EVgo-Ultium-FLYING J 'drive thru' 350kw 'SIMULTANEOUS' DC Fast Charger stations with Canopy

[hturnerfamily]

these amazing new Canopy-covered DRIVE-THRU FlyingJ Ultium EVgo 350kw 'shared' units(Simultaneous charging for two vehicles for EACH unit) are an amazing new charging DESIGN and layout...

let's hope FlyingJ and PILOT take these to EVERY one of their locations in the very near future - there may already be one near YOU : )

video: 6mins in arriving at FlyingJ .... we'll enjoy the bathrooms and convenience store nearby, too!

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[On the Road with Ralph]

I used one of these in Winslow, AZ, this past week. The physical facility was great. Everything else sucked. The low-lights:

I found the location on PlugShare; the EVgo app did not know about it.

Pilot and EVgo don’t have their act together yet when it comes to initiating a charge. I spent at least 15 minutes on the telephone with EVgo support. In the end, I just used a credit card, which meant that none of the benefits of my EVgo plan were applied.

I believe I was charged $.66/kW for the power. That is a new record for me.

While the charger speed was OK - 122 kW or so - it was nothing to write home to mom about.

I truly wish this had been a better experience, but all in all, I think I should have just driven a couple more miles to a miserable Electrify America station.

 

[RickLightning]

I used one of these in Winslow, AZ, this past week. The physical facility was great. Everything else sucked. The low-lights:

I found the location on PlugShare; the EVgo app did not know about it.

Pilot and EVgo don’t have their act together yet when it comes to initiating a charge. I spent at least 15 minutes on the telephone with EVgo support. In the end, I just used a credit card, which meant that none of the benefits of my EVgo plan were applied.

I believe I was charged $.66/kW for the power. That is a new record for me.

While the charger speed was OK - 122 kW or so - it was nothing to write home to mom about.

I truly wish this had been a better experience, but all in all, I think I should have just driven a couple more miles to a miserable Electrify America station.

This is part of the "extended" network, not actually an EVGo charger. There is no plan applicability, the price isn't set by EVGo. I used 3 yesterday, 2 worked fine, then the EVGo network crashed.

 

[djwildstar]

I recently used the one in Lake Township OH just off of I-90 (Ohio Turnpike). The charger itself was great -- pull-through charging with a canopy, no line, and I got 165kW peak charging rate.

My main complaint is that these chargers aren't really supported by Ford:

• The FordPass map and trip planner recognizes them as charging locations, and correctly lists the number and capacity of the chargers. When planning a trip, you can set it as a charge station and the app will accept the change. However, FordPass will not actually make a trip plan that includes charging there, instead it will automatically add a stop at a nearby charger to actually charge.
• The truck's on-board Sync Navigation is at least fully consistent: it doesn't know these locations exist at all. With the Lake Township location, Sync Navigation didn't even recognize the charger's street address as a valid location, and certainly didn't believe that there was a charger there.

This could be some sort of weird intermediate state -- the chargers have only been available for a month, so if Ford has some sort of glacially-slow, many-months-long process for entering new charging locations into FordPass and Sync Navigation, it could be that the data has only been partially entered, and maybe the locations will be fully supported at some point in the future. If entering 17 third-party chargers is a convoluted months-long process, I am somewhat concerned about how long it will take Ford to add 12,000 SuperChargers into FordPass and Sync Navigation.

This could also be a situation where these chargers aren't officially a part of the Blue Oval Charge network -- they are GM/Ultium branded chargers, and they're managed by Pilot/Flying-J rather than EVgo, so plug-and-charge doesn't work -- so perhaps the situation is more that Ford would prefer their customers avoid these chargers, since the payments don't1 flow through Ford.

 

[sd25]

I love that they're deploying covered canopies for EV charging. It's definitely appreciated when there's a blazing sun overhead on a hot day or when there's a heavy downpour.

But I'm little bit disappointed with the sheer number and placement of the bollards. I've seen so many people ding their car doors on those stupidly placed bollards around EA chargers, and this looks to have a similar problem.

I looked at pics of Flying J's gas stations and the bollard placement for those is much more sensible - so what gives with the bollard placements around EV chargers? Is there an alliance between EV charging companies and body shops?

 

[Ffxdude]

I used one of these in Winslow, AZ, this past week. The physical facility was great. Everything else sucked. The low-lights:

I found the location on PlugShare; the EVgo app did not know about it.

Pilot and EVgo don’t have their act together yet when it comes to initiating a charge. I spent at least 15 minutes on the telephone with EVgo support. In the end, I just used a credit card, which meant that none of the benefits of my EVgo plan were applied.

I believe I was charged $.66/kW for the power. That is a new record for me.

While the charger speed was OK - 122 kW or so - it was nothing to write home to mom about.

