EVGo Quick/DC charging problems on eGolf

[miimura]

I mentioned ChargePoint Express chargers above. I was just browsing PlugShare for new SAE Combo chargers and I discovered that the ChargePoint headquarters now has one of each of their Express stations installed. I will go try it out next time I get a chance to run down the e-Golf battery.

The one on the left is nominally 24kW and the one on the right is nominally 50kW. They both have a $5 per session fee. If there is no time limit and the station has some indication of its power delivery I will probably run another video to record the full taper of the e-Golf battery.

[Edit] Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have put this in the "problems" thread. I have no idea whether this kind of station has any problem with the e-Golf or not...

 

[s4alex]

I need to check out the Whole Foods in Redwood City. This may be why I can't charge there. I put in a trouble ticket, but we will see.

 

[f1geek]

Forget about getting a DC charge from Chargepoint. They pulled the DC Charge indication on Plugshare so I inquired about the stations over email. First they sent me an email with the company bulls**t about each station being independently owned, blah blah. Then when I responded that Chargepoint owned the station, I was emailed they were restricted due to safety. When I sent another email telling them that they were right near the L2 chargers that were available to use, I finally got somewhere. A chargepoint rep called me and told me they were "experimental" and were not ready for use yet because they didn't want to fry EV batteries. I still think it's BS as the Bosch unit is all over the country and I've used a few successfully. I also can't imagine that the Veefil is going to fry a battery. I just don't understand Chargepoint.

 

[miimura]

The ChargePoint Express stations pictured above are on their headquarters building and the Plugshare entry now says "For Employee Use Only". That's completely within their rights. The Employee Use thing popped up a couple days after I posted the picture above.

Did you offer up your car for testing?

 

[f1geek]

Sure, I'll offer up my car for testing. What annoys me is that BMW, VW and Chargepoint made an announcement about the "electric highway" from Portland to San Diego with "nearly 100 DC Fast charging spots in the first phase, available by the end of 2015". The quotes are from the joint press release. 2015 is nearing its end and at least for northern California, there is a single chargepoint DC charger (which was available before this program was announced). Part of the reason I got the e-Golf was because of this promise. I want to be able to take longer trips and thus need DC charging. I have used NRG EVgo stations, but as more EVs proliferate, we will need more DC stations. I am disappointed that Chargepoint seems to have dropped the ball. Yes, they have 4 months left, but from the progress I've seen so far, I'm doubtful they will have the highway complete by the end of 2015.

 

[garypen]

FYI - The EVgo DCFC's at Fresh n Easy on Fair Oaks and Tasman still don't work with our cars. Not with mine, anyway.
The same issue others have had with it never successfully completing the initial communication phase.

 

[miimura]

Sure, I'll offer up my car for testing. What annoys me is that BMW, VW and Chargepoint made an announcement about the "electric highway" from Portland to San Diego with "nearly 100 DC Fast charging spots in the first phase, available by the end of 2015". The quotes are from the joint press release. 2015 is nearing its end and at least for northern California, there is a single chargepoint DC charger (which was available before this program was announced). Part of the reason I got the e-Golf was because of this promise. I want to be able to take longer trips and thus need DC charging. I have used NRG EVgo stations, but as more EVs proliferate, we will need more DC stations. I am disappointed that Chargepoint seems to have dropped the ball. Yes, they have 4 months left, but from the progress I've seen so far, I'm doubtful they will have the highway complete by the end of 2015.

I never thought they would be able to complete the 100 "Electric Highway" locations during calendar 2015. I think they may get half a dozen in operation by then. I would really like to be surprised, but I'm not betting on it.

 

[s4alex]

Sure, I'll offer up my car for testing. What annoys me is that BMW, VW and Chargepoint made an announcement about the "electric highway" from Portland to San Diego with "nearly 100 DC Fast charging spots in the first phase, available by the end of 2015". The quotes are from the joint press release. 2015 is nearing its end and at least for northern California, there is a single chargepoint DC charger (which was available before this program was announced). Part of the reason I got the e-Golf was because of this promise. I want to be able to take longer trips and thus need DC charging. I have used NRG EVgo stations, but as more EVs proliferate, we will need more DC stations. I am disappointed that Chargepoint seems to have dropped the ball. Yes, they have 4 months left, but from the progress I've seen so far, I'm doubtful they will have the highway complete by the end of 2015.

I never thought they would be able to complete the 100 "Electric Highway" locations during calendar 2015. I think they may get half a dozen in operation by then. I would really like to be surprised, but I'm not betting on it.

I have complete faith that they will get them all installed.


I have absolutely no faith that they will actually work.

 

[acdcvw]

FYI - The EVgo DCFC's at Fresh n Easy on Fair Oaks and Tasman still don't work with our cars. Not with mine, anyway.
The same issue others have had with it never successfully completing the initial communication phase.

Be sure to either email, call or tweet the asset id # and the problem you are having to EVGo.

 

[miimura]

FYI - The EVgo DCFC's at Fresh n Easy on Fair Oaks and Tasman still don't work with our cars. Not with mine, anyway.
The same issue others have had with it never successfully completing the initial communication phase.

Be sure to either email, call or tweet the asset id # and the problem you are having to EVGo.

At least a couple of us have opened support tickets with NRG on this issue.

 

[s4alex]

FYI - The EVgo DCFC's at Fresh n Easy on Fair Oaks and Tasman still don't work with our cars. Not with mine, anyway.
The same issue others have had with it never successfully completing the initial communication phase.

