Charging on the left - what was Ford thinking?

[JcMarin]

To your point, I tried a curbside charger this past summer and it worked fine.

I had not seen any charger like this on a pole but guess its a perfectly good use of that pole

how does it work?
how do you pay for the charge?
Is it Level 2?

Guess this is a case where the charger on the left side is not ideal

 

[JcMarin]

Euh like everywhere in major cities across Europe.

Well guess it makes sense in Europe where street parking is more prevalent , had not though of that.

Are these the norm in EU or do you also have the charging stations similar to petrol stations?

I'm assuming the port charge in EU MME spec is on the same left side.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

I had not seen any charger like this on a pole but guess its a perfectly good use of that pole

how does it work?
how do you pay for the charge?
Is it Level 2?

Guess this is a case where the charger on the left side is not ideal

Ya this was a first for me, it worked great though!

There is a QR code on the pole to download the app. When you’re in there you enter your payment info and can activate the station. In this case the rate was less than my home electricity.

When you activate the station the cord lowers down to a predetermined height. Then you can press the release button on the handle to lower it more.

The charge port being on the drivers side wasn’t really an issue. Just pulled up on the left side of the road.

It is level 2. This is what I got for a rate.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

Presumably you are talking about Tesla, which has short range RF activated motorized charge doors.

Motorized charge port door are forward planning for future automated charging stations.

That's also why the charge connector is shaped for minor axial and rotational self alignment. Although a positioning system that can get close can presumably be made slightly better to work with other connector types.

Several EV's have motorized charge-port doors.... Tesla, Audi E-trons, Porche Taycan, Rivian, etc. It looks cool ... but it's no big deal to just open the charge port door myself.

 

[RedStallion]

Around here, you get a ticket or two for parking on the wrong side of the street.

In California you get a ticket too, but the reason will be parking too far from the curb.

 

[TheCats]

In California you get a ticket too, but the reason will be parking too far from the curb.

See CA Section 22502

There are many infractions that will be ignored in some towns, but strictly enforced in others. Parking against the flow is one of them.

San Francisco is notorious for giving tickets for not 'curbing' your wheels in the correct direction, even if the street is relatively flat. (Which, it is worth noting, is based on obsolete conditions. It made sense when parking brakes were ineffective and parking in gear wouldn't thold. Automatic transmissions didn't have a 'P' position until 1956, and it wasn't common until the mid-1960s.)

Then they'll add tickets for everything, such as no front license plate.

Nearby wealthy towns don't enforce the front license plate requirement. In some places you'll find half of the cars without front plates. I've never risked it, but I presume some won't ticket nice cars for parking against the flow either, especially the hillside towns where it seems to be common.

 

[TheCats]

Several EV's have motorized charge-port doors.... Tesla, Audi E-trons, Porche Taycan, Rivian, etc. It looks cool ... but it's no big deal to just open the charge port door myself.

By automated charging stations, I mean where the car drives itself to the far end of the parking lot to charge, pulls into a tightly spaced spot, and leaves when charging is complete.

Or some subset of those actions, or some usage case we don't foresee.

I expect that a power charge door opener will soon be viewed like power door locks. People used to view them as pointless luxuries, just another part to break. But they enabled remote locking and PaaK. Now power locks are ubiquitous. A car without them might as well have a hand crank to start.

(Apparently you can still get the F150 with manual door locks and window cranks. Ford still has it as a build option. I suspect it costs them more for the low volume part than building everything the same, but it has value for advertising the lowest price with later upselling. And for attracting curmudgeons that would also omit seatbelt if they could.)

 

[hetgeleteken]

Well guess it makes sense in Europe where street parking is more prevalent , had not though of that.

Are these the norm in EU or do you also have the charging stations similar to petrol stations?

I'm assuming the port charge in EU MME spec is on the same left side.

Both, there are fast charges both at petrol stations (eg Shell) and separate ones, sometimes a few clicks from an entry/exit ramp (eg Tesla chargers). Most cities invest heavily in public chargers, creating designated spots where you can only park if you are charging. As it’s hard to check if you are (still) charging, providers charge a fee for each hour you are no longer charging after a certain threshold. This is a good incentive to move your car. The street where I live has 40 spots for street parking, out of which 6 are charging spots operated by 3 different providers (speed ranging from 9kwh to 22kwh).

 

[Raymondjram]

Yeah, running that 100’ cord across a sidewalk.. like.. Nope. Beside who has a 240V outlet at the front door?

I do. My Level 2 EVSE is near my front door because my carport is inches away from my front door.

 

[blazinazn]

Broad generalization, but people in apartments don’t buy EVs. Most charging (more than 90%) is done in garages at home, so it’s the most convenient location on the car.

Apartment dwellers are still a group that needs to be addressed as far as infrastructure for EVs the most. The method for most of them is hopefully living near a DCFC they can hit up while eating or shopping.

 

[ArthurH]

Everything is relative. The left side will be convenient for some, while inconvenient for others, vice versa, etc. Different cities, states, countries, different infrastructure. Don't forget other countries drive on the other side of the road too. Try not to think of things based entirely around your experience alone. Consider all other possibilities.

 

[hetgeleteken]

Everything is relative. The left side will be convenient for some, while inconvenient for others, vice versa, etc. Different cities, states, countries, different infrastructure. Don't forget other countries drive on the other side of the road too. Try not to think of things based entirely around your experience alone. Consider all other possibilities.

Well in most major markets for the Mach E they drive on the right side of the road. And hence street parking on the side that you are driving on is more common. Two charging ports would have been more convenient.

 

[SashaLondon]

It’s good for us in the Uk.

 

[BlackheathDiggs]

Yes - charging on the left side is good for us in the UK! We have lots of curbside charging over here - like this lamppost I charged off recently in central London

 

[esmtll]

I own the Mach-E and ID.4, and previously owned the e-Golf. Both Volkswagens have a "standard gas door" location on the rear passenger (that's the U.S. and continental passenger side, for you UK folks). Front is definitely the preferred location. Most public chargers can handle either side, but having the charger in front means I can position the car exactly where I need it without guessing, driving past the charger, and/or worrying about the what is in-front or behind me. Charging the ID.4 at home requires me to back-in, too. Yes, it's convenient when curbside-charging, which I did a lot with the e-Golf, living in Boston at the time, but that's far less common, especially when home or garage charging is the norm, which should be the most common situation, moving forward.

As for which side, for those of us in the U.S. and on the continent, putting it on the left (driver's) side, whether front or back, makes sense for the simple reason that it means not having to move around the car to plug-in or un-plug. Forgetting to close the door (it happens, we all know it) doesn't require me to get out, walk around, then walk back to the driver's side.

There will be arguments for all four corners, depending on your most commonly used chargers and charging locations, but for all other arguments (especially getting in and out of the car to plug-in), the front driver-side will always make the most sense to me. Rear driver-side would be a distant second.

Sponsored