I truly wish this had been a better experience, but all in all, I think I should have just driven a couple more miles to a miserable Electrify America station.

Did you set up the autocharge+ prior to the trip? I’ve had the exact opposite experience on all my pilot/flying j stops, but I set up the autocharge+ before the first trip. It’s been a quick handshake after plugging in and the juice starts flowing quick.

They’re not cheap though that’s for sure. However I’ve found that when road-tripping with family if I can stay out of a Walmart I’ll do it as a trip to the bathroom somehow costs $20 each time. The bathroom at the truck stop seems to cost less…lol.

 

[JRT]

And I dinged my Lightning on one of those EA guards last month too. There was a Flying J on my route last month too, but I went EA to use my credits. I was charging when 2 cars came up that had tried them and they would not work. 1 was a Mach-e and 1 was a Kia. The other 3 EA stations were blocked by Bolts with nobody sitting with them and 2 were over 90%. I was done in 20 min, no Bolt owners showed up and the Mach-e was very happy I stopped at 80% as they were also on a trip. I'm pretty sure in my 20 min charge the Bolts went up less then 5%. We need more stations ASAP.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

And I dinged my Lightning on one of those EA guards last month too.

I have two annoying dings in my driver door from the EA stainless bollards. Just add them to the long list of things I hate about EA.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Did you set up the autocharge+ prior to the trip? I’ve had the exact opposite experience on all my pilot/flying j stops, but I set up the autocharge+ before the first trip. It’s been a quick handshake after plugging in and the juice starts flowing quick.

It is a long story, but the short version is, no, autocharge+ was not set up. I tried to finish the authorization for it at Winslow, but even with EVgo tech support helping, it wouldn't initiate.

It is worth noting that the EVgo app still can't find the station at Winslow.

 

[Toby57]

Some people can never be happy..
It is not the bollards that dinged your buggy. It is your carelessness.
Gas pumps have bollards also.
I have put 274 tanks of gas in my F 150. I have no dings.

 

[Texas Dan]

Did you set up the autocharge+ prior to the trip?

autocharge+, I have never heard of this. Please provide a web link and/or an explanation/description.

 

[Peddyr]

I used one of these in Winslow, AZ,

When you got out to charge, were you technically standing on a corner in Winslow Az? I'm slightly disappointed that it took so long for someone to make this reference.

 

[hturnerfamily]

yes, unfortunately I did not post this NEW DC Fast Charging option/location just to have folks 'rant' about how much they hate it, or are aggravated by it, etc... we all want new charging options and locations, and yet some just can't get out of their own way making excuses why they 'don't' work...
oh well...

what I see is:
- FORD, no, has absolutely NOTHING to do with these - Ford has nothing to do with ANY DC Fast Chargers... I'm not sure why that is any argument.
- Whether EVgo or FlyingJ/Pilot 'operate' these is totally up to THEM. Why it matters to any of us is beyond me...
- PLUG N' Charge is an optional benefit that only ELECTRIFY AMERICA provides to Ford EVs... EVgo and others may get onboard later, or maybe SOONER, but that is not a Ford issue.
- ACTIVATION from within the LIGHTNING is a correlation between Ford and the CHARGE PROVIDER - Ford cannot guarantee that every DC Fast Charge provider will participate in this, although, yes, it makes little sense that they don't, or, in this case, haven't YET. I will imagine that it's coming, soon, since EVgo units are already part of the CHARGEPOINT network, and Chargepoint DOES allow Activation thru the BlueOval Network, ala the onscreen APP or the Ford Pass App. I use it all the time.

My reason for posting this NEW Charge Station idea/option/location was to simply excite those of us who have been asking for MORE and MORE stations and locations and ROOM TO MANEUVER, especially when towing. This is a FANTASTIC layout, and I have yet to see ANY OTHER come close to this type of easy in-out for fast charging. Whether the units 'work' is a different story, and I suppose that will become better and more reliable over time, but what we have here is the start of the makings of some GREAT DC Fast Charging location options - LOVE IT!

Let's don't look a gift horse in the mouth: contact FlyingJ/Pilot and LET THEM KNOW!

(Maybe LOVES and TA/Petro stops have something in the works, too)

 

[hturnerfamily]

autocharge+, I have never heard of this. Please provide a web link and/or an explanation/description.

... Ford uses 'PLUG N CHARGE', which is an automated ACTIVATION of a DC Fast Charge station when you PLUG IN, without the need for interaction with any APP, Onscreen of the station, or within the truck, itself. Only ELECTRIFY AMERICA provides this for FORD EVs, at the moment. Maybe others will join soon. Your truck settings screen allows you to toggle this on/off, or within your Ford Pass app.

Some charge providers, like EVgo, might provide a similar option within their APP, or your connected account...but, that is outside of the FORD ecosystem.

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