Electrify America Mach-E Charging Issues

[dbsb3233]

I did my first DCFC yesterday, just as a short 5-minute test to make sure it functioned. Worked perfectly using P&C at an EA station. I started at 53% SOC and added 6 kWh in 5 minutes. 103 kW initially but quickly tapered down through the 80's and was at 73 kW 5 minutes later when I stopped.

I had been trying to activate P&C in the FordPass app for a week and it would never activate. Then it donned on me - I hadn't set up an EA account with a credit card yet. I did that yesterday morning, then activated P&C just before doing the charge. Waited a minute, got out of the car to plug in, and viola!, it worked.

It's at the same EA station (Denver West) that others have had mixed results depending on which charger they use. Apparently I just happened to randomly pick the one Kyle used the day before for his 0-100% successful charge. But others have reported faults at other chargers there. Suggesting that some of the problems are still tied to certain chargers.

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[methorian]

Used EA stations on my small roadtrip this past weekend. On the way up I stopped off at the Woodstock, VA EA station and couldn't get P&C to work. Realized that the station didn't show up at all in FordPass, and thus apparently may not support P&C. Ended up using the EA app to pay for charging and it worked fine.

On the way back down I stopped at the Staunton, VA EA station, which I confirmed was listed in FordPass as supporting P&C. Worked and started charging on the first plug. Went to go potty and got a charging fault message. It had faulted after 8kW delivered. Wasn't able to get P&C to work again on that station after a few tires so I moved to another station, wouldn't work. Third station was offline, so I moved back to the first station. This time P&C worked and didn't fault after 10min.

Definitely think there's some ways to go for P&C/FordPass Charging. If it had been bad weather out, I would have been aggravated for sure.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

Hmmmm....I would want to lock my car if I left it charging to go eat or shop or hike. Or, is it just until it starts charging, then you can lock it?

If I understood the EA rep correctly... it only needs to be unlocked when you 'authorize' the charging session to start it. Once the charging is going you can lock the car and leave.

 

[Gino_A]

I also posted this on another thread. I had a terrible experience with FordPass Plug and Charge during my ~500-mile road trip on Saturday. I charged 3 times and every session was a time-consuming event. Each time I had to contact EA (Electrify America) to get the charging station working after several attempts. On my 3rd charge, I went to a station that worked in the morning but it wouldn't work in the evening. The EA representative had to send me to a nearby city and offered a complimentary charge. After several attempts with the assistance of an EA representative, I finally got my complimentary charge. Something is seriously broken and needs to be fixed before I take another long road trip with my MME. My wife won't road trip with me again unless Plug and Charge is fixed. Let's call it Plug, Unplug, Call, Plug, Unplug, Move, Plug, Unplug, Call and Charge for now.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

I also posted this on another thread. I had a terrible experience with FordPass Plug and Charge during my ~500-mile road trip on Saturday. I charged 3 times and every session was a time-consuming event. Each time I had to contact EA (Electrify America) to get the charging station working after several attempts. On my 3rd charge, I went to a station that worked in the morning but it wouldn't work in the evening. The EA representative had to send me to a nearby city and offered a complimentary charge. After several attempts with the assistance of an EA representative, I finally got my complimentary charge. Something is seriously broken and needs to be fixed before I take another long road trip with my MME. My wife won't road trip with me again unless Plug and Charge is fixed. Let's call it Plug, Unplug, Call, Plug, Unplug, Move, Plug, Unplug, Call and Charge for now.

The EA rep I spoke to (my attempts to charge via P&C also failed) comp'd my charge session after a few failed attempts and resetting the station. But once it started the charge THEN she mentioned that to initiate the charge, the car doors should be closed but UNLOCKED (my car was locking by the time I walked to the front of the car to get the charging connector). So I'm now thinking this is why P&C didn't work. (I had already done all the steps to make sure that the FordPass Charging network was activated on my FordPass account and that Plug&Charge was enabled.)

So... if you're ever in that jam again ... it is possible to get manually start the charge.

In Ford Pass, go into: Vehicle -> Manage EV -> FordPass Charging Network -> View Nearby Chargers

Pick your EA location. You should see a location screen with the details of that location but click where you see the icon of the CCS connector with DC CCS (and it will likely have the count of the number of charge stations at that location). This opens up a list of each individual charger. Match the charger number on that screen to the charger number printed at the top of the physical charger and select it. From there you can hit Activate to start the charge session and it will bill to your FordPass account (using your complementary charge credits ... but charging your credit card when your complementary charging runs out).

