Best Charging Networks — Best CHAdeMO/CCS Chargers

I think the ChargePoint Express 200 (made by Tritium in Australia) looks promising for reliability because it's water cooled, not air cooled like all the other DCFCs on the market. However, I have no idea about the cost compared to something like an ABB Terra 53CJ.

I have had different experiences with Blink CHAdeMO. Some stopped every 2-6 minutes. Others have been going stead for an hour straight. So it's a hit and miss.

I tried a few ABB and all of them were 100% reliable and worked on the first try.

I tried a Nissan branded one that was installed (and free to use) at a local city, run by the city. It charged at 45 kW for almost an hour without any problems.

I have many bad experiences with Blink. They don't seem to have the manpower to service their stations. Many many broken Blink chargers all across Los Angeles county. Many I frequented kept failing shortly after they were 'repaired'.

From lots of info here I think the ABB chargers are the most reliable ones. But it seems the other ones are fine as well as long as they are serviced on a regular basis. The good thing about the ABB and Blink CHAdeMO: They have two plugs and automatically switch from the first to the second once charging is complete.

As for networks, this is my personal experience mostly in California and Arizona: eVgo has been the most reliable and responsive. Blink the worst. ChargePoint is a mixed bad. Since they don't own any charger, and each station can have different service contracts.

The AddEnergie units in use in Quebec have been very reliable for me, even last Winter when it was -20C or colder almost every day. (I didn't have a CHAdeMO adapter for Model S then, but did a couple DCQC with my LEAF at -22C). Some people have had problems with the fob when colder than -5C, but no other issue that I know of.

Dual-standard. A bit different in that it doesn't take 480V, but instead 208V. Easy to use, whether with a fob or mobile app.

http://addenergietechnologies.com/en/our-products/smartdc/


http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/43766 (Most of the negative "could not charge" comments or because of ICEing or there being a line of EVs).

There are about ten more of these installed in Quebec and one in Nova Scotia.

Signet Systems FC50K-CC-S is a 50kW combined CC-S/CHAdeMO unit sold by Green power Technology is a decent unit. It has large filters and cooling fans, is less than 48" tall and is the unit Nissan is currently deploying for their no charge to charge program. It will charge a Model S at 125 to 155MPH. It has three separate transformers and will still work if one goes down. No fast DC charger is going to be 100% reliable and maintanence free. The size and quality of the electrical service, user error and abuse, card reader problems and the ocassional hardware issue are the usual reasons.

On a long route I drive, there are 9 CHAdeMO stations. 1 Signet, 3 Nissan and 5 Fuji. Currently, only 1 Nissan and 3 Fuji stations are actually functional. All the rest require maintenance. From what I've seen, repair times are measured in months. One Nissan unit is down after being operational for only 2 months. I'd recommend a network-owned unit, if possible, for this reason. That way, the location owner doesn't have to bare the financial burden, and annoyance, of dealing to maintenance.

On a recent road trip to the Pacific Northwest I used the AeroVironment CHAdeMO charging system on four separate occasions. These are part of the "West Coast Electric Highway." All four locations provided 40 kw.

Not being a subscriber, I had to use these on a pay-per-use basis. I had no problems, the AeroVironment staff were friendly and helpful and stayed on the line with me until the vehicle was successfully charging.

miimura said:

I think the ChargePoint Express 200 (made by Tritium in Australia) looks promising for reliability because it's water cooled, not air cooled like all the other DCFCs on the market. However, I have no idea about the cost compared to something like an ABB Terra 53CJ.

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Their name for that unit is "Veefil".

Oba said:

Their name for that unit is "Veefil".

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Yes, but you won't see the Veefil name in any of the ChargePoint literature because they've rebranded it for their distribution channel. I don't know if Tritium has any other sales channel in the US.

miimura said:

Yes, but you won't see the Veefil name in any of the ChargePoint literature because they've rebranded it for their distribution channel. I don't know if Tritium has any other sales channel in the US.

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ChargePoint has an exclusive one year deal.

miimura said:

I think the ChargePoint Express 200 (made by Tritium in Australia) looks promising for reliability because it's water cooled, not air cooled like all the other DCFCs on the market. However, I have no idea about the cost compared to something like an ABB Terra 53CJ.

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I think they cost about the same. ChargePoint is selling the Express 200 for $36k, plus installation. We have some ABB 53CJ chargers (and some Efacec chargers, too) around town here and I've heard that they cost $50k which includes installation. And from somewhere else that I can't recall, I understood that installation on DCFCs is $10k to $15k. So, I think the bottom line is a DCFC with CHAdeMO and CCS connectors is going to cost $50k installed.

glenhurst said:

I think they cost about the same. ChargePoint is selling the Express 200 for $36k, plus installation. We have some ABB 53CJ chargers (and some Efacec chargers, too) around town here and I've heard that they cost $50k which includes installation. And from somewhere else that I can't recall, I understood that installation on DCFCs is $10k to $15k. So, I think the bottom line is a DCFC with CHAdeMO and CCS connectors is going to cost $50k installed.

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Chevy Spark EV Forum DC FC stations

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David99 said:

I have had different experiences with Blink CHAdeMO. Some stopped every 2-6 minutes. Others have been going stead for an hour straight. So it's a hit and miss.

I tried a few ABB and all of them were 100% reliable and worked on the first try.

I tried a Nissan branded one that was installed (and free to use) at a local city, run by the city. It charged at 45 kW for almost an hour without any problems.

I have many bad experiences with Blink. They don't seem to have the manpower to service their stations. Many many broken Blink chargers all across Los Angeles county. Many I frequented kept failing shortly after they were 'repaired'.

From lots of info here I think the ABB chargers are the most reliable ones. But it seems the other ones are fine as well as long as they are serviced on a regular basis. The good thing about the ABB and Blink CHAdeMO: They have two plugs and automatically switch from the first to the second once charging is complete.

Click to expand...

The Nissan branded ones (Nissan Quick Charger - CHAdeMO DC Fast Charging for Electric Vehicles) seem not very reliable. I'm not clear what fails on them besides the handle and them requiring periodic air filter cleaning: 50% Success. What's So Tough About Charging on the Road? - Page 2 - My Nissan Leaf Forum.

Blink had a horrible reputation for keeping their crap equipment running before Ecotality went bankrupt and CCGI took over. It seems like CCGI might be a little better, but their earnings (lack of) are scary: CCGI Income Statement | CAR CHARGING GROUP Stock - Yahoo! Finance and CCGI Income Statement | CAR CHARGING GROUP Stock - Yahoo! Finance. When you have quarterly revenues of ranging from $284K to $1 million in a quarter but lose $3.8 million to $8.4 million, to generate them, you have to wonder.

Folks also noticed Nissan Pulls Plug On CarCharging Agreement On 48 DC Fast Chargers in their 10-Q report. And, they can't seem to file their earnings reports on time either.

Re: ABB, I've heard little about them but one SLC guy kept complaining about the ABB DC FCs at Utah Public Charge Stations - Page 4 - My Nissan Leaf Forum being broken. Unfortunately, the pictures are all broken after the MNL software change. I wish I could find the post where he called ABB "Another Broken Box".

I've never personally seen a Signet DC FC, but have seen pics and Signet brand fast chargers.... Almost all inop? - My Nissan Leaf Forum.