Electrify America Charging Station Problems

[didget69]

Stopped by the EA charge station here in Raleigh, NC this morning - found a number of the terminals to be down due to card reader issues, 3 would not connect to our 2015 Spark. Tried terminal 1, and it managed to connect & provided full charge. Spoke with EA Customer Service to let them know of inoperative terminals. Also downloaded EA app to my phone today.

Will check station this weekend to post which units (ABB, etc) are here.

https://www.plugshare.com/location/174534

BTW: I helped test the units during initial setup & we had issues with 3 of the terminals connecting to our Spark.

Bryan in NC

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Stopped by the EA charge station here in Raleigh, NC this morning - found a number of the terminals to be down due to card reader issues, 3 would not connect to our 2015 Spark. Tried terminal 1, and it managed to connect & provided full charge. Spoke with EA Customer Service to let them know of inoperative terminals. Also downloaded EA app to my phone today.

Will check station this weekend to post which units (ABB, etc) are here.

https://www.plugshare.com/location/174534

BTW: I helped test the units during initial setup & we had issues with 3 of the terminals connecting to our Spark.

Bryan in NC

Bryan, thanks for your post. I hope other Spark EV drivers will also post their charging experiences at EA locations. The photos of the chargers really help to identify the charger manufacturer too. The photos on PlugShare for the location you provided look to be BTCP chargers.

It is very important for Spark EV drivers to report to EA any charging problem(s) they encounter at EA charging locations. Perhaps EA should use the Spark EV as a charging test vehicle when qualifying new locations.

Every Friday I drive to Oakland, CA from my home in Manteca and my primary charging stop is at the San Francisco Premium Outlets in Livermore, CA. At this location are 10 EA ABB chargers. I have tried to charge and failed on every one of them and this has been reported to EA. I have also had a meeting at this location with EA and ABB reps to demonstrate my inability to charge. The ABB rep collected some data but I am still waiting for EA and ABB to develop and install a fix that will let me charge. When I call EA for an update, I just get "they are working on it". Fortunately, there are also three EVgo chargers at this same location and they always work just fine when they are not ICED.

I think you will like the EA APP but it does take a little work to figure out how it works.

 

[ElDobro]

Thanks for checking. As I mentioned, BTCP chargers work great for Spark EVs. There may be some problems with the credit card readers. I signed up for an EA account and use the EA APP on my phone to activate a charging session. So far, the APP has worked.

How exactly does the APP work?

I have the APP installed on my Android powered cell phone. When I get to the location at which I want to charge, I pull up to an open charger, plug in and note the charger ID number located at the top front section on the charger. Then I open the APP, find my charging location on the map and select that location. Then I select the charger using the number at the top of the charger. This will bring up a screen that says ACTIVATE (you may have to scroll down to get to it). On the screen I slide my finger left to right to activate the charging session. You will see the activation start on the charger's screen. When I have finished charging, I use the App again to end the session. During charging, the screen on my phone mimics the screen on the charger.

You can go to Electrify America's website for more information. Go to EV CHARGING, CHARGING WITH US and then scroll down to Step 2.

I hope this short explanation helps you.

I just found out that EVgo also has an APP that I can use to activate their chargers. I will have to give it a try. Up to now, I have been using my EVgo RFID card which works great!

I have the APP, just never had a chance to give it a try. Sounds straightforward, thanks a lot.

 

[ElDobro]

Ran across this article on Electrek.
https://electrek.co/2019/11/26/interview-electrify-america-chargers/

 

[ElDobro]

It's ben a month since last I checked and these are still not open. :roll:
https://www.plugshare.com/location/193079

 

[MrDRMorgan]

It's ben a month since last I checked and these are still not open. :roll:
https://www.plugshare.com/location/193079

I hate to burst your bubble but, these are ABB charging stations and, so far, I have not been able to charge my 2016 Spark EV at any ABB charger offered by Electrify America. But.... the Electrify America chargers manufactured by BTCPower work just fine for charging a Spark EV. I tested a new EA / BTCP location yesterday and both charging sessions worked perfectly.

 

[ElDobro]

It's ben a month since last I checked and these are still not open. :roll:
https://www.plugshare.com/location/193079

I hate to burst your bubble but, these are ABB charging stations and, so far, I have not been able to charge my 2016 Spark EV at any ABB charger offered by Electrify America. But.... the Electrify America chargers manufactured by BTCPower work just fine for charging a Spark EV. I tested a new EA / BTCP location yesterday and both charging sessions worked perfectly.