Be sure to either email, call or tweet the asset id # and the problem you are having to EVGo.

At least a couple of us have opened support tickets with NRG on this issue.

I opened two tickets. 1 for the Westgate location and the other for the Redwood City location.

I got a call from "Eric" and have emailed him. One of the emails stated that it will be fixed next week. Two weeks ago. The other still does not work. Actually, neither works.

 

[acdcvw]

FYI - The EVgo DCFC's at Fresh n Easy on Fair Oaks and Tasman still don't work with our cars. Not with mine, anyway.
The same issue others have had with it never successfully completing the initial communication phase.

Be sure to either email, call or tweet the asset id # and the problem you are having to EVGo.

At least a couple of us have opened support tickets with NRG on this issue.

The more reports the better. The squeakier the wheel the quicker it gets the oil.

 

[JoulesThief]

It's now the end of October 2015, any more news on The Green Highway of Interstate 5 here in CA, that BMW and VW promised? What's been added out of those 100 charge stations?

 

[miimura]

It's now the end of October 2015, any more news on The Green Highway of Interstate 5 here in CA, that BMW and VW promised? What's been added out of those 100 charge stations?

There has been no visible progress on I-5. However, if you are careful, you can make it from the LA area to the SF Bay Area on 101. There are three new SAE Combo Fast Chargers on the Central Coast, all ChargePoint units. Two of them are 24kW units (Hotels in Pismo Beach and King City) and one is a 50kW unit (Marriott in Buellton). The longest leg is Pismo Beach to King City. I would recommend a stopover in San Luis Obispo for lunch at one of the many L2 chargers in town.

I don't know if these chargers have any connection to the BMW/VW initiative.

 

[JoulesThief]

It's now the end of October 2015, any more news on The Green Highway of Interstate 5 here in CA, that BMW and VW promised? What's been added out of those 100 charge stations?

There has been no visible progress on I-5. However, if you are careful, you can make it from the LA area to the SF Bay Area on 101. There are three new SAE Combo Fast Chargers on the Central Coast, all ChargePoint units. Two of them are 24kW units (Hotels in Pismo Beach and King City) and one is a 50kW unit (Marriott in Buellton). The longest leg is Pismo Beach to King City. I would recommend a stopover in San Luis Obispo for lunch at one of the many L2 chargers in town.

I don't know if these chargers have any connection to the BMW/VW initiative.

I pretty much had to baby it from Van Nuys to Santa Barbara with no peripherals running and keeping it at 60 mph, on a 100F day the last time, when the air was good and thin, and I was showing 20 miles left, where the whole system goes into self preservation mode. That was about 90 miles between recharging. Yes, I was getting a little range anxiety, I'd only had the car 3 days. But I did feel guilty, as I did the whole trip on free electricity, and a lot of my time spent sitting around or walking on the beach while waiting on 3.5 hrs recharging in SB so I could go home again. No AC use made for a lot of extra water on board for consumption to sweat out the pores to stay cool.

 

[miimura]

It appears that NRG has partially addressed the problem on the BTC charger compatibility with the e-Golf. You have to activate the charging station before plugging in the car. The picture below was posted on Plugshare in the Sunnyvale Fresh & Easy location's entry. You will notice that the Version number is 7.9.2. Earlier screen shots on Plugshare showed Version 6.8.

Since NRG "over-refunded" me for my tests in August, I may go try it, just for the sake of testing.

 

[miimura]

I successfully charged at the Sunnyvale Fresh & Easy site today. I used the charger on the left with the bigger display and initial screen pictured above. The charger on the right has a much smaller screen and Version 7.8 software. The initial screen on that unit also had the note for eGolf drivers. I did not try that one. I took a video of the charger screen while charging, so I will extract the charging profile from that later and post in the other thread where I posted the ABB charging profile.

 

[JoulesThief]

I successfully charged at the Sunnyvale Fresh & Easy site today. I used the charger on the left with the bigger display and initial screen pictured above. The charger on the right has a much smaller screen and Version 7.8 software. The initial screen on that unit also had the note for eGolf drivers. I did not try that one. I took a video of the charger screen while charging, so I will extract the charging profile from that later and post in the other thread where I posted the ABB charging profile.

Thank you for your valuable contributions with these types of technical posts.

 

[JoulesThief]

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.

I attempted to charge on one of these BMW i (medium) fast chargers at BMW Design Center in Thousand Oaks, just down the road from Amgen. I believe our batteries charge at 340 to 360V, and with this DC charger, at up to 50A. For reasons unknown, it seemed to charge about 2x as fast as 208V @ 30 Amps. Maybe 11 or 12 kwh through your DC SAE Dual Combo input. About a C/2 charge rate, 1.5 to 1.75 hours, probably, to get a 90 to 92% SOC.

 

[iThread]

Tried DC fast charging at the EVGo station at the outlet stores in Gilroy. No joy on either charger. They were both BTC Chargers and both would not get past communicating to vehicle. They had the firmware mentioned above with the home screen call out for the eGolf as well. Called NRG and they did their darnedest to help but, nothing worked. Barely made it home to my L2 charger and by barely I mean with an estimated 5 miles remaining.

I have in the past charged with no problems at their Tracy charger which is the older model. So it seems like BTC still has some work to do or there's a incantation I'm not doing right to get it to work.

I've got a 2015 eGolf I took delivery of a year ago and it's never been to the deal since. Maybe I should ask about software updates?