[kkdmsn]

I survived this trip, but not sure I will try it again any time soon. My trip planning showed Electrify America has installed charging stations every 90 to 120 miles. I made my first stop in Fort Morgan CO. My first time charging at a pay station. I spent an extra 20 minutes because I had to call EA and get help get the payment system to work. I signed up for membership in EA before I left home. Second stop was in Ogalla NE. Most of the stations said not ready and my membership app on my phone wouldn't work. Called EA and they helped me, again, an extra 20 plus minutes. Third stop was Lexington NE. Only one charger was working. I got it plugged in, went to the nearby walmart and got a message that my charging had ended. I went to the car and saw I had managed to get about 25 miles charge before the station stopped charging. That station now said it wasn't working, so I decided to go on to Grand Island. I called EA enroute and reported that none of the stations were working. I made the mistake of asking Siri to take me to Grand Island Electrify American and realized when I had gone 10 miles past the charge station that SIRI misled me. By the time I turned back, my mileage was flashing and I get a message that propulsion was slowed. I managed to get to the station, crying. None of the credit card stations were working and only a couple of the charging stations. I called EA and said either get me a charge somehow or call a tow truck. It took about 30 minutes to restarted, replug, restart, ..... but I got charged. What I drive in an ICE in 8 hours took me 12. I came back today and only had an issue in my first station in Grand Island. so, a 20 minute delay. I would have made it in 10 hours without the delay, which is what I assumed from reading a thread here.
My thought is that EV's are ready, but the infrastructure isn't. EA reps were all polite, kind and helpful. Not a pleasant first road trip!

 

[Fivedoor]

At least they have 24/7 support now. When EA first started activating the network there was no night time or weekend support so if you were on a weekend trip and this happened you were SOL.

Keith

 

[XJ12]

Sounds like they need to add a hardwired reset button that's accessible to the customer at each unit.

 

[Pod]

I've used most of those EA stations on a trip from Omaha, NE to Alliance, NE (430 miles or so). The first leg was a little tense as I didn't know what to expect and I didn't know the "one little trick" often needed for EA and the Bolt to work together - namely holding the handle up during initialization to force it to lock in place (which really requires the app if you're by yourself). It's also a little unnerving how some of the stations are offline. EA needs to fix this. I did find their customer service helpful and still have a free charge coming from them.

On that first leg, I planned to stop at every station along the way so I could always get somewhere further if a station was down. So Grand Island -> Lexington -> North Platte then through the charger-less sandhills of Nebraska. My game plan included Ogallala if North Platte was broken, etc. On the way back, I felt more comfortable and just hit North Platte and Grand Island. It was an adventure but I enjoyed it. EA does need to up it's game for sure.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

My thought is that EV's are ready, but the infrastructure isn't.

This summarizes my thoughts as well. What little infrastructure we have is highly unreliable. It doesn't make sense to me. And these companies (EA, EVGo, Greenlots, ChargePoint - all of them) don't seem to allocate any budget to maintenance. The whole thing is maddening.

I'm really hoping that these are all just teething issues. I'm willing to give them another year or two to sort it out. For me, I can always take the PHEV when in serious doubt. But when I replace the PHEV with a BEV in a couple of years, they better have gotten over these issues. Otherwise, I will have to break down and buy a Model Y, despite all of my reservations about Tesla.