OTA Mach-E DC Fast Charging speed and threshold increases coming this winter

[RickMachE]

I was glad to hear Darren say that they're listening to this forum, that they're looking at the charging networks (hopefully EA users that used up the free Ford hours and switched to EA's Pass+ plan too). Our roundtrip to Florida included a huge time sink of failing EA charging sessions, as well as a ChargePoint at 54% of published speed (ChargePoint said they will take it out of service). EA stinks in Huber Heights, Ohio, Gainesville, Florida, and other locations. I would happily share my data with them, and I'm local. ?

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[generaltso]

a ChargePoint at 54% of published speed (ChargePoint said they will take it out of service).

I would think that 54% of the published speed would be better than taking it completely out of service.

 

[Logal727]

I was glad to hear Darren say that they're listening to this forum, that they're looking at the charging networks (hopefully EA users that used up the free Ford hours and switched to EA's Pass+ plan too). Our roundtrip to Florida included a huge time sink of failing EA charging sessions, as well as a ChargePoint at 54% of published speed (ChargePoint said they will take it out of service). EA stinks in Huber Heights, Ohio, Gainesville, Florida, and other locations. I would happily share my data with them, and I'm local. ?

Ugh that sucks to hear about Gainesville, it’s like the main charging route out of Florida

 

[RickMachE]

I would think that 54% of the published speed would be better than taking it completely out of service.

27.3kw is barely worth stopping for...

 

[generaltso]

27.3kw is barely worth stopping for...

It is if your car is about to die.

 

[RickMachE]

It is if your car is about to die.

Sure. And it still shows in operation, so maybe they were blowing smoke up my butt.

We needed an additional 50 miles of range to make it home. A Chevrolet dealer was supposed to have a 25kw charger further north, but what if not didn't work. Dundee, Michigan has a location where the comments all say they're ripping people off with the rate (non-networked if I recall right).

Given that the car accurately projects range based on use, and I know how to use a calculator, I stayed just long enough to get 15 more miles than I needed, and unplugged. ABRP did tell me I could make it driving 55, but that's not realistic for 120 miles. Nor is running out short of home at 11pm. ChargePoint did refund my money, but I spent nearly an hour getting 50 miles of range.

 

[timbop]

Ugh that sucks to hear about Gainesville, it’s like the main charging route out of Florida

Try lake city - there's an EA at the S&S store, and FPL has 50kw stations as well

 

[Frankie]

They literally put up a picture of 0t60-3.5s car on the screen during the interview and I thought “Great, they’re going to ask him about 0t60’s miserable 1/4 mile performance” and then they didn’t even mention it.

like I guess they weren’t really aware of it but that sucks and was a missed opportunity.

 

[Logal727]

Try lake city - there's an EA at the S&S store, and FPL has 50kw stations as well

What exactly was wrong with the EA station in Gainesville? I’ve heard EA is pretty responsive on fixing issues.

 

[Frankie]

I had heard of the trap speed issue in passing but wasn’t really sure the specifics. I will be driving the GT in a couple weeks, will bring my draggy, testing for myself, and if slower than the 4X - will of course be asking questions.

Seems silly that the fast one would be slower in a straight line - to me thermal longevity is more important that straight line acceleration but that’s no excuse for making the fast one, less fast lol.

Sorry to disappoint but I can assure you that I never hold back on pointing out issues on cars that I test which is part of the reason that I’ll never accept a paid deal from an automaker - ever. If they decide to stop sending me cars, I’ll borrow them from our viewers, not hard to get vehicles to review!

Kyle

Sorry, I thought you were more aware of the dismal quarter mile performance issues that started with user 0t60-3.5 and the rest of us have also been experiencing, since a picture of his car appeared in your video.

It's not just that it's slower than the 4X, even if it were to be tested to be slightly faster than the 4X it would still be pretty wretched compared to the MYP which is not what us GT owners were hoping for.

 

[kennethjk]

The extended battery is rated for 98.8 kWh. The actual capacity is 88 kWh. That would mean the buffer is currently about 10-11%. It is split between the low end and the high end. I think the voltage tops out around 4.10-4.15V right now, higher is worse for the battery unless it's only going to spend a short time there.

I think what he's getting at is making more of a "trip" mode to allow extra charging and depletion for limited uses, and otherwise putting software limitations on the battery so it doesn't spend as much time above 90%. A lot of people new to EV's don't understand that sitting above 90% is bad for the battery and charge to 100% every time (this is unfortunately what the car does by default too). The software should be reworked so it's clear that above 90% is for occasional use only. Once that's in place to warn users and force occasional use the top end buffer could be raised a little bit.

Shrinking the buffer also increases the stress on the battery, so we shouldn't be thinking a buffer shrink will improve our range for daily use (which would be worse for the battery). It would be a trip-focused increase. Some people always push things to extremes, Ford has to keep this in mind with their durability targets. I wouldn't expect more than about a 5% increase, might only be a couple percent.

isn’t charging to 100% for a road trip for example which I think is to 88kw really only using roughly 90% of the battery (98kw total) . So charging to 90% of allowed 88kw is roughly 81%. Unless I am missing something which is possible.

 

[RickMachE]

What exactly was wrong with the EA station in Gainesville? I’ve heard EA is pretty responsive on fixing issues.

You heard wrong.

I reported the Huber Heights location was only giving 34kw at the 350kw locations. On August 29th. Now, 3 weeks later, PlugShare shows the same issues...https://www.plugshare.com/location/171776

Two Chevy Bolt owners thought 34kw was normal... One said the chargers "ramp down during peak electrical demand".

Go look on PlugShare for Gainesville.
https://www.plugshare.com/location/192956

Here's Bushnell, FL. I reported them also. Weeks later, still broken...https://www.plugshare.com/location/158468

 

[RetiredDP]

Can someone explain to a non car guy what the heck traps means?

A "starting line trap" means a beam of light at the starting line is being measured...going into a detector (solar cell), it generates an electrical signal. When the beam is shut off (because a car crosses the beam, stopping the beam from reaching the detector), the timer is started. When the car crosses a 2nd beam at the finish line (the 2nd trap), the electrical signal is again stopped, stopping the timer...and producing an ETA from the timer. The " traps" start-and-stop the timer.

 

[RetiredDP]

A "starting line trap" means a beam of light at the starting line is being measured...going into a detector (solar cell), it generates an electrical signal. When the beam is shut off (because a car crosses the beam, stopping the beam from reaching the detector), the timer is started. When the car crosses a 2nd beam at the finish line (the 2nd trap), the electrical signal is again stopped, stopping the timer...and producing an ETA from the timer. The " traps" start-and-stop the timer.

BTW, they're called traps because trappers would attach a net or basket to a line, which would drop on prey, when the prey broke or "tripped" over the line stretched across a path (same as a "booby trap").

 

[Frankie]

It's possible to miss asking about certain things. "Screw these nerds", "ball-washing", and "automotive journalism might not even exist" is quite the insult to those who are asking questions that matter even to those who bought the GT editions of the car.

I already apologized for mistakenly thinking he was a ball washer rather than just someone ignorant of the fact that the GT was released and it’s slow, what more do you want.

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