What did I do wrong on my road trip?

[Snakebitten]

Regardless of when any of the manufacturers entered the market, Tesla had their own connector and their own charging network. It wouldn't have made sense to equip your vehicle with a connector for a charger that your product couldn't use.

I don't know who was first with the design of the NOT-Tesla connector and chargers that became "the standard" for almost every brand that wasn't Tesla, but it makes total sense to me why Ford (or anyone else) would choose the not-Tesla standard.

Only a crystal ball could have shown what was going to happen later. And as stated above, Kudos to Ford for pulling it off.

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[Mach1E]

Regardless of when any of the manufacturers entered the market, Tesla had their own connector and their own charging network. It wouldn't have made sense to equip your vehicle with a connector for a charger that your product couldn't use.

I don't know who was first with the design of the NOT-Tesla connector and chargers that became "the standard" for almost every brand that wasn't Tesla, but it makes total sense to me why Ford (or anyone else) would choose the not-Tesla standard.

Only a crystal ball could have shown what was going to happen later. And as stated above, Kudos to Ford for pulling it off.

I still blame the manufacturers for this nonsense and it’s the consumers that get stuck in the middle. Thus this thread.

 

[dbsb3233]

Tesla was the first to mass market and owns the EV market. Ford came into the EV market over a decade later and chose to use a different connector than the #1 EV manufacturer.

Tesla was first, yes. But they were proprietary. They didn't ALLOW anyone else to use their patented connector or their network. Ford and the rest had no choice but to create a standard that was different from Tesla.

Years later Tesla started changing their stance about opening up their connector and network for others to use, long after every other automaker and charge network ran with the CCS standard.

 

[dbsb3233]

I still blame the manufacturers for this nonsense and it’s the consumers that get stuck in the middle. Thus this thread.

You should blame THE manufacturer (not manufacturers) that disallowed anyone else from using the Tesla connector up until Nov 2022.

https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-standard

 

[Snakebitten]

Tesla was first, yes. But they were proprietary. They didn't ALLOW anyone else to use their patented connector or their network. Ford and the rest had no choice but to create a standard that was different from Tesla.

Years later Tesla started changing their stance about opening up their connector and network for others to use, long after every other automaker and charge network ran with the CCS standard.

You should blame THE manufacturer (not manufacturers) that disallowed anyone else from using the Tesla connector up until Nov 2022.

https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-standard

I quoted both so that I could say...

I don't blame any manufacturer for choosing the not-Tesla standard. It made perfect sense to.
But I don't blame Tesla for leveraging their proprietary advantage either.

I'm just pleased that things have changed VERY recently, and now I can charge my Mach-E on both standards! It's great news.

WinWin

 

[phidauex]

And keep in mind that NACS is the 2nd connector that Telsa used, not the first... Roadsters had a different plug before they switched to NACS.

Yes, the dance is a little crazy. I'm at least glad that Tesla opened up the legal use of the NACS connector, and changed the internal protocol to support CCS1, and I'm glad that Ford and others have been willing to swallow some pride and supply adapters and make deals with their competitor. Took a while, but it shows good progress.

Similar to the gradual, painful at times, but nearly complete transition to USB-C for portable devices. Now all we need are for NACS adapters to cost $2 like USB-C adapters.

 

[dbsb3233]

I don't blame any manufacturer for choosing the not-Tesla standard. It made perfect sense to.

I don't either, but to be clear, it wasn't a choice. Tesla held the patent on the NACS connector and wouldn't allow anyone else to use it.

They can't be blamed for something they weren't legally allowed to do.

 

[Rucyrius]

I very successfully used my lectron adapter

Lectron Tesla Supercharger (NACS) to CCS Adapter | Vortex Plug | 500A | 1000V ×

a few times with my 2023 mach e gt... really fast recharge

 

[Tampamike]

As @RickMachE explained, not all Tesla Superchargers are compatible. Found this out when I tried to charge at a station at an I-90 rest stop in MA. I also found out that at least some of the compatible stations (like Saco, ME or Sturbridge MA) don't appear in the Ford app. ABRP and Plugshare do seem to list these stations correctly. .. but then I was forced to download the Tesla app to start the charging session at these stations. And.. both stations were fairly close to the highway (~ 2 miles from exit).
…

Will need to hunt for some compatible Tesla Superchargers that are actually at rest stops along the i95 corridor.. that would be the easiest. But, suspect as was said earlier, many of these may be too old to be compatible.

