[Nai3t]

Fair enough. And I would not plan to hog a charging spot in any case. But if I plugged in and went shopping and got back to the car after 35 minutes rather than 30, I would prefer not to be charged for an additional five minutes of power. Five minutes of idle charge would be reasonable under such a circumstance.

Owner/driver convenience was obviously not a factor in the UI design in any respect.

I suppose in the same way owners agree they'd rather be charged for the kWh and not for time, the system designers had to decide "do we want to provide a charging cutoff based on state of charge, or based on the length of time spent charging?" I think the correct answer is apparent – most people in need of change are there too hit a target SOC, absent any promotional plans skewing motivations.

I'm in 100% agreement that the myVW app is missing features and not a very smooth user experience, but I doubt we would ever expect see a charge timer in quite the way you're outlining.

 

[Valvefloat]

But can you program the EA app to automatically stop charging at 30 minutes?

How much time do you have after you stop charging before you are charged idle time?

How much is the idle time charge?

Are you charged idle time, even if there are other EA charging stations open?

 

[Valvefloat]

I suppose in the same way owners agree they'd rather be charged for the kWh and not for time, the system designers had to decide "do we want to provide a charging cutoff based on state of charge, or based on the length of time spent charging?" I think the correct answer is apparent – most people in need of change are there too hit a target SOC, absent any promotional plans skewing motivations.

I'm in 100% agreement that the myVW app is missing features and not a very smooth user experience, but I doubt we would ever expect see a charge timer in quite the way you're outlining.

There's no reason that both charging limit options couldn't be provided. It's no different than going to a gas station, paying the attendant $50, and having the pump cut off after $50 of fule was delivered. Not a new concept.

 

[truthseeker]

Sorry to be dense here, but "clock" in which app? On one of the car apps? the EA app? The VW ID app? I'd like to know how to do this, so I get the 30 free minutes and don't pay for any extra.

The iPhone has a Clock app. One of the tabs at the bottom of the screen is a timer. Set it to 25 minutes if you are at a Walmart shopping while the car is charging so that you have 5 minutes to walk back to the car before the free 30-min session expires. Or, set it to 28-29 minutes if you are waiting in the car so that you have enough time to get out of the car, walk to the EA pedestal's screen and push to Stop button on it before the charging clock turns 30 minutes on the pedestal's screen.

If you are using Android, I'm sure there is a similar app with a timer feature in it.

 

[truthseeker]

But can you program the EA app to automatically stop charging at 30 minutes?

How much time do you have after you stop charging before you are charged idle time?

How much is the idle time charge?

Are you charged idle time, even if there are other EA charging stations open?

You can't program any app to automatically stop the charging session in 30 minutes. You are not being charged idle fees right now, but you should not keep your car parked at the charging parking spot once the charging session has been stopped. You will eventually get a couple minutes to move the car before you start being assessed idle fees for being plugged in to the CCS cable and not charging, but for now there are no idle fees. No one knows what the idle charge is, but Tesla charges up to $1/minute in idle fees (depending on how busy the Supercharging location is).

 

[ChrisL]

But can you program the EA app to automatically stop charging at 30 minutes?

How much time do you have after you stop charging before you are charged idle time?

How much is the idle time charge?

Are you charged idle time, even if there are other EA charging stations open?

EA's posted policy at Pricing and Plans for EV Charging | Electrify America is that there is a 10 minute grace period, after which the idle fee is 40¢ per minute. There is nothing in the policy indicating a different rate depending on how busy the charging station is. "Electrify Commercial" sites (with a white bolt on the map, where EA maintains the site on behalf of the site host but does not hold the lease or ownership of the site) may charge a different fee schedule; for example, the posted fees at Buc-ee's in Leeds, Alabama, include a 50¢ per minute idle fee with no grace period.

That said, most EA dispensers at present seem to be waiving idle fees for VW plan holders and others, as they are waiving the "cooling off" period between free 30-minute charging sessions, but I would not expect that to last.

 

[Valvefloat]

Thanks for all of the replies. Guess we'll have to execute the 30-minute limit the manual way--assisted by phone timers.

 

[danrjones]

Thanks for all of the replies. Guess we'll have to execute the 30-minute limit the manual way--assisted by phone timers.

I think that's the only way. But its not like the "penalty" for running over is a big deal, you just start to pay for it. I think you have to have a payment method in your EA account anyway, so it should be fine.

 

[Valvefloat]

I think that's the only way. But its not like the "penalty" for running over is a big deal, you just start to pay for it. I think you have to have a payment method in your EA account anyway, so it should be fine.

Understood, but I don't want to pay for it. I only want the free charging. Besides the EA rate is exhorbitant--something like $0.43 per kW-h. That's about three times our utility rate in Colorado. At that rate, driving the ID.4 is more expensive than driving a compact IC car.