The OTHER option is to download the Electrify America app and start the charge session from there ... and once you run out of complementary charging that may be the better option. I'm *think* that if you charge via FordPass you end up with the non-Pass+ rate on EA (e.g. in my state that's 43¢/kW vs. the 31¢/kW if you are Pass+). That's a decent savings on a charge and would be one reason to use the EA app and join the Pass+ option ($4/month ... but you can cancel it at anytime. So even if you sign up just for one road trip and cancel at the end of the trip, it still ends up being the better deal). I don't believe that method supports Plug & Charge.

 

[John_C]

Question (and maybe there is a thread for this already), I know Electrify America got Mach-E's to test long before they were being sold to us. I really thought they would be ready. It seems every road trip Mach-E report/video has issues with the EA DC Fast Chargers charging stations. Is it the software in the Mach-E or is it the EA stations? Seems Ford should have field tested these cars more.

In New York, private companies and EvolveNY (https://nypa.gov/innovation/initiatives/evolve-ny) are starting to bring several DCFC stations online with more planned over the next two years. I am counting on them to work with the Mach-E.

Having said all that. I know I will be able solve any issues I run into. I am worried about people who won't be able to and get so frustrated they give up and go back to ICE vehicles.

Notes on my first experience with EA:

I've had my ER RWD Premium for a little over a week now and decided to make my first charge locally at a very nearby EA depot (Belmont, CA, outside Safeway in Redwood City CA if anyone local is reading).

I had already downloaded and authorized the EA app with a credit card. I had also activated and registered charging on the FordPass app. So I expected connection and startup to be seamless, and it was.

I stopped at a 150kW kiosk and plugged in. Charging activated immediately. Only disappointment was the through-put. After 20 minutes on the plug the charging speed only reached 80kW, which seemed very poor at a 150kW station. So 20 minutes of charging took me from 58% to 80%. Total cost was $10.32, which the kiosk automatically discounted to $0 under the Ford 250kW "free charging" program.

So overall I'd give this an A+ for ease of use / worked as expected, a B- for charging through-put, and an A+ for the overall experience.

If anyone reading this has an insight on the through-put issue, or if this is covered elsewhere on an EA entry on the Forum, please chime in.

 

[dbsb3233]

Notes on my first experience with EA:

I've had my ER RWD Premium for a little over a week now and decided to make my first charge locally at a very nearby EA depot (Belmont, CA, outside Safeway in Redwood City CA if anyone local is reading).

I had already downloaded and authorized the EA app with a credit card. I had also activated and registered charging on the FordPass app. So I expected connection and startup to be seamless, and it was.

I stopped at a 150kW kiosk and plugged in. Charging activated immediately. Only disappointment was the through-put. After 20 minutes on the plug the charging speed only reached 80kW, which seemed very poor at a 150kW station. So 20 minutes of charging took me from 58% to 80%. Total cost was $10.32, which the kiosk automatically discounted to $0 under the Ford 250kW "free charging" program.

So overall I'd give this an A+ for ease of use / worked as expected, a B- for charging through-put, and an A+ for the overall experience.

If anyone reading this has an insight on the through-put issue, or if this is covered elsewhere on an EA entry on the Forum, please chime in.

~80 kW is pretty much what most are reporting in the 40%-80% SOC range (when working well).

The common pattern is ~160 kW for just the first minute or two if starting below 30%, then falling to ~110 kW to 40% SOC, then to ~80 kW to 80% SOC (where it then falls off the cliff to just 10-12 kW).

 

[agoldman]

This needs to get a whole lot better to be able to even think about wide spread adoption. These stupid scaling limits need to go.

 

[dbsb3233]

This needs to get a whole lot better to be able to even think about wide spread adoption. These stupid scaling limits need to go.

Higher power would be great, but ~80 kW average is about what Ford advertised between 10-80%. Their "45 minutes to charge from 10-80%" works out to an average of 82 kW. So as long as it's not really cold, they seem to be meeting it (when working).

But you're broader point is a good one. 45 minutes is still gonna be too long for widespread adoption by the masses. Most of the public will hold off on buying a BEV until that number gets cut in half, at least.

 

[breeves002]

I used an EA station for the first time today.

First try it said failure to communicate so I had to unplug and replug. Then it wanted payment. So I did two tests. First test I used my pass with the electrify america app to start the charger. It worked fine only did about 90kW. I charged from 23-40% then unplugged.

Second try I plugged it in and same issue. So I unplugged and plugged back in yet again and then activated it in the ford pass app and it immediately started charging. Went from 40%-70% before leaving. 46kWh in total. The second session I peaked at 160kW then it started to come down to about 90kW after ~5 minutes.

 

[Maquis]

I used an EA station for the first time today.

