I had the same challenge yesterday - all made more painful by a flaky bank of EA chargers. Plug and Charge (and the install of my home charger) can come soon enough.
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Charging Mistake (EA)
Learned a lot at the charging station. Followed prompt on charger to connect first which I did, opened app and immediately show "initiating charging". Waited some time with nothing happening, finally a message on the charging station said to remove and reconnect. Easy enough, except I couldn't remove the charging cable. It was locked by the car. Called the support number for Electrify America and they had me turn the car on and then off. That released the grip on the charging cable. Removed and plugged in again....again the app showed initializing charging with nothing happening again. The message to remove and reconnect appeared again. Once more the charging cable was locked to the car. I turned on the car and turned it off. This time it wouldn't release the charging cable. Tried again, no release. Called Electrfy America again. They suggested turning car on and off again, but explained I had already tried that. From their end they rebooted the charging station and during that reboot process the car released the cable...whew. What i found out was my sequence was wrong. I needed to open the app first, find the charging station from the map of stations on the map, click on that charging station which brings up a list of all the chargers where I am, then click on the number of the charging station I'm in front of, then I connected to the car and a message on the charging station showed connecting, and then a welcome screen appeared with a greeting, on the app their was a slider to initiate charging. I slid my finger across and voila it started charging and continued to charge to 80% without any further issue. Learned a lot. VW could make this a lot easier with plug and charge. Hopefully that will come down the pike.
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One "trick" that I have used is to hit the door unlock button on the keyfob remote, and this frequently releases charging cables that are locked in the car. With the kona, I needed to do this twice to unlock all doors - I don't recall if this is also needed for id4.
We have a non networked L2 that I use sometime. Same issue, but nobody to call.
Technically it should properly terminate charging as you remove the charging cable from the car, but I am a little superstitious and prefer to terminate charging first (if possible).
We have a non networked L2 that I use sometime. Same issue, but nobody to call.
Technically it should properly terminate charging as you remove the charging cable from the car, but I am a little superstitious and prefer to terminate charging first (if possible).
I was told that if you hold the key fob next to the light near the charging port, that will release the charging connector.Learned a lot at the charging station. Followed prompt on charger to connect first which I did, opened app and immediately show "initiating charging". Waited some time with nothing happening, finally a message on the charging station said to remove and reconnect. Easy enough, except I couldn't remove the charging cable. It was locked by the car. Called the support number for Electrify America and they had me turn the car on and then off. That released the grip on the charging cable. Removed and plugged in again....again the app showed initializing charging with nothing happening again. The message to remove and reconnect appeared again. Once more the charging cable was locked to the car. I turned on the car and turned it off. This time it wouldn't release the charging cable. Tried again, no release. Called Electrfy America again. They suggested turning car on and off again, but explained I had already tried that. From their end they rebooted the charging station and during that reboot process the car released the cable...whew. What i found out was my sequence was wrong. I needed to open the app first, findI was the charging station from the map of stations on the map, click on that charging station which brings up a list of all the chargers where I am, then click on the number of the charging station I'm in front of, then I connected to the car and a message on the charging station showed connecting, and then a welcome screen appeared with a greeting, on the app their was a slider to initiate charging. I slid my finger across and voila it started charging and continued to charge to 80% without any further issue. Learned a lot. VW could make this a lot easier with plug and charge. Hopefully that will come down the pike.
I had a similar issue on my first electrify america (pump was numbered incorrectly) - I unlocked by pressing unlock on the key fob 3 times.
chargers where I am, then click on the number of the charging station I'm in front of, then I connected to the car and a message on the charging station showed connecting, and then a welcome screen appeared with a greeting, on the app their was a slider to initiate charging. I slid my finger across and
Thank you, Drew. This information will be very helpfulLearned a lot at the charging station. Followed prompt on charger to connect first which I did, opened app and immediately show "initiating charging". Waited some time with nothing happening, finally a message on the charging station said to remove and reconnect. Easy enough, except I couldn't remove the charging cable. It was locked by the car. Called the support number for Electrify America and they had me turn the car on and then off. That released the grip on the charging cable. Removed and plugged in again....again the app showed initializing charging with nothing happening again. The message to remove and reconnect appeared again. Once more the charging cable was locked to the car. I turned on the car and turned it off. This time it wouldn't release the charging cable. Tried again, no release. Called Electrfy America again. They suggested turning car on and off again, but explained I had already tried that. From their end they rebooted the charging station and during that reboot process the car released the cable...whew. What i found out was my sequence was wrong. I needed to open the app first, find the charging station from the map of stations on the map, click on that charging station which brings up a list of all the chargers where I am, then click on the number of the charging station I'm in front of, then I connected to the car and a message on the charging station showed connecting, and then a welcome screen appeared with a greeting, on the app their was a slider to initiate charging. I slid my finger across and voila it started charging and continued to charge to 80% without any further issue. Learned a lot. VW could make this a lot easier with plug and charge. Hopefully that will come down the pike.
I did this today, too, except I was on hold with EA forever and no one answered, so I got mad and went home instead of standing in the sun to mess around with it any further. Thanks for this post! I'll know what to do if I decide to go back.
