Ford Connect and over the road charger issues and questions.

[Mach e Mark]

1)I have a strong nest WiFi signal in the garage. Nevertheless I lose contact with the Ford Charge Connect every day at some point. I have to reconnect by using the charge connect app, enter the station ID and code. All my other devices stay connected. Does this have anything to do with recent halt of Ford charge connect sales?
2)Will it hurt the battery to plug in every time it's parked in my garage? This would obviously keep it fully charged (90% for me). Am I better off letting it reduce to 30-50% before recharging?
3)I connected my charger using the two hots and a ground. Is there a way / possibility to use the neutral and make the battery bi-directional? I have solar and and inverter at the house. It would be nice to use the 88Kwh as a home energy backup.
4) I tried the DC Fast Charge "Juice Bar" between exits 17-18 northbound of I-87 (North of Saratoga Springs NY). It would not charge. I get a "Charger fault" message. I tried the one next door but still no joy.
5) I went to a local supermarket fast charger in Troy NY (Hannaford). It's an EVgo. I had to give it my credit card and it started charging but then kicked out after 1 minute on a fault. Did it again and it lasted 3 minutes this time. Did it again and it lasted 1 minute and said "charging complete", it was not complete, only at 40%. I'm going later today to try another fast charger in Scotia NY and see if that one works. Any thoughts?

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[shutterbug]

1)I have a strong nest WiFi signal in the garage. Nevertheless I lose contact with the Ford Charge Connect every day at some point. I have to reconnect by using the charge connect app, enter the station ID and code. All my other devices stay connected. Does this have anything to do with recent halt of Ford charge connect sales?
2)Will it hurt the battery to plug in every time it's parked in my garage? This would obviously keep it fully charged (90% for me). Am I better off letting it reduce to 30-50% before recharging?

1. Does the charger still work after losing WiFi? If yes, then stop worrying. It just means you paid a small boatload of cash for a crappy charger. If not, see if you can return it and replaced with a non-Ford charger.
2. No, if you are using the car regularly. If you're going to go away for a while (a month or so), run it down to 50%, set max charge to 50% and leave it plugged in.

 

[Mach e Mark]

1. Does the charger still work after losing WiFi? If yes, then stop worrying. It just means you paid a small boatload of cash for a crappy charger. If not, see if you can return it and replaced with a non-Ford charger.
2. No, if you are using the car regularly. If you're going to go away for a while (a month or so), run it down to 50%, set max charge to 50% and leave it plugged in.

Thanks for the reply Shutterbug. It does look like I may have overpaid for an underperforming charger. Maybe they'll come out with a "patch". I can only hope. In the end, it does charge at the rate advertised but it would be nice to have the WiFi capabilities.

As for the battery and chargers. I'll keep it plugged in while at home-base. I did do some more experimenting with commercial chargers. I used a "ChargePoint" DC FC in Scotia, NY yesterday. After I downloaded the Chargepoint app it worked fine but if I hadn't had the app, no joy. The screen on the unit is "buggy" (as told to me by the guy who installed it) and sometimes doesn't respond to touch. It wasn't responding to me and that's why I went ahead and downloaded app. I also got feedback from the JuiceBar folks about my issue with their DC/FC. They have now sent a tech out to adjust it and told me to try again. Kudo's to them for taking action and getting back to me. I'll give it a try later today or tomorrow.

 

[shutterbug]

Thanks for the reply Shutterbug. It does look like I may have overpaid for an underperforming charger. Maybe they'll come out with a "patch". I can only hope. In the end, it does charge at the rate advertised but it would be nice to have the WiFi capabilities.

I think most of us are new to this in one way or another. Nearly all of us are experiencing some issue of varying degree of seriousness. In my case, it's the alarm system that is truly psychotic that I can't find a way to turn off. Also I thought I had a serious problem with frequent "Service Vehicle Soon" messages, but that was resolved with the help of @machefan. The point I am trying to make is, don't sweat the small stuff that is merely inconvenient, choke up your own mistakes as learning experience, enjoy the car, and be grateful that you are not experiencing serious problems that a handful of folks reported here.

