Midwestern hello!

[dlaude6]

Hi all! Big Ford fan here - owned many over the last 15 years or so. This will be my first EV, though not my first Mustang. Can't wait to read all the informative threads - specifically regarding charging, chargers, apps, etc - and learn all the EV lingo. Big fan of forums, as I believe they're much more helpful and informative than social media (the first forum I joined was back in 2000 when I was 16! For Dodge Stratus/Plymouth Breeze/Chrysler Cirrus!)

Anywho, we ordered a GT on 7/29/2021 and dealer accepted the order on 8/10/2021. When we ordered, Ford.com said "28+ weeks". I don't consider patience as one of my strengths, so here's to hoping that it comes early! Unlikely, I know, but it's got a better shot than our Bronco coming early! haha

ETA: Made this post before I dug too deep in the forum. I guess per this forum, this 'hello' would be more "Great Lakes hello", opposed to "Midwestern hello".

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[MarkP213]

Welcome! Don’t let the content of some of the posters here scare you away. It’s an awesome car to own! There‘s a lot of great info here. Enjoy!

 

[timbop]

Welcome!

There is a bit of terminology and some quirks to learn about a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), but for the most part the Mach E controls are a lot like an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car so you shouldn't have a problem "getting in and just driving".

There are 2 really big differences though: the range of your car is affected by temperature more than an ICE, and "on the road" charging requires some planning because there are far fewer charging stations than gas stations AND there is a big difference between the speed of the charging.

The reason the cold affects a BEV more than an ICE is that BEVs are more than 90% efficient and ICE cars are only about 35% efficient. Also, the chemistry in the battery is affected by cold whereas gas doesn't have this problem. So when a BEV goes from 5% inefficient in warm weather to 25% inefficient you notice it easily, but when an ICE goes from 65% to 75% inefficient you don't. This leads to the first thing tons of new owners complain about: the projected range reported by the car - also called the "guess-o-meter". Ford intentionally lowballs that range to make sure people don't try to drive too far on a charge, but it leads to constant newbie complaints that Ford "shorted them" on range. In reality what the car projects for range is very inaccurate, so if you know that going in you won't be surprised.

The second thing is charging. There are lots of threads about home chargers and which to get, but for the most part they are all the same within the 2 types: "smart" and "dumb". The "smart" ones track usage and even have graphs and other things, whereas the "dumb" ones don't have that ability. There are also categories of chargers: AC level 1 (120 volts AC), AC level 2 (240 volts AC), and DC Fast chargers. There are also 3 kinds of charging plugs: J1772/CCS, Tesla, and ChaDeMo. Here in the US the Mach E has an outlet called "CCS 1" which is a J1772 AC charging outlet over a 2 pin DC charging outlet. The AC chargers (level 1 and 2) plug into the upper J1772 outlet, and DC fast chargers have a j1772 combined with 2 extra high voltage DC pins that plug into the bottom of the CCS1 outlet. There are adapters that will allow you to use a Tesla level 2 charger (called a "destination charger"), but as of right now there is no adapter to use Tesla's DC fast chargers called "Superchargers". ChaDeMo is a dying standard in the US only used by nissan.

Charging on longer road trips does require some planning and there are lots of tools that I recommend like A better route planner and plugshare. Ford's built in nav can automatically direct you to charging stations, but it does not prioritize faster stations so it can cause your charging stops to be longer than they need to be. In general Electrify America has the fastest chargers the Mach E can use (150 kilowatt), with the other companies typically only offering slower (50 kw) chargers.

 

[dlaude6]

Welcome! Don’t let the content of some of the posters here scare you away. It’s an awesome car to own! There‘s a lot of great info here. Enjoy!

Thanks! haha, after all of the horror stories of the GT350s and their engine issues, I still pulled the trigger on one. Got lucky enough to have my engine blow pulling out of my neighborhood at 127 miles on the odometer! (and it never saw more than 4-5k RPMs, so I can't even blame myself!)

Welcome!

There is a bit of terminology and some quirks to learn about a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), but for the most part the Mach E controls are a lot like an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car so you shouldn't have a problem "getting in and just driving".

There are 2 really big differences though: the range of your car is affected by temperature more than an ICE, and "on the road" charging requires some planning because there are far fewer charging stations than gas stations AND there is a big difference between the speed of the charging.

The reason the cold affects a BEV more than an ICE is that BEVs are more than 90% efficient and ICE cars are only about 35% efficient. Also, the chemistry in the battery is affected by cold whereas gas doesn't have this problem. So when a BEV goes from 5% inefficient in warm weather to 25% inefficient you notice it easily, but when an ICE goes from 65% to 75% inefficient you don't. This leads to the first thing tons of new owners complain about: the projected range reported by the car - also called the "guess-o-meter". Ford intentionally lowballs that range to make sure people don't try to drive too far on a charge, but it leads to constant newbie complaints that Ford "shorted them" on range. In reality what the car projects for range is very inaccurate, so if you know that going in you won't be surprised.

