Ford electric vehicle owners are getting a charging experience upgrade

[ThomF]

Just posted at: https://electrek.co/2023/09/26/ford-electric-vehicle-drivers-charging-upgrade/
Ford electric vehicle owners are getting a charging experience upgrade

Peter Johnson| Sep 26 2023 - 3:03 pm PT

Several Ford electric vehicle owners are beta-testing a new charging feature set to roll out to all new Ford EV models. Ford is introducing a software update to make the charging experience as easy as possible.

Ford makes electric vehicle charging easier
The new feature, Charge Assist, was initially rolled out last April in Europe to help EV drivers find charging stations through their SYNC 4 infotainment system.
However, the company has given access to several beta testers in the US with plans to roll it out to all Ford EV owners. The charging feature initially became available earlier this month through an OTA update, according to CarsDirect.

When it was launched, the feature was mainly used to locate charging stations as it shows which are available, the speed, and cost.
Ford has upgraded the Charge Assist feature, allowing you to find the closest charger, pay, and begin charging all from inside your electric vehicle.
You don’t even have to use a smartphone app like FordPass or a third-party option. Instead, you can just open the Charge Assist app on your Ford EV infotainment, activate it from inside, and it will charge to your FordPass credit card on file. Several beta testers have relayed positive feedback from the new feature, including the one posted below from X/Twitter user @Jacecraftmiller.

Ford’s new “Charge Assist” EV charging feature (Source: @Jacecraftmiller/ Twitter)

The tester said the feature is “Super simple. Just open Charge Assist app on your Ford EV infotainment. It finds the closest fast charger, gives you the status of each port, and allows you to activate it right from your vehicle! Charges right to your FordPass CC on file. When you don’t have P&C this is awesome.”

Once finished, you can end the session from the vehicle or charger. The feature works with any charger in the BlueOval Charge Network: Electrify America, Shell Recharge, ChargePoint, EVgo, EV Connect, FLO, Electric Circuit, Blink, and more on the way.

Ford Pro, the automaker’s commercial and software unit, posted a video on YouTube a few months ago explaining the feature for fleet use.

The new charging feature is expected to be introduced in all Ford electric vehicles, including the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and E-Transit.

Electrek’s Take
Ford continues innovating and introducing new features to enhance EV ownership. For example, Ford was the first major automaker to announce it was adopting Tesla’s NACS plugs, an example which GM, Volvo, Rivian, Polestar, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and more have followed.
With OTA updates, electric vehicles will only get more intelligent. The American automaker has been dialing into the software side of things after CEO Jim Farley’s visit to China was a “real epiphany” earlier this year.

Since “outstanding hardware styling, performance, and quality are just a given” in the EV era, “The best new brands are offering integrated digital, retail, lifestyle and experiences that are software-defined,” Farley explained.

Ford will likely make the official “Charge Assist” announcement soon, but it looks to be a convenient feature for EV owners.

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[4sallypat]

I tested this for a month and have to say that it does not make sense to use Charge Assist if you are local / in town or have discounts or subscription rates.

If you are out of town or in unfamiliar areas, then I can see the benefit.

My complaint I sent as feedback to Ford EA Beta test group was that using non networked chargers with Charge Assist will bill you at full peak rates even though you are charging at off peak times.

Case in point: EVGo without a monthly subscription, will bill you at the time of day (3 tiers).
Ford Charge Assist at the same charger & time of day will bill you at full peak rate.

Confirmed this when I unplugged using Charge Assist and then immediately reconnected using my EVGo app (AutoCharge+).

Compared both bills - Charge Assist was billing at $0.66/kWh while EVGo app was billing at $0.44/kWh.

 

[ThomF]

Right now I have five different APPS on my smartphone for various different chargers. It would seem nice to be able to consolidate everything and do it all from the vehicle's infotainment system. However, I can understand the concern regarding pricing issues. Hopefully that will get sorted out.

