nikemikey

I just picked up an EQS last night, set up the charge account. Does anyone know how I go about using the free 30min charge from electrify america? Do I need to set up an account separately with them, or will it recognize my car and charge the first 30 for free by just plugging in? Sorry really new to this.

js_cls

I believe there is a way to link it to your Mercedes Me account.

Hopefully one of the owners on here can go into a bit more depth on how it works.

c4004matic

I have the same question. However, the supposed idea was that you would not have to do anything extra just plug and go. Let us know how how it works out. Not that it makes much of a difference personally since the closest to me is 120 miles away!😳

ua549

Hopefully, Tesla will open their supercharger US sites to other brands of EVs as they have in the Netherlands.

c4004matic

In Norway Tesla's are bing shipped with CCS plugs. The Tesla plug is going the same as Chademo...DEAD

superswiss

In Europe the superchargers have a CCS and the propriety Tesla cable. Europe forced Tesla to put a CCS plug on the Model 3. Tesla would have to equip all superchargers in the USA with a CCS cable first, or people would have to buy an adapter.

ua549

I agree CCS is the future. Proprietary connectors are passé.

c4004matic

sounds good to me!

Rohitgarewal

my dealer connected my charge card to my Mercedes me account. I haven’t tried it yet but apparently now it should just work.

pughjl

The dealer setup my Mercedes Me Charge and had me go through the Mercedes Me Connect mobile app to get the Mercedes account setup. It failed at first because I had the Chargepoint app installed. I uninstalled that and was able to go through the setup process that included going to a Mercedes branded Chargepoint web site with some agreements that needed to be confirmed. Now I just plug into the Electrify America charger and the car exchanges billing info. The screen shows the charge, then a member credit.

The credit is for up to 30 minutes and can only be used every few hours. This got me once--I was charging on a slower charger since the 350kW charger was busy. I canceled that and connected to the faster charger when it freed up. I had to pay for the second charging session.

svp6

It was the same for the superchargers in Europe - they were all type 2 connectors when they started. As you said, when model 3 came out and had to use CCS, they had to update all their charging stations by adding a second CCS cable. It sounds like they are all retrofitted already. No reason this should not be done in US.

dhilbe

>This got me once--I was charging on a slower charger since the 350kW charger was busy. I canceled that and connected to the faster charger when it freed up

Well…that sucks. From what I watch on YouTube, the EA fast chargers don’t have the best reliability and it seems a standard protocol is to simply move to a different charger. What you say seems to negate that whole strategy. I think I need to reset my expectations that the 2 years of free 30 minute charging will fall far short of what I was hoping.

nikemikey

I was finally able to get a chance to stop by at an Electrify America charger and it was incredibly easy. Plugged in and charger recognized car, started my charge and ended it at 30 min and received the immediate credit upon disconnecting from the charger. This will come in handy when you’re at 10% and can use that 30 min to get up to 80% on a 350 charger.

svp6

I used the fast chargers maybe 20 times in 6 years with 4 vehicles - obviously I do not do long trips frequently. I think EA is important only is you depend on fast chargers for your routine (e.g. people in apartments buildings) or if you road trip a lot. Over the last 2 years with the Taycan I never had an instance where no EA charger worked - but on several occasions the 350KW stations were out of order.

dhilbe

yes…..I expect 99% of my charging will be at home. So, I’ll use a DC fast charger only on a couple “away from home” trips per year.

ua549

A very useful tool is the ChargeHub website map. They also have smartphone apps. I used them when I rented a Bolt for a couple of weeks. One can filter on no cost level 2 stations. Very handy when stopping for more than a few minutes such as a lunch break.

alexzz123

On Mercedes Me Connect app, do you have plug & Charge activated?

pughjl

Yes

pughjl

I found the same issue YouTuber's had. At my local charging station, one of the chargers doesn't work. Fortunately, trying and failing to connect doesn't count as a charging session since the unit failed to handshake with the car correctly. Trying another charger when one fails won't negate the free charging status.

AstroCV

I just picked up car today and tried to charge but said “payment declined”. I activated charge point and Mercedes me. Does it take a couple of days to register?

alexzz123

Check Chargepoint to make sure everything is working.

I would also check if everything activated in the car. If not, bring it back to the dealership to check to see if the modules are updated. That's what fixed my problems

Old Dawg

I have used both Charge Point and Electrify America and both worked easily with the Mercedes Me Charge card. I simply scanned the card at the station and everything went from there. My wife did have a problem with one Electrify America station that did not recognize the Charge Card, so we have downloaded the EA app just as a backup.

AstroCV

maybe my dealer forgot to give me a scannable charge card. I only have a keychain card provided by charge point with a mbusa number but no barcode. Is the charge card you are referring to credit card size with barcode or at code? Thanks

Old Dawg

No, the Mercedes Me Charge card is not CC size. It's quite small maybe a little over an inch square. Hole in it like it should go on a key chain. But it is from Mercedes Me and is designed to work with both Electrify America (free) and Charge point just by holding it up to the station. It is linked to my Credit Card so that if I want to go over the 30 minutes free from EA or use Charge Point it goes to my CC kind of like PayPal. Our only complaint was that as it is obviously designed to go on a key chain and they gave us two smart keys, we should have gotten two of these cards. I made the mistake of putting it in my pocket once rather than leaving it in the car.....opps.

JoeMa

Maybe you could post a picture of your card with your name and any codes blocked.