1500 mile round trip from north AZ to central CA ... finally NACS charging!

[Say Watt]

Yes, they left it plugged in. They were walking away from the vehicles when I arrived because FordPass alerted me to the stop charge. I was going back to move the car, assuming the sc had stopped me at 80% because the place was busy.

It could have been a T-owner upset with the invasion of territory.

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[kindofblue]

Also, always make sure the A2Z adapter lock was in open position before plugging in and locked after plugging in. I didn't count the times when user error caused the system not to communicate with the adapter.

Just to clarify you attached the adapter to the tesla plug then locked it after attaching it?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Just to clarify you attached the adapter to the tesla plug then locked it after attaching it?

Yep.

 

[NetDoc]

Thanks... I had to charge a few times in Lake City Fl, and the EA chargers there didn't all work. I now have a Tesla Lvl-2 charger at home. I've yet to plan a trip where I had to rely on chargers. This gives me hope.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Thanks... I had to charge a few times in Lake City Fl, and the EA chargers there didn't all work. I now have a Tesla Lvl-2 charger at home. I've yet to plan a trip where I had to rely on chargers. This gives me hope.

I should be absolutely clear:

I've driven many tens of thousands of miles on freeways, highways, and all over the southwest, relying on DCFC charging for the past two years and 37,000 miles.

I'll never hesitate to take a road trip in my EVs. In fact, it's now pretty much impossible for me to road trip in a vehicle that isn't an EV (unless I rented or borrowed a dead-dino-juice-car).

The minimal struggles I had with NACS are meaningless in the long term usability of my vehicles. I'll continue testing them, using them, and going on road trips. By the end of this year, I'll have driven another 15,000 miles (at least) and I'll have more confidence in the NACS network.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I believe this has most, if not all, of our >500 mile trips on it, but I've begun to lose track of them, so it's possible I haven't included some.

 

[NetDoc]

I should be absolutely clear:

I would add that not only were you clear: you were quite realistic in your expectations and candid in how things turned out. Thanks for that and the lack of bias. We're discussing EVs on my forum (ScubaBoard.com) and I'm sending them here to see how you're doing things. Again, thanks.

 

[Phil Martin]

I will stick to my phev for now. I'm don't even like waiting even one person is in front of me at the gas station, which isn't often.

 

[luckie]

Yes I don't have plug and charge update but all Ford EVs are authorized on the Tesla stations by Tesla. Hyundai and kia are not (yet)

Hmmm so why do you believe this to be true? (the idea that all Ford EVs have been authorized)

Did you read somewhere that all VINs of all Ford vehicles were provided to Tesla or something? Up until recently it seemed your EV had to get the Tesla OTA update to be able to have your VIN authenticate successfully at the Tesla SuperCharger. Those Ford EVs which did not have it, could not charge.

 

[luckie]

I will stick to my phev for now. I'm don't even like waiting even one person is in front of me at the gas station, which isn't often.

IMO: In the US, PHEVs with significant electric range like the old Volt and new Prius Primes are super important to move people off pure gasoline addiction, and experience how exciting it can be to only visit a gas station once a month, or even less.

 

[Arsenic17]

Hmmm so why do you believe this to be true? (the idea that all Ford EVs have been authorized)

Did you read somewhere that all VINs of all Ford vehicles were provided to Tesla or something? Up until recently it seemed your EV had to get the Tesla OTA update to be able to have your VIN authenticate successfully at the Tesla SuperCharger. Those Ford EVs which did not have it, could not charge.

Is there really any proof of maches not being able to charge at eligible superchargers? I've seen dumb posts where people try the level 2 adapter and it doesn't work and also posts where people have the right adapter but got to superchargers that are not open to other EVs.

