Ford portable charger stops charging randomly.

[Alexander Wilkas]

A strange thing happens on a random bases. I plug in the charger into my new 2024 MME charger port and most times it charges at the scheduled time (12:00am). On a random bases it does not charge. When I check the charger status in my garage, the amber light is on. When I unplug the charger and plug it back in to the 220v socket the charger status light changes to blue and will now charge the MME. This happens once or twice a week. Is my Ford plug-in charger defective? I never had this problem with my previous (Tesla Y) EV.

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[ChrisO]

Yes, it sounds like it is defective. I have had the "amber light" light happen once or twice. But that might even have been when I was using it on 120v and then noticed that was on the same circuit as my garage door, that is when I got a 240v circuit put in and have been using it like that ever since.

Other than that, I have been using the Ford mobile charger on 240V for at least 8 months without any issues.

EDIT: One other thought is that maybe this charger is sensitive to "surges". That would explain my getting the amber light a couple of times when on 120V and not the only thing on that circuit.

 

[Mach-Lee]

A strange thing happens on a random bases. I plug in the charger into my new 2024 MME charger port and most times it charges at the scheduled time (12:00am). On a random bases it does not charge. When I check the charger status in my garage, the amber light is on. When I unplug the charger and plug it back in to the 220v socket the charger status light changes to blue and will now charge the MME. This happens once or twice a week. Is my Ford plug-in charger defective? I never had this problem with my previous (Tesla Y) EV.

Yes they are a piece of junk. My started having the amber light after only 5 uses.

 

[ChrisO]

One extra thought on the charger. If it wasn't given to me for free, I wouldn't have bought it. There are much better chargers in the same price range. My plan right now is to see how long it lasts and then buy a good charger.

 

[AEGinMD]

2.5 yrs in with my '22 & original (free) mobile charger. This happens every few months at most-- no more than 4 or 5 times all told. Unplug/replug seems to do the trick & fortunately I've always gotten enough charge to drive wherever I was going. I bought a new charger a year ago to be prepared but haven't taken it out of the box yet!

 

[Star Lord]

2.5 yrs in with my '22 & original (free) mobile charger. This happens every few months at most-- no more than 4 or 5 times all told. Unplug/replug seems to do the trick & fortunately I've always gotten enough charge to drive wherever I was going. I bought a new charger a year ago to be prepared but haven't taken it out of the box yet!

You mean the free $450 charger that I was charged?

 

[HuntingPudel]

The "Ford Mobile Charger" (FMC) is known to be problematic. I used my 2021's twice (once at 120V, once at 220V, both times on the road). It never failed on me but because of all of the stories about failures I didn't want a failure to happen to me on the road. Since I already had a Tesla L2 adapter (and a place I went to on a semi-regular basis had a 30A 220V outlet), I bought a Gen2 Tesla Mobile with a 10-30 pigtail. Nobody I know with a Tesla has complained about the Tesla Mobile failing, so I'm more confident on it than in the FMC. I have not used the FMC that was optioned with my 2024. A member here told me he wanted to buy it off of me. I hope it continues working well for him. ??

 

[rsas8991]

Recently I gave up my garage space that had multiple L2 chargers and where I would charge overnight. I have been using the Ford portable charger at my office garage on a 120 outlet at a frequency of once a week (I leave my car in the garage a few days at a time). Until last week, although slow, the car charged without incent. Last week I saw on my phone the charger stopped. When I went down to the car there was an orange light instead of the usual blue. I needed a 30,000-mile checkup so I brought the car and charger to the dealership. Of course, when they tested it, it worked fine. At this moment it is plugged into the usual outlet, and it seems to be working. Because I rely on charging at my office garage, I may need to replace the charger quickly. Can anyone recommend a good, reliable portable charger that is not too expensive?

 

[Maui]

Recently I gave up my garage space that had multiple L2 chargers and where I would charge overnight. I have been using the Ford portable charger at my office garage on a 120 outlet at a frequency of once a week (I leave my car in the garage a few days at a time). Until last week, although slow, the car charged without incent. Last week I saw on my phone the charger stopped. When I went down to the car there was an orange light instead of the usual blue. I needed a 30,000-mile checkup so I brought the car and charger to the dealership. Of course, when they tested it, it worked fine. At this moment it is plugged into the usual outlet, and it seems to be working. Because I rely on charging at my office garage, I may need to replace the charger quickly. Can anyone recommend a good, reliable portable charger that is not too expensive?

Yeah… not sure at what point the just unplug it will stop working. I‘ve done it maybe 4 times now. There doesn’t seem to be a specific pattern to it.

 

[mdwinther35]

I seem to recall reading on this forum a while back that if the Ford mobile charger was purchased with the vehicle (listed on the window sticker) its covered by the three year/36 warranty. Mine has worked fine for a year and a half with the exception of one amber light months ago. Planning on upgrading to a 'real' charger at some point.

 

[ChrisO]

You mean the free $450 charger that I was charged?

The offer for a free mobile charger was on and off, and from what I could tell even sort of depended on the salesman/dealer you worked with. For instance, I'm not really sure that it was "included" for free for us, but when we asked about it our salesman got one and gave it to us.

I certainly got mine for free. But like I said above, if they were going to make me pay for it, I would have declined it. There are much better chargers on the market for the same price or maybe even cheaper.

I really liked the review of the Grizzl-E MINI by State of Charger for instance(), but note that I don't own it, yet. I like the fact that it can plug into different outlets like the Ford Mobile (even though we rarely remove it from the 240-volt outlet in the garage) but still has all the really good attributes of the bigger ones.

 

[AEGinMD]

You mean the free $450 charger that I was charged?

I sometimes even fool myself -- like in this case where my '22 MachE final price was over $50k & they threw in the mobile charger for "free"...

 

[ChrisO]

Recently I gave up my garage space that had multiple L2 chargers and where I would charge overnight. I have been using the Ford portable charger at my office garage on a 120 outlet at a frequency of once a week (I leave my car in the garage a few days at a time). Until last week, although slow, the car charged without incent. Last week I saw on my phone the charger stopped. When I went down to the car there was an orange light instead of the usual blue. I needed a 30,000-mile checkup so I brought the car and charger to the dealership. Of course, when they tested it, it worked fine. At this moment it is plugged into the usual outlet, and it seems to be working. Because I rely on charging at my office garage, I may need to replace the charger quickly. Can anyone recommend a good, reliable portable charger that is not too expensive?

What do you consider "not too expensive"?

 

[rsas8991]

A Grizzly Mini was suggested but because its L1 and L2 it may be overkill because all I have access to is a 120 outlet. This option is over $500. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Lectron L1 charger?

 

[Star Lord]

The offer for a free mobile charger was on and off, and from what I could tell even sort of depended on the salesman/dealer you worked with. For instance, I'm not really sure that it was "included" for free for us, but when we asked about it our salesman got one and gave it to us.

I certainly got mine for free. But like I said above, if they were going to make me pay for it, I would have declined it. There are much better chargers on the market for the same price or maybe even cheaper.

I really liked the review of the Grizzl-E MINI by State of Charger for instance(), but note that I don't own it, yet. I like the fact that it can plug into different outlets like the Ford Mobile (even though we rarely remove it from the 240-volt outlet in the garage) but still has all the really good attributes of the bigger ones.

If you still have the window sticker check it. You will see if it was free or not.

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