[ga2500ev]

Just drove from LA to PHX and back. Charged at 3 EA chargers along the way. On 1, the card reader wasn't working, so I moved to a different charger, and there were no problems. On the last one, it got stuck at "initializing" and I had to call support. They reset the charger and it released from my car. The rep asked what kind of car I had, and when I told her that I had a Bolt, she said "Oh, with the Bolt, since our chargers are so stiff and heavy, you need to support the cable until it initializes". Anyway, I had no real issues with EA (at the Walmarts in Indio, CA and Buckeye, AZ).

It's good that the EA representatives are aware of the cable interaction problem with the Bolt.

You may have done better pricewise if you had subscribed to Pass+ for $4 for a month. It significantly drops the rate and typically only takes two sessions to recover.

Did you use a credit card each of the three times? Does EA still put a $50 hold on each session? And other than the one time, did the card readers actually work? More reports suggest avoiding them like the plague. So, I'm wondering if they've gotten any more reliable.

ga2500ev

 

[arrosen]

Yes, the readers worked each time with a credit card, except for that one time. I don't know if they put a $50 hold on the session. I didn't want to join their Pass+ because (I think) it makes you keep a balance...ie: it will refill if your balance drops below a certain amount, and I didn't want to keep money in my account that I may never use. Locally, I use ChargePoint because they have many more locations. I would only use EA on a road trip, which I may not do again given the issues (read: Range Anxiety) that we had on this one.

 

[xylhim]

While I am happy with the quick rollout of a nationwide EA fast charging network, I'm still dissatisfied with their reliability. Today at the South Lake Tahoe charging site, every station except one (2/3) was NOT working. The one that was working stopped charging due to a power fault 1/3 into the charge and the max charge rate was only 20kW. Using the tap feature on my Android for payment has never worked for me. Getting the station activated on the app is aggravating when my cell phone data signal is weak in rural areas. It often takes upward of 20 mins to get the station activated. This last problem could be quickly fixed by a tap card, but they still don't offer it.

I don't care how good a car GM, Nissan, VW, etc. puts out. As long as their charging infrastructure is unrealiable, they'll never catch up to Tesla.

 

[fbitz777]

Ok so they installed brand new EA two miles from my house and across street from Tesla SC so wanted to check it out and compare to my Tesla experience.

I got 34kwh into the car in 60minutes (7 percent to 62 percent)....a little bit disappointed as it started at 20KW and was peaking at around 45kw....slow I would say it would take 1h40 to fill (could not figure out how to get past 80 percent limit on EA charge screen for estimate to full)

ONLY issue besides how slow is that they charge by the minute 16 cents/minute (up to 90KW) so I was at 30 cents /kwh but could have been way better if the **** Bolt would actually charge at advertised rate of 50KW.

My Tesla would have charged quite faster and they charge by Kwh (28 cents/Kwh)

Question: Isn't 20Kw a low charge rate (took half hour to get into the 30's) SOC started at 7 percent and temp was 40F.

 

[midlman]

Tried the EA close to my house a few times. Mostly uneventful except last time I was there it said charging was complete (at 56%) and I couldn't get to the car to re-initiate or move the car so I got dinged with the idle charge ($5). I sent them an email stating that I don't know why it terminated the charge at 56% and requested a refund of the idle charge. They looked into it and gave me back my $5.

 

[micantony]

Ok so they installed brand new EA two miles from my house and across street from Tesla SC so wanted to check it out and compare to my Tesla experience.

I got 34kwh into the car in 60minutes (7 percent to 62 percent)....a little bit disappointed as it started at 20KW and was peaking at around 45kw....slow I would say it would take 1h40 to fill (could not figure out how to get past 80 percent limit on EA charge screen for estimate to full)

ONLY issue besides how slow is that they charge by the minute 16 cents/minute (up to 90KW) so I was at 30 cents /kwh but could have been way better if the **** Bolt would actually charge at advertised rate of 50KW.

My Tesla would have charged quite faster and they charge by Kwh (28 cents/Kwh)

Question: Isn't 20Kw a low charge rate (took half hour to get into the 30's) SOC started at 7 percent and temp was 40F.

Hard to say, but that is definitely slow. Battery may have been cold which is why it started out so slow. Charging in cold temp's is definitely not the strong suit for our Bolt's; Off the top of my head, I dont recall what battery temp it has to reach to hit the advertised 55kw rate; I do usually get there eventually in my experience in moderate winters (~40 degrees ambient).