Plug and Charge Working!! (was avoid plug and charge for now)

[The Electric Duo]

Just spoke with @OutofSpecKyle who is completing a trip from Denver to LA and back in a Mach-E First Edition. On his way there he had a horrible experience using Plug & Charge with EA. On the way back, he is using the EA app and the experience is much better (but still not perfect). His advice is to be prepared to skip Plug & Charge with EA until the problem is resolved.

Of course, we don't know what the actual issue is, but we were speculating that maybe the system is doing some type of payment authorization periodically during the P&C session. If that stalls, the station terminates the session.

When I tested P&C on Sunday at the same station Kyle used to do his 0-100% charging test, I had 3 P&C sessions fail on me. One thing that was interesting was my sessions failed on exactly even kWh. I think it was 2.0 kWh, 10.0 kWh and 14.0 kWh when the failures occurred. It could be something out, but that was part of my speculation.

In any case, if you are taking a road trip or otherwise need to fast charge, be prepared to skip the P&C. It won't hurt to give it a try, but if you run into issues, switch to the EA app. I would do some testing this weekend, but I'm keeping the Mach-E in the garage with 1 to 2 feet of snow predicted.

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[capt_jak_harkness]

Just spoke with @OutofSpecKyle who is completing a trip from Denver to LA and back in a Mach-E First Edition. On his way there he had a horrible experience using Plug & Charge with EA. On the way back, he is using the EA app and the experience is much better (but still not perfect). His advice is to be prepared to skip Plug & Charge with EA until the problem is resolved.

Of course, we don't know what the actual issue is, but we were speculating that maybe the system is doing some type of payment authorization periodically during the P&C session. If that stalls, the station terminates the session.

When I tested P&C on Sunday at the same station Kyle used to do his 0-100% charging test, I had 3 P&C sessions fail on me. One thing that was interesting was my sessions failed on exactly even kWh. I think it was 2.0 kWh, 10.0 kWh and 14.0 kWh when the failures occurred. It could be something out, but that was part of my speculation.

In any case, if you are taking a road trip or otherwise need to fast charge, be prepared to skip the P&C. It won't hurt to give it a try, but if you run into issues, switch to the EA app. I would do some testing this weekend, but I'm keeping the Mach-E in the garage with 1 to 2 feet of snow predicted.

I bought my FE out of state and had to road trip 300 miles back home (great first test of my brand new MME!). I had issues activating Plug and Charge while at the dealership, so I just skipped it.

I charged twice on my way home, both at EA stations, and just used the guest rate and paid with a credit card. Both times it worked flawlessly: no issues connecting, peak rates above 100kw, didn't have to try multiple stations. It was fast and easy.

Given all the issues everyone is experiencing with Plug and Charge I'm going to skip activating it until it's all resolved. However, if Plug and Charge ultimately gets to a place where we can just pull up, plug in, and it just works I'll be all in.

We also have a Tesla, and their supercharger network has spoiled me and set my expectations quite high in terms of simplicity and ease of use for charging stations.

One note: the second time I charged I stopped the charge manually at the station (you just click Stop) and the charge indicator on the MME went orange and a warning on the dash said "Charge Fault Consult Owners Manual" (or something similar). Did I do something wrong stopping the charge at the station? Should I have done it from the car instead?

 

[SteelMach]

Yeah, it was painful to watch the chargers keep tripping out on Kyle. I felt so bad for him.

Both of my Plug&Charge experiences have been seamless, but that's far from universal both from Kyle and other folks on here.

One plus of using the app is getting the Pass+ membership and saving a substantial amount of money on charging, so that's perhaps worth turning off Plug&Charge once the Ford free 250 kWh is used up anyway.

 

[generaltso]

Maybe there's a reason VW chose not to enable P&C in the ID.4 at launch. Considering they own EA, maybe they know something that Ford and the rest of us don't.

 

[imstriker]

P&C worked fine for me the one time I used it. I could not get anything to work through the FordPass app, P&C worked great though. I did have to go through 3 chargers to find one that worked though.

 

[GrumblesTheDog]

When Plug&Charge fails, I assume an error message gets sent back to EA/Ford? If I ever have time to kill, I might be willing to deal with any hiccups if it helps diagnose issues faster...

ETA not that I even have my car yet. Wishful thinking

 

[back_at_it_19]

It’s funny that we don’t go crazy insisting on gas and charge. For the few times actually away from home that I’ll charge, p&c doesn’t matter to me at all really. It’s like a few seconds on the EA (or other) app. Definitely not worth the time of dealing with even one fault to me. And yeah I know hats the only way to get the 250 kwh but that’s more marketing for Ford than actual value to us.

