Ford suspending accounts due to third party connections

[cryptk]

I agree. Electric Utilities use a third party to do the monitoring for them.
I had the unfortunate experience of having my account locked 3 times.
Ford makes it known that they have the right to do that. Proprietary information breaching and they don't take it kindly.

My electric company offers a discount as well, but they do it by integrating it to Charge Points API. Charge point has actually designed their API to be consumable by third parties, one of the use cases being specifically this.

The downside to this is that in order to qualify for the discount, I had to buy an EVSE from a very specific list.

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[Handsfree]

My electric company offers a discount as well, but they do it by integrating it to Charge Points API. Charge point has actually designed their API to be consumable by third parties, one of the use cases being specifically this.

The downside to this is that in order to qualify for the discount, I had to buy an EVSE from a very specific list.

Nice, like the fact Charge Point has that option

 

[Fixbear]

When a third party has your Ford Pass log in, they use it to poll the car for data. Back in 2021 the battery aging companies were a big concern because they polled the car every 5 min. This kept the vehicle awake and drained the 12 volt. My experience was I cancelled, but they kept polling the car till I changed the passcode. Back then Ford just gave us warnings as they too were learning. Like Ford say's, do not share your passcode or Ford Pass with anyone. EVSE equipment has no need to access your vehicle beyond what is shared through the plug. This includes the Power companies. They just want to sell data.

 

[macchiaz-o]

My electric company offers a discount as well, but they do it by integrating it to Charge Points API. Charge point has actually designed their API to be consumable by third parties, one of the use cases being specifically this.

The downside to this is that in order to qualify for the discount, I had to buy an EVSE from a very specific list.

Most likely, ChargePoint implemented a standard called Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) from the Open Charge Alliance (https://openchargealliance.org/protocols/). It's kinda funny that "ChargePoint" sort of appears within the name of OCA's protocol.

I think JuiceBox does as well, as does Ford's Connected Charge Station.

I have the FCCS. The tech sheet and manual claim it supports OCPP 1.6 if I recall correctly, but the only time I've seen it mentioned as part of a utility rebate program was for an electric utility in Michigan. The ChargePoint and JuiceBox devices are way more widely adopted by utility rebate programs.

 

[cryptk]

Most likely, ChargePoint implemented a standard called Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) from the Open Charge Alliance (https://openchargealliance.org/protocols/). It's kinda funny that "ChargePoint" sort of appears within the name of OCA's protocol.

I think JuiceBox does as well, as does Ford's Connected Charge Station.

I have the FCCS. The tech sheet and manual claim it supports OCPP 1.6 if I recall correctly, but the only time I've seen it mentioned as part of a utility rebate program was for an electric utility in Michigan. The ChargePoint and JuiceBox devices are way more widely adopted by utility rebate programs.

I thought OCCP was for talking to the EVSE directly? This was more of an OAuth flow type of setup for access to the ChargePoint API that I had to do to get my power company linked up.

 

[macchiaz-o]

I thought OCCP was for talking to the EVSE directly? This was more of an OAuth flow type of setup for access to the ChargePoint API that I had to do to get my power company linked up.

You may be right. I don't know the specifics on it. Several possibilities: Maybe the OAuth flow is granting them access to the OCPP interface, or it could be part of it. Or, the electric company is going through proprietary interfaces to ChargePoint cloud servers. I dunno.

 

[JoeBeach]

So what is the question you have ask your utility company that is going to install and maintain a charger at your home to avoid this problem?

 

[Mach Len E]

Hmm, this happened to me. It would be OK if their own chargers worked and told you what they were doing. Or the Ford Pass App had actual useful information on it.

My Ford Charge Station Pro is in a box in the shed. Massive overkill and actually was not best choice for me. The normal charger was sold out at the time and the web site is obtuse in its description of the chargers to say the least.

In a meeting with group who has budget to buy 3 Ford Lightnings. They need a solution that will meter home power use in a clear fashion. The Ford Chargers are buggy and the Ford Pass App is of limited utility. They really need an EV user to help them with the utility of their software although watching the Norwegians only Volkswagen is approaching something I would expect in ID.7 .

Thanks for the 24 to 48 hours info. Maybe I'll just wait.

 

[Mach Len E]

I should note, the info or data the Autel app was pulling from my car was trivial so disconnecting it was not an issue. But having the full energy profile data (amps, volts, kW) and ability to change the Amps from 6 to 48 (I'm not wired for 50) on the fly is wonderful (where is that for your Chargers Ford?) I find I'm meeting my needs easily at 30 Amps and I have a flat power rate so don't need to be fancier than that. My panel is getting close to maxed out however so finding the sweet spot before Air Conditioning season is helpful. I have a cheap Flir infared camera and watching the adapter video was entertaining with the infared images. They really need to do one of a 240v 48Amp breaker to car AC charging session.

 

[rlust]

Interesting. I wonder if the Autel integration is abusing their API's by hitting them too frequently.

I use a Homeassistant FordPass integration to show my MME's SOC on a dashboard, and my Fordpass is still working fine (thankfully).

I use home assistant and they locked me out yesterday!

 

[awp0]

I use home assistant and they locked me out yesterday!

Yikes! I'm really sorry (and scared) to hear this. Ok, today is the day I'll set up another FordPass account and dedicate that one to HA. Really disappointing that Ford is approaching it this way.

 

[Space_Pony]

I got an email from Ford yesterday stating that there was suspicious activity and that I needed reset my password. I disconnected my vehicle from the autel app and then reset my fp password and that got me going. I don't know if this was related to the autel app but I will leave it disconnected.

 

[kodiakng]

I use home assistant and they locked me out yesterday!

ugh, sorry to hear this.

a couple of questions if you don't mind:

• were you using a second account for home assistant integration or just the main ford account?
• if it was a second account were you using gmail's "+" notation for the account? (this was quite common and useful until ford decided they don't like "+" signs)
• are you using any other apps/services as well?

just trying to get an idea if this is new round of purges by ford. if this was your main/primary/only account i definitely suggest creating a secondary one.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I see no reason why I would give my FordPass login information to a third party app..

Numerous utilities require the use of a third party app in order to receive a discounted rate for EV charging. Those third part apps require login information. They’re probably doing more than monitoring car charging info. The car owner is being farmed by those companies.

 

[CherryBomb]

Numerous utilities require the use of a third party app in order to receive a discounted rate for EV charging. Those third part apps require login information. They’re probably doing more than monitoring car charging info. The car owner is being farmed by those companies.

Interesting. We don't have discounted rates in Northern Colorado where I primarily live. Our city utility has peak and off-peak hours where rates are adjusted, but no special rates for EVs. We do have an >700 KWh total monthly surcharge that results in EV owners actually paying more for electricity (I use about 400 KWh per month charging my EV which doesn't leave much for other loads).

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