How do you get close enough to the charger?

[jwhamlin244]

Last night I went to an EVGo charger at the airport while waiting for a friend, and I noticed that the concrete parking barriers were set up in a way that I could pull up only barely enough for the charging cable to reach my car.
I got it to plug in, but I was nervous by the amount of stress I was putting on the car connector. I got about 10 charging station fault errors before giving up, but I can't help but think the errors were due to my struggles connecting, because a VW with the central front port was able to pull up and charge with relative ease after I gave up.

1. Should I be so concerned with the stress on the charging port? Surely they're made "Ford tough" but those cables are heavy, the connector is only plastic, and I hate to see it flex under the weight.

2. Does anyone have any typical tricks to get close to chargers? As part of my troubleshooting, I just pulled in sideways taking up two spaces since the lot was empty, but I can't always do that.

3. How do yall typically solve 'charging station fault'? I called customer service and they said basically to try to unplug it, roll up my windows, lock the car, plug it back in.

Sponsored

 

[Kabish]

HA! I've had the same issue even at normal Electrify America chargers. I find the cables to be way too short for a car that has the charging port so far up the fender. I think Tesla (and others) have it right with having the charging port in the back or in some cases up front.

I almost always have to go into the little "no parking" area a little bit to get the cable to reach. I've also used a few on the ends where there was space that I could kind of park at a little angle to make the cable attach easier.

 

[MarkP213]

Last night I went to an EVGo charger at the airport while waiting for a friend, and I noticed that the concrete parking barriers were set up in a way that I could pull up only barely enough for the charging cable to reach my car.
I got it to plug in, but I was nervous by the amount of stress I was putting on the car connector. I got about 10 charging station fault errors before giving up, but I can't help but think the errors were due to my struggles connecting, because a VW with the central front port was able to pull up and charge with relative ease after I gave up.

1. Should I be so concerned with the stress on the charging port? Surely they're made "Ford tough" but those cables are heavy, the connector is only plastic, and I hate to see it flex under the weight.

2. Does anyone have any typical tricks to get close to chargers? As part of my troubleshooting, I just pulled in sideways taking up two spaces since the lot was empty, but I can't always do that.

3. How do yall typically solve 'charging station fault'? I called customer service and they said basically to try to unplug it, roll up my windows, lock the car, plug it back in.

I had the same problem at an Electrify America station in Truckee last month. The only way I could get the cord to plug in was to park way over the white line and almost into the parking lot driveway! At least it was an end station. (The other stations were being used or down at the time)

 

[Mach-Lee]

Ford put the charging port on the front driver's fender because they thought it would be the most convenient spot for home charging in a garage (easy to unplug before getting in), but obviously it causes problems with poorly placed DC chargers.

EA chargers are usually arranged in various ways, so a different spot might reach better. Sometimes you have to back in.

If we eventually charge on Tesla Superchargers, that will be a nightmare too. Cord probably won't reach the front backing in, so you'd be forced to pull in forwards and take the spot to the right of the supercharger. Tesla drivers won't be happy since you're effectively taking up two spots then.

 

[jwhamlin244]

Ford put the charging port on the front driver's fender because they thought it would be the most convenient spot for home charging in a garage (easy to unplug before getting in), but obviously it causes problems with poorly placed DC chargers.

EA chargers are usually arranged in various ways, so a different spot might reach better. Sometimes you have to back in.

If we eventually charge on Tesla Superchargers, that will be a nightmare too. Cord probably won't reach the front backing in, so you'd be forced to pull in forwards and take the spot to the right of the supercharger. Tesla drivers won't be happy since you're effectively taking up two spots then.

It is definitely convenient for home charging, i'll give them that. Although I would rather take half convenient for both home charging and fast charging rather than super home convenient but near impossible fast charging.

I've never seen a station where the cable will reach backing in.
I think the consensus so far is double park to the right of charger and I'll have better luck.

How about the robustness of the connector? How is that attached to the car? is the significant flex when it is carrying the weight of the charger normal? Is that connector covered under the battery warranty?
I'm tempted to watch one of those Munro teardowns just to see how it is built, but I really don't want to.

