Questions from a beginner

[Toeknail]

Please forgive my ignorance. I am scheduled to finalize my purchase and pick up a Premium Mach-E from the dealership tomorrow. This will be my first EV. The particular model I am looking at does not include the Ford Mobile Power Cord (most window stickers I saw for Job 2 2023 premiums listed it as a $500 adder, but not this particular car).

Do I need this cord, or are there better options? I do plan to have an electrician install a level 2 charging station at home in our garage. In the meantime, we have many chargers available at my work lot.

At home we have an unused dryer outlet in the laundry room, which is right next to the garage. I don’t know the amperage of that outlet, so I will need the electrician to tell me.

Do I need a Ford mobile power cord? Or is there a better 3rd party power cord I should buy? Do I need a mobile power cord at all, if I have a charging station at home and at work?

as far as stations for home, I have seen people mentioning wallbox and GrizzlE - are these good options?

Thanks again. I am at the very beginning of a steep learning curve.

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[generaltso]

If you’re going to have a Level 2 EVSE at home and at work, you don’t need a mobile one. Mine’s still wrapped in plastic in the trunk.

Check with your utility provider. Many offer rebates or incentives for certain brands of charging equipment. Mine gives out the ChargePoint Home Flex for free.

 

[JustBob]

There are other options. There are others that are similar to the Ford mobile charger, if that's what you want.

 

[Toeknail]

If you’re going to have a Level 2 EVSE at home and at work, you don’t need a mobile one. Mine’s still wrapped in plastic in the trunk.

Check with your utility provider. Many offer rebates or incentives for certain brands of charging equipment. Mine gives out the ChargePoint Home Flex for free.

This is helpful, thank you. Looks like my state offers a rebate for a wide range of chargers. My utility offers a rebate but it looks like it’s for chargepoint chargers. So I think that answers that part of my question!

 

[Norcolboulder]

For safety as a new owner I found a ford mobile charger on eBay -it is in my trunk in the bag I used the other provided ford mobile charger as a level 2 charger on a new outlet / breaker /gcfi in the garage. Search this forum and then look on Amazon for a better more reliable level 2 charger. Many reliable and powerful options.
Your power company may offer rebates on your electrical installation.
Enjoy the journey.

 

[luckie]

You could purchase a lower amp (16amp) mobile EVSE charger from another vendor like ClipperCreek/Enphase to keep in the car. This would permit you to charge at home via dryer outlet if convenient.

https://enphase.com/store/ev-chargers/clippercreek-lcs-20p-ev-charger-nema-6-50-plug-16

https://www.amazon.com/120-240V-Portable-Electric-Charging-Universal/dp/B07Y7HPKB6

 

[Jwolf91]

There are a lot of options out there. Since you have a dryer plug that may be able to be used, you just need to make sure the plug type you have is compatible with what ever charger you choose. If want to future proof and be able Level 2 charge at the maximum rate the Mach e can accept, consider the Tesla Universal Wall Connector. This unit has adapters to charge both the Mach e and what will be the standard going forward, the current Tesla plug. This will be more expensive though. About $600 for the unit and another several hundred for an electrician to install.

 

[Pmullin7]

I had a Grizzl-e but ran into issues and poor customer support. Other folks have had good experiences, but I can't recommend them. I know other forum members have had the same experience as I did, so it's not a one off. Mine worked fine for over a year before it became problematic.

For a home level 2, I'd suggest considering the Tesla Universal. You can charge your Mach E, but you'll also have NACS support for the future, which is an elegant solution.

A mobile charger is nice as a travelling backup. I only use the Ford charger at a relative's house, as I tend to visit 3 days at a time so Level 1 is helpful. I'd suggest you consider your travel patterns to see if there are places you could , and would, plug in, as well as what outlets they have. Open 14-50s aren't that common.

 

[Frebster]

Please forgive my ignorance. I am scheduled to finalize my purchase and pick up a Premium Mach-E from the dealership tomorrow. This will be my first EV. The particular model I am looking at does not include the Ford Mobile Power Cord (most window stickers I saw for Job 2 2023 premiums listed it as a $500 adder, but not this particular car).

