Originally Posted by Old Rocker

I just returned from a long road trip from Las Vegas to just above Vancouver Canada. First stop on the route planned by the car's navigation was about 220 miles away was only level 2 and took about 2 hours (started with 100%). This was a Shell charger. Next scheduled charge was also a Shell charger but the two level 2 machines did not work. They kept rebooting, the agent tried but could not help. I made it to the 3rd station, I don't remember, but it was not Shell or EA. They did not work either and the phone agent could not get it to work.

I wasted about 2 hours trying to get it sorted out. The Mercedes roadside assistance number I got from my dealer would not help EQS owners and had a different number for us. That number did not answer for over 35 minutes before I hung up and called back the previous number. They still said I have to call the EQS number. It is monsoon season so it was about 100 degrees with thunder, lightning, and pouring rain. They answered on the next attempt.

The next station was about 135 miles away and I did not have enough range as this and the previous station did not work. They called a tow truck and said they would tow me on a flat bed to the next station. They said it would take about 90 minutes for it to arrive, but it was about 4 1/2 hours. I got to then next station about 3 hours after the truck arrived. It was an Electrify America station and we charged while the car was still on the truck to be sure the car was not the problem. It charged fast and as expected. At that point I was only about 300-400 miles out on a 1,350 mile trip one way.

All of the stations after that point were also Electrify America and level 3 chargers were plentiful along the route (I returned through California as the Nevada chargers were poor or just level 2). After I entered my destination and then pressed the charging station icon, often times it would not show any chargers at all until I drove an hour or more. This happened about 3 times. At this point I was charging to about 90% and the range showed about 325+ miles most of the time. I chose the next level 3 station at about half that distance in case I had stations that did not work again.

The station with the tow truck charged flawlessly, but out of about 12 more stops including the return, I had issues that required a call at 10 of those 12. Some had broken screens, 150 or 350kw chargers that only put out 30kw, machines that kept rebooting, and a few that would not recognize the car. In all cases I was eventually charged at the Electrify America stations with an agents help or using a different charger at that location. At no time did I have to wait for an open charger. All of their phone agents were very helpful!

While waiting I set my phone on the latch of the door that covers the cup holders and streamed video that played through the car's bluetooth.

The EQS 450+ performed VERY well and fast. I don't have the enhanced arrows on my nav heads up, but they do show up on the center screen. I almost always had to quickly close that window because it covered the next turn that in some cases that was only a hundred feet away. While at a stop I found the setting and disabled it and regained some sanity. Also, a few times after charging the NAV did not release that destination and kept trying to loop me back to the charger I just left. My "fix" was to cancel the route and restart it from the "previous destinations" and again use the charging stations icon to fine the next L3 charger.

I think the charging network needs some fixes, but I was happy with the results the car performed!

Originally Posted by Utopia Texas

There needs to be some type of class action lawsuit to shake E.A. up. Over this last year I have perused just about every EV site there is and the complaints across the board about E.A. are consistently negative. This is no way to promote EV’s with so much mileage anxiety among the general public.

Originally Posted by Old Rocker

Closest EA L3 charger is 5+ miles from home. Three bays were open. I drive into the easiest one but the display was facing the next lane. After parking and hooking up, the display said out of service.

I backed into the next lane and it tried, but could not charge. The temp was 103 degrees and the call to EA was 28 minutes fighting Bluetooth connecting and disconnecting (the rep had me turn off the car and start it several times) until another car was about to leave his charger. He said he also tried the one I was on but had trouble.

After he left, I moved to his charger and it started without issue, but the 150Kw charger only charged at 80Kw at the max of the session.

I don't know what they could have done different as I parked at the charger that had the display facing away, but with the cord on my charging side (out of service), but between that, the next charger not working (but not marked as out of service), and the 3rd one charging at only half current, I wasted over an hour.

As I wrote above, on my 2600+ road trip I probably charged about every 200 miles or so and that would be 13-15 times and only 2 or 3 chargers worked with out phone assistance or at all. Someone should be accountable for our lost time. I expect some issues, but when they fail or require a call 50-90% of the times, that is not OK.

Originally Posted by Old Rocker

The above post was my session to be ready to make a trip from Las Vegas to St George, UT (about 135 miles). with miscellaneous driving and very hot weather the round trip would have pushed the range limit, so I planned for a charge mid way as Mesquite was the only L3 charger listed on the route.

In Mesquite, NV in a Walmart parking lot there was a Rivan truck in spot #2 charging from charger #1. Chargers #3 and #4 were turned off or at least the screens were off. The Rivan truck owner stated that the #2 charger was charging at 30+ Kw even though it was a 150kw charger, so she plugged into #1 and it was working for her.

After she left I pulled into charger #1, again my car would not initiate a charge and required a call which lasted about 20 minutes before they could not resolve the problem. I then used charger #2, but as with the Rivan, it only reached a max of 38Kw charging speed.

While I was slow charging, 2 other cars tried #1 and it did not work for them either.

As I stated there are numerous problems (rebooting, broken screens, not recognizing the car, slow charging, or not on at all), but it does not seem to be a problem with the car. Regardless, Mercedes is selling these cars with the expectation that the EA network will allow us to travel in our cars. I knew when I bought the car that charging sessions would be about 30 minutes, but with failing chargers the call for help often doubles that time and sometimes the issue is not resolved.

I wound up being about 1/2 hour late for my meeting. I don't know how well the Tesla fast charger network performs, but at this point I can not recommend my car to all of the people that ask about my new EQS to get one as the charging network is not reliable and does not work as intended MOST of the time without a call for help.

Originally Posted by normanEQS

I created a ChargePoint account and connected it to my 450plus MB account using the website. I even entered the code on my tiny black charge card into the ChargePoint account. However, I tried it at an Electrify America station today. it seems it wants to charge me at $0.43/kWh. It does not appear it recognized my car. Should I also create an Electrify America account as well to enjoy the free charging?
Thanks!

Originally Posted by ua549

EA isn't the only charging network available. There is non-EA level 3 charging facilty near the Mrsquite, NV Walmart EA facility. The EQS is a superb vehicle. There is no reason to dis the car because there will always be a choice of where to buy fuel just as it is with gasoline. Personally, I do not like EA and do not use them.

Originally Posted by Old Rocker

why would I want to use another network that I have to pay for when the manufacture prepaid for 2 years of charging?

Originally Posted by hlothery

Wasn't EA a rapidly assembled and implemented concession by VW to appease the government regulators after the Dieselgate scandal?