Mach E vs Charge Point, who wins & who looses

[67 Stang Convertible]

I set up my new Charge Point (level 2) charger to start charging from Midnight to 6am. The same as I have the Mach E set up. The 1st night, it charged and no issues. 2 days later, on it's 2nd charge opportunity and Nada!! Nothing happened last night. I hit the "Start" button this am and it started to charge normally; so it's not a hardware issue. Previously had a "Dumb" JuiceBox and only the MME was set up on timer.

Should I only have one device set to a timer? If that is the case which one (the car or the charger)? Thanks for your thoughts in advance.

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[alexgorod]

Should I only have one device set to a timer? If that is the case which one (the car or the charger)?

Yes. The car. Or the charger.

I've always had it set only in the car.

I think the problem might be with the clocks being out of sync, so when the charger tries to start, the car refuses, and then when the car is requesting, the charger is not responding to the request. For experiment, try to set the charger to 11 pm, this way it might be able to reply to the request at midnight.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Yes, you should use only the car’s settings. A lot of other people have had “smart” charger issues because of conflicts (remember that the EVSE’s time keeping may be several milliseconds to a few seconds off of what your car’s is). Set the timing for the EVSE to always and use the car’s schedule. ??

 

[Stang68]

Agree with everyone here, I tried using the ChargePoint timing at first but turned it off and just let the car set the schedule.

 

[Reicher89]

I really don't understand what the point of smart chargers are, since every car gives you the ability to schedule charge timeframes? I mean easily changing/controlling the output current would be cool, but for charge timeframes it just seems redundant. I have the Grizzl-e classic and it works flawlessly with my MME.

 

[Stang68]

I really don't understand what the point of smart chargers are, since every car gives you the ability to schedule charge timeframes? I mean easily changing/controlling the output current would be cool, but for charge timeframes it just seems redundant. I have the Grizzl-e classic and it works flawlessly with my MME.

For me, switching from a Grizzl-e Classic to the Chargepoint allowed me to get the off-peak charging credit with my utility. Brought my kWh cost from $0.18 to $0.08.

 

[RickMachE]

I really don't understand what the point of smart chargers are, since every car gives you the ability to schedule charge timeframes? I mean easily changing/controlling the output current would be cool, but for charge timeframes it just seems redundant. I have the Grizzl-e classic and it works flawlessly with my MME.

Posted before:

1) It prevents vehicle from pulling power during peak hours without your direct intervention. Examples would be warming the battery on a cold night, preconditioning, and remote starting.

2) Some utilities want a smart charger for the data interface to give you a discount / rebate. Both of my chargers qualified for a $500 rebate.

You mentioned the other reason.

 

[flapjake314]

I really don't understand what the point of smart chargers are, since every car gives you the ability to schedule charge timeframes? I mean easily changing/controlling the output current would be cool, but for charge timeframes it just seems redundant. I have the Grizzl-e classic and it works flawlessly with my MME.

does every car? includling plug in hybrid like rav4 and stuff?

 

[zvez]

your world will be much easier if you just use your charger (evse) as a source for electricity, ie a dumb charger. Set the parameters in sync4 or fordpass. Life is much easier that way

 

[Reicher89]

For me, switching from a Grizzl-e Classic to the Chargepoint allowed me to get the off-peak charging credit with my utility. Brought my kWh cost from $0.18 to $0.08.

interesting, why does the utility care if you set your charge times from the charger or within the car?

 

[Reicher89]

does every car? includling plug in hybrid like rav4 and stuff?

Every electric-only car**

 

[YeOldeTraveller]

interesting, why does the utility care if you set your charge times from the charger or within the car?

I suspect they are able to see the setting that restricts the charge.

 

[Herbknowsit]

For me, switching from a Grizzl-e Classic to the Chargepoint allowed me to get the off-peak charging credit with my utility. Brought my kWh cost from $0.18 to $0.08.

Maybe like me you are in Michigan and CMS did the same reduced price by signing in for their program (off peak hours) and listing my ChargePoint as home charger. I do have both Ford PASS and ChargePoint apps set with identical start times. Hope things continue to work as they have and not have any surprises. Just got my A2Z replacement adapter delivered so it’s off to the local Tesla station for a testing.

 

[Stang68]

interesting, why does the utility care if you set your charge times from the charger or within the car?

More-so about having a “smart” charger, thanks to the WiFi connection the power company knows when I’m charging in the off-peak times.

 

[devmach-e]

Let me add my name to the chorus of people saying "let the car control things".

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