MBrandenburg
I was able to charge at Electrify America finally. Initially, I thought it was EA problem. Come to find out, it was a glitch with the iD.4. This is my fourth (4) electric car. I have had more trouble with the VW, than the previous three (3) cars combined. Ford Focus Electric, BMW i3, Leaf 2nd Generation, and now the iD.4. Love the iD.4. Hoping that these initial problems with vaporize in the next couple of weeks. The iD.4 will now charge, allbeit, slowly. I have to make sure that the charging cable is seated and locked. I would suggest, that VW give us an option not to lock the cable in place. We live in Oklahoma. We do not need locking cables.
Good luck with your car. They will get the problems fixed. We just need to have a bit more patience. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was able to charge at Electrify America finally. Initially, I thought it was EA problem. Come to find out, it was a glitch with the iD.4. This is my fourth (4) electric car. I have had more trouble with the VW, than the previous three (3) cars combined. Ford Focus Electric, BMW i3, Leaf 2nd Generation, and now the iD.4. Love the iD.4. Hoping that these initial problems with vaporize in the next couple of weeks. The iD.4 will now charge, allbeit, slowly. I have to make sure that the charging cable is seated and locked. I would suggest, that VW give us an option not to lock the cable in place. We live in Oklahoma. We do not need locking cables.
Good luck with your car. They will get the problems fixed. We just need to have a bit more patience. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have made several tries to use an ElectrifyAmerica charger. Today I tried one in Hartsdale, NY, although at first I did not think that were any chargers there, as the app did not seem to find any and certainly made locating it difficult. Once I arrived, there were 3 stations. Two were in use (both ID.4s) and one was broken. So I waited about 15 minutes until one of the cars left (fortunately, the driver was sitting in the car and not eating lunch somewhere else, so he could tell me that he was almost done). Then the real problems started. I plugged in and then waited for the connection to complete. The screen is very difficult to see in daylight, even if the sun is not directly on it. But I know what the screen looks like and that I need to select the member tab, which I did. The next step is to tap my iPhone 13 on the place indicated. The phone recognizes that I am trying to pay for something, and insists that I press the power button twice to confirm, which I did. But then the phone is mad because my face is not immediately visible, so it won't continue. So I have to move the phone up to my face but that is too late (I know to try and contort my body so my face is in front of the phone when I press the power button twice but I have yet to be successful with this move). The first two times that was the end of my session. The second time the cable remained locked so I had to press lock and unlock twice on the key fob to convince the car to let go of the cable, so I could start over. The third time I was fast enough to press the spot on the phone so I could enter my 6 digit code in lieu of the normal facial recognition and finally got the session to actually start. I must have spent about 15 minutes trying to get the process right. After that I was able to charge. This process really needs to be improved. I may try again on Saturday, seeing if my latest discovery of just entering the 6 digit code is my new solution. And by the way, I have added the EA app into my wallet on my phone and it is visible there.
I've had a couple of difficult encounters like that when attempting to use a public charger... and not just EA. Yours is one of those examples where you'd love to have one of the system's designers at your side while attempting to use their charger and ask them "what made you think this was a good way to do things?"
You need to unlock Apple Wallet first with FaceID or 6 digit code. After that you can tap to the NFC reader. The same applies to contactless payments at the store or anywhere else. Doing this should simplify the process quite a bit. Alternatively, you can preauthorize from the car with the EA app in CarPlay, as some folks have posted here.I have made several tries to use an ElectrifyAmerica charger. Today I tried one in Hartsdale, NY, although at first I did not think that were any chargers there, as the app did not seem to find any and certainly made locating it difficult. Once I arrived, there were 3 stations. Two were in use (both ID.4s) and one was broken. So I waited about 15 minutes until one of the cars left (fortunately, the driver was sitting in the car and not eating lunch somewhere else, so he could tell me that he was almost done). Then the real problems started. I plugged in and then waited for the connection to complete. The screen is very difficult to see in daylight, even if the sun is not directly on it. But I know what the screen looks like and that I need to select the member tab, which I did. The next step is to tap my iPhone 13 on the place indicated. The phone recognizes that I am trying to pay for something, and insists that I press the power button twice to confirm, which I did. But then the phone is mad because my face is not immediately visible, so it won't continue. So I have to move the phone up to my face but that is too late (I know to try and contort my body so my face is in front of the phone when I press the power button twice but I have yet to be successful with this move). The first two times that was the end of my session. The second time the cable remained locked so I had to press lock and unlock twice on the key fob to convince the car to let go of the cable, so I could start over. The third time I was fast enough to press the spot on the phone so I could enter my 6 digit code in lieu of the normal facial recognition and finally got the session to actually start. I must have spent about 15 minutes trying to get the process right. After that I was able to charge. This process really needs to be improved. I may try again on Saturday, seeing if my latest discovery of just entering the 6 digit code is my new solution. And by the way, I have added the EA app into my wallet on my phone and it is visible there.
