Is the Ford Connected Charge Station this Lame?

Nklem

Well-Known Member
First Name
Norm
Joined
May 20, 2021
Threads
105
Messages
1,318
Reaction score
1,688
Location
Coast of Maine
Vehicles
Subaru Solterra
Occupation
Mechanical Engineer
Country flag
I have to say it was free and I am not complaining about that and it’s a 48 Amp unit.

But the reporting, trending etc is very poor. I do not see why anyone would buy one of these for $500-$800. ChargePoint and others offer so much more information, cost calculation, scheduling, utility integration, hourly trending for equal or less money. I will say a Chargepoint installs so much easier, about 1/2 the time and has no obnoxious incorrect dip switches inside as well.

Will Ford provide more of this information and functionality for the folks that bought it? It should be /could be the gold standard for charging. The first PIC is all you get for reporting from the Ford. The rest are ChargePoint photos.

Is there anything I am missing? Another app? Another page of data on FordPass?

ED0C7EC0-055B-4BA4-8D30-E93F26508965.png


67D13E67-D6CA-4094-880E-9675435EDE2E.jpeg


186C1265-5E75-4FBB-BF00-E3697B69DE40.jpeg


8BF9EB02-CC40-44CF-BF50-DFF25F2349D1.jpeg


D8D200F0-D6DB-47F4-B9D3-BD5E78DF2F77.jpeg


AE61A2C7-3E10-4F4B-8C5A-B12A524D05D8.jpeg


02BD5AA1-DFD7-4A78-9C2C-D67914673FFA.png


929657D2-8B86-4853-9113-D9230ACD45A6.png
 

Maquis

Well-Known Member
First Name
Dave
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Threads
30
Messages
4,403
Reaction score
6,093
Location
Illinois
Vehicles
2021 Mach E4X, 2023 Lightning Lariat ER
Country flag
Wow, you’re lucky. Mine stopped providing anything at all as of last August!

Honestly, I don’t really care as long as the car is charged by the time I’m ready to leave, which it always is.
 
OP
OP
Nklem

Nklem

Well-Known Member
First Name
Norm
Joined
May 20, 2021
Threads
105
Messages
1,318
Reaction score
1,688
Location
Coast of Maine
Vehicles
Subaru Solterra
Occupation
Mechanical Engineer
Country flag
And I cannot believe this, today, after typing this post, trying to just keep the battery warm, this AM, I get a fault and look at this power draw, 70 amps! Karma is great. Something is wrong for sure. I have to say this may be a true piece of crap,,,,

I bet, being set up for only 24 amps, the car tried to pull 32 to keep the battery warm.

5C02D10B-760A-4479-B5C6-8AB2C848F7E2.png


A4C4A4C1-2CE8-455E-A580-F3326046DFE3.png


9E0BE596-F8D3-4536-AECD-8F18B31D76B1.png
 

RickMachE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2021
Threads
200
Messages
13,135
Reaction score
17,854
Location
SE MI
Vehicles
2022 Mach-E Premium 4X, 2022 Lightning Lariat
Country flag
I have to say it was free and I am not complaining about that and it’s a 48 Amp unit.

I do not see why anyone would buy one of these for $500-$800.
You hit the nails (plural) on the head, answering your own question.

Why would anyone buy this? They wouldn't, unless it was free, like yours.

I never considered this unit, because I expected the support from Ford to be close to non-existent.

Unless you get a charger for free, most people need to check with their utility company and see if they either provide a rebate, or sell discounted units. Many utility companies provide rebates, but only for specific brands and models, because they want to tap into the data. My utility, DTE, only provides a $500 rebate if you buy a ChargePoint Home Flex, or an Enel X Juicebox 32, 40, or 48.

If I got a free Ford charger, AND I qualified for a large rebate like I did, I would sell the Ford charger (as some have done on the forum) and buy the better charger with better support.
 

generaltso

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Threads
69
Messages
14,706
Reaction score
26,806
Location
Vermont
Vehicles
2021 MME Premium AWD SR Infinite Blue
Country flag
I’ve been saying from the beginning that there’s no good reason to buy the FCCS over the ChargePoint. Some people just really like seeing the Ford logo I guess.
 


