Emporia EV Charger and FordPass

[Pathung]

I just installed an Emporia EV Charger, and I like the user-interface, which is simple and easy to understand, configure.

I'm wondering about the Emporia interfacing with some of the FordPass configurations, though; for example, if the Emporia is set to begin charging at 12 AM, and FordPass set to 1 AM, what happens? Another issue is pre-conditioning - when a Departure Time is set in FordPass, will the Emporia allow the car to draw power from the grid when pre-conditioning/warming up the interior (does pre-conditioning from the car's battery or the grid - I'm not entirely sure), if a Stop Charge time is set on the Emporia to take place long before Departure Time? Confusing.

Thanks in advance for any comments on your experience/thoughts on the interfacing between the two pieces of "software"; I'm not so sure that they play nice with each other.

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[HuntingPudel]

Pretty much, setting the allowable charge times in your EVSE will limit your car’s charging to be within those times. The EVSE will simply not let power flow outside of its charging window.

 

[RickMachE]

The software doesn't play with each other, period.

Think of an old light timer. You plugged in the lamp to the timer, and the timer to the wall. When the timer turns on electricity, IF the lamp is on, the bulb lights. If the lamp is turned off, the bulb is off despite the timer being on. Quite simple.

Your setup is no different. The car can ask for power all day long, but if the charger says no, the car gets no power. Doesn't matter if it's trying to charge, or precondition with a departure time, or remote start. If the charger says no, it's no. Like the plug was pulled out of the wall.

And, if the charger supplies power, but the car doesn't ask for it, it doesn't take any, whether that be for charging or anything else. The car will charge, and then precondition for a departure time, or remote start, using house current, ONLY IF THE EMPORIA CHARGER IS SUPPYING ELECTRICITY.

I have my JuiceBox set to my off-peak hours, just like my car. That way IF I CHOOSE to set a departure time that is during peak hours, I can CHOOSE to override my JuiceBox and give the car power, or not.

Make sense?

 

[Pathung]

Got it. I'd thought that the Emporia could talk to the car's charger, but apparently not, it's merely a "spigot". Thanks for the clarification!

 

[lurker]

I also have the same charger, just haven't gotten around to installing it with the rain last few weekends.

From the feedback above, It seems like I should just let the charger act like a "dumb" charger and let the car handle all of the charging times. The only time I would have to worry about peak hours if a guest if plugging in but that is cost I am okay with.

 

[EmporiaEnergy]

I just installed an Emporia EV Charger, and I like the user-interface, which is simple and easy to understand, configure.

I'm wondering about the Emporia interfacing with some of the FordPass configurations, though; for example, if the Emporia is set to begin charging at 12 AM, and FordPass set to 1 AM, what happens? Another issue is pre-conditioning - when a Departure Time is set in FordPass, will the Emporia allow the car to draw power from the grid when pre-conditioning/warming up the interior (does pre-conditioning from the car's battery or the grid - I'm not entirely sure), if a Stop Charge time is set on the Emporia to take place long before Departure Time? Confusing.

Thanks in advance for any comments on your experience/thoughts on the interfacing between the two pieces of "software"; I'm not so sure that they play nice with each other.

Hi OP,

A common saying we have here on the support team is that the "car is in charge" - meaning we'll provide power whenever the vehicle requests and as long as the charger is enabled to do so. So - if the EV Charger has a schedule preventing charging setup, then the EV Charger will prevent any charge from reaching the vehicle. If the charging behavior is left up to the vehicle though (scheduling, pre-conditioning, etc...), then the EV Charger will provide charge whenever requested from the vehicle.

So in this particular scenario - if the Emporia EV Charger is set to allow charge at 12:00AM but the FordPass app will only allow charge after 1:00AM... then the EV Charger will toggle to "Ready" within the app at midnight and charging will start at 1:00AM since that is when the vehicle will start requesting that charging.

