Electrify America BTC Chargers Fail in Freeze as App Masks Outages

Electrify America BTC充电桩严寒中瘫痪，App却掩盖故障 Electrify America新部署的硬件普遍出现灾难性的绝缘故障，表明第三方CCS网络在冬季出行中依然极不可靠，使特斯拉、混动车和燃油车成为仅存的可靠长途出行选择。 在科罗拉多州的极寒零下低温期间，Kyle Conner使用一辆Rivian R1T对公共直流快速充电桩进行了压力测试，此前全新的Electrify America BTC Power充电桩因绝缘测试超时而频繁发生故障。尽管旧款老式ABB硬件和EVgo的多款设备（包括Delta和Signet）在电缆冻结和电流降额的情况下仍能成功供电，但新部署的Electrify America以及ChargePoint Express Plus架构却始终无法完成握手。Kyle揭露了充电网络如何将这些故障掩盖在虚假宣传的100%正常运行时间指标背后，导致冬季长途自驾车主受困，并表明CCS充电生态依然不可靠。最终，他建议注重无缝冬季长途旅行的主流购车者在第三方网络完成适当的硬件验证之前，依然选择特斯拉超级充电站、插电式混动车或燃油车。 Electrify America与BTC Power联合开发的新部署直流快充桩在零下低温（-6°F至-10°F）下，于北科罗拉多州多个站点遭遇充电会话彻底失败，在输出电流前反复报出绝缘测试超时错误。 (1:51) 无法正常充电的充电桩在Electrify America的移动App中仍显示为在线且完全可用，对驾驶员隐瞒了当地站点的断电瘫痪情况，并扭曲了用于汽车制造商合作协议的网络正常运行时间指标。 (17:36) 老款ABB充电桩以及由EVgo运营的Signet和Delta硬件在极寒天气中运行可靠，其中一台EVgo Delta 350 kW设备尽管将电流从540安培主动降额至严格的250安培上限，但仍成功完成了供电。 (24:36) 由于第三方CCS普遍存在的可靠性缺陷以及联邦NEVI资金拨付前的进展放缓，Kyle Conner建议注重无缝可靠性体验的主流长途出行者依然选择特斯拉、插电式混动车或燃油车。 (42:26)

[21:33] Kyle Conner: I keep coming to the same conclusion: buy a Tesla or buy a gas car if you go on long trips.

[0:00] it has just reached zero degrees outside [0:02] and the new units are not working at all [0:04] we can't get the Nero or the pole star [0:07] to charge the only thing working is [0:09] actually the old ABB unit here so bummer [0:13] uh nothing that can do to get going [0:14] except use this old one which we're [0:16] doing for experiments on the leaf but [0:18] not looking good for the new chargers [0:21] for reliability no one can seem to get [0:23] them going [0:25] but at least there's one old school ABB [0:28] that still rocks hello and welcome to a [0:31] frozen out of spec reviews video I am [0:34] here it is minus six degrees Fahrenheit [0:37] at the Loveland Electrify America [0:39] charging station uh I guess for all of [0:42] you Europeans it's minus 21 and it's [0:44] just the start of the night it's going [0:45] to get down to about minus 30 degrees [0:47] Celsius tonight which is actually the [0:49] maximum or the minimum temperature that [0:52] this Hardware is rated to this DC fast [0:54] charging Hardware made by BTC power [0:58] um [0:59] I don't know how I'm gonna film this [1:00] video because my hand's already freezing [1:02] but we there's a major problem earlier [1:05] today I was here dropping two Leafs off [1:07] for a little experiment I wanted to cold [1:09] soak them at the charger so I parked [1:10] them on the back side of the charger and [1:12] we're gonna do some cold gate testing [1:14] really cold gate testing uh but it was a [1:17] disaster here there were cars waiting in [1:19] line everyone was shuffling full Panic [1:21] none of the Chargers were working and I [1:23] was like oh no so we figured out that at [1:26] least earlier today all three of these [1:29] brand new brand new charging stations [1:32] were not working Electrify America [1:33] charging stations so I decided to come [1:36] back now it's minus six a few degrees [1:37] colder than it was earlier [1:39] and see maybe it was a fluke with them [1:41] not knowing how to plug in I've brought [1:43] my rivian it's preconditioned let's see [1:45] if we can get it charging [1:51] so guys picture this with me just want [1:53] to put you in the scenario so you'd [1:55] really get a sense we're driving along [1:56] in our rivian r1t we're cruising down [2:00] I-25 here in Northern Colorado it's [2:03] currently again minus six degrees [2:04] Fahrenheit outside I'm using the new [2:06] rivian snow mode keep an eye out for a [2:09] full video on uh this review of the snow [2:12] boat it's really really nice for people [2:14] who don't like to rip around in the snow [2:15] personally actually what I tend to use [2:18] is the off-road rally mode in full [2:22] stability off because then you can do [2:24] full sends and it's absolutely awesome [2:26] but we'll go back to snow mode because [2:28] we're pretending to be normal consumers [2:30] right now and we're pulling up to an [2:32] Electrify American DC fast charger we're [2:34] at 28 state of charge and the cold we're [2:37] averaging pretty bad efficiency 1.3 [2:39] miles per kilowatt hour here so we're [2:41] gonna pull up to a DC fast charger and [2:45] that would be oh great look one of these [2:47] brand new Electrify America insoles they [2:50] used to all be the ABB units here but [2:54] they actually co-developed this new [2:57] Hardware in conjunction with BTC and SK [3:00] Signet our particular installation is a [3:03] full vertically integrated BTC Hardware [3:05] they make the dispenser as well as the [3:08] actual charging unit we have three I [3:11] believe 350 kilowatt Chargers here [3:14] although they're labeled balance I'm [3:16] pretty sure they're all fed from their [3:17] own unit and you know it's cold we want [3:20] to keep the truck warm so what I'm going [3:22] to actually do is set the truck [3:24] into its Show and Tell mode which I wish [3:28] there was a way to just keep climbing on [3:29] but I go here to settings vehicle [3:31] service show and tell a little trick for [3:34] you rivian owners and this just keeps [3:36] the uh we'll put lights to parking off [3:39] we'll put uh lighting will work as [3:41] normal Show and Tell mode on [3:44] and then we can go parking lights boom [3:47] there we go so that's just a little [3:48] trick for you to keep your climate [3:50] running when you step out of the vehicle [3:51] that way you can keep it actually at a [3:53] hotter temperature than what's deemed [3:55] safe for pet Comfort that's not the [3:56] point of today's video though you pull [3:58] up and so we're at charger number three [4:00] you can see the Leafs I parked over here [4:02] for a little cold gating experiment [4:04] which we'll do later [4:06] um and let's plug in let's see what [4:07] happens I mean this is the most uh most [4:10] important thing all right well let's [4:12] give it a go to see if it plugs and [4:14] charges unlike earlier which wasn't [4:17] working for anyone [4:18] hopefully just a little bit [4:21] but you never know man these cables are [4:24] holy smokes these freaking cables two [4:27] hands oh my gosh I don't even know if I [4:29] can get this thing in here [4:31] come on baby [4:33] in you go [4:35] plug in connecting the vehicle [4:39] will it work [4:43] initiating charging [4:48] hey I think it is [4:51] good [4:55] thank you for choosing Electrify America [4:58] uh [5:01] is it charging [5:04] not according to the truck [5:07] oh wait truck's green uh charging start [5:10] error