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Download the Electrify America app before transporting your Chevy Bolt by car.
At least once a year, my wife and I enjoy traveling to get as far away from city life and our responsibilities as possible. This year we decided to take a car trip out of the Dallas area to a rural part of Oklahoma for a relaxing five day weekend. We would stay in an isolated cabin about 30 miles north of the Beavers Bend area.
It was an area that I had visited many times in my life. It turns out that an Electrify America station opened the I-30 at a convenient point between Dallas and Broken Bow, OK. The timing was perfect: for the first time, we would do this trekking in electric car.
We had already taken our Chevy Bolt EV during some regional trips to Austin and San Antonio. In fact, our trip to Oklahoma would not be the longest distance we have ever traveled in the Bolt. Only about 210 miles separate us and our cabin rental compared to about 290 miles between Dallas and San Antonio.
However, our trip to San Antonio moved us from one urban area to another with many loading options along the way. There was never any concern about the range. If we reached our destination and our favorite charging station was not available, we could drive a few kilometers.
The distance between us and our cabin in rural Oklahoma was technically shorter, but we felt much further. Once we leave Texas, there would be no DCFC charging or even L2 charging nearby. Other than the Electrify America station located 30 km.
It was not our first rodeo: plan ahead reduces headaches
Assuming everything goes perfectly, we will leave the house and not stop until we reach the Electrify America station about 130 kilometers from Mount Pleasant, Texas. We would load our bolt for about 30 minutes at about 85%. Then we would complete the last 80 kilometers of our route. At the cabin, we would gain 45 to 50 km each night using a standard wall outlet.
However, we can not badume that everything would go as planned. Electrify America is still very new on the charge scene. At first, many users complained about the reliability of the stations and I had already witnessed problems.
When Denton Station in Texas opened not far from me, I tried. My first experience was a mixed bag. Four of the six booths said that credit card readers were down. It was not said that it was down, but when I tried to use it, the station failed to initiate a charge. At this point, I called Electrify America to see what was happening.
On the merits of their customer service, they've been of great help and directed me to the station that I had not tried yet, claiming that she had just come to be used. I gave it a shot and indeed it worked. Once the load launched, the speeds were the fastest I had ever seen on my Bolt and the interface, although a little awkward, was very informative.
But given the potential problems, we would not take any chances. We decided to complete our Bolt at an EVgo station on the outskirts of Dallas. We would only be there to recover about 30 miles between our home and the train station. This would ensure that we could get to the cabin after driving at a highway speed, even if all the other loading options failed us along the way.
In addition to the standard L1 charger, we also used our 7.2 kW Clipper Creek with NEMA 14-50 as a backup. If the Electrify America station was down, we could go to one of the many caravan parks near the cabin, which had 14 to 50 connections.
The Electrify America card reader fails again, but customer support has it under control
The departure of the EVgo charger at the exit of the city went well. In our experience, EVgo chargers are extremely robust, which is no problem.
After about 2 hours at a speed of 65 to 70 mph, we arrived at the Electrify America station with just under half the load. Unfortunately, most stations have again read "Credit Card – Mobile Payment Reader Currently Unavailable".
We called Electrify America as I had done previously and they ordered me to pick up 4. The 4th stall did not carry an error message. I have therefore tried using my card. The card reader did not seem to be down, but every time I tried, it failed.
After several attempts, we were about to give up and leave. But the relevant technical support representative was able to start the remote billing session. Once the load started, we were again very impressed with the speed. At EVgo, the maximum charging rate I see is typically 46 kW. On this trip, I received peak flows of 53 kW, according to the Bolt dashboard.
We were naturally relieved. Although I was ready to load on a motorhome park if necessary, we were not looking forward to sitting for hours.
In the end, we stopped in one of these RV parks while we ate and stretched our legs. But we stayed only a little over an hour. I wanted to test it in case we needed a faster charge over the five day weekend.
The Electrify America application seems to solve the problems of credit card readers
Despite the hiccups of Electrify America's credit card readers, the trip was successful and largely stress free. If the station had been completely down, we would have had several backup options in caravan parks. Fortunately, this was not necessary.
After our trip, Electrify America launched its smartphone app. Based on early experiences, this is an essential download for anyone considering charging at an Electrify America station. Four of the four times I have visited their stations, several readers have put their credit card readers out of order. It was particularly frustrating as they were completely functional.
So, to test the mobile application, my wife and I have tried the iPhone application on chargers where the error "credit card – mobile payment reader currently unavailable" is present. Until now, using the application, we managed to start a billing session each time.
Not only that, but the process is much faster than navigating the cumbersome user interface of the actual charging stations and praying for the card reader to actually work. After talking to other users of the application, we are not the only ones to have noticed a reliability far superior to that of credit card readers.
The phone app is painless to create an account. You can choose the "payment as you go" from Electrify America Pbad or the Pbad + monthly pbad plan. The subscription plan does not include a session fee and lower fees per minute, but a monthly fee of $ 4.
After our trip, we were initially worried about traveling a significant distance based solely on the young charging network. But since I have downloaded the application and have had several excellent experiences with their customer service, I have renewed my confidence in the future of Electrify America. . Once the problems are solved with the software, they will probably become the dominant name in the CCS and CHAdeMO load.
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