Ford deploying Mach-E 'angels' to find, fix bad EV chargers

[Mirak]

This is a great idea, and I'm happy to see Ford be proactive about it.

That said, this article should just have the headline "FORD ATTEMPTS TO GET ITS CHARGING SHIT TOGETHER BEFORE LIGHTNING LAUNCH" ?

It’s gonna be sad-funny when new Lightning owners are rolling down the highways with BlueCruise, playing tic-tac-toe, before we are.

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[Stang68]

It’s gonna be sad-funny when new Lightning owners are rolling down the highways with BlueCruise, playing tic-tac-toe, before we are.

As true as that sounds (unfortunately), I'm quite happy to see the same system we're using also be deployed on the Lightning and now the new Expedition. Cohesiveness is a good thing. I just hope the Mach E software devs don't get picked on by the Lightning software devs...we know they're outnumbered.

 

[JRT]

Interesting PR move but why? Ford doesn't own the chargers and if they put some app time in that would allow MMe to flag bad ones with a review that we could see on the screen in the car vs opening another app on our phone that would be better.

 

[BMT1071]

Interesting PR move but why? Ford doesn't own the chargers and if they put some app time in that would allow MMe to flag bad ones with a review that we could see on the screen in the car vs opening another app on our phone that would be better.

I'd say they are trying to figure out why they don't work and why some charge at a much slower rate than expected.

 

[RickMachE]

You can already flag bad chargers in the FordPass when you use Plug and Charge.

You can flag bad chargers in EA's app, and on PlugShare.

What he's doing is providing instrumentation to diagnose what's wrong instead of "it won't charge".

 

[fightinag]

Chargin's Angels

 

[S.B.]

too soon (*)

edit: @macchiaz-o beat me t it but I'm keeping it here anyway ?

(*) this is a forum-old-timer reference

If I remember correctly a MachE forum Jolteon is more like a troll than an angel—and changes its identity from time to time.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Charge Squad?? ??

Charge Squid? If you find them you die?

If you don’t get it, Google Squid Game.

 

[Malacandra]

Interesting PR move but why? Ford doesn't own the chargers and if they put some app time in that would allow MMe to flag bad ones with a review that we could see on the screen in the car vs opening another app on our phone that would be better.

I expect that they'll just remove the broken chargers from the nav screen. Problem solved!

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

If I remember correctly a MachE forum Jolteon is more like a troll than an angel—and changes its identity from time to time.

Accurate.

 

[scoopman]

Meh. I bet will be difficult for them to scale this program up meaningfully.

Why not put the instrumentation needed into most retail cars (assuming its probably mostly software) so you can get enough scale and signal on real-time problems? Why not lean on EA more and plug into their backend so you can get fresh info on when their chargers are down?

Why not partner with Plugshare to have customer reviews / experience info for chargers (or just build this into the Ford app, you'll quickly get enough scale of reviews with the number of EVs Ford is pumping out between the Mach E and the F-150 next year).

I'd rather have some more thought for how to really fix the unreliability of DCFC, than I would a gift for spotting a pink Mach-E.

 

[JoeDimwit]

Hmmm. Who is the patron saint of charging?

Saint Nicola Tesla

 

[Chudsaviet]

— or angry social media posts —

I fucking hate Electrify America charger at Ellensburg, WA , coordinates 46.9791698,-120.5433761, https://goo.gl/maps/e1GG3hnF7WLK3sr29
Its awful, awful, awful. Сука блять нахуй. I'm so **angry**.

 

[littlD]

I think crowd source reporting where if a person has trouble with a charger there is a function in the Ford app to scan a QR code of the unit and submit a report. Have a drop-down of common issues and an option for other for free-text input.

I hope they'll use something already in place, like Plug Share, but seems they'll want to make their own?

I've owned Fords in my distant past, and everything had to be a Ford-o-matic this or a Ford-a-thingamagig that.

 

[fightinag]

I hope they'll use something already in place, like Plug Share, but seems they'll want to make their own?

I've owned Fords in my distant past, and everything had to be a Ford-o-matic this or a Ford-a-thingamagig that.

Ford should install 24/7 fast chargers at all their dealerships......Very few towns are without a Ford delaership

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