Yep and when they finally power them up, I can get hold of them and say, "Hi, I just tried out your new stations at the Super Walmart and they won't charge my car. What gives?'.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

The inability to charge at Electrify America stations populated with chargers manufactured by ABB should be a concern to all drivers of a Spark EV having the DCFC option. What can we do? Log onto Electrify America's website, and file a complaint. They want to hear from us, so...…. let's oblige them! It has been almost 6 months since I first posted about my inability to charge my Spark EV at EA / ABB stations and notified EA. Today, they still do not work! Fortunately, EA stations populated with chargers from BTCPower work just fine.

 

[ElDobro]

EA finally opened the charging stations at the Walmart Supercenter and there are complaints from an e-Golf owner and a Hyundai Ioniq Electric owner with charging problems. EA responded saying they know there are problems with the CHAdeMO station, but the CCS stations are available. Both cars use CCS charging.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

EA finally opened the charging stations at the Walmart Supercenter and there are complaints from an e-Golf owner and a Hyundai Ioniq Electric owner with charging problems. EA responded saying they know there are problems with the CHAdeMO station, but the CCS stations are available. Both cars use CCS charging.

As I review PlugShare for my geographical area in Central California / Bay Area, I too notice a number of CHAdeMO charging problems at EA locations.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

Wow! What a read so far, this topic is a bit of a wopper. As Norton pointed out, this is all very likely a software problem. I successfully charged on an ABB station a year and a half ago.

https://youtu.be/MKoXq6yP5_E

Electrify America is more or less a forced entity of Volkswagen for the diesel admissions scandal. It's a complete conflict of interest and should never have been allowed. Therefore I'm not surprised that nearly two years after launching their first station, they have credit card readers with horrendous reliability, vehicle compatibility issues, and many examples of poorly positioned stations (both the site they chose and where the chargers are located at the site).

What do I know? (Edit: I do some charging on their network with my Bolt)

https://youtu.be/O8hyzmS5GM4

 

[ElDobro]

You would think EA would get it right with an EV VW.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

I've tried the site in Charlotte, NC twice now with the Spark, and both times, without and then with their App, the sessions were unsuccessful. They are ABB units, so it's not surprising. The last time, I nearly ran out of power, due to two other fast chargers in the area that wouldn't work (4th one was the charm).

As far as action is concerned on this issue, I really don't have any great ideas. Just like the card readers that haven't functioned well since day one (more than a year and a half ago), EA doesn't seem to be in a rush to solve large issues. They are forced to spend this money, even if it means building pretty charging stations that don't always work very well. The only thing that might catch SERIOUS attention, is a lot of negative reviews for their corporate office on the likes of Google. Even still, in that case, they will probably use their "station support" staff (who are friendly, as many of you probably know), to respond and say "Call this phone number and we'll work it out," then run circles around the mulberry bush until you hang up, with nothing resolved.

 

[MrDRMorgan]

I've tried the site in Charlotte, NC twice now with the Spark, and both times, without and then with their App, the sessions were unsuccessful. They are ABB units, so it's not surprising. The last time, I nearly ran out of power, due to two other fast chargers in the area that wouldn't work (4th one was the charm).

As far as action is concerned on this issue, I really don't have any great ideas. Just like the card readers that haven't functioned well since day one (more than a year and a half ago), EA doesn't seem to be in a rush to solve large issues. They are forced to spend this money, even if it means building pretty charging stations that don't always work very well. The only thing that might catch SERIOUS attention, is a lot of negative reviews for their corporate office on the likes of Google. Even still, in that case, they will probably use their "station support" staff (who are friendly, as many of you probably know), to respond and say "Call this phone number and we'll work it out," then run circles around the mulberry bush until you hang up, with nothing resolved.

AMEN! Have a Happy New Year.

 

[Engineear]

Yeah, have had that issue when I had the BMW i-3. The support structure for Tesla is why I'm leaning that way in the future, but, waiting to see all the other manufacturers offer and if/when the charging stations get better, are more plentiful and batteries gain more miles and fast charge.

 

[ElDobro]

The Spark is brought up in the article.
https://insideevs.com/news/389891/exclusive-interview-electrify-america-problems-solutions/

 

[MrDRMorgan]

The Spark is brought up in the article.
https://insideevs.com/news/389891/exclusive-interview-electrify-america-problems-solutions/

Thanks for the post. 6 months ago I reported to Electrify America that my 2016 Spark EV could not charge at any of the 10 Electrify America chargers - I tired them all - located at the San Francisco Premium Outlets in Livermore, CA. I even met with representatives from EA and ABB and demonstrated the problem. So far, all I get is "they are working on it"! I even tried 4 EA ABB chargers in Patterson, CA with similar results.

