First DC fast charging experience. The Mini was great, EA not so much…

AndysComputer said:
Bucee’s in Texas said they are going to install chargers which makes sense as their gas stations are destinations in themselves with plenty of shopping and great food options. Perfect for EVs.
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CBS Sunday Morning recently did a piece on Buc-ee's. It's quite a phenomenon and a perfect place for charging an EV.
 
Puppethead said:
Not on site, but given Tesla's tech savvy I do not doubt every supercharger is remotely monitored in real time.
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I don't think Tesla is monitoring 24/7 either. I've been to Superchargers with sticky notes from owners if there is a problem with the charger.
 
AndysComputer said:
Bucee’s in Texas said they are going to install chargers which makes sense as their gas stations are destinations in themselves with plenty of shopping and great food options. Perfect for EVs.
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I loved Bucee’s when I lived in TX. It truly is a destination stop. I always made a point to stop on my way to Houston or Austin even if I didn’t need gas. In addition to hundreds of gas pumps, amazing food and other shopping, they have by far the cleanest and most upscale gas station restrooms. It makes sense for them to add charging since you literally could spend an hour inside shopping and eating.

I miss Bucee’s here in CA.
 
I just had my second EA experience and it went well.
I drove 115 miles from Plano to Waco in Green mode (left with 100% and arrived with 15%).
In theory I needed 85% to arrive home with zero but I like a buffer and I suspected I would use more on the way back so charged to 97% (intended 95 but got distracted) and got back home on 7% but that was helped by very slow commuter traffic from Dallas to Plano. Without that I think it needs 95% worth of charge to make it at 70.

I too had looked at the route to Houston and thought it was not doable without the long way round route you describe, but between Ennis and Madisonville is 111 miles so given my experience today if you keep at 65-70 it may be doable as long as it isn’t too hot or cold.
Plus as you get to Buffalo if the math isn’t working you could switch to the parallel frontage road at slower speed to make it maybe?
I might try it one day if I’m feeling brave…
 
Anybody know if an Electrify Canada account works with EA stations? My usual cross-border shopping haunt has one DCFC and it’s EA. I’d like to know if I need a second account for the US. Then again, the nearest EC station is about 30 miles away from my work, out in a third-ring exurb.
 
AndysComputer said:
I just had my second EA experience and it went well.
I drove 115 miles from Plano to Waco in Green mode (left with 100% and arrived with 15%).
In theory I needed 85% to arrive home with zero but I like a buffer and I suspected I would use more on the way back so charged to 97% (intended 95 but got distracted) and got back home on 7% but that was helped by very slow commuter traffic from Dallas to Plano. Without that I think it needs 95% worth of charge to make it at 70.

I too had looked at the route to Houston and thought it was not doable without the long way round route you describe, but between Ennis and Madisonville is 111 miles so given my experience today if you keep at 65-70 it may be doable as long as it isn’t too hot or cold.
Plus as you get to Buffalo if the math isn’t working you could switch to the parallel frontage road at slower speed to make it maybe?
I might try it one day if I’m feeling brave…
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Yea that stretch between Madisonville to Ennis is the worry.

To follow up on the Buc-ee's fast charging, Plugshare shows the Buc-ees in Madisonville is going to be installing CCS and CHAdeMO charges soon! Also see it all pending for all Buc-ee's!
 
AndysComputer said:
I just had my second EA experience and it went well.
I drove 115 miles from Plano to Waco in Green mode (left with 100% and arrived with 15%).
In theory I needed 85% to arrive home with zero but I like a buffer and I suspected I would use more on the way back so charged to 97% (intended 95 but got distracted) and got back home on 7% but that was helped by very slow commuter traffic from Dallas to Plano. Without that I think it needs 95% worth of charge to make it at 70.

I too had looked at the route to Houston and thought it was not doable without the long way round route you describe, but between Ennis and Madisonville is 111 miles so given my experience today if you keep at 65-70 it may be doable as long as it isn’t too hot or cold.
Plus as you get to Buffalo if the math isn’t working you could switch to the parallel frontage road at slower speed to make it maybe?
I might try it one day if I’m feeling brave…
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Sorry to revive this topic but I'm going to be making this trip from Plano to Houston and ABRP is taking me through Waco and college station as opposed to I45 straight. I see you drove in Green mode but do you have a specific speed range you went? Also any other tips would be great. Thanks!
 
ARBP uses an average of 172Wh/km or 3.6mi/kWh. If you want to squeeze out a little more range then reduce the speed to 55-62MPH and if you are using all season tires, look into OEM summer tires if you want to get into the 4.5-5.5mi/kWh range.
 
Rather than tell you I can show you:


I try and travel with the majority of traffic up to the posted limit. If ppl in the left hand lane want to go 20 over thats up to them.
But if I am in the middle lane in a 70 and the person in front is doing 65 and so are cars behind me then I'll stick at 65 with them.

Green mode largely just numbs the throttle so you are more efficient by the car ignoring small unintended movements of the accelerator pedal. Makes it easier to be smoother and more efficient. You don't need sharp throttle response on long highway runs.

