DCFC melted / welded to Mach-E charge port during charging session (updated with photos) 😱

[agoldman]

Link?

https://insideevs.com/news/624281/ford-f150-lightning-bricked-electrify-america/

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[Keeperofthe7keys]

https://insideevs.com/news/624281/ford-f150-lightning-bricked-electrify-america/

Have we seen these kinds of failures in more mature markets like Europe? Mode of failure seems a bit different and it's a different charge provider, although these are rare isolated cases, something is going on that these were not prevented by an issue being detected and followed with a successful call for termination by the charger and/or car.

 

[dtbaker61]

soooo..... it *would* be possible to depower the station from nearest disconnect, and slice right thru the charge handle with a portable bandsaw in about 1 minute, which would 'free the pony' to get to a Dealership.... but most certainly would require replacing the MME charge port; which I would imagine is not cheap with parts and labor.

I would HOPE that charge station owner/operators start doing a better job posting signage 'who to call to report problems', and they have appropriate emergency service techs available to depower the station, slice off the handle, and replace the handle.... and followup with insurance to cover repair cost for both charge station and vehicle.

I would HIGHLY encourage close inspection of charge station handle before plugging into any public charger, whether it is L2 or L3, and do not use it if there is a broken latch, or any signs of debris, pitting, black scorching, or melted plastic.

 

[dbsb3233]

Please say more or direct me to the topic on the MME Forum where I can learn more about drilling the holes. I did see a YouTube about the drilling of holes through the frunk cover to access the 12V battery connectors. I want more info, like: what diameter hole cutter, where to get covers, etc. Thx!

I had thought about drilling holes for the battery jump points and the disconnect, but then I ended up taking the whole cover off a month ago and it came off much easier than I expected (after the dealer had done it for the first time the day before). It comes off easily enough that I'm not gonna bother drilling holes. Basically just have to pull hard at each of the clip points (which quickly become apparent where they are as you work your way around both panels).

The disconnect would be tough to use through a hole anyway. It's a little tricky to figure out, even with the panel totally off. Have to get to the lower side of it.

Before anyone decides to drill any holes, I'd try taking the panels off/on a few times. They tend to loosen up after the first removal.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I had thought about drilling holes for the battery jump points and the disconnect, but then I ended up taking the whole cover off a month ago and it came off much easier than I expected (after the dealer had done it for the first time the day before). It comes off easily enough that I'm not gonna bother drilling holes. Basically just have to pull hard at each of the clip points (which quickly become apparent where they are as you work your way around both panels).

The disconnect would be tough to use through a hole anyway. It's a little tricky to figure out, even with the panel totally off. Have to get to the lower side of it.

Before anyone decides to drill any holes, I'd try taking the panels off/on a few times. They tend to loosen up after the first removal.

I drilled mine for easy access to the LVB jump points. The rest was just too much to do. And the covers really aren't that hard to get off.

 

[Shayne]

I drilled mine for easy access to the LVB jump points. The rest was just too much to do. And the covers really aren't that hard to get off.

The pins start falling off the underside of the panels and are hard to control/find. It is a lot easier to just pop a couple of 2" plugs for access than ripping those two panels off. Wonder if the 2023's are coming with factory access plugs? It make sense since every time service hooks the FDRS up to it it seems they need to connect a mega amp 12V charger. Glad I did it and no one sees it.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Wonder if the 2023's are coming with factory access plugs?

We'll find out ... Soon™.

 

[Shayne]

We'll find out ... Soon™.

Was wondering with your carplay prob are you on iOS 16? I am still on 15.7.1 so was thinking that maybe is why mine is still working great. Wondering if the problem may be connected to apple 16 and could be fixed that way?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Was wondering with your carplay prob are you on iOS 16? I am still on 15.7.1 so was thinking that maybe is why mine is still working great. Wondering if the problem may be connected to apple 16 and could be fixed that way?

My car has achieved sentience and has a warped sense of humor. Since the car was put in advanced analytics, Carplay has mostly behaved itself. Hands-on BlueCruise is another story though.

Yes. OS 16.1.2.

 

[dtbaker61]

I drilled mine for easy access to the LVB jump points. The rest was just too much to do. And the covers really aren't that hard to get off.

I drilled mine because:
- I wanted easy access to 12v +/- to charge my portable 'Glamping/Work' inverter
- I wanted to have SOME visual indicator for First Responders/tow truck drivers to know where the disconnect even was... whether They use the hole, or rip the panel off.

For many months, I left the cover off anyway.... I just put it on before the local car show so it would look a little nicer.

But we are getting way off this thread topic....
The welded DCFC CCS handle is 'kindof a big deal'. Knowing where the internal charger 'ripcord' is will NOT help anybody that has a charge handle actually welded to chargeport. The main points I hope people are getting out of this thread are:

- inspect any public connector before you use it
- don't use it if it looks bad, and report it to owner/operator, and Plugshare

.... starting to sound like a Healthcare pubic service announcement to avoid STDs...

 

[Bobcat17]

I’m fortunate that I only charge at home other than 1 time on a 400 mile long trip. How many people charge on the road?

 

[dbsb3233]

I’m fortunate that I only charge at home other than 1 time on a 400 mile long trip. How many people charge on the road?

We throw around the 90% number a lot (roughly 90% of charges being on L1/L2, usually at home, and maybe 10% on DCFC). Don't know how accurate of an estimate that is, but it's probably in the ballpark for the overall average.

I'm one of the exceptions. While we have a home with a garage and an L2 charger, we're retired so we have no daily commute. And we road trip a lot (every month or two). So probably 22,000 of our 30,000 miles are road trips. About 60% of those miles are on DCFC charges. The other 40% were the initial home charge, and hotel L2 charges along the way.

All in all I figure about 45% of our charges have been DCFC.

 

[FordPaperMache]

Here we are nearly 4 months since this happened and Ford has finally reached out to me. They seem to have concluded that the problem was in fact with the vehicle because they offered to reimburse me the $1000 deductible from my insurance.

However as I don't have a receipt for the repair, since I sold the vehicle to the dealer who did the repair and they took the $1000 off of the initial offer to cover the repair, the absolute knucklehead of a Ford Rep once again is refusing to compensate me.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Here we are nearly 4 months since this happened and Ford has finally reached out to me. They seem to have concluded that the problem was in fact with the vehicle because they offered to reimburse me the $1000 deductible from my insurance.

However as I don't have a receipt for the repair, since I sold the vehicle to the dealer who did the repair and they took the $1000 off of the initial offer to cover the repair, the absolute knucklehead of a Ford Rep once again is refusing to compensate me.

Interesting, I mentioned your situation in this topic this topic the other day:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/car-driver-article-on-ea-charging-failures.26654/

Perhaps you could just submit proof of the $1000 deductible payment you made?

 

[FordPaperMache]

Interesting, I mentioned your situation in this topic this topic the other day:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/car-driver-article-on-ea-charging-failures.26654/

Perhaps you could just submit proof of the $1000 deductible payment you made?

My proof would be a picture of a check for $57,000, a bill of sale for $56,000, and the dealer explaining to Ford Corporate that the difference is the $1000 that went to the repair.

The Ford rep that called me yesterday wasn't interested in considering that as proof of payment. She immediately shut me down when I offered it.

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