I thought it was common knowledge the Tesla update is only for plug and charge. I def never got that update and plug and charge def doesn't work for me. But charging works with Tesla app and official Ford adapter.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Hmmm so why do you believe this to be true? (the idea that all Ford EVs have been authorized)

Did you read somewhere that all VINs of all Ford vehicles were provided to Tesla or something? Up until recently it seemed your EV had to get the Tesla OTA update to be able to have your VIN authenticate successfully at the Tesla SuperCharger. Those Ford EVs which did not have it, could not charge.

Is there really any proof of maches not being able to charge at eligible superchargers? I've seen dumb posts where people try the level 2 adapter and it doesn't work and also posts where people have the right adapter but got to superchargers that are not open to other EVs.

I thought it was common knowledge the Tesla update is only for plug and charge. I def never got that update and plug and charge def doesn't work for me. But charging works with Tesla app and official Ford adapter.

Here are my experiences with both a Mustang and a Lightning:

My Lightning is very far behind on its OTA updates--apparently the dealer did not do the updates before selling the truck after it sat on their lot for many months. The NACS chargers do not show up as options in the Public Charging app on the screen in-vehicle.

My Mustang is up-to-date. The NACS chargers show up as options on the Public Charging app on the screen in-vehicle.

I was unable to charge with any of the NACS chargers I tried with the Lightning. I did not try very many.

After several failures, I was able to charge with the Mustang at NACS chargers. However, the Plug and Charge option never worked with the NACS chargers, I always had to use the brand-T app.

What does this tell me? Ford has claimed that every Mustang and Lighting should be able to charge on the enabled NACS chargers (some V3 and V4 Superchargers). But the software has to be updated in the vehicle and the user has to have the proper adapter. The software update is in-part dependent on Ford and in-part dependent on the dealers. I've never had good luck with dealerships, so after a new update hold just announced for Lightnings is lifted by Ford, I'll do the update in the Lighting on my own and run another test.

 

[MachE Mickey]

Must be nice to have an adapter. Is this the free adapter from Ford?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Must be nice to have an adapter. Is this the free adapter from Ford?

I bought the one I have from @A2ZEV. I'm still waiting for the Ford adapter.

 

[bbulkow]

Here are my experiences with both a Mustang and a Lightning:

My Lightning is very far behind on its OTA updates--apparently the dealer did not do the updates before selling the truck after it sat on their lot for many months. The NACS chargers do not show up as options in the Public Charging app on the screen in-vehicle.

My Mustang is up-to-date. The NACS chargers show up as options on the Public Charging app on the screen in-vehicle.

I was unable to charge with any of the NACS chargers I tried with the Lightning. I did not try very many.

After several failures, I was able to charge with the Mustang at NACS chargers. However, the Plug and Charge option never worked with the NACS chargers, I always had to use the brand-T app.

What does this tell me? Ford has claimed that every Mustang and Lighting should be able to charge on the enabled NACS chargers (some V3 and V4 Superchargers). But the software has to be updated in the vehicle and the user has to have the proper adapter. The software update is in-part dependent on Ford and in-part dependent on the dealers. I've never had good luck with dealerships, so after a new update hold just announced for Lightnings is lifted by Ford, I'll do the update in the Lighting on my own and run another test.

My theory, which i haven't seen in print, is there is a set of updates that enable nacs charging. I dont know which model years (if any) were NACS out of the box, maybe some were. These updates were never advertised and are only speculation on my part. we would need a NON updated Job 1 to test whether every off the lot car can be used with supercharger, but your data us compelling too.

I suspect a fully accurate statement from Ford would have been: "Every MachE and Lightning except one with some particular older version can charge at...". Again, speculation on my part, it's just that if you don't test complex systems together or design them to work together, they rarely work first-time. It could have been all the testing with different CCS chargers meant everything worked out of the box (or was fixed by patches on the Tesla side).

Then there was the update that specifically touted 'enables supercharger', which only enabled plug and charge (and ford did say so) but created a lot of confusion even though every ford announcement said 'charging can be started manually' (through the t app).

Sounds like you know all this .

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