Charge Assist only when stopped??

[JPT]

Hello, I thought I would check out the NAV Charge Assist and this whole pre conditioning thing yesterday ONLY TO FIND OUT that Charge Assist screen only works when at a full stop. If your in motion like on the Interstate looking for chargers the Charge Assist screen does not come up for my safety. Wow, Android Auto comes up, dozens of other screens work when driving. Whats up here? The very thing you need doesn't work when you need it most. Like I'm going to stop on the shoulder on a busy Interstate just so I can see charging locations! OR, I'm missing something. Any ideas?? Thanks

jpt

Sponsored

 

[GatorGrowl]

You can search for chargers in the Nav - be it Ford, Apple or Google.
You only need Charge Assist to *activate* the charger.
I don’t really use FordPass to activate charging. I have a ChargePoint Home Flex level 2 EVSE, so I can tap my phone at most chargers to activate. EVGo has their own version of Plug&Charge, and EA and Tesla also support P&C.

 

[RickMachE]

Hello, I thought I would check out the NAV Charge Assist and this whole pre conditioning thing yesterday ONLY TO FIND OUT that Charge Assist screen only works when at a full stop. If your in motion like on the Interstate looking for chargers the Charge Assist screen does not come up for my safety. Wow, Android Auto comes up, dozens of other screens work when driving. Whats up here? The very thing you need doesn't work when you need it most. Like I'm going to stop on the shoulder on a busy Interstate just so I can see charging locations! OR, I'm missing something. Any ideas?? Thanks

jpt

You are missing nothing. You cannot be moving.

 

[Elmst-e]

Hello, I thought I would check out the NAV Charge Assist and this whole pre conditioning thing yesterday ONLY TO FIND OUT that Charge Assist screen only works when at a full stop. If your in motion like on the Interstate looking for chargers the Charge Assist screen does not come up for my safety. Wow, Android Auto comes up, dozens of other screens work when driving. Whats up here? The very thing you need doesn't work when you need it most. Like I'm going to stop on the shoulder on a busy Interstate just so I can see charging locations! OR, I'm missing something. Any ideas?? Thanks

jpt

Charge assist (now called public charging) is not a navigation app. Once you arrive at a charger via ford nav you activate it to start and pay for DCFC. It is similar to plug and charge, but it has the advantage of working with a broad range of charging companies and bypasses a lot of individual apps to start a charge.

 

[JPT]

Thanks, I must be mistaken then. I was under the impression that preconditioning cannot and won't start unless this particular app is in use and a charger is identified.

 

[Elmst-e]

Thanks, I must be mistaken then. I was under the impression that preconditioning cannot and won't start unless this particular app is in use and a charger is identified.

Set a destination with ford nav. If you need to charge on the trip, ford nav will show chargers where it recommends charging. If you select one of the recommended chargers then the car will precondition on the way to the charger. Unfortunately, it does not find all possible chargers, but if you choose its recommended charger and then go to a different one, it will still precondition. And charge assist will likely work with the other charger.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Hello, I thought I would check out the NAV Charge Assist and this whole pre conditioning thing yesterday ONLY TO FIND OUT that Charge Assist screen only works when at a full stop. If your in motion like on the Interstate looking for chargers the Charge Assist screen does not come up for my safety. Wow, Android Auto comes up, dozens of other screens work when driving. Whats up here? The very thing you need doesn't work when you need it most. Like I'm going to stop on the shoulder on a busy Interstate just so I can see charging locations! OR, I'm missing something. Any ideas?? Thanks

jpt

Not being available while moving has long been a complaint of Charge Assist. They are either unable or not willing to change it so it functions while driving. Which severely limits usefulness IMO.

 

[benk016]

Thanks, I must be mistaken then. I was under the impression that preconditioning cannot and won't start unless this particular app is in use and a charger is identified.

Using charge assist currently does *NOT* precondition going to a charger. It doesn't send the info to the nav correctly to get that part to work. You'll need to choose chargers in the Navigation app for that to work.

 

[corradoborg]

Not being available while moving has long been a complaint of Charge Assist. They are either unable or not willing to change it so it functions while driving. Which severely limits usefulness IMO.

Not willing is the answer. And it is the correct answer. If they allowed drivers to use Charge Assist/Public Charging while the car was moving, there would be a lot more crashed MMEs and dead former MME owners.

 

[Elmst-e]

I don’t see a reason to activate while driving. It only serves to start the charge and process payment. Ford nav will get you to the charger.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I don’t see a reason to activate while driving. It only serves to start the charge and process payment. Ford nav will get you to the charger.

It also shows you status so you know if the charger you want is getting full as you approach, and whether to divert before you’re completely committed. I would also argue the UI is no more complicated or distracting than the navigation system is. If they won’t show it on the screen, then I have to dig my phone out instead which is more distracting.

 

[corradoborg]

The only way it would be reasonable for Ford to allow the Charge Assist/Public Charging screen (and other screens it obscures while in motion) to be read while the car is moving would be to offer an onscreen button to affirm that a passenger is using the screen, not the driver. And the system should have to confirm that a passenger is present using the seat occupancy and seatbelt sensors. Even if all those conditions are met, BlueCruise-equipped cars should again deactivate the text-heavy screens if they detect the driver is no longer paying attention to the road.

Sponsored