Bear in mind I used more energy on the return journey, so would probably do Waco -> Ennis -> Plano instead of Waco ->Plano

Just do the math as you travel along and you should be able to spot if you are not going to make it and slow down 5mph. The earlier in the leg you slow down the less you need to slow down as the energy saving starts earlier. If you don't realize until later you may have to slow down 15 mph which I'd rather not. And keep doing the math, you may find you can speed up again by 5mph later.
It's all about energy management...

For me, I find that 210wh/mile in ABRP gives me a more realistic estimation vs their 265 or whatever. But I haven;'t tried it in really hot weather, maybe 225 would be better, not sure...

Also, I would zoom in on the route and see if you can bail out and follow a frontage road alongside the freeway if you need to as doing that at 55mph is safer than 55 on the freeway.
 
Texas22Step said:
Also from the DFW area, I decided to drive to what I am guessing is the same EA location you mention (in Denton), and as a first-time DC fast-charge effort see what is what there, and try it out. However, my MINI SE was still above SoC of 80% upon arrival, so although there were plenty of open charging lanes I just looked it over without trying to charge there and opted to press on to our planned ultimate destination in Oklahoma, just across the Red River.

Once there, I visited a PlugShare-listed fast charger offered by an Oklahoma company, Francis Energy. There I plugged in my SE with the DC combo plug, swiped my credit card and proceeded to easily and successfully charge the MINI at 47 kW for 25 minutes. If this can be done in the middle of nowhere in southern Oklahoma by a local company, surely EA could easily be as reliable and successful as the local company in Oklahoma. But, based on your post and other reports, I guess that is not the case.
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Good to know about Francis, we're going to take the SE from OKC to Dallas in Sep for the Roxy Music concert, thought their plan (chargers every 50 miles in the middle of the country, basically) sounded nice, glad their actual real-world hardware works!
 
AndysComputer said:
Rather than tell you I can show you:


I try and travel with the majority of traffic up to the posted limit. If ppl in the left hand lane want to go 20 over thats up to them.
But if I am in the middle lane in a 70 and the person in front is doing 65 and so are cars behind me then I'll stick at 65 with them.

Green mode largely just numbs the throttle so you are more efficient by the car ignoring small unintended movements of the accelerator pedal. Makes it easier to be smoother and more efficient. You don't need sharp throttle response on long highway runs.

Bear in mind I used more energy on the return journey, so would probably do Waco -> Ennis -> Plano instead of Waco ->Plano

Just do the math as you travel along and you should be able to spot if you are not going to make it and slow down 5mph. The earlier in the leg you slow down the less you need to slow down as the energy saving starts earlier. If you don't realize until later you may have to slow down 15 mph which I'd rather not. And keep doing the math, you may find you can speed up again by 5mph later.
It's all about energy management...

For me, I find that 210wh/mile in ABRP gives me a more realistic estimation vs their 265 or whatever. But I haven;'t tried it in really hot weather, maybe 225 would be better, not sure...

Also, I would zoom in on the route and see if you can bail out and follow a frontage road alongside the freeway if you need to as doing that at 55mph is safer than 55 on the freeway.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this! I might also end up skipping that station south of Dallas depending on the SOC I leave with. I was also playing around ABRP last night and realized theres a walmart in Ennis and another one in Madisonville with chargers around 111 miles apart. Maybe someday I'll be brave and try the direct route on I45 but this time will probably play it safe and follow the ABRP route.
 
Threadsurrection warning.

Had my first multiple defective EA dispenser episode today, at my usual stop outside Sam’s Club in Plattsburgh, NY. It was my first real cold drive in the MINI — 10°F — and while I didn’t have range anxiety getting there with my car and its puny pack, I wasn’t in the mood to go hunting for other fast chargers with just 27% (GOM: 25 miles) showing, and didn’t have time for a L2 charge. NB: I did plug into the free L2 at the Market32 to get from 27 to 48% while grocery shopping before heading down the road a mile to Sam’s.

All four units were available (the site has two CCS/CHAdeMO pumps, a double CCS 150, and a double CCS 350). The CCS 150 unit I used last week decided to BSOD when I plugged in (Signet V2s use “Windows SE”??) so I moved over to the 350. The first dispenser cable didn’t lock on, and the screen kept telling me to unplug. I was parked diagonally (it's a barely used station during the week), so I grabbed the other cable and proceeded to charge like normal. Sheesh.
 
SameGuy said:
All four units were available (the site has two CCS/CHAdeMO pumps, a double CCS 150, and a double CCS 350). The CCS 150 unit I used last week decided to BSOD when I plugged in (Signet V2s use “Windows SE”??) so I moved over to the 350. The first dispenser cable didn’t lock on, and the screen kept telling me to unplug. I was parked diagonally (it's a barely used station during the week), so I grabbed the other cable and proceeded to charge like normal. Sheesh.
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Yes that's correct they use Windows and can be hacked. EA tech support use TeamViewer to remote access the terminal.

I think the efacet and ABB ones used Linux, but all the newer stuff is on Windows.
 
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