The communications between the EV Charger and the vehicle are quite limited as per the J1772 specification. We're introducing more advanced charge controls via our SmartCar integration with the manufacturers vehicle API's in order to provide additional functionality that way since the direct communication between the charger and vehicle are so limited.

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to connect with us via phone, chat, or email: emporiaenergy.com/contact 8-5 MST M-F

 

[Lompocdoc]

Got it. I'd thought that the Emporia could talk to the car's charger, but apparently not, it's merely a "spigot". Thanks for the clarification!

Not true. The emporia logs into the ford app and sets the car To charge

 

[Navyjoe]

I originally had a Juicebox and it stopped working after 2 weeks of use so I replaced it about four months ago with an Emporia and have had zero issues. I live in California where the rates are crazy high except between 12-6 am. I set my Ford pass to charge between 12-6. I could have done this in the Emporia app but I found it a bit easier to do it though Fordpass as I wish to set the car to set the temperature when I leave for work at 7. I would give Emporia a 9.5 out of 10. Maybe it could improve with a little better usage reporting and maybe Alexa Support. Juicebox had these features but was more expensive and in my case stopped working and their tech support was horrible so I returned it via Amazon. I have used other Emporia products before and they are top notch and when you call tech support you get to talk to someone who is really knowledgeable.

 

[Pathung]

Hi OP,

A common saying we have here on the support team is that the "car is in charge" - meaning we'll provide power whenever the vehicle requests and as long as the charger is enabled to do so. So - if the EV Charger has a schedule preventing charging setup, then the EV Charger will prevent any charge from reaching the vehicle. If the charging behavior is left up to the vehicle though (scheduling, pre-conditioning, etc...), then the EV Charger will provide charge whenever requested from the vehicle.

So in this particular scenario - if the Emporia EV Charger is set to allow charge at 12:00AM but the FordPass app will only allow charge after 1:00AM... then the EV Charger will toggle to "Ready" within the app at midnight and charging will start at 1:00AM since that is when the vehicle will start requesting that charging.

The communications between the EV Charger and the vehicle are quite limited as per the J1772 specification. We're introducing more advanced charge controls via our SmartCar integration with the manufacturers vehicle API's in order to provide additional functionality that way since the direct communication between the charger and vehicle are so limited.

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to connect with us via phone, chat, or email: emporiaenergy.com/contact 8-5 MST M-F

Thanks for the clarification.

So far no issues with the charger.

I did make one observation: at my preset charge rate of 40A, I noticed that at times it charges at 9.7 KW for particular sessions, but drops to 9.5 KW on others - is this a result of electricty being used elsewhere in the household?

 

[EmporiaEnergy]

Thanks for the clarification.

So far no issues with the charger.

I did make one observation: at my preset charge rate of 40A, I noticed that at times it charges at 9.7 KW for particular sessions, but drops to 9.5 KW on others - is this a result of electricty being used elsewhere in the household?

Keeping in mind "the car is in charge" mantra, other consumption happening elsewhere in the household should not be affecting the charge rate or behavior of the EV Charger at all.

As always, don't hesitate to contact our support team directly if you'd like!

 

[Maquis]

Thanks for the clarification.

So far no issues with the charger.

I did make one observation: at my preset charge rate of 40A, I noticed that at times it charges at 9.7 KW for particular sessions, but drops to 9.5 KW on others - is this a result of electricty being used elsewhere in the household?

It’s likely a result of small voltage fluctuations. Power = voltage x current. 9.7KW @ 40A means the voltage was 242. If your voltage drops to 238, the power would be 9.5KW even if the car is consistently drawing 40A all the time.
Slight voltage variations are normal. It will drop when you (or even your neighbors) draw a lot of power.

 

[Pathung]

It’s likely a result of small voltage fluctuations. Power = voltage x current. 9.7KW @ 40A means the voltage was 242. If your voltage drops to 238, the power would be 9.5KW even if the car is consistently drawing 40A all the time.
Slight voltage variations are normal. It will drop when you (or even your neighbors) draw a lot of power.

Makes sense; thank you.

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