ChargePoint Question

[iam-s-Hon]

I have the same car and charger. In order for it to work set the following as shown.

Do not let the car manage anything other than the percentage. This works flawlessly.

If you need to charge in the middle of the day or outside of the schedule the car will always accept the charge this way. Do a quick double plug in and it'll charge at that time.

I hadn't thought of this. I'm on a TOU plan and occasionally (but rarely) needed to initiate a charge off my overnight schedule. I've found overriding the FP app to start a session to be a pain and maybe using the CP app (w/ siri commands) might be easier set up this way.

 

[AZBill]

I have two EVs and two ChargePoint units. I never program the EVSE to control the schedule. I always use the car to set the off peak charging hours. It just works.

And, if I need to charge immediately, I can tell the car to do it and not have to do anything with the EVSE. Also, my other EV will condition the battery using the EVSE, even during peak hours, and I live in the desert, so I want the battery conditioning when it is hot.

 

[RickMachE]

I have two EVs and two ChargePoint units. I never program the EVSE to control the schedule. I always use the car to set the off peak charging hours. It just works.

And, if I need to charge immediately, I can tell the car to do it and not have to do anything with the EVSE. Also, my other EV will condition the battery using the EVSE, even during peak hours, and I live in the desert, so I want the battery conditioning when it is hot.

It just works, except when it doesn't.

Many posts on this forum show that for some reason unknown to anyone except the great Oz, vehicles charge to 100% when they are set to 90%. Lots of speculation why. But it happens.

While my peak rate is only 21.5 cents as compared to 12.5 cents off-peak, many people have much higher peak rates, some ridiculously high. It pays to have "insurance" that the car won't just charge when it wants to.

The other real-world, repeatable, using house current when it wants to example is during the dead of winter when the Mach-E decides it would like to warm the battery. If it's plugged in, it pulls house current to do so. If you're at peak rates, you may not want it to. No matter what your charging hours are set to in the car, you cannot stop this unless your EVSE is set to not provide power or you unplug the car.

 

[DevSecOps]

I hadn't thought of this. I'm on a TOU plan and occasionally (but rarely) needed to initiate a charge off my overnight schedule. I've found overriding the FP app to start a session to be a pain and maybe using the CP app (w/ siri commands) might be easier set up this way.

You can also double plug to start. In other words:

hold the button on the charger
Plug into the car with the button depressed
Remove it immediately
Plug back in releasing the button

The double plug action on charge point tells it to override and charge immediately. Since the car is set to charge anytime from home it starts charging. You don't have to open an app or anything.

 

[DrJay32]

I would remove the charge point charging restrictions, let your Mach E handle everything. Seems people run into problems with both set

This is exactly what I do. I leave the ChargePoint set to always charge, and let the car handle the scheduling.

 

[iam-s-Hon]

You can also double plug to start. In other words:

hold the button on the charger
Plug into the car with the button depressed
Remove it immediately
Plug back in releasing the button

The double plug action on charge point tells it to override and charge immediately. Since the car is set to charge anytime from home it starts charging. You don't have to open an app or anything.

Thanks, if I weren't too busy/lazy to go out to the garage..

The last time I wanted to override to top up from 90% I was an hour from departure but still on a zoom call. I needed the app to do it's thing from where I was sitting. I'll try your settings when I can reset them.

 

[Mach-Lee]

In addition, I participate in an incentive program between Ford and my utility company. I get $50 at the start, and $50 3 months later, if I let them do two things occasionally. First, in periods of tight supply, they want to prevent charging for up to 2 hours. They go into the car's settings (Ford does) and stops the charging. Second, in periods of excess capacity, they want to force charging of the car. Again, Ford does this, not the utility company.

While I can override either (i.e. continue charging when they don't want me to, or not charge when they do want me to) as part of the program, I simply don't let the vehicle charge during peak hours, no matter what the car wants to do.

How does that work if the car is already at target % and an excess capacity event occurs? Does it charge above your target % then?

