[truthseeker]

What you’re saying makes sense. I was replying to a poster that suggested OP should create a new EA account for his Tesla. That makes no sense to me. Users shouldn’t have to log in and out of accounts based on the EV they’re driving. EA should just bill appropriately based on the charging plan selected and the vehicle being charged. Seems like they’re moving in that direction, which is good.

The charging plan should not have to be selected in the app. This is all coming from people who do not understand how to use the Apple Wallet (or a Google / Samsung equivalent electronic wallet). Nothing needs to be selected. The EV driver scans his wallet against an NFC reader and authorizes the use of the EA (or ChargePoint or another DCFC provider) electronic card stored in the driver's electronic wallet. The charging pedestal's computer should be able to verify the read VIN against any promotional plans configured under the driver's account that installed the electronic card in the electronic wallet and then apply the correct promotional plan (if any are present on the account) to the correct VIN. If the VIN that was read by the DCFC computer during the charging session negotiation doesn't match any VINs configured under the user's account for any charging promotion, then a standard billing rate (or a subscribed-to discount plan) is applied to the EV's charging session. This is how it works. If it didn't work like this in the past, it was because EA couldn't get their act together. Requiring people to use the app and select the right plan is ridiculous. The only time one should use an app is if the NFC scanner is malfunctioning.

In the future, when Plug&Charge is enabled, nothing needs to be done by the driver; no choosing of the plan needs to be done in the app. The driver plugs in the EV he/she is driving, and if the EV VIN is registered under the driver's account, the matching charging rate (promotional, discount, or whatever) is applied to the charging session. If the VIN is not configured under any account, the driver will have to scan his/her phone against the NFC reader (or use a credit card). If this doesn't work either, only then the driver will have to use the app.

 

[Nai3t]

There's a difference between "shoulda" / "it would be nice if..." / "ideally" vs. what really is.

Reality apparently is that not all chargers / not all cars are capable of VIN identification... yet.

If a cashier at a store mistakenly doesn't ring me up for an item the right thing to do is point it out and pay for it. If EA requires me to take 3 seconds to choose the correct plan so as to not fraudulently charge my non-VW for free, so be it.

 

[hilld]

One thing I think should happen automatically is if you have multiple plans, including a paid for monthly membership, once the 30 mins is passed, they should charge you at your lower paid membership rate. That currently doesn't happen, they charge you the rack rate (non paid membership) for anything exceeding the 30 mins.

 

[Spin]

One thing I think should happen automatically is if you have multiple plans, including a paid for monthly membership, once the 30 mins is passed, they should charger you at your lower paid membership rate. That currently doesn't happen, they charge you the rack rate (non paid membership) for anything exceeding the 30 mins.

You can get the membership rate if you pay the membership fee.

 

[hilld]

You can get the membership rate if you pay the membership fee.

I pay for the membership as I have multiple EV's, however, when using the free 30 min plan, any overages are not charged at the paid membership rate, but rather the non paid rate.

 

[Spin]

I pay for the membership as I have multiple EV's, however, when using the free 30 min plan, any overages are not charged at the paid membership rate, but rather the non paid rate.

I guess it is just a question of combining your accounts.

 

[wildpitcher]

Eh, I don't know.

When we bought our ID.4 we knew what the offer and rules were. I expect that they will enforce them. There may be times where we have to exceed 30 minutes at an EA station. If so, I'll just pay whatever small dollar amount it turns out to be. Shrug.

Dave

 

[truthseeker]

I pay for the membership as I have multiple EV's, however, when using the free 30 min plan, any overages are not charged at the paid membership rate, but rather the non paid rate.

This just proves how incompetent EA is.

 

[Bikes5]

Sad to report that Electrify America has started enforcing the previously stated rules:
1. To get a free 30-minute charging session, you must have at least a 1 hour “cooling-off” period after the previous charging session.
2. If you charge a different EV using the EA app with an activated ID.4 free-charging plan, you will be billed full price for the charging session. It appears that EA can read the VIN and can make the decision to bill or not to bill depending on the vehicle plugged in.

So you're sad because the free lunch you thought you were getting away with turned out to not be free after all? My heart bleeds...

 

[enki1711]

Why is that sad? EA should have been enforcing their rules all the time to prevent station overcrowding. 30 mins should still be enough time for most road trips and even if you need a few more kWh after 30 mins it would not be that expensive.

30 min isn’t enough when the most you get out of a crowded station is 40kw.

 

[GhiaLover]

Sad to report that Electrify America has started enforcing the previously stated rules:
1. To get a free 30-minute charging session, you must have at least a 1 hour “cooling-off” period after the previous charging session.
2. If you charge a different EV using the EA app with an activated ID.4 free-charging plan, you will be billed full price for the charging session. It appears that EA can read the VIN and can make the decision to bill or not to bill depending on the vehicle plugged in.

Too bad. I got a lot a free charging with a different car in the past. I wasn't purposely gaming the system. I was surprised it worked that way.

