EVGo Quick/DC charging problems on eGolf

[Jlo]

Out here in Southern California were lucky to have a fairly good charging infrastructure. However, the only level 3s (Quick Charging) around are EVGos. I'm unable to charge consistently on these chargers. At this point in time Ive only found one EVGo charger (the newer small version not the fridge looking one) that will work with the eGolf. All other chargers give an "unable to communicate" error.

At first I thought something was wrong with the car, I took into the dealer, it was checked out, charged on a level 3 and awarded a "no problem found" badge. If it wasn't because I finally found one quick charger that can charge my car I would have continued my case with VW America. Is anyone else experiencing this/similar problem?

Another point of background, I've reported all this to eVgo they're essentially faulting the car, I would have agreed too, if it wasn't that I was able to charge the car in one of their newer charger models.

 

[TrailRider]

I was planning on possibly charging at an NRG EVGo today so this is good to know. I'll probably still give it a try and report back.

Yesterday, I pulled up to an "EV pump" fast charger from BTCPower that has a SAE Combo to try my hand at my first fast charge. Well, i got the same "Unable to Communicate" error. There just so happened to be rep from the company there checking out the chargers. She explained that they have an updated firmware that they still have yet to apply to the fast chargers before they will work with the e-Golfs (they are awaiting approval from the property managers before applying it).

I guess e-Golfs are still so new that these companies are still playing catch up to support them. So this means that it may not be Volkswagen re: the EVGo, but do let us know what you find out!

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Jlo]

Great news! Im a software developer and so figured something software related must be amidst. Your post begins to confirm it, unfortunate with EVGo either I had a bad customer rep, they really don't know what the problem is (doubtful), they don't care or just want to sweep it under the floor because we eGolf owners aren't many (yet) and so have a small voice. I'll be starting a car club next week to help us lobby.

Overall I think we all want to be in this for the long haul and there's just no way that will happen if car manufacturers, charging companies, private organizations and the consumer don't collaborate.

Bottom line (currently) for the eGolf, I won't be able to do my LA->Santa Barbara runs and LA->San Diego runs because I can't trust the charging infrastructure to work with my car. I sure hope that day comes sooner than later.

EVgo get your head in the game, take an honest analysis and be straight with us your customers.

 

[miimura]

Can you be more specific about which sites did and did not work? Also, please post the charger make and model. There is almost always a label like this one if you look around on the cabinet.

This was one of the first SAE Combo chargers in Silicon Valley, an ABB Terra 53C. It was at the NRG Freedom Station in Mountain View, CA at Nob Hill Foods near Grant/237 & El Camino Real. I believe it has since been replaced with an ABB Terra 53CJ which is dual standard with both SAE Combo and CHAdeMO connectors. I just signed up with NRG, so I haven't tried it with our e-Golf yet.

However, I did try the BMW i (medium) fast charger at the BMW Technology Center in Mountain View. It did not have any problems charging the car from about 60% at 18.5kW. They say those are 25kW chargers, but I think that means up to 50A at 500V. The e-Golf battery is below 400V, so it will never reach 25kW on that kind of charger.

 

[Jlo]

Culptit #1- Does not work with eGolf; I thought it was an old model I'm obviously wrong...we'll see how manufacturers and dates compare as I get pictures of the other chargers.

BTCPower EVP-212...does not work
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mqfn116qugo6yss/AADgFoK5fPCI1qwuvPR_k3EGa?dl=0

ABB Terra 54CJ...works
https://www.dropbox.com/s/phg5fa5mo334rpe/photo jun 10, 12 01 10 pm.jpg?dl=0

 

[SfEvR]

I fast charged at EVGo CCS fast charging station at Whole Foods in San Jose, CA with no problems. Don't know if it was an older or newer model. Haven't tried any other fast chargers.

 

[miimura]

This is the image Jlo put on Dropbox above. I've not seen one of these before. The thing to note is that it is only 25kW. It will probably not deliver more than 20kW to an e-Golf due to the 50A limit on the DC output. The spec is basically the same as the BMW i DCFC, except this one takes 120Y208V three phase power instead of 277Y480V three phase.