and it says isolation test timeout [5:13] so [5:15] yes interesting interesting yep truck [5:18] went red so I'm gonna try all three of [5:21] these but uh [5:23] yeah we definitely something with the [5:25] isolation test could be something Frozen [5:27] in the dispenser would be my guess [5:29] that's not allowing it to properly [5:32] uh basically make sure that there's no [5:34] voltage leak if you will [5:37] very weird so okay that charger isn't [5:40] working at all and then I just went to [5:42] the app to see if I could activate [5:43] station two but it actually says it's in [5:45] use it's obviously clearly not plugged [5:48] into anything and the screen shows that [5:50] it's available but I won't be able to [5:51] activate that one through the app at all [5:53] so our only last hope for a fast charge [5:56] here again we need the full 500 amps to [5:58] this rivian to get good charging speeds [6:00] and batteries preconditioned is to use [6:03] that charger right there on the end so [6:05] let's maneuver over here to this station [6:09] charger number four we've done a lot of [6:11] videos on this charger number four it's [6:13] worked hard for us it's charged Hummer [6:15] EV in general these stations have been [6:17] very reliable in mild temperatures the [6:20] problem is it isn't always mild [6:22] temperatures here and you don't always [6:23] drive your electric car [6:25] when it's mild outside so let's park [6:28] here I'm going to activate station [6:29] number four and let's see if we can get [6:32] this one going at all here we are I've [6:34] activated the station from payment I [6:36] tend to find that it actually works a [6:37] little bit better when I pre-activate [6:39] the station before [6:41] um actually plugging in that's just how [6:44] I typically do it can I one-hand it yes [6:46] there we go actually I do like the way [6:48] that the handles are placed for the [6:50] rivien really not too bad to get in so [6:52] now we're connecting the vehicle can we [6:54] go so this would be really our last shot [6:56] of getting a fast charge because again [6:58] this one in the app claims it's working [7:00] or I should say it's charging another [7:02] vehicle this one completely faulted out [7:05] for us here we are it says welcome Kyle [7:07] I'm a pass plus member [7:11] thank you for choosing Electrify America [7:14] will it work [7:16] I hear the same clicks we heard before [7:19] the truck says green and charging and [7:21] then oh come on you really got to be [7:25] kidding me charging start error [7:27] isolation test what that tells me is [7:31] that multiple units here [7:33] are having issues with the isolation [7:36] test in cold temperatures because again [7:39] I haven't had really any issues with [7:41] these new units at this location I've [7:44] had other issues with the new units at [7:46] other locations but I'm really curious [7:49] to see are these also having issues with [7:53] the SK Signet versions of these Chargers [7:56] and I think I need to actually go on a [7:58] road trip [7:59] to go figure that one out so let's say [8:03] like earlier today I was charging that [8:05] leaf on that unit there was a pole star [8:07] here there was a Nero here what I [8:09] actually had to do was unplug the leaf I [8:11] let everyone else charge because those [8:13] are staying here for a test [8:15] and we got the pole star charging on [8:17] here he charged a full the Nero just [8:19] waited and then the Nero pulled in and [8:21] charged you know over two hours to full [8:23] and you can take a look at my personal [8:25] Vlog for that story and it was really [8:27] just a total disaster and that's just [8:29] two cars [8:30] so in my opinion how can the brand new [8:34] hardware not be tested to cold [8:36] temperatures [8:37] um I I don't know how I could ever [8:39] recommend to you guys to feel confident [8:43] road tripping one of these things in [8:45] extreme temperatures [8:47] with such shitty Hardware it really is [8:49] just a shame in my opinion and uh [8:54] yeah I gotta also tell you I went over [8:56] to the Tesla Supercharger not to sound [8:57] like a Tesla Fanboy but I went over the [8:59] Tesla Supercharger backed up plugged in [9:03] no issues at all just ripped on charging [9:06] right there so [9:08] let's go over to the old ABB unit abbs [9:11] are always good in the cold see if that [9:14] one's still working like it was earlier [9:15] I bet it is all right now I have ragged [9:18] on ABB over the years over the last year [9:21] especially for having very poor hot [9:24] weather performance but one thing I [9:26] would never say about ABB is having poor [9:28] cold weather performance these cables [9:31] though this is a two-hander hold on in [9:33] we go [9:36] these things are very popular in the [9:38] Nordic countries and there's a reason [9:40] for it now in Norway for example it [9:41] doesn't actually get as cold as it is [9:43] right now regularly unless you're Way [9:45] North here we are initiating charging [9:48] clicking and [9:50] um yeah but like in Finland we were just [9:52] there it was minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit [9:54] so colder than it is now not as cold as [9:56] it will be in a few hours but a bit of a [9:58] shame that none of the new units will [10:00] activate at all and they all show is [10:02] available on the screen they all show is [10:04] stationed up in the app I'm sure EA's [10:06] reporting them as fully available [10:08] charging stations according to whatever [10:10] they need to report their uptime to the [10:13] automakers they're selling deals to I [10:16] man totally crazy I think we should [10:19] actually go and stress test some more [10:20] Chargers in this video I think you know [10:23] what it's one in the morning we should [10:24] go on a trip to Denver [10:25] and we should go see if there are also [10:28] having issues with other types of [10:30] chargers but here we are charging 137 [10:32] kilowatts no issues at all [10:34] I say we go on a road trip and we see if [10:36] this is a unique problem to the brand [10:39] new hardware that Electrify America [10:41] assured me would be reliable because [10:43] they co-developed it with SK Cigna and [10:46] BTC again this particular installation [10:48] only btci I think the one in Western in [10:53] Lakewood on the west side of Denver is [10:55] actually an SK Signet site we should go [10:57] over there and try that out [10:59] so here we are juicing up no problems at [11:02] all it's 150 kilowatt charger and let's [11:05] give it 141 kilowatts look that's the [11:10] ABB way baby always working the cold [11:13] all right I guess we'll Juice It Up [11:14] enough and we're going on a road trip to [11:16] Denver I don't know what else to do I [11:17] don't want to like say hey these just [11:19] suck and everything else works but [11:21] the only way I can try and give you a [11:23] balanced review [11:25] is actually go and try a whole bunch of [11:27] chargers so that's what we're going to [11:29] be doing [11:30] right now I'm telling you these old abbs [11:33] they love the cold rocking along 165 [11:36] kilowatts right now just pegged to the [11:38] maximum this charger can give us so no [11:40] complaints there uh we are going to just [11:42] make a 54 mile drive down to Colorado [11:46] Mills Mall in Denver I've heard I-25 [11:49] could be a little bit sketchy so I made [11:52] sure we have a lot of extra buffer uh a [11:54] in case the roadway closes down which it [11:56] has been going on and off because of [11:58] conditions but the snow is stopped by [12:00] now and it's now after commuting time so [12:02] I think it's a better better time to [12:04] drive no one's really on the road at [12:06] least on the way over here was empty and [12:08] it gives us plenty of options as there's [12:09] some evgo stations in the area and other [12:12] EAS that use the Signet Chargers [12:15] um so I think we're good to go with [12:18] plenty of buffer totally safe plenty of [12:19] chargers along the way if needed as long [12:22] as they're not those because right now [12:23] I'm not going to count on those to get [12:25] us anywhere in these cold temperatures [12:27] let's end the charging session [12:31] and head off to Denver to do some [12:32] research because [12:35] if all Chargers are broken that's a [12:36] different story than just those Chargers [12:38] are broken but I have a hard time [12:40] believing any of the other ones oh this [12:42] cable is nice and flexible now that it's [12:44] warm I have a hard time believing that [12:46] those are among others that are broken I [12:49] think that's a specific problem with the [12:50] new EA Chargers that [12:53] I hate to say it but I don't really [12:54] think they did enough cold weather [12:55] testing on them which could be a huge [12:57] disaster I know I've played up but like [13:00] it's a big disaster that these are going [13:02] in to be installed in probably Canada [13:04] and the US and we get cold temps folks [13:07] let's go drive to Denver and here we are [13:10] exiting South to Denver onto I-25 I [13:13] should also mention to you that I am of [13:15] course on Nokian uh hakapalita SUV tires [13:19] on the rivian r1t and I have the studded [13:21] ones the studded ones won't help us [13:23] really in these conditions because [13:24] there's not much ice but in a couple [13:26] days when we get ice those things will [13:28] be coming in clutch and uh you know me [13:31] huge fan of Nokian tires they support us [13:33] we support them and they're just the [13:35] best winter tires out there I've driven [13:37] on all of them the Michelin stuff the [13:39] Blizzak stuff and uh yeah I'm a Nokia [13:42] entire nerd I I love their love their [13:45] tires so let's just blow through the [13:47] snow no problem rivian snow mode working [13:49] great [13:50] and uh yeah actually the road looks [13:52] pretty good not bad at all so let's just [13:54] hammer it looks like we can carry some [13:56] speed and wow that's a way better [13:58] situation than what I was actually [13:59] expecting before so onwards to Denver if [14:04] I can see through the windshield [14:05] windshield washer is Frozen on the [14:09] rivian [14:10] all right let's just hammer down [14:13] quick stop over at one of the best [14:16] places on the freaking planet we are at [14:18] loves by the way fuel is only two [14:20] dollars and 20 cents a gallon here for [14:22] regular you've got to be kidding me what [14:25] is the reason to drive an electric car [14:26] if you can get fuel so cheap [14:29] wow they have a lot of handicapped uh [14:32] spaces but this one looks like it's not [14:35] uh wow these Nokian tires are awesome [14:38] you can just send it everywhere on these [14:39] things too so let's just run in get some [14:41] Red Bulls it's gonna be a long night of [14:44] trying to figure out why these days I'm [14:46] not even trying to figure out why [14:47] they're not working I'm trying to figure [14:48] out if other chargers have the same [14:52] problems [14:53] just so I am giving you balanced [14:56] reporting [14:57] it seems like a lot of effort for [14:59] something no one really cares about [15:01] because less than two percent of people [15:03] drive electric cars certainly no one's [15:06] going to be driving more if this is the [15:07] thing we have to deal with [15:10] go get some snacks [15:11] and here we are rolling up to the [15:15] charging station that guy's plowing [15:17] we're just going to go the wrong way [15:19] around the roundabout rules don't apply [15:21] when it's snowing right ah take a look [15:23] there's a Tesla charging over here huge [15:25] supercharging installation of course and [15:28] a nice model three so there's the EA [15:30] units and what's interesting is very [15:33] similar to our station they left the old [15:35] ABB unit for the chatimo they're not [15:39] necessarily adding any more chadamos [15:41] outside of California but they're not [15:43] removing any which is nice however this [15:46] one may as well be removed because it's [15:48] been broken and offline for months now [15:52] just you can see it right there yep [15:55] still offline how about that totally [15:57] insane the last time I was here this uh [16:00] a new unit was actually completely [16:02] offline as well so I don't know let's [16:03] just pick a random one it doesn't really [16:05] matter and we'll start seeing if they [16:07] have an issue or not I want to make sure [16:10] see who manufactures these things first [16:12] so let's put it in park we got two right [16:14] here we can try so let's do that let's [16:17] um go here to settings vehicle service [16:20] Show and Tell turn on great parking [16:25] lights so they're not as bright outside [16:27] and let's do a little bit of research [16:30] try plugging in wow this thing's a [16:33] freaking snowmobile [16:34] so good in the snow so these are [16:38] actually full BTC units then [16:41] uh I don't