 

[truthseeker]

So you're sad because the free lunch you thought you were getting away with turned out to not be free after all? My heart bleeds...

Blocked as a troll.

 

[Carrier222]

Why is that sad? EA should have been enforcing their rules all the time to prevent station overcrowding. 30 mins should still be enough time for most road trips and even if you need a few more kWh after 30 mins it would not be that expensive.

I agree as to it being a sad situation. Instead of criticizing owners for station overcrowding,you need to criticize EA and Volkswagen for not doing more to expand their charging network! One of the main selling points was the 3 years free charging,and now the rules are being changed.

 

[cpf]

I agree as to it being a sad situation. Instead of criticizing owners for station overcrowding,you need to criticize EA and Volkswagen for not doing more to expand their charging network! One of the main selling points was the 3 years free charging,and now the rules are being changed.

I agree we don’t need to shame people, but simply enforcing the rules is the best thing. If you don’t enforce you don’t have any rules and that’s just chaos…

 

[cpf]

30 min isn’t enough when the most you get out of a crowded station is 40kw.

It might not be , but that is what the what the offer was. Even if you have to pay for some portion of the charge you are still getting the first 30 min for free.

 

[hilld]

I agree as to it being a sad situation. Instead of criticizing owners for station overcrowding,you need to criticize EA and Volkswagen for not doing more to expand their charging network! One of the main selling points was the 3 years free charging,and now the rules are being changed.

I am not sure the rules are actually being changed, but rather enforced. That being said, I really wish they would enforce the idle fees. Too many times people walk away and leave their car there sitting fully charged and no consequences to the person charging. All the others waiting get to twiddle their thumbs.

 

[danrjones]

It might not be , but that is what the what the offer was. Even if you have to pay for some portion of the charge you are still getting the first 30 min for free.

I've charged twice so far on EA with our new ID4, and 30 minutes was plenty. More than plenty. The real problem I see with EA is reliability - you shouldn't be getting 40 kW!
Heck, I should have charged FOUR times at EA stations, but TWICE I arrived at the Mojave EA station to find it "Full"

"Full" meaning two vehicles, because EA refuses to fix the other two broken stations at that location - so both times I've left negative Plugshare ratings, then had to drive over to a nearby ChargePoint station and pay and charge at 45 kW. Too many people seem to leave green reviews even when finding stations broken.

But from my App history, 30 minutes sessions would be fine. I went 20% to 60% in 18 minutes, and the second time I went 29% to 70% in 21 minutes.
So when things are actually working, 30 minutes is fine - and it encourages people to leave at ~80% rather than tying up chargers.
If you then really need above 80%, then paying for that time seems reasonable. So for me, I like it - just make them actually WORK. And per above, enforce idle fees.

 

[truthseeker]

Used an EA charger yesterday east of Chattanooga, TN, and the second-back-to-back session was free. So, it’s inconsistent. The ID.4 was charging at a maximum of 60 kW in 45F ambient temperature after a two-hour drive and pre-conditioning battery at home for an hour before leaving. An Audi Etron (larger one - not the Q4), was charging next to me at 140 kW at the same SOC of 48%. Very frustrating that the older EV platform charges 2.5 times faster than the ID.4. Ridiculous. .

 

[emcee]

I've charged twice so far on EA with our new ID4, and 30 minutes was plenty. More than plenty. The real problem I see with EA is reliability - you shouldn't be getting 40 kW!
Heck, I should have charged FOUR times at EA stations, but TWICE I arrived at the Mojave EA station to find it "Full"

"Full" meaning two vehicles, because EA refuses to fix the other two broken stations at that location - so both times I've left negative Plugshare ratings, then had to drive over to a nearby ChargePoint station and pay and charge at 45 kW. Too many people seem to leave green reviews even when finding stations broken.

But from my App history, 30 minutes sessions would be fine. I went 20% to 60% in 18 minutes, and the second time I went 29% to 70% in 21 minutes.
So when things are actually working, 30 minutes is fine - and it encourages people to leave at ~80% rather than tying up chargers.
If you then really need above 80%, then paying for that time seems reasonable. So for me, I like it - just make them actually WORK. And per above, enforce idle fees.

Right - 30 min is fine in theory if the EA chargers worked as advertised, but most of the time they do not. If I really was getting the quoted 15% to 80% in 30 min I'd be perfectly content with the free time limit.

But when most of the time I'm getting closer to 15-60% in 30 min...I feel zero guilt about EA being too technically incompetent to recognize back to back sessions.

Perhaps a better rule would be to offer free 50 kWh each session, roughly equivalent to a 30 min "good" charge. That way you don't penalize drivers when the chargers are broken.

 

[PANZERidIV]

Actually they do work fine most of the time for the long term members on here. Nobody knows what the problem is for the new members? I think people are thinking that electric car charging should be passé by now. Well it isn’t. It is presently behind the curve as more people buy electric cars and want to use public chargers but the U.S. Government now has new public chargers, non-Tesla, being built under a new bill by the 100,000’s. Rome wasn’t built in a day.