First “long” road trip ended not as planned, help!

[Logal727]

If you are using ford pass - you can filter ford pass to show you only DC fast chargers. Looks like by description of teh charger locations, as others have already said, they are are L2 chargers and not fast to charge.

The built in nav doesn’t even show L2 for me, it’s DCFC only, not sure why OP kept charging at L2s. They do show in the app though.

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[Logal727]

Sounds like nothing wrong with your car, just your understanding of chargers. Definitely due to the lack of infrastructure, you need to research your routes before any long trip. It’s not as bad as it sounds, most have DC fast chargers now, which are not what you used.

 

[smartino]

I would recommend the following apps. Electrify America app to find EA chargers. A Better Route Planner (ABRP) so that you can plan your trip ahead of time. ABRP go into the settings and you can select the MME as your car along with charging networks to use. Plug Share is a great app to see how the chargers are working at a specific location. The FordPass app can also be used for planning just set the filter for fast charging.

I’ve done many road trips. The key is to plan your route and charging stops ahead of time.

 

[dml105]

This talk about apps…

The in car navigation is REALLY good. Just use that.

 

[Logal727]

This talk about apps…

The in car navigation is REALLY good. Just use that.

Yeah it’s this reason the in-car nav doesn’t list L2 chargers

 

[Carsinmyblood]

Thank you. 100% operator error. Ugh! I never noticed the little flip down cover that allows the rapid charger to connect. Wow did I learn that the hard way!

WOW!!!!

https://www.ford.com/support/vehicle/Mustang Mach-E/2021/owner-manuals/

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...ts-cache=65a06270-1f33-49c1-9af5-f942a4d83cf8

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...d=8806&vFilteringEnabled=False&userMarket=usa

 

[smartino]

Yeah it’s this reason the in-car nav doesn’t list L2 chargers

It actually does show L2 chargers. There is a way in the Navigation settings to only show Fast Chargers but the default is to show Fast Chargers and L2 chargers.

 

[Logal727]

It actually does show L2 chargers. There is a way in the Navigation settings to only show Fast Chargers but the default is to show Fast Chargers and L2 chargers.

Mine doesn’t show L2 at all ever since 1.7.1 update, and no filter is on, L2 is in the app though, I figured this was to prevent uninformed people from routing to a very slow charger

 

[BigMach-E]

Use the Ford connected Nav. Filter out anything under 50 kw and CCS. You might be able to find some free CCS, but expect to pay typically for Fast DC charging.

 

[EasyPass]

Yesterday we took a roundtrip that was to be 230 miles. Just outside the winter maximum of 215 showing. I’ve only charged publically twice and that was just to get the prime parking. From reading, I assumed a 10m quick charge at a rapid charger would get me home. Btw, it’s 10:30pm following and long day of driving and youth soccer. Also, I’m using ford app to guide me. And so the story begins:
Found a free public charger at a park and had time to kill before the game. Thought “score”. 20 minutes later, it added 2miles.
Station 1 on the way home. A Target with a bank of chargers. None fit the MME but the small one which is broke but gives me another 2 miles after 20minutes. At 30%
Station 2 is at a public municipality and after 25 minutes, I’ve added 2 miles assume it’s also broke and go to the next. At 22%
Station 3 is at a Wells Fargo and didn’t take credit cards but only a charge “fob/card”. I assume private. At 20%
Station 4 is a Cum and go. We’re at 12% at this point and after 1.5 hours I get approx 8 miles and just over what I need according to car and Apple Maps. Leave with 14%
It’s after 1:30 am when this disaster ends. I back into my garage with 0% and 1 mile showing. It’d been like that for well over a mile. My wife is firmly wanting rid of the car. My son’s exhausted and I’m PO’d.
Help please. Where did I go wrong? This can’t be normal. How do I improve my outcome next time?

https://www.electrifyamerica.com/locate-charger/
As others have already stated, stick to just DC Fast Charging for long distance day trips. The above shows all Electrify America's DCFCs in your state. If your route doesn't overlap enough with those sites you can likely know ahead of time and take other action (??). For an extreme example, a trip from Cortez to Breckenridge would fail taking the shortest route possible going due East then North. It could likely work with a planed charging stop in Grand Junction, perhaps. There are other suppliers of "fast chargers" in certain regions as well such as ChargePoint, Blink, and EVGo. Some of those may be in the Blue Oval Network for Plug-and-Charge access. Also, don't forget that MME owners are allocated 200+ kWh of free charging on the Blue Oval Network. I also agree that the onboard Nav system in the MME does a good job of locating charging sites and when they will be needed in a trip.

The Level 2 Chargers you apparently did use are also referred to sometimes as "Destination Chargers" . Since one would plan to make the trip to that site and spend the night or more, this would enable charging to run up to 10 hours or more overnight. Another scenario for L2 charging is when you are parked for long periods like at work or spending time at a large shopping center. The Level Threes are mainly intended for quick-charge-and-go scenarios in a day trip.
#StayCharged

 

[ripperAZ]

I bet you were doing a strictly level two dance with the wallflowers. You got to refine your search to fast charging only

It’s a learning curve but if you do sell the car get some real money for it you got a fantastic vehicle you just don’t know how to use it yet

 

[lefortpf]

Agree with all of the above. Having done a few road trips (2-300 miles), I've found that practice & patience are key. IMO, Electrify America is by far the most seamless experience. But their units are not everywhere. Chargepoint is my #2, but lots of variation in charge stations (some old, broken, TINY screes) but I had a successful CCS charge just today. And EVgo is a distant #3 with units that frequently don't sync with MMEs. Trial runs, good planning & practice. You'll get the hang of it soon enough!

 

[ReelSweet]

Thank you. 100% operator error. Ugh! I never noticed the little flip down cover that allows the rapid charger to connect. Wow did I learn that the hard way!

I did the same thing with my first experience at an EA station....didn't realize the little flip down flap would come down......I was lucky enough to have a guy with a Porsche EV next to me that saw me trying to figure out why the charger didn't fit my car and came over and flipped it down for me. Sounds like one of your stations would have worked to give you some fast juice had you known. you live and learn....great advice about plugshare from others to plan out the DCFCs and EA seeming to work the best. Hope you stick with it.

 

[rsfloodco]

Thanks for admitting that! I needed a little ego support ?

 

[DevSecOps]

Station 4 is a Cum and go.

That's my kind of station!

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