Do I need this cord, or are there better options? I do plan to have an electrician install a level 2 charging station at home in our garage. In the meantime, we have many chargers available at my work lot.

At home we have an unused dryer outlet in the laundry room, which is right next to the garage. I don’t know the amperage of that outlet, so I will need the electrician to tell me.

Do I need a Ford mobile power cord? Or is there a better 3rd party power cord I should buy? Do I need a mobile power cord at all, if I have a charging station at home and at work?

as far as stations for home, I have seen people mentioning wallbox and GrizzlE - are these good options?

Thanks again. I am at the very beginning of a steep learning curve.

My MME came with the Ford Charger, I used it for a few months. I decided to purchase an "Emporia" after watching a "State of Charge" video I've seen on this Forum. Basically, the Ford portable charger is a 32 AMPs verses Emporia a 40 AMPs plugin or 48 AMPs hardwired level 2. The portable charger is in my trunk in case I need it on a road trip.

 

[OrchidMania]

I used the mobile charger for almost 6 months before we got our electrical complete. Purchased a grizzle because I have no garage.
still use the mobile charger when we rent a house in the Keyes

 

[HuntingPudel]

Just an observation: There are many reports of failed Ford Mobile Chargers (FMC) on the forum. They seem to have poor thermal management and degrade themselves when used at 240V in high ambient temperature. There are many L2EVSEs that are less expensive, offer more functionality, and are more reliable. Do yourself a favor and purchase something else (preferably with UL or CSA safety approvals). ??

 

[david_quick]

Please forgive my ignorance. I am scheduled to finalize my purchase and pick up a Premium Mach-E from the dealership tomorrow. This will be my first EV. The particular model I am looking at does not include the Ford Mobile Power Cord (most window stickers I saw for Job 2 2023 premiums listed it as a $500 adder, but not this particular car).

Do I need this cord, or are there better options? I do plan to have an electrician install a level 2 charging station at home in our garage. In the meantime, we have many chargers available at my work lot.

At home we have an unused dryer outlet in the laundry room, which is right next to the garage. I don’t know the amperage of that outlet, so I will need the electrician to tell me.

My last car we had the mobile charger included and the only time it ever got used was the week we waited to get the wall charger installed and 5 years later when that one failed and I had to order a replacement. No work charger no local chargers available.

My MME came with the charger and we used it at my Sister in Laws place a few weeks ago to top up overnight after running around that day. The big difference is there are DC fast chargers all over the place here now. If you can charge at work a couple times a week you should be fine.
Do I need a Ford mobile power cord? Or is there a better 3rd party power cord I should buy? Do I need a mobile power cord at all, if I have a charging station at home and at work?

as far as stations for home, I have seen people mentioning wallbox and GrizzlE - are these good options?

Thanks again. I am at the very beginning of a steep learning curve.

 

[jkovacs]

I’d say the Ford Mobile Charger works if you’ve got nothing else available, but there are better options. The nice thing about the Ford one is that it can be used on either 110 or 240v outlets but it’s really not designed for long term use. (Says a guy who’s been using his as an L1 for over a year now.)

Also, congratulations! I might be biased, but in my opinion, the MME is a great car in general that also happens to be a pretty good EV!

 

[RyZt]

At home we have an unused dryer outlet in the laundry room, which is right next to the garage. I don’t know the amperage of that outlet, so I will need the electrician to tell me.

In US, outlets have different shapes based on amperage.

Electric dryer outlet is always 120/240V 30A. But many of them are not grounded outlet, therefore you can’t use it for EV charging. There is a 50% chance that the electric box has grounding wires. In such case, the electrician just need to replace the face plate, which should cost minimal in labor.

The Ford mobile charger can only do 120V 12A (regular household outlet) or 240V 32A (requires 40A or 50A outlet). Therefore it’s incompatible with dryer outlets.

 

[Toeknail]

Good to know!

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