If you search with the Tesla app, as long as you have selected your vehicle as “MME with NACS adapter,” you will see all of the Superchargers that are open for your use. With PlugShare, you have to tap on the station to see if it is “open to non-Tesla.” The Ford nav, in the car, doesn’t have the Tesla adapter-usable stations in the database yet, which is getting a little old at this point. The “Public Charging” app in the car has the Tesla stations but you can’t use it while driving. Net result is that it’s currently a bit of a kludge to find and select the best charger for your immediate situation based on availability, operational status, location and range. Works better with a co-Pilot who can juggle the apps and maps.

 

[Johnjrs24]

Thanks again, @Snakebitten!

So:
Am I able to use a Tesla Supercharger with my Mach-e at all?

If I want to "fast charge," does that mean my only option is a DC charging station (using the additional ports on my Mach-e).

Yes you can use the superchargers but only with proper DC adapter
Your adapter that you have will only let you use someone’s Tesla home charger
You need a different adapter as shown in someone’s picture

 

[4sallypat]

By making a deal to allow us to use Tesla's network with their non-standard connector, you mean?

CCS was the industry standard up until then, that all automakers (except Tesla) agreed to use. Tesla's connector and network were proprietary up until recently. It was the non-standard, and they didn't allow anyone else to use it.

It just turned out that none of the CCS networks were very dependable, making it a frustrating experience for many owners. So Ford decided to negotiate with Tesla to get us access to their network (which of course required an adapter to work on CCS cars because Tesla uses a different connector).

I give Ford credit for that, not fault.

100% agree !

Now that we have a choice - it's been a more wonderful experience for road trips and local daily drives.

I give Ford a lot of credit because so far only Ford and Rivian are charging on Tesla's network for the past 6 months since Tesla opened up their network.

Taking my monthly 500 mile road trips has become fun now that I use Tesla Superchargers exclusively.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Hey there. I'm new and not that smart. Please be gentle.

I've got mad range anxiety.

Just took a road trip from New Jersey to Vermont with the fam and tried to use A Better Route Planner as well as cross reference it with the location(s) it noted for my one stop to charge up my 2022 Mach-e. I figured since I have a Lectron Tesla to J1772 EV Adapter | 250V | 48 Amp I'd be able to use a Tesla Supercharger. Long story short, it didn't work and it was a mess.

Was it because the adapter can only go up to 250V and the Superchargers I tried to use go up to 277V?

And when I looked at the speed of the outputs on various other chargers I used, they didn't go anywhere near that speed (though DC chargers were certainly faster than the L2 charger I have at home).

I know I'm probably mixing up terminology, but that's the reality of us not-so-technically-adept folks trying to adapt cleaner technology.

What did I do wrong? Why can't we have nice things?

Thank you.

You clearly need some remedial education on charging.
Watch this:



Then watch this:


or for a more thorough understanding this:



and then this:

 

[Jynxy in Texas]

I dont think you did anything wrong. It is the life of owning an EV at this point. Trial and error. And it isn't all rosey and happy.

If I am going by myself, I will make sure I route out anything over 180miles away to make sure that I have at least one charger in the path. If I have to drive 20+ miles out of my way... I just drive my jeep. I take it to my parents house but it is 195 miles and I tend to be pulling into their drive way with 10 miles or so left It is too close for comfort for my spouse. I try to not give him any more reason to hate my car. There are no chargers once out of houston to my parents house.

I am still waiting on my adapter from Ford. I ordered it in Feb. Still saying Sept ship date. Probably mid month, it will change to Oct like it usually does each month.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I dont think you did anything wrong. It is the life of owning an EV at this point. Trial and error. And it isn't all rosey and happy.

There certainly is a learning curve. However, consulting forums such as this one, and watching videos and reading articles from trusted sources can cut down on a lot of trial and error.

 

[Jimbro]

You clearly need some remedial education on charging.
Watch this:



Then watch this:


or for a more thorough understanding this:



and then this:

I clearly appreciate all this. Thank you.

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