Free charging at Electrify America all Labor Day weekend

[SnBGC]

Not sure what time your sailing trip is scheduled for but if you anchor off of Jacobs Park (near the Embarcadero and Coronado bridge) you will be able to catch the San Diego Symphony Orchestra perform the score to “The Goonies” along with the movie at the new Rady Shell at 7:30. Did this for Star Wars and it was amazing.

Thanks. Sounds like fun. First things first....I have to get there. This will be the first time that I need DCFC to reach my destination. Sure it will be interesting....
Besides, it is about time I start putting some miles on this thing and get it broke in.

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[seanmme]

Well I tried an EA station for the first time yesterday and finally got it to charge after 17(!) charge faults, 2 phone calls to EA, and an hour and a half of my time. Figured it must have been some conflict between free weekend and Ford/plug and charge, but it seems others have not had trouble. I got 3 different types of errors: red light flashing on car while EA unit read “connecting”. EA unit coming back with “account not found” or “payment declined”. Finally got it to work one time after it let me proceed to swiping my credit card for my free session.
Quitting fordpass and/or initiating from EA app didnt help. I could not find in Fordpass the spot to turn off plug and charge. Maybe my app was messed up, because my whole Manage EV tab was missing yesterday, but is back today. Sigh, just venting I guess, but this *has* to be easier

 

[timbop]

Well I tried an EA station for the first time yesterday and finally got it to charge after 17(!) charge faults, 2 phone calls to EA, and an hour and a half of my time. Figured it must have been some conflict between free weekend and Ford/plug and charge, but it seems others have not had trouble. I got 3 different types of errors: red light flashing on car while EA unit read “connecting”. EA unit coming back with “account not found” or “payment declined”. Finally got it to work one time after it let me proceed to swiping my credit card for my free session.
Quitting fordpass and/or initiating from EA app didnt help. I could not find in Fordpass the spot to turn off plug and charge. Maybe my app was messed up, because my whole Manage EV tab was missing yesterday, but is back today. Sigh, just venting I guess, but this *has* to be easier

It definitely can be easier. First question is if you've attached a card to your fordpass account - THIS thread explains the steps. Without a valid card on file, Ford's systems won't authorize the charging regardless of whether you have free charging or not. The free charging doesn't change the handshake nor the sequence on the backend servers, just the rate at which the session is billed. The second thing I have noticed is that the cables are heavy, and depending on the location of the station the cable weight puts a strain on the connection even though it has a lock. I have not had an error initiating a session since I started supporting the weight of the cable and holding the connector tightly in place during initialization. Granted I haven't DCFC'd very often, but it does make sense to me.

 

[shadowsjc]

I plugged in last night and my EA charger said the mobile reader wasn't working and to initiate using the phone. So i initiated using Ford pass (stupidly) and got my credits deducted.

I wonder if i contact EA if they'd give me some sort of future credit. I doubt I'd get anything from Ford

 

[seanmme]

Thanks for the suggestions. I believe it about holding the cable steady. Some of my failures could have been that. I do have a valid credit card with ford attached to the plug and charge, plus my free 250kwh showing.

 

[RockwallRick]

I have already used up the complementary 250 kWh of free charging that came with the car. Sounds like it may still be necessary to disable plug and charge to take advantage of the free EA charging?

 

[timbop]

I plugged in last night and my EA charger said the mobile reader wasn't working and to initiate using the phone. So i initiated using Ford pass (stupidly) and got my credits deducted.

I wonder if i contact EA if they'd give me some sort of future credit. I doubt I'd get anything from Ford

Actually, I would contact Ford - when they had a similar snafu in late june I got a refund.

 

[timbop]

I have already used up the complementary 250 kWh of free charging that came with the car. Sounds like it may still be necessary to disable plug and charge to take advantage of the free EA charging?

I didn't. Make sure the station has a message saying "free charging", and that it directs you to just plug in without initiating a session. It might be station-brand software specific but I don't think so

 

[Maquis]

I have P&C turned on and had no issue with getting free electrons. Just plugged in and it showed that the session would be free. When I was done it reported a $0 charge and my complimentary balance was unaffected.

That's been my experience as well.

 

[Mirak]

We hit around ten EA stations in our 1,200 trip last weekend. Many issues -the 34kw charging we experienced on our first stop was on TWO different 350s. No problem on 150. On our last stop, we had slow charging at two different 350s again, and no problem at 150.

Since the Mach-E can't go higher than 150 (we've never seen more than 126kw), I confirmed with EA that a 350 is zero difference from a 150 for us at this time (always possible our capability gets upgraded by Ford at some point). Therefore, we plan to hit 150s exclusively going forward, if nothing else it may save time on failed attempts, especially now that we're paying for charging having used all the free hours. Some states charge based on KW used, some on minutes. A slow charger in a state that charges by minutes wouldn't be ideal. EA's site shows you which states have that method of fee.

Im back for a second attempt. This is the one EA station in town. I’ve tried three different chargers (two 350kW and one 150kW) and all are refusing to go higher than 34kW. I called EA and all they could suggest was trying a different charger. They are now “investigating.”

One of the most annoying things about owning a Mach E is the total crapshoot that is public charging.

 

[RickMachE]

Im back for a second attempt. This is the one EA station in town. I’ve tried three different chargers (two 350kW and one 150kW) and all are refusing to go higher than 34kW. I called EA and all they could suggest was trying a different charger. They are now “investigating.”

One of the most annoying things about owning a Mach E is the total crapshoot that is public charging.

I have been giving them negative reviews on PlugShare, but EA probably doesn't care.

 

[Mirak]

I have been giving them negative reviews on PlugShare, but EA probably doesn't care.

According to PlugShare, this is happening to other cars, too, at this station. It’s an EA problem.

 

[RickMachE]

According to PlugShare, this is happening to other cars, too, at this station. It’s an EA problem.

Yes. And the more people that complain, the more likely they fix it soon. I suspect it is a communications issue.

 

[Mirak]

I wonder how many years away we are from this being as easy as sticking a nozzle into the tank.

 

[RyanSD]

All of these issues sound horrific. I’ve simply left P&C enabled in FordPass. I’m also still logged into my EA account on my iPhone. I think the key here is to trust that EA isn’t going to bill Ford and use up your balance.

There is a relatively new EA station 1.3 miles away from my house that is rarely used. 4x 150kw stations.

To utilize the free charging, I simply walk up and plug in (leaving the phone in the car). At this point the station begins its handshake and charging. There is a screen that you need to press to continue and then it asks for your mobile number for receipts (optional). That’s it.

Got my free charge on yesterday. Going to do some driving to go visit family, catch a movie later tonight, hit the beach on Sunday, paraglide on Monday, and hopefully top back off at the EA station on the way home.

Totally digging the switch to EV.

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