First try it said failure to communicate so I had to unplug and replug. Then it wanted payment. So I did two tests. First test I used my pass with the electrify america app to start the charger. It worked fine only did about 90kW. I charged from 23-40% then unplugged.

Second try I plugged it in and same issue. So I unplugged and plugged back in yet again and then activated it in the ford pass app and it immediately started charging. Went from 40%-70% before leaving. 46kWh in total. The second session I peaked at 160kW then it started to come down to about 90kW after ~5 minutes.

Are you able to share the location of this station?

Thanks!

 

[breeves002]

Are you able to share the location of this station?

Thanks!

St. Charles Walmart. NW of STL. Only one on the Missouri side. There is one in Collinsville on the IL side I haven't used. Then there are 3 between here and KC including the one in KC.

 

[balthisar]

If anyone has any contact with a Ford engineer, I'd appreciate their info. I'm a Ford engineer myself, but have no idea how to find the correct person.

I took delivery last Friday, and Electrify America has been super frustrating.

• On Sunday (14-March), the EA station outside of Ypsilanti, Michigan, refused to connect at all with three or four attempts. I was at 90% charge, so decided to move on.
• The same day at the Walmat in Novi, MI, I was able to fast charge from just under 80% to 80%, and it worked instantly. My Ford balance is now 248 kW/h.
• The same day I used a free ChargePoint station (but needing ChargePoint to activate it) to slow charge it for 20 minutes or so, no problem.

Based on the success at Walmart, and seeing a lot of Walmarts along my route from SE Michigan to Louisville, Kentucky, I decided to embrace my anxiety, and go for broke.

• On Tuesday (16-March), the ChargePoint at Lima, OH, worked well, but I had to use my ChargePoint account, despite it being "in network." Luckily it deducted from my +$25 balance for having bought a ChargePoint for the home.
• The Harper's Station EA in Cincinnati wouldn't work at all the first several times I plugged in. Finally, it connected without a fault, but didn't recognize my car or network membership. I tried using ChargePoint via ApplePay, because I thought they were payment partners, but I ended up having to choose my Chase #1 credit card.
• After work in Louisville that evening, I crossed over into Clarksville, IN to use the Walmart EA there. (The $9 or so in bridge tolls my company will pay back.) It took several attempts to even get the charger to work, but it never recognized my being in network, and I had to pay non-member rates. It consistently delivered nearly 150 kW, though, and it was my cheapest charge by far because it was time metered rather than energy metered, and I was expecting this to be more expensive. (I also met a really awesome couple who were interested in the MME, so I let them check it out.)
• The next day I made it to Dayton (Huber Heights) Walmart, and struggled to get it working. Now my phone seemed to no longer activate the charger, so I had to insert my card. Non-member rates again, of course.
• I thought of topping up at Apollo Career Center in Lima again, but decided that I'd follow the car's recommendation to use the EA on the service plaza on I-90 just to the east of Toledo, OH, mostly because I know my company will pick up the toll for the short bit. Here I was actually afraid I'd not make it home at all. When the cable connected, it refused my payments. My phone didn't work, my Chase #1 credit card didn't work, or there was a charging fault, etc. I finally was able to get it to work with my Chase #2 credit card, and this whole ordeal took 20 minutes and a liter of sweat on my forehead to get through. This is the first time I considered using the 800 number, but as I eventually got it to work, I didn't have to.

I wish I'd paid more attention to this thread before my trip; it sounds like the EA 800-number folks are very, very helpful, and even gave out a complimentary charge or two. I also would have seen the tip to close the doors but leave them unlocked.

Given that my home EVSE works, and I've had awesome lucks with ChargePoint so far, I don't really know where to point the finger at this point. I might try a local charge again, just to give ChargePoint a call if things go awry, simply because they have an 800 number to call. Ford has a generic 800 number, too, but trust me: it's not Mach E dedicated, and even as an employee, I have no way to get to the correct people without knowing who they are first.

I really, really hope that most others are having a better experience than I had. I have to travel to Chicago Heights in a week or so, and I'm heavily debating whether or not to take my lovely MME or my 2004 Expedition.

 

[Maquis]

St. Charles Walmart. NW of STL. Only one on the Missouri side. There is one in Collinsville on the IL side I haven't used. Then there are 3 between here and KC including the one in KC.

Thanks - I get down there occasionally. Looking forward to seeing a ballgame this year.
I'm kind of surprised there's only one on the MO side.

 

[breeves002]

Thanks - I get down there occasionally. Looking forward to seen a ballgame this year.
I'm kind of surprised there's only one on the MO side.

There's only two Tesla superchargers. One really close to the Electrify America station and one pretty far southeast near the IL boarder.

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