[DrCarnage]

I've been having a lot of trouble getting fast charging to work on my 2020 Bolt EV, and I'm beginning to realize it's not just my car, because another Bolt EUV rolled up and also could not start.

Last night I spent an hour trying to charge at an EA fast charge facility, tried 3/4 of the chargers, none worked. Meanwhile a Porsche, a VW and a Kia all successfully charged at the different stations. I'm aware of the hold the cable just right thing, and was on the phone with support and nothing worked.

L2 charging hasn't been a problem, just fast charging.

Previously I thought maybe it was some app connectivity issues, but now I'm thinking it's specific to the Bolt. I've struggled to charge anywhere in the area over the last month. I no longer have charging at home, so it's now becoming very problematic.

Is this a known issue? Is there something that can be done? Charging in the wild seems very sketchy when more often than not, the charging does not work.

 

[ARob]

Activate first, then plug in, lifting/propping the plug until charging starts (green flash on dash).

 

[Jerry Duke]

Did you call Customer Service? They have always helped to get a charge, and if it's slow they tell me why.

 

[DrCarnage]

Yah I spoke with customer service for some time, we tried three different stations with no luck. I've charged quite a bit since buying the car over a year ago, but it's been becoming more unreliable in the past month.

I've followed the instructions, and i can hear it clicks in, but the chirp doesn't happen, the app just sits there saying "initializing." I'll try @ARob 's suggestion of activating first, I usually follow their instructions of plug-in first.

 

[cwerdna]

You are aware of EA makes a video on how to prop-up the cable, right? Again, you need to prop it upwards until the charging lock locks.

I never heard any more chirps for charging as I disabled all those noises on my former Bolt.

Most of my EA usage on on my former '19 Bolt was when they were free (set to complimentary session). I've never experienced on EA what the OP describes. Pretty much every time I rolled up to an EA site w/the intent to pay to charge or get a free charge (set to complimentary), unless the site was full, I was able to charge.

 

[XJ12]

Is this a known issue?

I charged my Bolt at EA stations probably 60 plus times September thru November last year. This would be disturbing if something changed since then. My next trip is in February.

 

[cwerdna]

Did you check Plugshare first?

Willing to post some example problem locations so we can take a look? At some sites, certain stations are known to be broken or flaky. Sometimes people mention that in Plugshare. Not surprisingly, those might be the ones that are not in use.

 

[DrCarnage]

I'm in the Portland OR area. Have only had success at this Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer | PlugShare Failures at all other Fred Meyers EA, and Electric Avenue sites in the Portland area. L2 works fine. So seems to be a handshaking with DCFC that's problematic. I'll try fast charging again with the activate first, but if we're talking about doing that for timeout, I've been standing around messing with these things so the timing is not the issue. Could be rain maybe though? all this screwing around is with it raining. Speaking of, why are there no awnings, ever?

 

[jmcbrew]

I usually follow their instructions of plug-in first.

Right. Don't do that.

It makes sense to follow their instructions... but they're wrong. At least when it comes to the Bolt.

 

[Toyotiac]

Activate first, then plug in, lifting/propping the plug until charging starts (green flash on dash).

I did not know this. I’ve always plugged in then tapped my phone. When NFC is broken, I initiate through the app. This has served me well with our ’20 EV and now our ‘23 EUV.

 

[cwerdna]

I avoid using NFC as on some of the EA stations, the NFC reader is on the notoriously bad credit card readers.

I swipe from the app. Since most of my EA Bolt experience has been w/free EA juice, I've never needed to worry about the app in those cases.

FWIW. on my '22 Niro EV w/a bunch of paid EA sessions during a recent road trip, I never really worried about the order but usually did plug in first then swipe from their iOS app (again, no NFC).

 

[MikeZ]

I’ve had 3 trips from PDX up to Vancouver BC (and Whistler), and I’ve had zero problems with EA (and EC).

Once or twice I’ve had to make a second attempt to initiate charging and put extra effort in supporting the cable. And it’s worked.

