Electrify America vs Ford Pass

[RickMachE]

Found it and attached a credit card! Thanks!

No expiration date for my 250 kWh though - is that typical? And the nearest EA charger is at the Asheville Sam’s Club which reviewers say is free! Is THAT typical?

Where are you seeing "free" in reviews?

https://www.plugshare.com/location/186188

Some more pointers:

1) If you're going on a real trip (i.e. not just a hundred mile jaunt), plan your trip in ABRP (A Better Route Planner), and research every stop in PlugShare both in advance and day of trip.

2) Remember that your free 250kWh aren't a lot. If you have an ER Mach-E, and go from 20% to 80%, that's 55kWh used. In less than 5 of those stops, they're gone. Ideally, you keep track of it (checking the balance in the emails you get), and stop right at 0. Then, unplug, and if you still need more AND are continuing to travel, use your EA account, with Pass+ (which pays off almost immediately). You can sign up for Pass+, then immediately downgrade, which takes effect in 30 days. Then, activate the charger, and plug in.

3) If you're on a multi-state trip, check which pricing plan EA is using for the states you will be in. As of this minute, the following states are per MINUTE, instead of per kWh, which is about 1/2 the cost: Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Fill up in per minute states, and in per kWh states don't get more than you need to get to a per minute state (fill up means 80%).

4) If you really want to economize, don't use your free kWh in per minute states, because you're throwing away money. Use them in per kWh states (of course you SHOULD test the charger in Asheville to make sure DC fast charging works, but after 3 or so minutes you have your answer).

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[dbsb3233]

I was pretty sure that the free weekend thing ended at some point, but I don’t recall seeing anything official from EA.

There wasn't an announcement about not doing it, because it was never a permanent thing to begin with. They just had some free promotional periods on select holiday weekends in the past, but that was never implied to be every holiday, or permanent. Just a few one-time promos.

That's the problem with doing things like that... people start expecting it every time.

It never made any sense to me in the first place. Especially on a holiday weekend. That's when DCFC tends to be most in-demand and stations are at highest risk of filling up. Last thing they should be doing it making it free so the locals hop over to tie up the chargers too.

 

[Ev Blau]

Where are you seeing "free" in reviews?

https://www.plugshare.com/location/186188

Some more pointers:

1) If you're going on a real trip (i.e. not just a hundred mile jaunt), plan your trip in ABRP (A Better Route Planner), and research every stop in PlugShare both in advance and day of trip.

2) Remember that your free 250kWh aren't a lot. If you have an ER Mach-E, and go from 20% to 80%, that's 55kWh used. In less than 5 of those stops, they're gone. Ideally, you keep track of it (checking the balance in the emails you get), and stop right at 0. Then, unplug, and if you still need more AND are continuing to travel, use your EA account, with Pass+ (which pays off almost immediately). You can sign up for Pass+, then immediately downgrade, which takes effect in 30 days. Then, activate the charger, and plug in.

3) If you're on a multi-state trip, check which pricing plan EA is using for the states you will be in. As of this minute, the following states are per MINUTE, instead of per kWh, which is about 1/2 the cost: Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Fill up in per minute states, and in per kWh states don't get more than you need to get to a per minute state (fill up means 80%).

4) If you really want to economize, don't use your free kWh in per minute states, because you're throwing away money. Use them in per kWh states (of course you SHOULD test the charger in Asheville to make sure DC fast charging works, but after 3 or so minutes you have your answer).

RickMach-e, thank you for taking time to write a detailed, useful post. You’ve got a PhD in EV Mechanics! I’ll try to follow your advice. Of course, to me, a road trip is probably around 150 miles! Looks like a trip to Philly might be needed (600 miles).

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