Edit: downloaded image, reduced image size, and hosted on Photobucket
Edit: Image re-hosted on ImgBB after Photobucket disabled direct linking for free accounts

 

[Jlo]

Thank you all for your input - I haven't had a chance to stop by the other two local L3s, will do and post those pics as soon as possible. This should help the analysis...am willing to bet those of you who have been able to charge have done so on the same and only model I can charge on.

I'll work on getting those pics today or tomorrow.

 

[JammingJay]

FYI only. I successfully charged @ 3 separate NRG EVGO stations in my E-Golf to date. They are:

- Whole Foods - San Francisco
- Near Dick's Sporting Goods off 680 Near Walnut Creek?
- Vacaville Outlets

Never had a communication issue with any of the above, fired right up without issues. As a note the stop charge button doesn't work, you have to manually pull the red emergency stop plunger if you want to stop before the 30 minute cap. This was actually suggested by the NRG rep.

 

[miimura]

FYI only. I successfully charged @ 3 separate NRG EVGO stations in my E-Golf to date. They are:

- Whole Foods - San Francisco
- Near Dick's Sporting Goods off 680 Near Walnut Creek?
- Vacaville Outlets

Never had a communication issue with any of the above, fired right up without issues. As a note the stop charge button doesn't work, you have to manually pull the red emergency stop plunger if you want to stop before the 30 minute cap. This was actually suggested by the NRG rep.

Judging by the pictures on PlugShare, all of those locations have ABB multi-standard chargers.

Do you mean that the stop button on the touch screen shown below doesn't work?

Did you try pushing the upper button next to the e-Golf charge port? I tried the BMW i fast charger in Mountain View, but I can't remember for sure how I stopped it. E-Stop sounds drastic to me.

 

[Jlo]

A bit delayed but this is the charger where DC to the eGolf does work.

ABB Terra 56CJ
https://www.dropbox.com/s/phg5fa5mo334rpe/photo jun 10, 12 01 10 pm.jpg?dl=0

Still working on getting to the Tarzana charger (that's the other one that didn't work). Also all the combined pics are on page 1 as I said I would update that post as well.

Thank you all for helping me sort this out, we'll either help determine the types of chargers that are working and inform EVGo or figure it's my car...so far looks like the charger but more to come.

 

[JammingJay]

FYI only. I successfully charged @ 3 separate NRG EVGO stations in my E-Golf to date. They are:

- Whole Foods - San Francisco
- Near Dick's Sporting Goods off 680 Near Walnut Creek?
- Vacaville Outlets

Never had a communication issue with any of the above, fired right up without issues. As a note the stop charge button doesn't work, you have to manually pull the red emergency stop plunger if you want to stop before the 30 minute cap. This was actually suggested by the NRG rep.

Judging by the pictures on PlugShare, all of those locations have ABB multi-standard chargers.

Do you mean that the stop button on the touch screen shown below doesn't work?

Did you try pushing the upper button next to the e-Golf charge port? I tried the BMW i fast charger in Mountain View, but I can't remember for sure how I stopped it. E-Stop sounds drastic to me.

Yes and yes. Tried both the stop button and the upper button next to the E-Golf charge port without success. I assume most will simply wait the full 30 minutes to complete the session but I had a unusual event that required me to abort early.

 

[Jlo]

This is interesting...from the posts its starting to sound like ABB charges will work with the eGolf but the BTC (also EvGo's) won't. I'm gonna call BTC...hey all they could do is shush me away...kinda like what EvGo did yesterday (called them about something unrelated) and reminded them that the BTC charger isn't working...all they said was "sorry, it charges for all other (make) cars" - representative was nice but still kind of a let down...Maybe BTC will respond with something else.

 

[Jlo]

Called BTC in Santa Ana, CA today, I'll post their response when I get one.

 

[Jlo]

I communicated with the BTC folks in Santa Ana today...wow what a difference between them and EvGo. They called me back and very straight forward said that their Level 3 charger needs a firmware upgrade. They very honestly and apollegetically explained the situation (software in last stages of regulatory approval). Further, one of their engineers (presumably by the detail in the message) provided his cel number (late in the day) for me to call him directly if I had any questions. At this point he will contact me via email once the EvGo BTC charger in Van Nuys is ready for eGolf use.