believe this is a Signet [16:43] installation uh I believe BTC [16:45] manufactures all of the dispensers the [16:48] ones that ital design [16:51] designed but typically the Signet ones [16:54] say SK Signet on them anyway let's try [16:56] this charger number two it's as good as [16:58] anywhere right here activated the [17:00] station in the app no problem at all [17:03] um actually uh yeah says available and [17:07] all good so let's hope that's accurate [17:09] come on in you go [17:12] connected great watch just went in [17:14] connecting the vehicle it's going to [17:16] start the handshake process and I don't [17:19] know what to expect I'm kind of [17:20] expecting the same fault but I hate to [17:22] be so pessimistic let's see welcome Kyle [17:25] very good [17:27] thank you for choosing Electrify America [17:30] truck should go green it's always gone [17:32] green [17:33] contactors went started the isolation [17:36] check would be my guess [17:40] there we go [17:42] are we gonna work green and oh no [17:45] freaking way it doesn't work you've got [17:47] to be kidding me so it's not a station [17:51] situation it is all should I just go [17:55] through and try all of these for good [17:56] measure I don't want to waste that much [17:57] time [17:58] um and here goes the model 3 that just [18:00] happily charged up on the supercharger [18:02] Network because it just works I hate to [18:05] be that guy superchargers just work I [18:07] just plugged my Tesla into a [18:09] supercharger earlier today just worked [18:10] and none of the new units are you [18:13] freaking kidding me [18:15] so we're host we're totally hosed [18:18] totally hosed [18:21] you can't drive an electric car right [18:23] now I got a reported on plug share [18:25] that's crazy holy smokes wrangling that [18:28] cable into this truck was crazy I just [18:30] pulled around the other side and oh my [18:33] God isolation test timeout so if they're [18:38] just all failing crazy I went on [18:41] um plug share as well to report the [18:43] station turns out I didn't have to [18:45] unfortunately an Audi e-tron owner had [18:48] been road tripping through again a [18:50] premium Volkswagen group product [18:51] charging on a Volkswagen group [18:54] essentially charger [18:57] um he said he tried every single charger [18:59] here they all failed same isolation [19:01] error he had to grab a hotel he's not [19:04] sure how he's going to be able to leave [19:05] the area relying on Electrify America [19:07] because [19:09] well he's host none of the new units [19:11] work crazy so I guess he found a hotel [19:13] with a level two good luck to that guy [19:16] um damn so okay don't need to try all [19:19] the ones the guy in the e-tron said he [19:21] tried all of them they don't work I just [19:23] tried these two I wouldn't expect [19:25] different results [19:26] um so that sucks [19:30] I don't know what to say other than I [19:31] guess we can't take any winter road [19:33] trips unless they fix this issue and if [19:36] they do [19:37] they can comment on a video [19:40] this is crazy totally insane [19:44] um but just to make sure it's not like a [19:46] uh a fluke let's go try out some other [19:48] station manufacturers because again [19:53] at the end of the day Electrify America [19:54] is the network operator BTC is the [19:57] hardware provider in this case [20:00] um but again Electrify America claimed [20:03] they co-developed this [20:05] so they deserve the blame I this is [20:09] mind-blowing you literally cannot take a [20:10] road trip right now [20:12] to any station with the new Chargers the [20:14] whole country's freezing insane let's go [20:17] try some other stations just to see if [20:19] this is a unique problem to these we [20:22] already know ABB works in the cold [20:23] except for that one because it's offline [20:26] uh let's go try evgo Delta Signet let's [20:32] try EA's Signet and at charge Point CPE [20:35] 250 we'll just kind of hammer those out [20:37] all around in the area and then I'm [20:39] going to run up and go to bed but [20:41] this is this is truly insane well we are [20:44] heading out good thing we left some [20:46] buffer in here 25 should be just enough [20:48] to get back if we needed to but we'll [20:50] find a charger on here I'm sure that [20:52] works uh 1.4 miles per kilowatt hour not [20:55] great but considering we've been plowing [20:58] snow the whole time and [21:00] it's really quite chilly out there minus [21:03] eight then yeah well look at this [21:05] installation I just checked the Tesla [21:08] app [21:09] all of them showing is available I guess [21:12] EA is showing all is available in their [21:14] app that's the crazy thing so one [21:16] important metric not to get into too [21:18] much of the business side of DC fast [21:20] Chargers but uh important metric from a [21:22] a government uh influence standpoint but [21:25] also a you know free market automaker [21:28] partnership situation is station uptime [21:31] when automakers partner with a network [21:33] they want to make sure that when drivers [21:35] get to that Network they're able to [21:37] charge freely so for example BMW Audi [21:41] Volkswagen Lucid who else Porsche uh [21:47] Hyundai do they have a thing I don't [21:49] think so oh maybe they do Hyundai Kia I [21:52] don't know but all of the companies that [21:54] offer Electrify America you know free [21:56] charging that's how Electrify America [21:57] makes their money as a business right [22:01] um all they're doing really is they [22:03] there's a lot of back-end conversations [22:05] that go on here and I don't want to [22:06] pretend to understand any bit of this [22:08] business but there must be some [22:10] conversations about station uptime and [22:12] the automakers want to know hey when my [22:15] customers go to your chargers are they [22:17] working according to the Electrify [22:19] America app every single one of these [22:22] Chargers and every single one of the [22:23] Chargers in Loveland Colorado are up and [22:26] working great [22:28] um according to their app so Electrify [22:30] America wants to rate station uptime by [22:33] I believe 50 percent of the station is [22:35] online and available as a hundred [22:38] percent uptime because you can move [22:39] stalls if you get to one that's not [22:41] working [22:41] however there's another problem which is [22:43] how do you actually report uptime [22:46] properly none of these stations will [22:48] activate there's