 

[SnBGC]

Last night I went to an EVGo charger at the airport while waiting for a friend, and I noticed that the concrete parking barriers were set up in a way that I could pull up only barely enough for the charging cable to reach my car.
I got it to plug in, but I was nervous by the amount of stress I was putting on the car connector. I got about 10 charging station fault errors before giving up, but I can't help but think the errors were due to my struggles connecting, because a VW with the central front port was able to pull up and charge with relative ease after I gave up.

1. Should I be so concerned with the stress on the charging port? Surely they're made "Ford tough" but those cables are heavy, the connector is only plastic, and I hate to see it flex under the weight.

2. Does anyone have any typical tricks to get close to chargers? As part of my troubleshooting, I just pulled in sideways taking up two spaces since the lot was empty, but I can't always do that.

3. How do yall typically solve 'charging station fault'? I called customer service and they said basically to try to unplug it, roll up my windows, lock the car, plug it back in.

It usually helps to support the connector until you hear the pin lock in the port. Then you can usually let the cable relax provided it isn't under too much stress.

Cord Management is becoming a big issue in the industry. Some machines have swivel heads that really help with the access issue but they cause other problems with cooling etc. I believe the government is working on ADA standards for charging stations because there are all sort of stuff out there now. Some are really quite dangerous while others are fairly responsible.

Ford (like many other manufacturers), located the charge port on the left fender behind the wheel because that is the least likely place to be damaged in a collision.

 

[bp99]

The other issue I've had with not enough cord slack is the charge port door taking pressure from the taught cord.

 

[dsheib]

I've never seen a station where the cable will reach backing in.

Like this?

 

[murphy62]

EVGo chargers have a very long cable but you have to pull on the cable support to extend them. It's a retractable wire hanging from the top of the charger and connected around the middle of the cable. There is a lot of tension in the support cable so pull hard.

 

[imstriker]

It may not look pretty, but the front charging on my LEAF was perfect. It was easy to pull right in at my home charger and never an issue at any public charger.

 

[ChasingCoral]

It may not look pretty, but the front charging on my LEAF was perfect. It was easy to pull right in at my home charger and never an issue at any public charger.

I've actually had more trouble getting the CHAdeMO cable to the nose of my Leaf than I have getting the CCS to the left front quarter of the Mach E. The Mach E has been pretty easy to connect, in my experience.

Either way, various configurations don't work real well at reaching various cars. There is neither standardization in fittings on the cars or chargers/cables. This often leads to difficulties.

 

[jwhamlin244]

Like this?

Makes sense. I just haven't seen one like that haha honestly that looks great!

 

[TheCats]

I'm surprised at the variation in charge port location. You would think that the auto manufacturers would recognize that odd fuel fill locations were bad for consumers and seek to fix that with EVs, where there isn't a constraint that the gas cap needs to be above the fuel tank.

The "right" location is the passenger rear. That allows a short cable with both parallel parking and back-in parking. The only downside is that it takes a few extra step for a driver plugging in every evening.

A second-best location is the passenger front, allowing parallel parking and pull-in parking. I don't see a safety problem with collisions (there won't be high voltage on the connector), only that a minor collision might damage the charge port enough to prevent charging. Concern that a collision could make the connector unsafe can be handled by break-away safety check circuit.

The Tesla location of the driver's side rear takes the least steps -- you don't have to walk around the open door. But it requires that you back into many charging spots, and doesn't work with parallel parking. For me, with a middle-mounted EVSE, it also means that the charge cable goes right across the driver's door ('first world problem').

 

[kltye]

3. How do yall typically solve 'charging station fault'? I called customer service and they said basically to try to unplug it, roll up my windows, lock the car, plug it back in.

Do you remember what kind of charger EVGo uses there? Here in Chicago we use Efacec chargers, which have a known compatibility issue with the MME that requires an update to the MME's OBCC (offboard charger controller).

Sponsored