 

[VW TECHNICIAN]

Understood, but I don't want to pay for it. I only want the free charging. Besides the EA rate is exhorbitant--something like $0.43 per kW-h. That's about three times our utility rate in Colorado. At that rate, driving the ID.4 is more expensive than driving a compact IC car.

That is cheap...there are more expensive places in US. Regarding free charging... Remember to stop before 30 minutes period and you will not be charged extra for Fast DC charging.... you can use EA app to stop charging...once you stop you will have limited time to move vehicle or you get charged more for keeping vehicle at charging spot.

 

[bigbill25]

once you stop you will have limited time to move vehicle or you get charged more for keeping vehicle at charging spot.

Actually, they aren't charging any idle fees right now. Park as long as you want

 

[SunWizard]

Besides the EA rate is exhorbitant--something like $0.43 per kW-h. That's about three times our utility rate in Colorado.

If I plan to charge at EA more than 30kwh per month, I will buy the $4 pass+ and get it for $0.31/kwh.

 

[Nai3t]

Understood, but I don't want to pay for it. I only want the free charging. Besides the EA rate is exhorbitant--something like $0.43 per kW-h. That's about three times our utility rate in Colorado. At that rate, driving the ID.4 is more expensive than driving a compact IC car.

This era is the EV buy-in / expansion period where rates are being kept artificially low – I certainly expect DCFC rates to escalate substantially. Fast charging is service and a convenience product, not a commodity.

 

[Valvefloat]

This era is the EV buy-in / expansion period where rates are being kept artificially low – I certainly expect DCFC rates to escalate substantially. Fast charging is service and a convenience product, not a commodity.

You're absolutely right in general. But in my specific case, using the EA charger is less convenient than charging at home. However, since EA/VW is offering three years of free charging, and I do periodically shop at a nearby Walmart--with an EA charging station--I want to exploit this availability of free electricity. And I don't want to pay EA a penny in the process. That's why I've been looking for some way to automatically set a 30-minute charging limit. Guess EA has no interest in catering to the desires of customers like me.

 

[bigbill25]

Guess EA has no interest in catering to the desires of customers like me.

The problem is, we are not the customer's of EA. They make most of their revenue from selling the "free charging" deals to manufacturers. They have little incentive to go out of their way for us.

 

[Atlant]

The problem is, we are not the customer's of EA. They make most of their revenue from selling the "free charging" deals to manufacturers. They have little incentive to go out of their way for us.

That's an interesting point. I even wonder if VW's EA customers even have any grounds to sue EA (as some here have proposed) seeing as how most VW EA customers never exchange any money directly with EA.

 

[truthseeker]

You're absolutely right in general. But in my specific case, using the EA charger is less convenient than charging at home. However, since EA/VW is offering three years of free charging, and I do periodically shop at a nearby Walmart--with an EA charging station--I want to exploit this availability of free electricity. And I don't want to pay EA a penny in the process. That's why I've been looking for some way to automatically set a 30-minute charging limit. Guess EA has no interest in catering to the desires of customers like me.

Why would they want to give you free electricity if they don’t have to? They are still supposed to be profitable eventually.

 

[danrjones]

Understood, but I don't want to pay for it. I only want the free charging. Besides the EA rate is exorbitant--something like $0.43 per kW-h. That's about three times our utility rate in Colorado. At that rate, driving the ID.4 is more expensive than driving a compact IC car.

Funny thing is, EA rates are actually not bad where I am - charging at home from 4pm to 9pm my home SCE rate is listed as 54 cents per kWh.

What makes driving an EV much cheaper is low maintenance (hopefully), and home Solar. Assuming my solar lasts 20 years - it should last much longer - my own power costs my about 3 cents per kWh. I installed my own solar, so the math is very good - but even if you paid a company, you could be around 10 cents per kWh over the system life.

But if I run over the 30 minutes, and EA charges me a few bucks, I guess I don't really care. YMMV.

 

[truthseeker]

Funny thing is, EA rates are actually not bad where I am - charging at home from 4pm to 9pm my home SCE rate is listed as 54 cents per kWh.

What makes driving an EV much cheaper is low maintenance (hopefully), and home Solar. Assuming my solar lasts 20 years - it should last much longer - my own power costs my about 3 cents per kWh. I installed my own solar, so the math is very good - but even if you paid a company, you could be around 10 cents per kWh over the system life.

But if I run over the 30 minutes, and EA charges me a few bucks, I guess I don't really care. YMMV.

My grid rate is 8.5 cents per kWh. Makes no sense to install solar.

 

[jkinneberg]

There really has to be some charger throttling going on. When the EA app is used. Before you plug in the ccs connector you swipe the charger in the ea app you want to use. If the ea app negotiation is good and its knows your name. The charging at 20% is like 65kWh to max 80/90.

if the negotiation fails and it doesn’t know you are on a free plan. But just starts to charge you can be like 115kWh.. there is a major difference here.


its not just battery draw that has control of the amperage/wattage pull/consumption.