Do you carry a charger in your Mach-E?

[ArthurDOB]

I just bought a CR1 and was wondering if you carry a charger in your Mach-E. Is there value in having one readily available?

Thanks!

I have the 110/220V charger that came with the car plus an adapter for my father-in-law's 240V welder outlet. Wouldn't go anywhere without them.

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[Just Lurking]

Ahem. So many references to 110V and 220V is making my eye twitch. The US (and most of Canada) uses a split-phase power system in residential usage. Voltage entering the home is ~240V, which is split down to 120V for standard outlets. The last time I checked, the sensor in my office was reading 122V (it seems to run slightly above 120V most of the time here, and I've seen electricians say this is typical.)

For the older crowd, it's true that the US was once officially on 110V, but it's been 120V/240V for over 50 years now.

 

[Mirak]

That was DEFINITELY not/not a hypothetical.

Yes, we plugged it into the motel wall (of course with their knowledge) and slept. The next morning, it turned out a farmer had a town field lot 2 blocks over for his itinerant / seasonal workers. The motel staff knew the guy (in Munro South Dakota everyone knows everyone) and called him. He let us plug into his unused trailer RV 14-50 hookup in that field for 4 hours which gave us enough juice (along with the night's 110V juice) to reach the next DC Fast point in Wall, South Dakota.

So, definitely a good use of the (non-Ford) portable EVSE and two of our adapters for it. And again, the Ford tow truck policy just didn't apply because (see above).

Besides, we happen to camp in state parks and in national forests where there are both reasons to go camping and RV pads... so this is a mix of Version 1 (car charging up overnight very nicely while we're at the beach, or hiking, or whatever), AND Version 2 because, especially out in the West where you want to go camping, you often can't find a DC fast Charging station even with a divining stick... hence a self-forced Version 2.

Electricity is all around us. All it takes is the right adapter plug. And a decent portable EVSE with a non-proprietary whip end so you can get creative. ...and chatting nicely with the locals who are often happy to help out.

But I wouldn't use or count on the crappy Ford OEM portable EVSE on such trips.

LOL. I’m amazed that you did this instead of calling a tow and being back on the road in a few hours. You probably spent far more on hotel and food during you charging odyssey. You should submit this story to Ford for some kind of trophy.

 

[Tampamike]

I only have the Ford mobile charger. I’m on my second one as I had the first one replaced under warranty for the amber light issue, even though it was still charging the car over night. I keep the mobile charger on the wall in the garage. I will take it with me on a long road trip but I’ve only done 2 or 3 of those so far. I’ve used it once on the road at a B&B that only had Tesla destination chargers. He had a regular plug on the post so i plugged in over night. I didn't need it but it helped. we do have some friends that live way up a mountain with no real public charging nearby and I'll bring it when we visit them so that i can charge in the barn.

Short version - I don't regularly keep it in the car. I haven't forgotten to bring it on a road trip but haven't HAD TO use it yet. Then again, i haven't been to North Dakota with my MachE.

 

[Susanne76]

Short answer - yes, but for a funny reason.

The day I bought my car the salesperson was helping me set up everything and I asked to see the charger. They removed it from (I assumed) the cargo area and it was unwrapped with the 240 volt cable attached. They had been charging the car so I just assumed they had used my charger and didn’t think anything. Took it home and installed, everything fine.

Fast forward to a couple months later when I went to retrieve the tire inflator and lo and behold there’s another brand new charger there. Thanks Ford! Hopefully they don’t read this and send me a $500 bill.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Short answer - yes, but for a funny reason.

The day I bought my car the salesperson was helping me set up everything and I asked to see the charger. They removed it from (I assumed) the cargo area and it was unwrapped with the 240 volt cable attached. They had been charging the car so I just assumed they had used my charger and didn’t think anything. Took it home and installed, everything fine.

Fast forward to a couple months later when I went to retrieve the tire inflator and lo and behold there’s another brand new charger there. Thanks Ford! Hopefully they don’t read this and send me a $500 bill.