 

[Blue PonyE]

I had no luck on my trip from Portland to Seattle using EA last weekend.
I keep getting emails (two so far) from Ford telling me to:

TIMOTHY, UNLEASH YOUR MUSTANG MACH‑E​ WITH FAST CHARGING​

Activate FordPass™ Connect now via the FordPass App to unlock access to Electrify America fast charging networks.*​

Type in or scan your VIN with your phone’s camera​

Name your Mustang Mach‑E​

Tap Activate Vehicle​

Start your Mustang Mach‑E and tap Allow on the in‑vehicle pop‑up​

I have already activated my Mach E and can see it in the garage with state of charge. Not wanting to miss out on free energy, I spent at least an hour trying to contact Ford Pass on the phone. I got disconnected the first time and then routed into the Bronco Reservation line. I spoke to a guy and he said he checked an dI had all of the charge credits. And the check is in the mail.

Ford's phone system is a joke, I tried chat and the person gave me the number to call. Not a fan so far of the support system.

Anyone else have a better experience calling for assistance?

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

It’s funny that we don’t go crazy insisting on gas and charge. For the few times actually away from home that I’ll charge, p&c doesn’t matter to me at all really. It’s like a few seconds on the EA (or other) app. Definitely not worth the time of dealing with even one fault to me. And yeah I know hats the only way to get the 250 kwh but that’s more marketing for Ford than actual value to us.

tbf the value of 250 (or 500) kWh is the cost of 250 or 500 kWh.

however, assuming you will be travelling in say a year enough to use it, waiting for it to sort a bit is fair.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

tbf the value of 250 (or 500) kWh is the cost of 250 or 500 kWh.

The value of 500 kWh at EA is exactly the same as the value of 250 kWh out here. Zero.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Here's a step-by-step for charging from the FordPass app sent to me from Ford:

 

[ChasingCoral]

My plug and charge seems to be all set up on my phone, however, ...
I’ve had the same problems with the spinning wheel and the “no connected services” message. They seemed to have cleared up on their own with time.

In practice, I have used EA twice. It wasn’t exactly plug and charge. I had to use a credit card to get it started. So far, on my credit card there are only two $50 pending charges so. I’m not sure yet if I will actually get charged the real amount or if they will disappear.

On another note, I learned that EA charges very fast up to 80% then slows down a lot. Didn’t know that.

The Mach E has a unique charging curve. On 350 kW EA chargers it has various phases:
1. jumps up to around 150-160kW for a few minutes,
2. then drops, settling in at around 115kW until 40%
3. Around 40% it drops off to around 105 kW for a while
4. Around 60% it tapers to around 80 kW until 80%
5. At 80% it drops off to around 15 kW
6. There's supposed to be a final taper at around 95% but I've never taken DCFC above ~80%.

You can see these at
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...rlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/page-14#post-126280
and description of a couple more at
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/post-129560

P&C and EA charging have been fairly reliable in FL. You do have to keep an eye on it, though. The issues have been:
1. P&C not working (almost always works fine when you start from the EA app using your own $)
2. Make sure it goes over 100kW at the start before walking away
3. Watch for phantom charging faults mid-charge

I have had two cases where stations had serious issues I couldn't resolve myself, including a station that worked fine before. Calling EA you will reach really helpful customer service folks who are glad to restart chargers and work with you until the charging runs fine.

 

[Tampamike]

The Mach E has a unique charging curve. On 350 kW EA chargers it has various phases:
1. jumps up to around 150-160kW for a few minutes,
2. then drops, settling in at around 115kW until 40%
3. Around 40% it drops off to around 105 kW for a while
4. Around 60% it tapers to around 80 kW until 80%
5. At 80% it drops off to around 15 kW
6. There's supposed to be a final taper at around 95% but I've never taken DCFC above ~80%.

You can see these at
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...rlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/page-14#post-126280
and description of a couple more at
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/post-129560

P&C and EA charging have been fairly reliable in FL. You do have to keep an eye on it, though. The issues have been:
1. P&C not working (almost always works fine when you start from the EA app using your own $)
2. Make sure it goes over 100kW at the start before walking away
3. Watch for phantom charging faults mid-charge

I have had two cases where stations had serious issues I couldn't resolve myself, including a station that worked fine before. Calling EA you will reach really helpful customer service folks who are glad to restart chargers and work with you until the charging runs fine.

So, my more recent experiences have gotten better. Now, P&C seems to work. My balance is now down to 193 Kw. I’ve used two different charge sites with, mostly, success. The one problem I had was that the 350 CCS charger I tried did not want to work. I switched to the 150 CCS plug and had success. These were both EA chargers. Planning another small road trip in a different direction this weekend. Curious to see if my success holds up.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

The value of 500 kWh at EA is exactly the same as the value of 250 kWh out here. Zero.

YES WE KNOW YOU LIVE IN PARADISE BILL

"I LIVE IN HAWAII" BLAH BLAH BLAH

YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP RUBBING IT IN

??

 

[ChasingCoral]

So, my more recent experiences have gotten better. Now, P&C seems to work. My balance is now down to 193 Kw. I’ve used two different charge sites with, mostly, success. The one problem I had was that the 350 CCS charger I tried did not want to work. I switched to the 150 CCS plug and had success. These were both EA chargers. Planning another small road trip in a different direction this weekend. Curious to see if my success holds up.

I found that the entire charging curve is a bit depressed on 150 kW chargers. Do you see that? I've only tried a couple of 150s though.

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