nothing we can do we've [22:50] tried it on three different cars four [22:52] different cars now the guy in the e-tron [22:53] who posted Kona uh sorry Nero electric [22:56] pole star and now rivian we know it's [22:59] not the car we know it's the Chargers [23:01] however those stations are being [23:03] reported as online and available working [23:05] right now so station up time there is a [23:09] huge need to actually quantify what [23:11] considers 100 uptime what considers 50 [23:15] uptime and what is uh what metrics are [23:19] you monitoring to consider a station's [23:21] working or not because I'll tell you [23:23] whatever is going on right now and this [23:25] isn't unique to EA this is across the [23:26] entire industry it's a little bit of the [23:28] Wild West [23:30] nothing's really that great so I'd be [23:31] really curious to hear your input [23:34] as to how to quantify a reliable [23:38] charging [23:39] situation other than just having me [23:42] drive around to all the freaking [23:43] charging stations and telling you why [23:45] they're broken because it's getting old [23:48] I hate I really don't want this I don't [23:50] want to do that I want to say oh let's [23:52] go buy electric cars and go on road [23:54] trips and have a blast but I you know I [23:56] keep coming to the same conclusion buy a [23:59] Tesla [24:00] or buy a gas car if you go on long trips [24:03] if you drive around town if you like a [24:05] little bit of Adventure like I do if you [24:06] make videos about when Chargers don't [24:08] work and hopefully you know it's [24:10] entertainment for some people it's [24:12] buying advice for others well then you [24:15] know that's that's great but it's not [24:17] the future anyone wants [24:19] so let's go try some other chargers as [24:21] I've probably bored you enough but it's [24:23] too 51 in the morning [24:25] just drank a Red Bull [24:28] I just can't believe that these Chargers [24:30] weren't winter tested that's the only [24:32] conclusion I can come up with they all [24:34] don't work it's insane dang there is [24:36] some serious snowfall here for those of [24:38] you who have seen some of our testing [24:40] you would know we've been to this [24:42] station many times to do testing this [24:44] evgo unit evgo specs two kinds of fast [24:47] charging hardware for their new stuff [24:49] these are the Signet stations each one [24:52] of those cabinet power shares two units [24:54] very similar to the Electrify America [24:57] balanced charging and then actually my [25:00] favorite evgo installs look at how stiff [25:02] the cables are my favorite evgo installs [25:04] are the Delta units those Rock because [25:07] it's one unit and they can do [25:08] simultaneous charging hold on let's get [25:11] this plugged in [25:14] actually I don't know there might be too [25:17] much snow on the ribbian side for it to [25:18] even connect let me uh let me reconnect [25:21] that there and see if we can get it [25:22] going okay Jude is now connected I also [25:25] like that how they all have names I [25:27] think that's pretty nice let's see if [25:28] Jude can give us the juice yeah the [25:30] rivian part just got full of snow so [25:33] just blew it out plugged in went [25:34] perfectly connected great and then I [25:36] think we'll try this uh Delta unit one [25:39] here [25:40] try out two different brands looks like [25:42] we are charging [25:44] 19 percent [25:46] love the nerdy details [25:49] yep getting the juice no problem [25:52] instant plug-in connect activate [25:55] this rivian doesn't support Auto charge [25:57] plus but I made a whole video about that [26:00] recently [26:01] and there we go getting some juice 110 [26:04] kilowatts not everything [26:06] oh [26:08] 113. [26:09] I don't know if it's the the truck or [26:12] the charger limiting the power [26:14] but at least we're charging it's better [26:17] than being stranded and having to get a [26:18] hotel I'm surprised the e-tron owner [26:20] didn't come over here we're only about I [26:22] don't know 10 minutes away from that [26:23] charger [26:24] that faulted [26:27] let's see truck is not giving any [26:29] indication as to why it's going slower [26:31] now we're up to 140 kilowatts [26:34] I mean that's still not the end of the [26:37] world is it I don't know we'll let this [26:39] charge up just a little bit more I'm [26:40] curious to see if we get even more power [26:42] out of it but uh hey we're juicing [26:45] though 350 amps right there some [26:48] Chargers d-rate in the extreme cold some [26:50] trucks of course the battery pack in the [26:52] truck was preconditioning the whole way [26:53] here it may just not be fully warm [26:55] enough to take everything and judging by [26:57] the fact that it's slowly increasing in [27:00] power makes me think that okay maybe the [27:02] battery in the truck is just Frozen [27:04] brick we've been driving through snow [27:07] and slush and it's minus [27:10] between minus eight and minus 10 degrees [27:12] Fahrenheit outside so still I'm I'm very [27:14] pleased with this let's uh let's plug in [27:17] the Delta unit and get that thing going [27:19] yeah the amps are increasing so I don't [27:21] think it's a charger limitation I think [27:22] the truck is just frozen I have just [27:25] plugged in Pietro over here which is one [27:27] of the Delta 100 kilowatt units uh these [27:30] are like the city Chargers bolts Leafs [27:33] bunch of smaller EVS that don't need the [27:34] Crazy Fast Chargers should use these [27:36] they also have the Tesla connector [27:39] hooked up to the uh chatimo adapter [27:41] basically this is just it's just a [27:43] genome adapter in there that's what it [27:45] looks like and um [27:47] let's see connecting we're thinking are [27:49] we going to work in the cold [27:51] Pietro come on [27:54] I don't know [27:56] taking a little while [27:58] contactors are going [28:00] the truck is still white truck's going [28:02] green [28:03] connection successful [28:07] no noise [28:09] and it's charging 61 kilowatts wow I've [28:11] never actually used one of these [28:13] they make literally no noise [28:19] you hear like Power Electronics [28:21] that is dead silent [28:24] but it's charging and let's just confirm [28:27] that the trucks [28:28] charging yes it is 81 kilowatts [28:33] again we're at pretty low pack voltage [28:34] right now but [28:35] damn okay so evgo Delta stuff and Signet [28:39] stuff works in these temperatures [28:42] um let's go try