 

[LarryO]

I've been having a lot of trouble getting fast charging to work on my 2020 Bolt EV, and I'm beginning to realize it's not just my car, because another Bolt EUV rolled up and also could not start.

Last night I spent an hour trying to charge at an EA fast charge facility, tried 3/4 of the chargers, none worked. Meanwhile a Porsche, a VW and a Kia all successfully charged at the different stations. I'm aware of the hold the cable just right thing, and was on the phone with support and nothing worked.

L2 charging hasn't been a problem, just fast charging.

Previously I thought maybe it was some app connectivity issues, but now I'm thinking it's specific to the Bolt. I've struggled to charge anywhere in the area over the last month. I no longer have charging at home, so it's now becoming very problematic.

Is this a known issue? Is there something that can be done? Charging in the wild seems very sketchy when more often than not, the charging does not work.

Do what you can to reduce the stress on the cable. Get as close as possible and centered as well as you can. Many cars seem to have an issue with poor connections if the cable is pulled on too hard.

Starting before plugging in helps reduce the time where the plug is vulnerable to not being in far enough to latch. Listen to the latch and make sure it completes the latch cycle before releasing the handle.

I have found the app very wonky at times and on many occasions, I have had to use the card reader. More recently I have had issues with the app locking up so that after a failure, it will not work at all until a significant time passes. I cannot even seem to manually reset the app. Even after it does reset, it will not allow me to use the same dispenser and claims it's in use. There seems to be a forced failure cascade where eventually all dispensers will fail.

The later EA software should eventually display an error code on the large UI screen. Most I have seen have had to do with isolation faults. Make note of that. I have noticed that this is sporadic and runs in spurts.

Note that sometimes it's not so obvious that the continue button has actually been recorded. This seems like a hugely useless step anyway that just adds to more potential failures.

There seems to be a cadence that works best and if you are not in the groove good luck. I use some EA locations where I never have an issue, but others seem to have similar acting problems. At other EA locations, I have never been able to charge the first time. After fighting this for going on 4 years, I am convinced that EA has multiple points of failure that are nearly impossible to control.

I have yet to experience even a glitch at ChargePoint. One huge reason is that the process is incredibly simpler. Plug in, swipe my RFID card and it charges. Even if it does not have cell coverage if works perfect.

 

[DrCarnage]

I gave it another try, following the advice of start the charge activation, then plug in, hold the cable and all, same results.

I wish there was a better error code readout to diagnose what specifically is failing. I can hear the latch engage, and it is locked into place. I unload the cable by holding the connector flat against the seating surface, still no luck.

 

[cwerdna]

There seems to be a cadence that works best and if you are not in the groove good luck. I use some EA locations where I never have an issue, but others seem to have similar acting problems. At other EA locations, I have never been able to charge the first time. After fighting this for going on 4 years, I am convinced that EA has multiple points of failure that are nearly impossible to control.

I have yet to experience even a glitch at ChargePoint. One huge reason is that the process is incredibly simpler. Plug in, swipe my RFID card and it charges. Even if it does not have cell coverage if works perfect.

It could be the difference in hardware and software, esp. in the problem locations.

Prior to the next gen chargers, there were at least these versions from 4 vendors: Signet "v1", Signet "v2", BTC Power, ABB, Efacec.

Search Electrify America Talks Charging Network Problems, Has Solutions multiple times for four. DCFC reliability – An open Letter to Electrify America has a visual aid of BTC Power, ABB, Efacec and Signet "v1".

I've mentioned at Electrify America DC FC charger/dispenser comparison and... that ABB's seem to have very slow laggy software wheras Signet "v2" is very fast (used yesterday).

Efacec is likely largely or completely gone from EA now. It seems EA ABB sites are getting their hardware ripped out and replaced by next gen dispensers. I can only guess the chargers (in the cabinets) are being replaced too.

I'm not sure about EA's older BTC Power and Signet units though in terms of if/when they will be replaced by next gen units. Signet "v2" isn't very old at all.