The second thing is charging. There are lots of threads about home chargers and which to get, but for the most part they are all the same within the 2 types: "smart" and "dumb". The "smart" ones track usage and even have graphs and other things, whereas the "dumb" ones don't have that ability. There are also categories of chargers: AC level 1 (120 volts AC), AC level 2 (240 volts AC), and DC Fast chargers. There are also 3 kinds of charging plugs: J1772/CCS, Tesla, and ChaDeMo. Here in the US the Mach E has an outlet called "CCS 1" which is a J1772 AC charging outlet over a 2 pin DC charging outlet. The AC chargers (level 1 and 2) plug into the upper J1772 outlet, and DC fast chargers have a j1772 combined with 2 extra high voltage DC pins that plug into the bottom of the CCS1 outlet. There are adapters that will allow you to use a Tesla level 2 charger (called a "destination charger"), but as of right now there is no adapter to use Tesla's DC fast chargers called "Superchargers". ChaDeMo is a dying standard in the US only used by nissan.

Charging on longer road trips does require some planning and there are lots of tools that I recommend like A better route planner and plugshare. Ford's built in nav can automatically direct you to charging stations, but it does not prioritize faster stations so it can cause your charging stops to be longer than they need to be. In general Electrify America has the fastest chargers the Mach E can use (150 kilowatt), with the other companies typically only offering slower (50 kw) chargers.

That is some fantastic info, thank you very much! Fortunately, I have a LOT of time to research! In that time, I'll have plenty of time to convince myself that I'll need a smart charger (I love gadgets - though I imagine everyone with a Mach E does), even though I've already read a handful of times that the charger that comes with is more than sufficient.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Welcome to the forum! If you get anxious or grumpy while waiting for your Mach-E please join us on the Grumpy thread.

Bummer to hear about your GT350’s engine. I hope with only 127 miles on the clock it was warrantied.

 

[dlaude6]

Welcome to the forum! If you get anxious or grumpy while waiting for your Mach-E please join us on the Grumpy thread.

Bummer to hear about your GT350’s engine. I hope with only 127 miles on the clock it was warrantied.

hahaha, I'll be sure to check out the Grumpy thread!

Thanks. It was fully warrantied, so that was nice. Ford also covered a payment since the dealer had it about a month (the only time I was glad to have a substantial car note! haha). It was also VERY convenient timing - it happened in late Oct or early Nov - would have been my last drive before I pulled insurance anyway, so at least I wasn't missing good weather with it!

 

[TRP]

Welcome. What suburb are you from?

I'm a retired Firefighter from Aurora. Retired in 2014 and living in East TN now, weather much nicer and much better tax situation (no state income tax, cheap property taxes).

The MME is a great car and we've been really enjoying it. Doing our second trip from TN to MD in a few days so don't let anyone tell you that you can't road trip an EV. With a bit of planning it is easy and fun

 

[Davedough]

Welcome! This place needs more Daves

 

[Brian707]

Welcome! And what suburb are you from?

 

[dlaude6]

Welcome. What suburb are you from?

I'm a retired Firefighter from Aurora. Retired in 2014 and living in East TN now, weather much nicer and much better tax situation (no state income tax, cheap property taxes).

The MME is a great car and we've been really enjoying it. Doing our second trip from TN to MD in a few days so don't let anyone tell you that you can't road trip an EV. With a bit of planning it is easy and fun

Way south in New Lenox. Oh nice! Oh yes, don't remind me of the IL tax situation! I'm looking forward to road tripping in it! Speaking of road trips and TN, we took my GT350 to TN and the Smokies and the Tail of the Dragon last year - talk about a blast!

Welcome! This place needs more Daves

Dave's not here!

Welcome! And what suburb are you from?

New Lenox

 

[BMT1071]

The reason the cold affects a BEV more than an ICE is that BEVs are more than 90% efficient and ICE cars are only about 35% efficient. Also, the chemistry in the battery is affected by cold whereas gas doesn't have this problem. So when a BEV goes from 5% inefficient in warm weather to 25% inefficient you notice it easily, but when an ICE goes from 65% to 75% inefficient you don't.

So not to nitpick, but the cold does have a pretty large impact on gasoline. That is why there are summer and winter formulations that have differing energy content and additives. This is also the reason for the seasonal price swings you see in areas of the country that have cold winters. Our batteries don't have the benefit of being able to change their chemistry seasonally, so we (I mean you people that live in places with cold winters ?) see the larger drop in efficiency.

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