Salespeople are known to be OH SO FAMILIAR with the cars they sell for a living

 

[21st Century Pony]

LOL. I’m amazed that you did this instead of calling a tow and being back on the road in a few hours. You probably spent far more on hotel and food during you charging odyssey. You should submit this story to Ford for some kind of trophy.

As per my post #88 above, "...for this to be workable, both a tow truck and another DC Fast charging station within 50 miles have to be available. They would be, for most drivers in most places on North American highways... unless one or the other just plain aren't available." I emphasized the end part for easy comprehension LOL.

I appreciate your amazement and I will be glad to stop over the next time we drive through Kansas to show you what I mean. Knowledge is free and no reason to not share LOL.

Our odyssey (this trip really was an odyssey LOL) took us coast - to - coast and we kept camping food in insulated REI ice bags in the frunk so we didn't spend all that much unless we chose to. Actually, South Dakota farm food ain't bad. LOL.

You are welcome to submit our story to Ford and maybe a trophy would come... let's agree that Ford built an imperfect yet a pretty good and very interesting car. After all, we both bought a Mach E LOL.

Murdo motels are pretty cheap (all three of them LOL). Besides, it's an interesting little town to spend the night in, at least in the Summer... I wouldn't consider stopping for the night there in January LOL.

On this Summer odyssey we spent $827.xx in DC Fast charging costs over 10,515 miles and six weeks. Our juice cost would have been notably higher if not for portable EVSE charging on occasion throughout the Summer trip, including in this one Munro Version 2 emergency... glad to have had it.

Some of us carry approved gas cans in our gasoline cars (usually because of a lesson learned the hard way). Others never do. It's all a choice. Same with portable EVSEs. Let's respect our individual choices LOL. Other members who read this, might be interested in the nuances... no matter which choice they come to for their use case.

 

[Eric_C_Boston]

Interesting discussion. Personally I like to have the tools to get out of a situation rather than venturing into the unknown with a tow that may or may not end well. It would be as embarrassing as running out of gas and calling roadside assistance.

The only "emergency" situation I was in caused me to charge at a Level 2 charger for an hour. Then I could get to a DC fast charger. I did not feel bad about it as Mach-E experts had a similar situation on a road trip video.

As I mentioned, my use of the Ford Mobile Charger is for no-cost opportunity charging when I am at the location anyway, much like using a Volta Level 2 charger for the hour you are in a store.

A better emergency charger would be one that allowed different current levels for both 120 volt and 240 volt connections and allow various adapters to be used. Then you could run 24 amperes out of a TT30 outlet instead of 12 Amperes.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Interesting discussion. Personally I like to have the tools to get out of a situation rather than venturing into the unknown with a tow that may or may not end well. It would be as embarrassing as running out of gas and calling roadside assistance.

The only "emergency" situation I was in caused me to charge at a Level 2 charger for an hour. Then I could get to a DC fast charger. I did not feel bad about it as Mach-E experts had a similar situation on a road trip video.

As I mentioned, my use of the Ford Mobile Charger is for no-cost opportunity charging when I am at the location anyway, much like using a Volta Level 2 charger for the hour you are in a store.

A better emergency charger would be one that allowed different current levels for both 120 volt and 240 volt connections and allow various adapters to be used. Then you could run 24 amperes out of a TT30 outlet instead of 12 Amperes.

Yeah my old EVSEUpgrade portable EVSE only allows 12 amps at 110V. Up to 20 amps at 240V though.

Methinks the 12 amp limit at 110V is purposeful because most house / garage / building receptacles and their circuit breakers (or old-style fuses AAAAUGH) and their in-wall wiring are designed for 12 amps sustained.

 

[Peugfan]

As per my post #88 above, "...for this to be workable, both a tow truck and another DC Fast charging station within 50 miles have to be available. They would be, for most drivers in most places on North American highways... unless one or the other just plain aren't available." I emphasized the end part for easy comprehension LOL.

I appreciate your amazement and I will be glad to stop over the next time we drive through Kansas to show you what I mean. Knowledge is free and no reason to not share LOL.

