Recently, Dave and the Greyhounds drove from Norfolk to Aylett, Virginia and back to attend the James River Greyhound reunion event. This trip was long enough to require that we recharge on the return route or become an item on the 11 PM news. “Electric Vehicle blocks HRBT, film at 11.”
As long term readers recall, we found ourselves at the Richmond Walmart charger in EA newbie hell as EA guidance on the charger itself is obsolescent (a polite way of saying it is wrong).
On my return, I discovered the video linked in Reference [1]. The EV Motoring presenter demonstrates use of the recently revised EA App.
Revisions
- 2022-10-23 Original
References
- EV Motoring, How to Use Electrify America with Apple CarPlay!
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/electrify-america/id1458030456 Version 6.15.4, June 27, 2022.
What’s New
Along the way (June 2022), Electrify America added Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support to the Electrify America App. If you have an EA home charge point, the app also supports charging at home.
The video [1] demonstrates how to open the EA App from the ID.4 CarPlay home screen. Once open, the presenter shows how to select the charging station from the list presented by the EA App, select the charger, connect the vehicle, start the charge, and close out the charging session. Everything except connecting the vehicle is done in the vehicle using the vehicle’s center display. There is no dance with the phone at the charger to transfer credentials. That now happens via the EA App and the interaction at the car’s display.
New Procedures are for Apple CarPlay!
Image courtesy of Electrify America
CarPlay uses the car’s screen layout. When the EA App is open, it usually displays the preferred mapping application base map with EA App controls in an overlay. On ID.4, the overlay consists of buttons to pick charging station, charger, etc across the top. When needed, a table of nearby stations appears on the left. Once a station is selected, You can pass the charge site off to Apple Maps for navigation. On arrival, Apple Maps will return to the EA App for charger selection and session management.
On arrival, the nearby stations list changes to show a list of available chargers at the current charging station. Once you have selected a station and charger, it will prompt you to connect charger to car and present a control that starts the charge. Once the charge is started, it will present a control to stop the charge. While charging, it will show session status, amount charged, cost of charging, and amount to go. When the charge completes, it will show the parked grace time and parking charges accrued.
Android Auto Also
My understanding is that Android Auto is also supported. Follow the Android procedures to enable your phone to connect to Android Auto. In your ID.3 or ID.4, go to the ID.4 root menu, select App Connect, and follow the procedures for selecting your Android phone and pairing it with the car. Select Android Auto App, select the Android Auto car home screen, pick the EA App and launch it.
Dismal Manor Dispatches 