There you have it, an American company, making an EV charger in America with fantastic service and not afraid to make it right!

 

[miimura]

There you have it, an American company, making an EV charger in America with fantastic service and not afraid to make it right!

Um, yeah. I'm sure BTC is great. However, I have less faith that NRG will get their units updated in a timely manner.

Also, it looks like the new and yet to open NRG site at the Fresh & Easy in Sunnyvale (Tasman & Fair Oaks) has two of these dual-standard units instead of the usual - one Nissan and one ABB. These BTC units, if they are all like the image posted earlier, are limited to 50A into the battery. This is the same as the much smaller BMW i DCFC unit. At low battery levels, it will be much slower than the ABB units which have a 125A ceiling.

Sorry for the large photo. It is linked directly from the PlugShare CDN.

 

[Jlo]

(On miimura's NRG statement)

You and me both miimura, you and me both...its what happens when there is no competition.

I explained to my wife I had to contact the "drilling rig" company to get an answer of why my "gas" pump doesn't work...imagine having to contact Halliburton to tell them that my Mobil gas pump is not working!

 

[Skryll]

Yes, that stop button did not work for me either. I was at a similar ABB charger in San Rafael at the Mall. I did not have the FOB yet, and so called to activate the charging, which worked fine. I charged from 60% to 95% in 20 minutes. I only signed up recently when I found out they have a no-montly-charge plan with a $5 signup fee and DC fast charging is $5 plus 0.20 / minute, and I only use this rarely so its a reasonable deal. I don't care about their pricing for L2 charging since I do that for free in my garage or cheaply at one of the tons of charge point stations.

Just like you I ended up pressing the emergency stop, then rotate it to reactivate the machine. Just pressing unlock on my car key did not unlock the nozzle or stop charging, and the on screen stop button did nothing, but may have worked if I had the FOB to sign out with.

My fathers-day trip was Walnut Creek to San Rafael, DC fast charging, then without any more charging to Sausoiito for brunch, Muir woods for hiking, Melting Pot for cheese fondue and home with 5 miles range left when I rolled into the garage

FYI only. I successfully charged @ 3 separate NRG EVGO stations in my E-Golf to date. They are:

- Whole Foods - San Francisco
- Near Dick's Sporting Goods off 680 Near Walnut Creek?
- Vacaville Outlets

Never had a communication issue with any of the above, fired right up without issues. As a note the stop charge button doesn't work, you have to manually pull the red emergency stop plunger if you want to stop before the 30 minute cap. This was actually suggested by the NRG rep.

Judging by the pictures on PlugShare, all of those locations have ABB multi-standard chargers.

Do you mean that the stop button on the touch screen shown below doesn't work?

Did you try pushing the upper button next to the e-Golf charge port? I tried the BMW i fast charger in Mountain View, but I can't remember for sure how I stopped it. E-Stop sounds drastic to me.

 

[GaiusMarcus]

I've successfully charged at the Whole Foods in San Jose (on the Alameda) and the Whole Foods in Berkely. However...

On Friday, I tried using the DC Fast charger in San Jose and got the "cannot make a connection" error. I haven't tried again in case it was a temporary fault, but I will later in the week.

.GM

 

[Jlo]

Hello all, as we're approach in the third page on this post, I'd like to summarize what we've found out so far.

1. eGolfs charge without issues on ABB chargers.
2. eGolfs do not charge on BTC chargers, a "communication error" displays.
3. Contacting EvGo directly to report the issue proved worthless, they summed it up as "well...every other car can charge except yours (eGolfs)"
4. I contacted BTC in Santa Ana, CA who acknowledged the problem and noted their software upgrade is in regulatory review.
5. BTC is also in comms with NRG (EvGo's daddy) for permission to upgrade the chargers.
5. BTC contacted me again today and communicated the eGolf charging issue is a top priority to them, so much so they purchased an eGolf to be able to speak directly with VW on the matter (I don't know the details on that). (for reference BTC is a small business compared to ABB)

***A favor to us all, if you can/can't charge on specific locations please include the make and model of the DC charger on your posts*** (the make is clearly labeled, the model is usually a tag or label somewhere on the body of the charger)