Our odyssey (this trip really was an odyssey LOL) took us coast - to - coast and we kept camping food in insulated REI ice bags in the frunk so we didn't spend all that much unless we chose to. Actually, South Dakota farm food ain't bad. LOL.

You are welcome to submit our story to Ford and maybe a trophy would come... let's agree that Ford built an imperfect yet a pretty good and very interesting car. After all, we both bought a Mach E LOL.

Munro motels are pretty cheap (all three of them LOL). Besides, it's an interesting little town to spend the night in, at least in the Summer... I wouldn't consider stopping for the night there in January LOL.

On this Summer odyssey we spent $827.xx in DC Fast charging costs over 10,515 miles and six weeks. Our juice cost would have been notably higher if not for portable EVSE charging on occasion throughout the Summer trip, including in this one Munro Version 2 emergency... glad to have had it.

Some of us carry approved gas cans in our gasoline cars (usually because of a lesson learned the hard way). Others never do. It's all a choice. Same with portable EVSEs. Let's respect our individual choices LOL. Other members who read this, might be interested in the nuances... no matter which choice they come to for their use case.

Good story…I think the town is Murdo not Murno, SD. Recently EA installed DC fast chargers at Chamberlin, SD to help bridge the gap between Chamberlin and Wall without depending on the one charger in Murdo working. My early days before college were in eastern SD and I have been watching the slow implementation of fast chargers in SD. it's definitely a challenge to cross SD or ND with an EV. Campgrounds are a good backup option.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Good story…I think the town is Murdo not Murno, SD. Recently EA installed DC fast chargers at Chamberlin, SD to help bridge the gap between Chamberlin and Wall without depending on the one charger in Murdo working. My early days before college were in eastern SD and I have been watching the slow implementation of fast chargers in SD. it's definitely a challenge to cross SD or ND with an EV. Campgrounds are a good backup option.

Yeah it is Murdo I misspelled it here.

Nice area... in Summertime. I can only imagine the blizzards in late January.

There are plenty enough of Tesla Superchargers though, even way up there. So within a year...

 

[lwilliams0514]

I just bought a CR1 and was wondering if you carry a charger in your Mach-E. Is there value in having one readily available?

Thanks!

Now. Not at all. I have a Job 1 MME so mine came with the cable that has 120/240 adapters for the wall. That charger permanently is plugged into the 240 outlets in the garage of the duplex I rent. Previous tenants had a Tesla and had 240 plugs installed.

 

[mccdeuce]

@drjimtaylor

i have a 2022 CR1 and my wife has a 2019 e-Golf. Generally speaking we do not carry the EVSE in the car. It’s dead weight. As I am a ‘22 mine came with the Ford Mobile Charger, which I sold for $300 brand new. It wasn’t helpful to me and too many reports of it malfunctioning. We installed a fixed unit in our garage. Worked great. On road-trips would grab the 110V EVSE that came with the wife’s Golf.

life has changed and I am on the road a lot right now. So I have a Grizzl-E mini. I have plugged into a range outlet, dryer outlet and an external house 120V outlet. I do not repack it back into the car every time I drive. Having an “emergency“ 120V ability to charge is not in my need. If I get low I will go to a DCfC or public Lvl2.

figure out your NEED. Are you road-tripping? Finding yourself outside of your planned route a lot? Then maybe you need it in the car. Otherwise, leave it on the wall till you need to move it.

 

[VegStang]

Looks like they made a change to the Ford mobile charger sometime from 2021 to 2023- I assume a cost cutting thing, but the one with my 23 has a all black handle/connector, made in Mexico, whereas with the 21 was glossy white with a blue logo and appears heavier- made in China, as pictured. The brick and everything else on both appears identical.

 

[Woeo]

I thought of that, but how many houses have a 14-50 outlet readily available? And using a 110v outlet at someone's house is sort of pointless, in my view, because it would take several days to charge the MME.

Don't scoff at 110. You can add ~75 miles per 24 hours. 75 or 150 miles nominal range gained in a day or two can get you back to civilization.

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