charge points CPE 250 [28:45] and their Express plus I'll go over to [28:47] that new station where they just [28:48] installed the big boy charger that I [28:51] filmed a video with [28:52] just a few days ago look at this I've [28:55] never seen such a quiet charger before [28:56] Delta makes some good stuff man I am a [28:58] fan of these guys I gotta reach out to [29:01] them [29:02] this thing rocks I love these City [29:04] Chargers because they save the fast [29:06] charger so the cars that need it wow [29:08] even the touch screen works in the cold [29:10] okay [29:12] my ears are about to freeze out of my [29:16] head they're about to just fall off [29:20] in you go [29:22] let's close the port so we don't have a [29:24] snow situation like last time [29:26] okay off to uh charge Point Let's go see [29:30] if they work and now it's the CPE 250s [29:33] turn [29:34] same cop that was here last time [29:35] actually [29:36] cable pretty easy to maneuver for not [29:39] being uh thin liquid cooled situation [29:41] let me just get it into the still a [29:43] two-hander in these cold Temps [29:47] [Music] [29:52] and in we go [29:55] let's see if the CPE 250 can handle the [29:58] cold these things are usually pretty [29:59] stout they don't have that much power [30:02] that one's the brand new one I'm [30:04] actually really looking forward to [30:05] trying this out because this is one of [30:06] like three or four installations in the [30:08] whole company and probably the coldest [30:11] charging session one has ever seen take [30:13] a look at this charging just fine [30:16] should do about 80 kilowatts or so max [30:19] yeah seems reasonable to me 79 how about [30:23] that for a guess [30:25] I know these Chargers pretty well with [30:28] rivian because I have to use them all [30:30] the time for our rain chest and they [30:31] really don't give that much power so [30:33] okay that's everything that the CPE 250 [30:36] can give us very good let's uh [30:40] let's juice it on the chargepoint [30:42] express over here I have a whole video [30:43] on this unit live a few days ago [30:46] actually so go and take a look at that [30:47] one really nice Cable Management 200 [30:49] kilowatts at this particular one 500 [30:52] amps [30:53] um yeah should should get pretty close [30:55] to what the rivian wants with the cold [30:57] battery pack [30:58] let's do it and in we go this one has [31:01] the Phoenix contact cable really nice [31:03] handle just makes it so much easier to [31:05] get in and use a handshake process is [31:09] starting and uh yeah let's see how this [31:12] goes this is actually one of the very [31:13] few charge Point owned and operated [31:16] stations they own and operate a few of [31:18] their own and this is one of them which [31:20] is why it's no surprise that they have [31:22] one of these new units now what's [31:24] interesting is I've definitely plugged [31:26] it in [31:27] and it says waiting for Ev so perhaps it [31:31] didn't get a great connection or perhaps [31:33] I plugged it in by with pulling on this [31:35] little tab so [31:38] clear out the charge port [31:40] you can see it's icing up in there [31:41] pretty quickly let me try another [31:43] connection well it is a few minutes [31:45] later now and while the charge Point CPE [31:48] 250s work those things are kind of [31:49] workhorses the chargepoint express is [31:52] not giving us as much luck and I would [31:55] say okay maybe it's the cable not [31:57] recognizing that it's plugged in but it [31:58] definitely goes to this screen when [32:01] plugged in I kind of experimented with [32:02] it and it says waiting for Ev I was like [32:05] oh maybe it's not getting a good [32:06] connection so I thoroughly cleaned the [32:08] connection I actually reset the truck to [32:10] make sure that it wasn't anything on the [32:12] vehicle side and it is for sure on the [32:15] charger side not wanting to uh connect [32:18] so I don't know if it has to do with [32:19] cold weather or if it has to do with [32:22] just this being a brand new unit out in [32:24] the wild and uh it was a little buggy [32:27] for me the other day on the model S it's [32:28] all in the video you can see it faulted [32:30] out during a charging session for me so [32:32] not to make excuses for charge point [32:34] that really sucks but at least there's [32:36] four other stations here marked as [32:38] available that we know will work but [32:40] yeah I mean unacceptable just to have [32:42] brand new hardware not working here's [32:44] another case of it which it's like come [32:46] on just like test this stuff make sure [32:48] it works make sure it works with [32:50] multiple Vehicles maybe they never did I [32:52] O testing with rivian and there's some [32:54] weird thing going on here I should come [32:55] back when it's warm and see if maybe [32:57] it's a truck problem or if I had my [32:59] Model S again if it would charge just [33:00] fine so two too many variables to know [33:03] at the moment but um I would call this [33:06] one a 50 success rate and the one I [33:10] wanted to use the fast one doesn't work [33:12] and the truck just faulted out just went [33:14] red so yeah okay well still still not [33:17] the end of the world we could charge if [33:19] we needed to Let's head over to a [33:22] Electrify America station again but this [33:24] time with the Signet units not the new [33:27] ones by SK Signet but the actual Signet [33:30] ones with the green glow around the [33:32] outside those are pretty popular let's [33:33] see if they work in the cold welcome to [33:35] a Walmart that can only mean one thing [33:37] yes we are at the Signet stations and [33:40] right off the bat we're not looking [33:42] great because I just we're actually [33:44] pretty low on charge we're nearing 14 13 [33:47] something like that the truck's starting [33:49] to limit power because it's getting cold [33:52] that's unavailable I don't know look at [33:55] this this one's unavailable too holy [33:57] smokes okay [33:59] um so let's hope that this one [34:03] is available [34:05] the chatimo is not for some reason but [34:08] this one says it's good so maybe we will [34:11] get lucky and the Signet units will come [34:13] through let's hope they work in the cold [34:15] I mean these things are pretty stout in [34:17] my opinion I I like these stations [34:20] I kind of wish they'd use them more but [34:22] if they're gonna be that unreliable [34:23] again the the crazy thing to me is [34:26] everything we're kind of playing around [34:28] with today is pretty much brand new [34:30] hardware that just went in the ground [34:31] What's it gonna be like in two three [34:33] four years the supercharger that I used [34:36] today had one stall down out of eight [34:38] and it was installed in 2016. [34:40] and this was installed like just a [34:42] couple years ago so wish us luck in the [34:45] future and that minus nine degrees [34:48] Fahrenheit the only plug working at this [34:51] entire installation is charging us and [34:54] it is ramping up we are at 10 state of [34:56] charge I think I'll charge it up to I [34:58] don't know 50 or 60 something like that [35:00] to get home as long as we get a good [35:02] charging session because that is [35:05] um yeah that's reasonable 110 kilowatts [35:07] that's probably what the truck's asking [35:08] for was such a cold battery to be honest [35:10] because it was limiting regen and power [35:12] I think it's hard for it to keep itself [35:14] warm in in these temperatures with uh so [35:16] much snow hitting it from the other [35:17] Underside as well [35:20] um cool so just thinking it works I'll [35:22] have my wrap up thoughts to you on this [35:24] whole trip in just a moment it is 4 10 [35:27] a.m minus 11 degrees I think we should [35:30] do some more testing the truck's not [35:32] saying it's slower due to charging [35:33] station limitation but I do know there's [35:36] another station that we actually haven't [35:38] tried yet and that is the Delta 350 [35:41] kilowatts unit at evgo and there's [35:44] actually one on the way home home so I [35:47] say we unplug from here if whatever [35:50] reason it doesn't work we can always [35:51] come back here [35:53] um yeah seven minutes only 14 kilowatt [35:55] hours 113 kilowatts with a battery this [35:57] big we ain't getting anywhere really [35:59] quick but again it may not be the [36:00] charger [36:01] it could just be the truck with such a [36:03] cold battery the rivian won't [36:04] pre-condition when the battery uh state [36:07] of charge gets gets super low [36:09] so I hope we're high enough for it to [36:12] pre-condition off the way to EB go I'm [36:13] gonna drive the piss out of it over [36:15] there and just full send it and warm up [36:18] the pack as much as I can let's go see [36:19] if those units work in the freezing cold [36:21] and for the last charging test of the [36:23] night this unit which we haven't tested [36:25] these are going in everywhere these are [36:27] awesome [36:28] oh the cables are for Holy Smokes this [36:32] cable is Frozen it's minus 11 out right [36:35] now I gotta put the phone down this is a [36:37] two-handed operation [36:39] [Music] [36:41] come on come on that's crazy okay [36:46] connecting to your vehicle good [36:50] do that please [36:53] hopefully it got in there there's a [36:54] little bit of a crunchy connection I [36:56] worry that that's brittle plastic cables [36:59] are just going to snap in the cold [37:03] okay let's hope it connects I'm waiting [37:05] in the truck I'm not gonna wait out here [37:06] it is cold and we are charging so that [37:10] gets a pass but we are charging pretty [37:13] slowly [37:15] slower than on the Signet [37:17] curious to see what the charger says [37:20] actually usually they'll have a Max [37:22] amperage output and they could just [37:24] derate in the cold I would think the [37:26] truck could take a little bit more of [37:27] this [37:28] it says yeah Max 250 amps [37:32] so they can work in the cold but they [37:34] really derate you see that's normally [37:36] it's 540 amps but right now the charger [37:40] is uh derating right there so it's [37:43] maxing out the charger oh well that's an [37:45] interesting test something good to know [37:46] about these Delta units they uh work in [37:49] the cold they just slow down a little [37:50] bit but uh okay this is kind of the last [37:54] charging stop for a big stretch on I-25 [37:56] so that's kind of it let's wrap up the [37:58] video well that was a fun night we are [38:00] approaching uh 4 30 in the morning now [38:02] and I have to do those leafed cold gate [38:05] tests over at the EA charger where we [38:07] started so let's let's talk about this [38:10] in Broad picture really quick Electrify [38:13] America is of course the nation's I [38:16] would say leading fast charging Network [38:19] in terms of [38:21] um Corridor charging Electrify America [38:23] excuse me evgo charge Point green Lots [38:27] Etc blink all the ones they're really [38:29] good in inner city or urban areas or [38:31] select areas to have them more than [38:34] others EA is really everywhere so that [38:37] is why I put so much focus on their [38:39] Network compared to others because it's [38:42] the one we actually rely on to get from [38:44] A to B as electric car drivers non-tesla [38:48] and the fact that they are specking [38:51] brand new hardware [38:54] and ripping out the old units to solve [38:56] problems but introducing worse problems [38:59] again the older units would have some [39:02] issues charging from time to time but [39:04] would typically just charge really slow [39:06] when they had a problem this won't even [39:09] connect in cold weather and uh you know [39:12] it's the holiday week right now [39:13] everyone's traveling for Christmas [39:15] Christmas isn't just a couple days [39:18] cold blast across the country really [39:20] curious to see if you guys are seeing uh [39:22] this problem out in the public the [39:24] problem is there's nothing you can do [39:25] there's no like trick like let's unplug [39:28] replug try a different station there's [39:30] there is no alternative other than [39:32] finding another charging station out [39:34] there and so that's why it's just I [39:37] think a total disaster so let's talk [39:39] about the other stations we tried today [39:41] we went uh from the uh two different [39:45] Electrify America stations with the new [39:48] stations that won't activate with all [39:51] vertically BTC integrated we went to [39:53] then evgo we tried their Delta city unit [39:55] connected activated worked great dead [39:58] silent nice charger first time I've ever [39:59] used one then we used the Signet evgo [40:04] charger which didn't have an amperage [40:05] limitation at least that we felt and uh [40:09] ripped along and it was great no problem [40:10] maybe it was it had a 350 amp limit [40:12] something like that but [40:14] um I you know the truck could