 

[DevSecOps]

First thanks to everyone for the quick responses. I tried what @DevSecOps recommended and it worked fine. Started on time and ended when the car got to 90 percent. Just for grins, I will try the opposite, and next time I charge and set the Ford App to control and set the Charepoint to anytime. Again thanks everyone

One thing to note using the way I told you because a lot of people are screaming "precondition".

I leave for work at 7:15. As you can see my schedule is until 8:30. For starters I don't precondition, but I have tried it. The charge point, as long as it's in the schedule window will precondition in the way I told you. Just set the stop time to after your departure time by 30 minutes.

It will stop at your 90% whenever it gets there, like normal, and automatically resume to precondition.

There area lot of "let the car manage it" people, but I drive so much that I need the more than occasional charge mid day so not having to fiddle with a finicky app is best for me. Also, I had this charger with a previous EV and if the EVSE didn't manage the schedule it would often result in a charge error and no charging. So it's been habit for some time.

 

[RickMachE]

How does that work if the car is already at target % and an excess capacity event occurs? Does it charge above your target % then?

Conceptually, yes. Ford has the ability to go in and change the charging hours. However, since my EVSE is preventing charging, it doesn't happen. And, they then reset the hours after the event. I have not gone into the app and tried to view the changes when made in the past, I will try and do that in the future just to see.

I tried communicating to the utility that having people charge during peak hours at peak rates just because they have excess capacity is moronic, but they didn't reply. Here's more info if you want to read about it - https://www.newlook.dteenergy.com/w...c49-a4d8-47e6f3cba03e/SmartChargeBrochure.pdf

 

[AZBill]

Many posts on this forum show that for some reason unknown to anyone except the great Oz, vehicles charge to 100% when they are set to 90%. Lots of speculation why. But it happens.

I have had it happen twice, and both times it was my GPS had gotten lost. But that has nothing to do with whether or not you program the EVSE, that is an issue in the car.

 

[RickMachE]

I have had it happen twice, and both times it was my GPS had gotten lost. But that has nothing to do with whether or not you program the EVSE, that is an issue in the car.

But if you program the EVSE, and the car gets lost and wants to charge, it cannot.

 

[Tom L]

Just got my Mache GT last week and I am having trouble with charging. I set the Ford App to charge at home from 12-7 am and to 90 percent. I also set the ChargePoint App to charge from the same time. For some reason, the last couple of evenings the charger started at 4 am and cut off at 7 and I did not get up to the full charge amount. Not sure why the charger is not starting at midnight but instead at 4am. What am I doing wrong?

I have the same same setup and as others have recommended, go with the car's scheduling and unschedule ChargePoint. I have found ChargePoint to be a both little glitchy and less informative than I hoped for.

 

[Accord07]

I hadn't thought of this. I'm on a TOU plan and occasionally (but rarely) needed to initiate a charge off my overnight schedule. I've found overriding the FP app to start a session to be a pain and maybe using the CP app (w/ siri commands) might be easier set up this way.

I too am on a TOU plan, on the few occasions I tried to override the ChargePoint schedule the app usually worked, except one day when their backend went offline (but I accidentally did the plug/unplug/plug sequence so in the end I was able to override the schedule anyway).

 

[Accord07]

It is a bad idea to set schedules on both ends, whether to set it in the car or on the EVSE is a personal preference. I am on a TOU rate plan, with the lowest rate from 12AM to 6AM, the highest rate from 2PM to 6PM on weekdays (more than twice of the two off-peak rates), and the 2nd lowest rate during other hours. I set my ChargePoint to 12AM to 2PM daily, when I plug in my car late afternoon/early evening, FordPass shows "Charging Paused" until ChargePoint allows charging to start at midnight. It has been working as expected every night for months.

 

[TD1273]

I have the same car and charger. In order for it to work set the following as shown.

Do not let the car manage anything other than the percentage. This works flawlessly.

If you need to charge in the middle of the day or outside of the schedule the car will always accept the charge this way. Do a quick double plug in and it'll charge at that time.

I tried your method of charging and it didn't work for me. It charge the car all the way to 100% when I had set for 90% I was really hoping that would work it was easy way to charge.