A problem is that the software on each of the units is a moving target. They're likely different for each of the 4 vendors and EA likely doesn't roll out the same software even to one brand all at once. They likely do it in increasing percentages and may stop or rollback or fix forward if there are problems.

For ChargePoint DC FCs, I've definitely encountered broken DC FCs. Includes two near home that were broken for months + 1 at ChargePoint HQ. I'm pretty sure I've hit others.

 

[cwerdna]

I gave it another try, following the advice of start the charge activation, then plug in, hold the cable and all, same results.

I wish there was a better error code readout to diagnose what specifically is failing. I can hear the latch engage, and it is locked into place. I unload the cable by holding the connector flat against the seating surface, still no luck.

You need to prop up the handle vertically to prevent the cable from pulling the connector downwards. The top portion (J1772 part) is used for communications. No communications? Charging won't start.

I felt my former '19 Bolt had lots of vertical play in the cable when using EA DC FCs. My '22 Niro EV doesn't seem to have that. I suspect if I didn't prop up the handle on former '19 Bolt on EA most of the time, I would get a lot more failures.

When you say latch, I'm not referring to the locking tang on the handle. You need to have the Bolt's silver locking tang engage. You'll hear a brief motor sound. The sound at ~0:15 of PSA: On CCS1/SAE Combo DC chargers, best to stop the... is it. That was NOT on an EA charger and NOT with EA's heavy https://www.hubersuhner.com/en/prod...tems/high-power-charging-systems/radox-hpc500 cables and handles.

 

[cwerdna]

I'm in the Portland OR area. Have only had success at this Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer | PlugShare Failures at all other Fred Meyers EA, and Electric Avenue sites in the Portland area. L2 works fine. So seems to be a handshaking with DCFC that's problematic. I'll try fast charging again with the activate first, but if we're talking about doing that for timeout, I've been standing around messing with these things so the timing is not the issue. Could be rain maybe though? all this screwing around is with it raining. Speaking of, why are there no awnings, ever?

Fred Meyer | PlugShare is BTC Power, where you've had success.

From only quickly glancing (I might be look at outdated pics):
Fred Meyer | PlugShare looks like ABB. Ouch and it looks like it'd been hit by copper thieves.
Fred Meyer (2) | PlugShare is Signet "v2".
Fred Meyer | PlugShare ditto.
Target | PlugShare is BTC Power.
Walmart Supercenter | PlugShare is ABB.
Bank of America | PlugShare ditto.
Clackamas Promenade - Target | PlugShare is Signet "v2".

I'd personally charged my former '19 Bolt on all 3 of these types of EA units but used ABB the least (not common where I am/go).

I only quickly looked at less than half the pics at Portland Electric Avenue | PlugShare. I see ABB and Efacec but these are totally different than what EA buys.

Dumb question: Is your target charge level set too low? If location-based charging is enabled, is it set too low for the away "location"? You can't charge beyond the target charge level setting.

 

[enslay]

I followed their instructions 2 dozen times last month and everything worked. I also did not need to prop up anything.

 

[BobBolt]

I’ve had 3 trips from PDX up to Vancouver BC (and Whistler), and I’ve had zero problems with EA (and EC).

Once or twice I’ve had to make a second attempt to initiate charging and put extra effort in supporting the cable. And it’s worked.

Agreed....certainly can vouch for EC (EA) being reliable and generally one of the faster charging options that I have. I also like the fact that they've never been down for me but have been set to free a few times when they were having other issues going on.

 

[ARCowboy]

Yah I spoke with customer service for some time, we tried three different stations with no luck. I've charged quite a bit since buying the car over a year ago, but it's been becoming more unreliable in the past month.

I've followed the instructions, and i can hear it clicks in, but the chirp doesn't happen, the app just sits there saying "initializing." I'll try @ARob 's suggestion of activating first, I usually follow their instructions of plug-in first.

Odd. I charge almost exclusively at EA and have the least amount of issues.

I do activate before plugging in, and hold the handle up when I plug in until it clicks/chirps.