Adventures with superchargers

[stevenschwartz]

Hi Folks, my bright shiny new NACS to CCS adapter from Ford finally arrived late last week, and we were taking a trip of about 250 miles round trip, so decided to try it out. First attempt was a grand bust but second was a GREAT SUCCESS. Here is what I learned. First, the long discussed orientation when charging. Because of the short charging cable designed for Tesla owners, it can be extremely hard to get the cable to make it to your MachE charging port. I did manage in 1 of the first place I tried after much struggle and taking up 2 Tesla spots. BUT when I plugged in - nothing. I had read a thread which said it should just work on the network and automatically start and see my credit card. It did not. As this Tesla station was in the same mall parking lot as an Electrify America spot, I decided to do the only reasonable thing and give up and use what I know works. After my wife and I drove to breakfast, she felt I should give it the old college try and do it at another location.

I did - this worked like a charm for 2 reasons. Apparently some Superchargers have the charging post parallel to either the front or back of car. Fine for a Tesla but not for us, and this is when you need the acrobatics to get it attached. The second place I tried had the charging station parallel to the side of the car just like the CCS stations I have used - that fits no problem at all. Second, you DO need to activate the charger. You can do this in the ford app, the same way you activate an Electrify America station to for example use the free 250 kw from ford. So my best advice is do not just plug in and expect it to work - activate. Also try to use google maps aerial view to see if you can see the orientation of the charging post.

Steve

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[Tampamike]

Good thinking to use the FordPass app to activate it. You can also do that in the car with the Public Charging app.

Couple things on Plug & Charge:
Make sure it is turned on in the FordPass app even if you think it was. It has been known to deactivate itself for , … reasons. If it is on, you should be able to P&C with EA.
It’s possible that you just haven’t gotten the Tesla Plug & Charge update. There’s not really any way to tell.

 

[Billyk24]

Hi Folks, my bright shiny new NACS to CCS adapter from Ford finally arrived late last week, and we were taking a trip of about 250 miles round trip, so decided to try it out. First attempt was a grand bust but second was a GREAT SUCCESS. Here is what I learned. First, the long discussed orientation when charging. Because of the short charging cable designed for Tesla owners, it can be extremely hard to get the cable to make it to your MachE charging port. I did manage in 1 of the first place I tried after much struggle and taking up 2 Tesla spots. BUT when I plugged in - nothing. I had read a thread which said it should just work on the network and automatically start and see my credit card. It did not. As this Tesla station was in the same mall parking lot as an Electrify America spot, I decided to do the only reasonable thing and give up and use what I know works. After my wife and I drove to breakfast, she felt I should give it the old college try and do it at another location.

I did - this worked like a charm for 2 reasons. Apparently some Superchargers have the charging post parallel to either the front or back of car. Fine for a Tesla but not for us, and this is when you need the acrobatics to get it attached. The second place I tried had the charging station parallel to the side of the car just like the CCS stations I have used - that fits no problem at all. Second, you DO need to activate the charger. You can do this in the ford app, the same way you activate an Electrify America station to for example use the free 250 kw from ford. So my best advice is do not just plug in and expect it to work - activate. Also try to use google maps aerial view to see if you can see the orientation of the charging post.

Steve

The Supercharger location that failed to work on your vehicle should be listed on Plugshare. What are the reports from Plugshare? Is this one of the Tesla Supercharging stations that are not open to non-Tesla vehicles and/or is this a 150kW location which will not work with the Mach E.

 

[stevenschwartz]

The Supercharger location that failed to work on your vehicle should be listed on Plugshare. What are the reports from Plugshare? Is this one of the Tesla Supercharging stations that are not open to non-Tesla vehicles and/or is this a 150kW location which will not work with the Mach E.

No the problem was not the charger, but the chargers geometry and I did not activate. I would have gotten it to work if I activated as I did at the next location.

 

[stevenschwartz]

Good thinking to use the FordPass app to activate it. You can also do that in the car with the Public Charging app.

Couple things on Plug & Charge:
Make sure it is turned on in the FordPass app even if you think it was. It has been known to deactivate itself for , … reasons. If it is on, you should be able to P&C with EA.
It’s possible that you just haven’t gotten the Tesla Plug & Charge update. There’s not really any way to tell.

Thanks ill check the app!

 

[stevenschwartz]

Good thinking to use the FordPass app to activate it. You can also do that in the car with the Public Charging app.

Couple things on Plug & Charge:
Make sure it is turned on in the FordPass app even if you think it was. It has been known to deactivate itself for , … reasons. If it is on, you should be able to P&C with EA.
It’s possible that you just haven’t gotten the Tesla Plug & Charge update. There’s not really any way to tell.

Lol when I opened the app Plug and Charge was off, but as I looked at it it went back on. Scared it.