 

[AZBill]

Not really useful. Being able to get the EA Pass+ discount with Plug & Charge would be more useful. I have Autocharge+ on EVGO and Chargepoint has no chargers in my area for long range trips.

 

[mikeinet]

it's weird it says this needs an OTA.... for EA, there wasn't an OTA that i'm aware of - they just somehow enabled it on the backend and it showed up. Never got an alert that car got an update

 

[Fremont Kid]

I don't understand Ford's approach here. Way too many steps. If traveling and you want to ensure the battery is prepared to charge, then the charger needs to be selected @20 min. prior to charging so selecting the charger from the navigation system is the best option, plus the navigation system will direct to the selected charger. I did not see that navigation is part of Charge Assist. Plus, I agree with AZBill that Charge Assist should be integrated into the Plug and Charge functionality.
The linked videos focus on fleet charging not individual charging so they do not help me to understand how to use Charge Assist as an individual. OK, perhaps I just need to use it a couple of times to understand how it works, i.e. demystify it in my mind. But...based on the announcement I'm not convinced this is a helpful feature. I'm open to be convinced.

 

[superdave80]

Most of my charge sessions are EA plug & charge anyways, so I don't really care about his. BUT, I will be super happy if I can actually see my charging speed on the screen like they show in the screenshot!

 

[Logal727]

I tested this for a month and have to say that it does not make sense to use Charge Assist if you are local / in town or have discounts or subscription rates.

If you are out of town or in unfamiliar areas, then I can see the benefit.

My complaint I sent as feedback to Ford EA Beta test group was that using non networked chargers with Charge Assist will bill you at full peak rates even though you are charging at off peak times.

Case in point: EVGo without a monthly subscription, will bill you at the time of day (3 tiers).
Ford Charge Assist at the same charger & time of day will bill you at full peak rate.

Confirmed this when I unplugged using Charge Assist and then immediately reconnected using my EVGo app (AutoCharge+).

Compared both bills - Charge Assist was billing at $0.66/kWh while EVGo app was billing at $0.44/kWh.

I think it's gonna boil down to who wants to pay for convenience and who doesn't, which isn't an uncommon predicament

 

[Logal727]

Most of my charge sessions are EA plug & charge anyways, so I don't really care about his. BUT, I will be super happy if I can actually see my charging speed on the screen like they show in the screenshot!

You can see it in the FordPass app FWIW

 

[Logal727]

it's weird it says this needs an OTA.... for EA, there wasn't an OTA that i'm aware of - they just somehow enabled it on the backend and it showed up. Never got an alert that car got an update

It's Electrek, they don't know what they are talking about half the time with the minutae of individual software updates

 

[Vulnox]

I love the idea of this, I think it's only fair to look at it as a next step and not the final step for Ford in this avenue. They have been talking about adding the network discounts into the Ford charging network itself for a while. If they did get the charging network discounts implemented before general availability on this feature then it might be a huge win.

 

[superdave80]

You can see it in the FordPass app FWIW

Yes, but it would still be quicker and easier to just look on my screen and see real-time info. The Fordpass app sometimes is a little slow in updating info.

 

[Logal727]

Yes, but it would still be quicker and easier to just look on my screen and see real-time info. The Fordpass app sometimes is a little slow in updating info.

It's definitely better than it used to be when it didn't show charging speed at all haha

 

[AlphaIOmega]

I want to use this so badly, but I really only use the free stations at work and they need to have my phone scanned, and the EA chargers and I get charged $0.42/KW. Wish there was a way to pass either identifying info through other EV accounts or even the discounts.

Super cool feature though and Im stoked for everyone else!

 

[superdave80]

It's definitely better than it used to be when it didn't show charging speed at all haha

And it looks like there STILL isn't any real-time charging info on my screen (at least using L2 charger). Only Ford software engineers can give me TWO 'charging' screen options, and neither one actually shows my charging speed.

Ford software engineers suck.

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