Electrify America charging with EA membership

[K6CCC]

Here's a question for those of you that have used EA for charging with a paid membership to EA. For background, I have never charged at EA, but I have charged at Tesla with a Tesla membership, so familiar with that procedure.

Both Tesla and EA are Plug and Charge via FordPass so you can simply plug in and it should work. To take advantage to the Tesla membership rate, you need to activate the charger via the Tesla app PRIOR to plugging in. Here's the question for a similar situation with EA. According to the EA app, you need to plug in first - which I would assume would automagically use the non-member Plug and Charge rate. So how do you take advantage of an EA membership? Or am I over-complicating this?

The reason for this question at all, is I have a desert trip planned where I will need to use EA charging several times as there is no Ford compatible Tesla SuperChargers available, but there are EA chargers (Baker and Fenner, Calif.). I will charge enough in that one trip to more than pay for a one month membership with EA.

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[SpaceEVDriver]

EA is wrong in their recommendation. You need to activate via the app before plugging in, just like with the T app. Ford is supposedly working toward enabling some kind of P&C with memberships, but the last I heard about that was more than a year ago.

 

[RocketGhost]

Turn off plug and charge in FordPass. Eliminates the possibility of getting charged the non-member rate. Then activate using the EA app.

 

[RickLightning]

EA is wrong in their recommendation. You need to activate via the app before plugging in, just like with the T app. Ford is supposedly working toward enabling some kind of P&C with memberships, but the last I heard about that was more than a year ago.

Agreed.

I do this with both Tesla and EA. Always done it this way with EA. With EA, you can see the charging is active on the screen. With Tesla, you need to check the app. 3 times I got burned with P&C kicking in, so now I turn it off.

 

[CD4TNF]

1) turn off Plug N Charge in Ford Pass.

2) Subscribe to EA on the EA app.

3) drive up to the EA station, use the EA app to activate the charger. There's some screen in the EA app to choose a plan. Choose your subscription plan.

4) Plug in and charge.

 

[K6CCC]

Ah Ha, I learned something new with this thread. I did not know you could turn off P&C in FordPass. Found it (had to poke around a bit). Turning off P&C first sounds like the safest way. I actually don't use P&C very often.

 

[TaxmanHog]

P&C

 

[K6CCC]

P&C

Yea, yea. Fat fingers forever...
Honestly, no idea why I typed P&G three times....

 

[PJnc284]

Turn off plug and charge in FordPass. Eliminates the possibility of getting charged the non-member rate. Then activate using the EA app.

yup. That's the only way to guarantee the member rate. If the tesla/EA app hiccups while activating the charger, people have had it default to using plug and charge.

 

[K6CCC]

Thanks for the info...

 

[Charge_Rob]

Turn off plug and charge in FordPass. Eliminates the possibility of getting charged the non-member rate. Then activate using the EA app.

Note that if you do this you will also lose the ability to use the Public Charging app to activate and pay for charging. It's much, much easier to leave P&C enabled and simply activate the EA charger with the EA app, wait for the screen to change from "Plug in First" to "Please Plug In" and then plug in.

 

[F150Flash]

The thing I’ve found frustrating with the EA app is they want to pre charge my card. I set it at $10 so after a trip I have a bunch of $10 charges. The I always have a small balance left on my account. Has anyone else had this issue?

 

[Zprime29]

The thing I’ve found frustrating with the EA app is they want to pre charge my card. I set it at $10 so after a trip I have a bunch of $10 charges. The I always have a small balance left on my account. Has anyone else had this issue?

That's just how they do it, I forget their reasoning. If/when you close your account with them, they refund any remaining credit.

 

[RickLightning]

Note that if you do this you will also lose the ability to use the Public Charging app to activate and pay for charging. It's much, much easier to leave P&C enabled and simply activate the EA charger with the EA app, wait for the screen to change from "Plug in First" to "Please Plug In" and then plug in.

So let's see if I have this right.

I can activate any charger in the Blue Oval Charge Network via the FordPass app, or via Public Charging.

But, if I turn off Plug & Charge (which only works with Tesla and EA), I can no longer use the Public Charging app, but can still activate a charger with the FordPass app.

So, FordPass app is doing the "he's got a good card" connection, whereas Public Charging is somehow using the Plug & Charge connection even when it's not a Plug & Charge session, or even an EA or Tesla session?

 

[hturnerfamily]

Plug-N-Charge is not a necessary protocol, if you don't need it to be, as many have seen with 'membership pricing discounts'... you can always activate the EA Unit as you pull in, before you even come to a stop, like I do... Plug-N-Charge never comes into play.

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