Oh, and when it comes to Ford Connected Charger, I always thought that it was overpriced and half baked, but if you got one that is performing its core function, the extra cost you paid for it should be just a minor annoyance.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Thanks for the reply Shutterbug. It does look like I may have overpaid for an underperforming charger. Maybe they'll come out with a "patch". I can only hope. In the end, it does charge at the rate advertised but it would be nice to have the WiFi capabilities.

As for the battery and chargers. I'll keep it plugged in while at home-base. I did do some more experimenting with commercial chargers. I used a "ChargePoint" DC FC in Scotia, NY yesterday. After I downloaded the Chargepoint app it worked fine but if I hadn't had the app, no joy. The screen on the unit is "buggy" (as told to me by the guy who installed it) and sometimes doesn't respond to touch. It wasn't responding to me and that's why I went ahead and downloaded app. I also got feedback from the JuiceBar folks about my issue with their DC/FC. They have now sent a tech out to adjust it and told me to try again. Kudo's to them for taking action and getting back to me. I'll give it a try later today or tomorrow.

Have you run the software update on the Ford Connected Charging Station yet? After finding the software fix they have resumed shipping the units.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Here's the fix for the charger:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/tsb-21-2123-level-2-charger-inoperative.5633/

 

[generaltso]

Here's the fix for the charger:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/tsb-21-2123-level-2-charger-inoperative.5633/

Not exactly. That’s the fix for cars with the “Illinois dirty power” problem, not the Ford Connected Charger.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Not exactly. That’s the fix for cars with the “Illinois dirty power” problem, not the Ford Connected Charger.

Oops. Sorry.

 

[louibluey]

Thanks for the reply Shutterbug. It does look like I may have overpaid for an underperforming charger. Maybe they'll come out with a "patch". I can only hope. In the end, it does charge at the rate advertised but it would be nice to have the WiFi capabilities.

As for the battery and chargers. I'll keep it plugged in while at home-base. I did do some more experimenting with commercial chargers. I used a "ChargePoint" DC FC in Scotia, NY yesterday. After I downloaded the Chargepoint app it worked fine but if I hadn't had the app, no joy. The screen on the unit is "buggy" (as told to me by the guy who installed it) and sometimes doesn't respond to touch. It wasn't responding to me and that's why I went ahead and downloaded app. I also got feedback from the JuiceBar folks about my issue with their DC/FC. They have now sent a tech out to adjust it and told me to try again. Kudo's to them for taking action and getting back to me. I'll give it a try later today or tomorrow.

Hi NY Mark, I am over in the Utica area. I think there are now Mach E from Buffalo to Albany, including Syracuse.

On my first drive home from Poughkeepsie, I was unable to get any of the Albany (Walmart) EA DCFC units to work, and had to do some L2 charging at SUNY, followed by a DCFC at the Mohawk Valley Welcome Center Fultonville, NY on the Thruway westbound EVGO. Worked on the second try with the EVGO App. I had not yet set up the FordPass charging network.

Could be wrong, but I think chargepoint is not included in FordPass, so always have the App or the chargepoint wallet card to hold near the charge station. I find the little chargepoint wallet card pretty handy and easy to use, you can probably still order one from the chargepoint website (mine is from several EVs earlier).

Mostly, I charge at 11 kW, chargepoint flex in my garage.

 

[Mach e Mark]

Hello LB. Thanks for the tips. My wife is from Herkimer so we go out there from time to time. I've stopped at the Mohawk welcome center in the past with my gas buggy. Nice center. I downloaded the charge point app and used it with success at the Scotia DCFC. My one try with EVgo in Troy didn't work out but I'll try another one and get the app this time (I just did a credit card swipe). I continue learning about the vehicle and the charging. I'm still not sure what's up with the Adirondack visitor center "Juice Bar" charger, it put my MME in a tailspin....

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