Carsinmyblood

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mitch
Joined
May 2, 2021
Threads
126
Messages
1,333
Reaction score
1,995
Location
Western NC
Vehicles
'53 XK120, '58 MGA, '66 E-Type, MME Prem, EX, awd
Occupation
Self employed
Country flag
I'm a gadget freak, but that's TMI even for me.

But, it's a good thing to be able to drill down and see the problems like this.

I'm sure there's a warranty. I'd try another. If it's as bad as this one, put them both aside before something bad happens.
 

PonyJuice

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Location
SoCal
Vehicles
2021 MachE Premium Trim, Extended Range
Country flag
I have the Ford Connected Charge station. Charges fine. But I can’t get any of the Wifi features to work. I constantly get this error message:

CONNECTION LOST
Your Charge Station wasn't able to connect to the server. You should still be able to charge while we try to reconnect.

It’s randomly connected once. Zero idea how to troubleshoot. No info online. I have even changed wifi thinking it doesn’t like 5G so it’s currently on a 2.4G network. Curious if anyone out there has any advice! Thanks.
 

Maquis

Well-Known Member
First Name
Dave
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Threads
30
Messages
4,403
Reaction score
6,093
Location
Illinois
Vehicles
2021 Mach E4X, 2023 Lightning Lariat ER
Country flag
How are you coming up with 70A?

The J1772 communications protocol will negotiate the power draw between the charger and the EVSE. The car can’t “ask for too much” and cause a fault. It looks like your FCCS simply failed.
 
OP
OP
Nklem

Nklem

Well-Known Member
First Name
Norm
Joined
May 20, 2021
Threads
105
Messages
1,318
Reaction score
1,688
Location
Coast of Maine
Vehicles
Subaru Solterra
Occupation
Mechanical Engineer
Country flag
How are you coming up with 70A?

The J1772 communications protocol will negotiate the power draw between the charger and the EVSE. The car can’t “ask for too much” and cause a fault. It looks like your FCCS simply failed.
16,800 w in 1 hour at 240v is 70 amps. I do not beleive it was 70 amps (as it’s meter shows). My breaker would have tripped and other things happened. The fault occurred when the car went to heat up the battery.

I powered it down and back on and the fault is gone. I will play with it when it warms up. I plugged my CP into the Mach E and the battery immediately started to warm.

It faulted for some reason. I am sure the car asked for more than 24 Amps to keep the battery warm, (it was -1F) and that’s what tripped it, even though it’s limited to 24 amps via software and dip switches.

I primary use it for my HyundaI anyway (it’s charged my Ioniq for the last month) and my ChargePoint for my Mach E. This is actually the first night I connected it to the Mach E to keep the battery conditioned. I only care about metering for the Mach E.

it’s just coincidental that it Faulted the same day I posted the Charger post. So strange.
 

Maquis

Well-Known Member
First Name
Dave
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Threads
30
Messages
4,403
Reaction score
6,093
Location
Illinois
Vehicles
2021 Mach E4X, 2023 Lightning Lariat ER
Country flag
16,800 w in 1 hour at 240v is 70 amps. I do not beleive it was 70 amps (as it’s meter shows). My breaker would have tripped and other things happened. The fault occurred when the car went to heat up the battery.

I powered it down and back on and the fault is gone. I will play with it when it warms up. I plugged my CP into the Mach E and the battery immediately started to warm.

It faulted for some reason. I am sure the car asked for more than 24 Amps to keep the battery warm, (it was -1F) and that’s what tripped it, even though it’s limited to 24 amps via software and dip switches.

I primary use it for my HyundaI anyway (it’s charged my Ioniq for the last month) and my ChargePoint for my Mach E. This is actually the first night I connected it to the Mach E to keep the battery conditioned. I only care about metering for the Mach E.

it’s just coincidental that it Faulted the same day I posted the Charger post. So strange.
Thanks, I was too lazy to do the math. There have been other people post about charge sessions getting logged with a compressed time interval. That may be what’s going on here. Or was it only plugged in for one hour?

The way the interface works is that the EVSE tells the car what it’s able to supply, then the car charges at that rate unless it’s more than the car will take. That’s the oversimplified version. It always uses the lesser of the two.