I find it interest that ABB manufactured the older EVgo chargers and I have not had any problems charging on EVgo chargers. You would think ABB could quickly figure out the problem and fix it.

Fortunately, EA chargers manufactured by BTCPower and Signet will charge a Spark EV.

 

[thinksmall]

I have followed this thread hoping some solution would be found. I saw a comment on Plugshare where someone was able to charge his Spark on an ABB charger in Albany OR recently by holding up the plug cable. I thought I'd give it a try here in Vancouver Wa. I have tried several of these chargers here several months ago with no luck. Even the customer service could not get them to work although I held the plug in and wiggled it and whatever else we could think of. The credit card readers would not work either. So I tried again today. First I just plugged in and tried the credit card reader since the app was down. I was verified but the charger would not initialize. I reinserted the plug but this time held up the cable with one hand while the card reader verified my card and the charger initialized and started charging normally!!! I was afraid that if I let go of the cable that the charge would stop so set it up on a steel post. I let it charge to 90 % and then as a test removed the cable from the post and let the weight hang on the plug and it continued to charge no problem. That would seem to indicate that the cable only has to be held during initialization. I saw a max of 47 KW which is normal and about what I see on the evgo chargers. Maybe a few others could try this technique and report back. I'm thinking of making a stick I could put under the charge cable to hold it up. Special charging tool # ABBspark ! Oh, and yes I have done the charge port mod which didn't help when I tried the ABB chargers before but helped on the evgo chargers.

 

[ElDobro]

At 6 minutes into this video, the poster holds up a piece of plastic, made by another Bolt owner, that supports the cable where it goes into the port. Interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BhwyaArsvs

 

[MrDRMorgan]

I have followed this thread hoping some solution would be found. I saw a comment on Plugshare where someone was able to charge his Spark on an ABB charger in Albany OR recently by holding up the plug cable. I thought I'd give it a try here in Vancouver Wa. I have tried several of these chargers here several months ago with no luck. Even the customer service could not get them to work although I held the plug in and wiggled it and whatever else we could think of. The credit card readers would not work either. So I tried again today. First I just plugged in and tried the credit card reader since the app was down. I was verified but the charger would not initialize. I reinserted the plug but this time held up the cable with one hand while the card reader verified my card and the charger initialized and started charging normally!!! I was afraid that if I let go of the cable that the charge would stop so set it up on a steel post. I let it charge to 90 % and then as a test removed the cable from the post and let the weight hang on the plug and it continued to charge no problem. That would seem to indicate that the cable only has to be held during initialization. I saw a max of 47 KW which is normal and about what I see on the evgo chargers. Maybe a few others could try this technique and report back. I'm thinking of making a stick I could put under the charge cable to hold it up. Special charging tool # ABBspark ! Oh, and yes I have done the charge port mod which didn't help when I tried the ABB chargers before but helped on the evgo chargers.

Very interesting! One thing I noticed is during all of my ABB testing was that many of the ABB cable plugs put a "severe" twist on the car's socket when the plug was inserted. But... even the ones I tried, that had "just a little" twist, did not work either. There is a silver latch in the car's socket that falls into place during the initialization step. Charging will not start if this latch does not drop into place and there was often enough twist to prevent the latch from falling into place. The socket modification you mentioned was corrected in the 2016 Spark EV.

Fortunately, a second EA charging location opened along my Friday route and it has chargers manufactured by BTCPower. So far, BTCPower chargers at a number of different locations have worked for me every time. But... I am going to try supporting the cable during initialization using ABB chargers and see if that works. I will try supporting the cable while also using the EA APP to start the charging cycle. Should be interesting!

The plug in the video is quite different from those I see here in Central California. Still, I would not mind purchasing the adapter if it works for the "California" plugs.

UPDATE 13-Jan-20: I drove to my closest EA charging station which is located 30 miles away in Turlock. I tried the 350 kWH ABB charger and could not get it to charge. Then I tried a 150 EA ABB charger. I supported the plug with one hand while using my other hand to activate the charging session via the EA APP on my phone. IT WORKED!! Now, on Friday, I plan to try the 150 kWh ABB chargers at the San Francisco Premium Outlets in Livermore to see if they will work too. Previously, I had a 100% failure rate.