the bain of the EV experience. If you MUST charge on the road, have the proper app installed for the charge network you're going to use, and set up an account. This will require a CC number. You can't just whip out a CC and pay at these EV chargers.

The first time is going to feel like you're in an episode of, The Twilight Zone, on Earth 2 where everything looks familiar, but makes no sense whatsoever. The Tesla charging stations are hands down the most reliable, simple, and easiest to use, imo. You'll need an adapter- the Tesla charge port is different.

Get comfortable navigating the app you're going to use to charge, browse around, and watch a youtube vid or two. Go try it out and practice before you need to, familiarize yourself with the process.

The app (whether it's EA, Chargepoint, Tesla, or any other) will tell you how many stations are available at that particular location. The individual chargers are identified at with some type of nomenclature- you'll need to identify which charger you're at and pick it within the app when youre ready to charge. Some are much busier during certain times of the day, and may charge less during certain hours.

Once you've done it a few times it's just as easy as filling at a gas station, where 20% of the pumps are broken.

Good Luck!

 

[jetfixr1]

Hey guys. Pardon the dumb question but I literally picked up my new Lightning day before yesterday and know very little regarding the charging on this vehicle. I was told that they would go into detail and answer any questions at delivery but the kid who delivered the truck was a new employee with 3 months on and knew absolutely nothing about the truck. Was a joke.
So reading your post I wanted to ask if you have to have the membership you mentioned in order to even use the Tesla or other charge sites, or can you just pull in and hook up and enter your credit card info?

Thanks guys.

You need to have an account with Tesla. Open their app, make an account, add payment info and select your vehicle. When you want to use a Tesla location, pull up to a charger, select the charger number on the app and initiate a session then plug in. If you have a discounted session, it will automatically give you the reduced member rate. The grand majority of all charge apps work the same way.

The lightning has plug and charge for Tesla, Electrify America and some other ones. This is where you set up your payment method on your ford account and its tied to your VIN. You pull up to a plug and charge compatible vendor, plug in and it will automatically initiate the session and bill you through Ford. Problem with that is you bypass any reduced rates if you purchased a membership for Tesla or EA, etc.

I highly recommend downloading plugshare and A Better Route Planner and tinkering with both apps. Plugshare is a user feedback rating system for charging stations and ABRP, well, plans routes in an efficient manner. For me, ABRP is better than our native nav at the moment.

 

[jetfixr1]

This experience has me seriously rethinking my EA Pass+ membership.

How exactly does their membership work? The pricing isnt transparent like Tesla. I want to know the membership kwh price for stations before hand.

 

[Robert1380]

Charging anywhere but home is the bain of the EV experience. If you MUST charge on the road, have the proper app installed for the charge network you're going to use, and set up an account. This will require a CC number. You can't just whip out a CC and pay at these EV chargers.

The first time is going to feel like you're in an episode of, The Twilight Zone, on Earth 2 where everything looks familiar, but makes no sense whatsoever. The Tesla charging stations are hands down the most reliable, simple, and easiest to use, imo. You'll need an adapter- the Tesla charge port is different.

Get comfortable navigating the app you're going to use to charge, browse around, and watch a youtube vid or two. Go try it out and practice before you need to, familiarize yourself with the process.

The app (whether it's EA, Chargepoint, Tesla, or any other) will tell you how many stations are available at that particular location. Some are much busier during certain times of the day, and may charge less during certain hours.

Once you've done it a few times it's just as easy as filling at a gas station, where 20% of the pumps are broken.

Good Luck!

Thank you brother. I truly appreciate your input and direction.

 

[Robert1380]

You need to have an account with Tesla. Open their app, make an account, add payment info and select your vehicle. When you want to use a Tesla location, pull up to a charger, select the charger number on the app and initiate a session then plug in. If you have a discounted session, it will automatically give you the reduced member rate. The grand majority of all charge apps work the same way.

The lightning has plug and charge for Tesla, Electrify America and some other ones. This is where you set up your payment method on your ford account and its tied to your VIN. You pull up to a plug and charge compatible vendor, plug in and it will automatically initiate the session and bill you through Ford. Problem with that is you bypass any reduced rates if you purchased a membership for Tesla or EA, etc.

I highly recommend downloading plugshare and A Better Route Planner and tinkering with both apps. Plugshare is a user feedback rating system for charging stations and ABRP, well, plans routes in an efficient manner. For me, ABRP is better than our native nav at the moment.

Thank you very much! Appreciate the help sir.

 

[chuck27p]

I am in CA where Tesla is plentiful. My EA experience is frustrating at best. I only go to Tesla spots now and it’s been flawless out here. Nice huge areas with restrooms and food, tons of chargers, plug in with the adapter and go. I’ve never had an issue.

The EA ones out here are bad. Usually only 2 fast charging stations and so many of them broken or slow. I just can’t…

The deal with Tesla changed EV road trips for me. Without it, I really didn’t take the truck farther than 100 miles.

 

[PreservedSwine]

I don’t know if anyone else had this experience, but I had to disable plug and charge via FordPass. Fordpass wouldn’t recognize my membership with EA, and was charging retail instead of membership prices. After disabling plug and charge since via FordPass and using the charge appropriate app, I now get accurate pricing.

 

[ScottC]

Thank you very much! Appreciate the help sir.

You can pay for all accounts through your FordPass app. This is true for Tesla, EA, EVGo, ChargePoint.

Im not sure why you really need any other app or membership. I drove Teslas for 9 years and their app was great but it’s nice having all info from different chargers (including home) in the history of the FordPass app.

am I missing something?

 

[K6CCC]

First of all for @Robert1380 you DO NOT NEED the Tesla, or EA apps to charge. You can simply plug in and your truck will start charging. It will bill through Ford. However you can get a cheaper rate using their apps with a paid membership. The Telsa membership costs $12.99 per month (plus sales tax) and lets you get the same rate that Tesla vehicles pay. It's 10 - 15 cents per KWH less than if you just plug in and have it bill through Ford. If you are going to use a particular network a lot, the paid membership will pay for itself in one or two charges. If you look at Public Charging in the FordPass app, and select a station, you are looking for the Plug & Charge wording in the description. Below are two screen captures from my phone. On the left is an EA station near my house (as usual, it's all full), and on the right is a Tesla SC near my house (as usual, it has stalls available) . I have circled the Plug & Charge wording for you.
Regards to pricing, I just looked at the Tesla SC. If you pay through FordPass it is $0.60 per KWH, but with a Tesla subscription it is $0.46 per KWH. I don't have an EA subscription so I can't make that comparison, but I think I read that with the EA subscription, you save 25%.

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