 

[IgorKl]

Hi Folks, my bright shiny new NACS to CCS adapter from Ford finally arrived late last week, and we were taking a trip of about 250 miles round trip, so decided to try it out. First attempt was a grand bust but second was a GREAT SUCCESS. Here is what I learned. First, the long discussed orientation when charging. Because of the short charging cable designed for Tesla owners, it can be extremely hard to get the cable to make it to your MachE charging port. I did manage in 1 of the first place I tried after much struggle and taking up 2 Tesla spots. BUT when I plugged in - nothing. I had read a thread which said it should just work on the network and automatically start and see my credit card. It did not. As this Tesla station was in the same mall parking lot as an Electrify America spot, I decided to do the only reasonable thing and give up and use what I know works. After my wife and I drove to breakfast, she felt I should give it the old college try and do it at another location.

I did - this worked like a charm for 2 reasons. Apparently some Superchargers have the charging post parallel to either the front or back of car. Fine for a Tesla but not for us, and this is when you need the acrobatics to get it attached. The second place I tried had the charging station parallel to the side of the car just like the CCS stations I have used - that fits no problem at all. Second, you DO need to activate the charger. You can do this in the ford app, the same way you activate an Electrify America station to for example use the free 250 kw from ford. So my best advice is do not just plug in and expect it to work - activate. Also try to use google maps aerial view to see if you can see the orientation of the charging post.

Steve

Did you check with Tesla App that 1st location open for NACS adapters? I use Tesla SCs a lot and learned hard way to check with Tesla App 1st.
I did not have to use any apps if I wanted plug and charge at SCs, but of course Tesla Apps have to be used as EA App if I want membership prices.

 

[stevenschwartz]

Did you check with Tesla App that 1st location open for NACS adapters? I use Tesla SCs a lot and learned hard way to check with Tesla App 1st.
I did not have to use any apps if I wanted plug and charge at SCs, but of course Tesla Apps have to be used as EA App if I want membership prices.

I did and it said it was.

 

[AhardFSU]

I did and it said it was.

If the Tesla app said that the station was compatible with NACS, then the stall probably threw a fault. Some users have posted that they needed to move from one stall to another to find one that will not throw a fault. Just something to think about for the next trip.

 

[stevenschwartz]

If the Tesla app said that the station was compatible with NACS, then the stall probably threw a fault. Some users have posted that they needed to move from one stall to another to find one that will not throw a fault. Just something to think about for the next trip.

Thanks all - the system is not perfect, but the bottom line is we now have greatly expanded the available chargers. I tend to only charge at home, but it's nice to know there are other options for longer trips.

 

[david_quick]

Hi Folks, my bright shiny new NACS to CCS adapter from Ford finally arrived late last week, and we were taking a trip of about 250 miles round trip, so decided to try it out. First attempt was a grand bust but second was a GREAT SUCCESS. Here is what I learned. First, the long discussed orientation when charging. Because of the short charging cable designed for Tesla owners, it can be extremely hard to get the cable to make it to your MachE charging port. I did manage in 1 of the first place I tried after much struggle and taking up 2 Tesla spots. BUT when I plugged in - nothing. I had read a thread which said it should just work on the network and automatically start and see my credit card. It did not. As this Tesla station was in the same mall parking lot as an Electrify America spot, I decided to do the only reasonable thing and give up and use what I know works. After my wife and I drove to breakfast, she felt I should give it the old college try and do it at another location.

I did - this worked like a charm for 2 reasons. Apparently some Superchargers have the charging post parallel to either the front or back of car. Fine for a Tesla but not for us, and this is when you need the acrobatics to get it attached. The second place I tried had the charging station parallel to the side of the car just like the CCS stations I have used - that fits no problem at all. Second, you DO need to activate the charger. You can do this in the ford app, the same way you activate an Electrify America station to for example use the free 250 kw from ford. So my best advice is do not just plug in and expect it to work - activate. Also try to use google maps aerial view to see if you can see the orientation of the charging post.

Steve

I have used Tesla chargers about a dozen times and have never had to activate the session manually. I just pull in plug in and the charger talks to the car then starts charging. If you have plug and charge turned on in the app have received the TSC vehicle update and are sure Zp&C worked ie at EA site then it should work at a TSC site.

 

[stevenschwartz]

I have used Tesla chargers about a dozen times and have never had to activate the session manually. I just pull in plug in and the charger talks to the car then starts charging. If you have plug and charge turned on in the app have received the TSC vehicle update and are sure Zp&C worked ie at EA site then it should work at a TSC site.

I am thinking the autostart option on the network was turned off as a prior poster mentioned. I made sure it was back on.

 

[IgorKl]

Thanks all - the system is not perfect, but the bottom line is we now have greatly expanded the available chargers. I tend to only charge at home, but it's nice to know there are other options for longer trips.

you are 100% correct. I travel a lot and it's game changer for me.

 

[Jtbuster]

Lol when I opened the app Plug and Charge was off, but as I looked at it it went back on. Scared it.

?

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