Thank you for your reply. Are you saying that I should have the Apple Wallet app open when I tap to pay? This seems to contradict the instructions that I am supposed to have the EA app open. What do you mean by "unlock Apple Wallet?"You need to unlock Apple Wallet first with FaceID or 6 digit code. After that you can tap to the NFC reader. The same applies to contactless payments at the store or anywhere else. Doing this should simplify the process quite a bit. Alternatively, you can preauthorize from the car with the EA app in CarPlay, as some folks have posted here.
My last EA charge I was already using the EA App via CarPlay to navigate to same (which is remarkably good btw) so my iPhone Wallet with already embedded EA card was essentially already open.
So in my experience, best to have the iPhone wallet open with EA card selected, then plug in, and then tap the NFC reader. Note that on some EA stations the NFC reader is discrete and unlabeled from the primary for-charge reader! Using your virtual EA card with the NFC reader your ID.4 will be recognized and you won't be charged. You'll receive a receipt to that effect via email.
So in my experience, best to have the iPhone wallet open with EA card selected, then plug in, and then tap the NFC reader. Note that on some EA stations the NFC reader is discrete and unlabeled from the primary for-charge reader! Using your virtual EA card with the NFC reader your ID.4 will be recognized and you won't be charged. You'll receive a receipt to that effect via email.
Keep cards and passes in Wallet on iPhone
On iPhone, use Wallet to keep cards and passes in one place for easy access.
support.apple.com
Thank you for your reply. Are you saying that I should have the Apple Wallet app open when I tap to pay? This seems to contradict the instructions that I am supposed to have the EA app open. What do you mean by "unlock Apple Wallet?"
Well, I finally had a good experience with Electrify America charging. For background I have an iPhone 13 Pro. For some reason I thought I needed to have the EA application running when I used a charger. This appears to be my big mistake. What finally worked for me was to go into the EA application and add the EA charging plan to the wallet on the phone. Once you do this (hint - select account->plans under the EA application), you do the following:
1) open your iPhone, select the wallet application and then select the EA certificate.
2) Plug the cable into your charging port.
3) Wait for the connecting to car message to disappear.
4) Select the Member tab.
5) Make sure you wallet app is open on your phone with the EA certificate selected and then press your phone against the indicated area on the charger. Your phone and the charger display should show that the payment was accepted and your charging should start.
So at least for iPhones, remember that you must use your wallet application, not the EA application, to initiate charging. I wish I had known this from the beginning.
I might add that this time I was using the charger at night. It was much easier since I could actually read the screen, which is very difficult in daylight. Once you have done this a few times and know where things are located, reading the screen is not that important.
1) open your iPhone, select the wallet application and then select the EA certificate.
2) Plug the cable into your charging port.
3) Wait for the connecting to car message to disappear.
4) Select the Member tab.
5) Make sure you wallet app is open on your phone with the EA certificate selected and then press your phone against the indicated area on the charger. Your phone and the charger display should show that the payment was accepted and your charging should start.
So at least for iPhones, remember that you must use your wallet application, not the EA application, to initiate charging. I wish I had known this from the beginning.
I might add that this time I was using the charger at night. It was much easier since I could actually read the screen, which is very difficult in daylight. Once you have done this a few times and know where things are located, reading the screen is not that important.
Well done!
My 'local' EA screens are west-facing so very difficult to read in daylight at my most common charging time. But as you cite once you do so a few times you don't really need to see much on them anyway.
Still, it would be nice if EA added some roofing overhead for easier viewing and also for the oft discussed inclement weather and Summer solar loading. Gas pumps usually have roofing and yet .... 🤷♂️
My 'local' EA screens are west-facing so very difficult to read in daylight at my most common charging time. But as you cite once you do so a few times you don't really need to see much on them anyway.
Still, it would be nice if EA added some roofing overhead for easier viewing and also for the oft discussed inclement weather and Summer solar loading. Gas pumps usually have roofing and yet .... 🤷♂️
Well, I finally had a good experience with Electrify America charging. For background I have an iPhone 13 Pro. For some reason I thought I needed to have the EA application running when I used a charger. This appears to be my big mistake. What finally worked for me was to go into the EA application and add the EA charging plan to the wallet on the phone. Once you do this (hint - select account->plans under the EA application), you do the following:
1) open your iPhone, select the wallet application and then select the EA certificate.
2) Plug the cable into your charging port.
3) Wait for the connecting to car message to disappear.
4) Select the Member tab.
5) Make sure you wallet app is open on your phone with the EA certificate selected and then press your phone against the indicated area on the charger. Your phone and the charger display should show that the payment was accepted and your charging should start.
So at least for iPhones, remember that you must use your wallet application, not the EA application, to initiate charging. I wish I had known this from the beginning.
I might add that this time I was using the charger at night. It was much easier since I could actually read the screen, which is very difficult in daylight. Once you have done this a few times and know where things are located, reading the screen is not that important.
Since EA is usually on "private" property, roofing might not be an option, too bad 😕.Well done!
My 'local' EA screens are west-facing so very difficult to read in daylight at my most common charging time. But as you cite once you do so a few times you don't really need to see much on them anyway.
Still, it would be nice if EA added some roofing overhead for easier viewing and also for the oft discussed inclement weather and Summer solar loading. Gas pumps usually have roofing and yet .... 🤷♂️
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