have been [40:15] cold who knows [40:16] it doesn't actually tell you the maximum [40:18] output like the Delta units do [40:21] then we went uh to charge point and the [40:24] CPE 250 thankfully works great those are [40:27] very popular in Colorado again they [40:29] don't output that much power at all in [40:31] any configuration but at least they work [40:33] and that is always top priority the [40:36] charge Point Express that we used a [40:38] little bit disappointing it didn't work [40:39] I'm not sure if that's just a rivian [40:42] communication issue with the Charger and [40:44] the charger would have worked fine with [40:45] another vehicle or if it was the cold [40:48] weather either way we shouldn't be [40:50] having these conversations and [40:51] everything should be tested and if the [40:53] charger isn't rated to work in the cold [40:54] it should tell the end user hey I can't [40:57] work because I'm cold [40:59] then we went to Electrify America Signet [41:02] we found two of three stations [41:04] completely offline the one station that [41:06] was online was only half online because [41:08] the chatimo was down and again there's [41:10] other Signet stations I could have [41:11] chosen from some probably were some [41:13] probably in better shape it was the one [41:15] on my way home I didn't even check the [41:17] status I didn't know they were down but [41:19] now that I think about it Michaela [41:20] actually was there recently and she [41:22] mentioned to me like hey they were all [41:24] like not working so I was like oh when I [41:25] arrived I'm like oh we're low on charge [41:28] and it's cold I hope this thing works [41:31] um [41:33] and then we came over here to the uh [41:35] Delta uh 350 kilowatt charger but we [41:38] learned yeah while it works in the cold [41:40] man does this thing really derate in [41:43] cold temperatures we're doing only 80 85 [41:45] kilowatts right now on the on the rivian [41:47] bouncing between there and 100 kilowatts [41:50] somewhere and um a little bit of a [41:52] mistake to come over here from a speed [41:53] perspective but uh learning about the [41:56] charger is really good information to [41:58] have [41:59] and ultimately you know where does that [42:01] leave us where does that leave everyone [42:03] the answer is [42:05] um it's the wild west still [42:07] unfortunately and and getting worse in [42:10] my opinion uh after tonight's experience [42:12] the fact that there was [42:14] um you know multiple cars just in a very [42:17] small region of the country that were [42:19] booking hotels that were finding [42:21] alternative charging methods because [42:23] these new stations went offline tells me [42:26] someone didn't do their research and [42:29] this is just speculation I don't know [42:31] what goes on inside EA I really don't [42:33] want to know what goes on inside of EA [42:36] how how bad does it have to be to deploy [42:40] stations at a mass scale that don't work [42:43] now we could go after charge Point as [42:45] well and say hey that Express plus thing [42:48] doesn't work [42:49] but I don't think they've actually sold [42:50] those stations to anyone yet I'm pretty [42:52] sure they're only at charge Point owned [42:54] and operated installations I could be [42:57] wrong but I know there's only a handful [42:59] out there and it's still a little bit of [43:00] a test phase and they're working on [43:03] things but still unacceptable behave [43:05] what am I trying to say it's like I'm [43:07] talking to my dog unacceptable Behavior [43:09] just sound like a grumpy old man I don't [43:12] know why charging has to be so difficult [43:15] and um I don't think people realize the [43:18] importance of having reliable fast [43:21] charging so at the end of the day if if [43:24] reliability for road trips is your top [43:27] priority do not buy a CCS vehicle today [43:29] just point blank I cannot recommend it [43:32] to you [43:33] I love certain cars that are CCS [43:36] equipped I love the BMW IX I love this [43:39] rivien r1t I love the Mercedes stuff and [43:42] I will own uh CCS cars because I like a [43:45] little bit of Adventure while I'm [43:47] traveling I think it's cool plus it [43:48] makes a good story for you guys for me [43:50] to document the current state of [43:51] electric uh infrastructure at the end of [43:54] the day there's not much infrastructure [43:57] going in the ground right now because [43:58] we're waiting for all this Government [43:59] funding plans to get approved for next [44:01] year and [44:02] that's a whole nother topic for another [44:04] day [44:06] and uh we certainly aren't seeing much [44:08] improvement from from Electrify America [44:10] at all sadly I wish I wish it was a [44:12] different situation [44:13] but uh it's not [44:16] so there you have it buy a Tesla buy a [44:19] plug-in hybrid if you'd like [44:21] I'm not really into those buy a [44:23] combustion car [44:24] if you need a long road Tripper [44:26] just [44:28] I don't know how Tesla can do it so well [44:30] let's just hope they open their Network [44:31] that would solve everything even if it's [44:33] a little bit slower on most cars then [44:35] then you know the rest of this stuff and [44:37] don't come out you know the other the [44:39] last last Point here is everyone's going [44:41] to say oh the North American charging [44:43] standard connector the next connector [44:45] that's the answer all that is is just [44:47] the actual physical plug the cable the [44:50] station activation the station it's [44:51] connected to [44:53] that wouldn't change at all and we have [44:55] podcasts on that on our podcast channel [44:56] so a long video an annoying one [44:59] for me at least and um yeah let's uh I [45:03] keep saying let's hope these companies [45:04] get their stuff together but uh right [45:06] now I'm all in on evgo these things keep [45:09] working for me I've had great success [45:11] recently on evgo and I can't wait for [45:14] them to build out their their Corridor [45:16] charging network with pilot fuel stops [45:18] that's I think once we have an [45:19] alternative to Electrify America I'll [45:21] feel much better about the state of [45:23] electric car [45:25] infrastructure but right now we'll look [45:27] back at this in 10 years and either say [45:29] this is why electric cars didn't work or [45:32] this is why electric cars almost didn't [45:35] work but we don't know the future see [45:38] you in another one soon bye-bye foreign