It’s still my opinion that the FCCS just failed.
 

skiingj

Well-Known Member
First Name
John
Joined
Jun 19, 2021
Threads
19
Messages
562
Reaction score
368
Location
Roseville, California
Vehicles
Mach-E Premium
Country flag
I have the FCCS. Most of it was free. I don't need all the detailed info even though I'm a geek. FCCS was been working perfectly for me since June. I mainly change the amps when I want to draw less when sucking up free energy from solar.
 

skovatch

Member
First Name
Scott
Joined
Nov 17, 2021
Threads
2
Messages
8
Reaction score
6
Location
San Jose, CA
Vehicles
2021 Mach-E Premium RWD X-range
Occupation
Software Engineer
Country flag
I have the Ford Connected Charge station. Charges fine. But I can’t get any of the Wifi features to work. I constantly get this error message:

CONNECTION LOST
Your Charge Station wasn't able to connect to the server. You should still be able to charge while we try to reconnect.

It’s randomly connected once. Zero idea how to troubleshoot. No info online. I have even changed wifi thinking it doesn’t like 5G so it’s currently on a 2.4G network. Curious if anyone out there has any advice! Thanks.
I had the same problem, and literally 10 minutes ago I turned off the breaker, waited 15 seconds, and turned it back on again. It re-connected.

The wifi signal into my garage was pretty weak because of stucco walls and lath, among other things, but I added an extender in the room closest to the garage and that seems to have made a big difference. Double-check the wifi strength near your FCCS.
 
OP
OP
Nklem

Nklem

Well-Known Member
First Name
Norm
Joined
May 20, 2021
Threads
105
Messages
1,318
Reaction score
1,688
Location
Coast of Maine
Vehicles
Subaru Solterra
Occupation
Mechanical Engineer
Country flag
I had the same problem, and literally 10 minutes ago I turned off the breaker, waited 15 seconds, and turned it back on again. It re-connected.

The wifi signal into my garage was pretty weak because of stucco walls and lath, among other things, but I added an extender in the room closest to the garage and that seems to have made a big difference. Double-check the wifi strength near your FCCS.
Is is really cold where you are? Just trying to find something in common….. today was the coldest I have used the unit at 2F.
 

skovatch

Member
First Name
Scott
Joined
Nov 17, 2021
Threads
2
Messages
8
Reaction score
6
Location
San Jose, CA
Vehicles
2021 Mach-E Premium RWD X-range
Occupation
Software Engineer
Country flag
Is is really cold where you are? Just trying to find something in common….. today was the coldest I have used the unit at 2F.
No, I'm in San Jose, CA
 

Boselka

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jason & Travis
Joined
Aug 23, 2021
Threads
16
Messages
182
Reaction score
267
Location
Denton, TX
Website
vibedigital.marketing
Vehicles
'16 CMaxEnergi|'17 FocusElectric|'21 Mustang MachE
Occupation
Website Design, Development, and Digital Marketing
Country flag
I have the Ford Connected Charge station. Charges fine. But I can’t get any of the Wifi features to work. I constantly get this error message:

CONNECTION LOST
Your Charge Station wasn't able to connect to the server. You should still be able to charge while we try to reconnect.

It’s randomly connected once. Zero idea how to troubleshoot. No info online. I have even changed wifi thinking it doesn’t like 5G so it’s currently on a 2.4G network. Curious if anyone out there has any advice! Thanks.
This is the same problem that I am having! I spent 2.5 hours on the phone with Ford being directed from FordPass, to the Blue Oval Charging Network team, then to Customer Satisfaction Team, and then back to the Ford Pass team (apparently many team members at Ford don't know what the Ford Connected Charge Station is, they kept asking me about my car and what "errors are showing on the dash").
I originally got it connected to our WiFi and it worked for 48 hours but then after that I got connection lost and it has never reconnected. I have shut the power down to the unit by turning off the breaker and turning it back on. I have unpaired the station and then attempted to manually re-pair it. I have tried uninstalling and re-installing both apps, I can not get it to connect to WiFi or Bluetooth at this point.
Luckily it still charges fine (as we are a household of 3 plug-in cars) but none of the "connected" functionality works, and it has been very frustrating to find anyone at Ford that is helpful with the station.
Sponsored

 
 




Top