Mini rant on DC charging.

[tippykayak]

Question about Tesla chargers on trips: around here, it looks like a lot of them are Tesla-only. Do you guys find them through the Ford app? Or is there a better way to filter and sort where you can actually charge?

For context, I just picked up my '25 GT a week or two ago, and an NACS adapter came with the car, but I haven't tried Tesla yet. I've used an Applegreen charger a couple of times, more to make sure I could than because I really needed it, and it worked fine. However, it looked like it was maxing out at 50-something kW, which, by my math, would be an inconvenient amount of time to a full charge on a road trip than the theoretical max of 150 kW on this car, so I'd like to have a good way to make sure I have Tesla as an option while traveling.

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[RickMachE]

Question about Tesla chargers on trips: around here, it looks like a lot of them are Tesla-only. Do you guys find them through the Ford app? Or is there a better way to filter and sort where you can actually charge?

For context, I just picked up my '25 GT a week or two ago, and an NACS adapter came with the car, but I haven't tried Tesla yet. I've used an Applegreen charger a couple of times, more to make sure I could than because I really needed it, and it worked fine. However, it looked like it was maxing out at 50-something kW, which, by my math, would be an inconvenient amount of time to a full charge on a road trip than the theoretical max of 150 kW on this car, so I'd like to have a good way to make sure I have Tesla as an option while traveling.

Ford app, Tesla app after entering vehicle and adapter, PlugShare after checking "Hide Tesla Only", ABRP after entering vehicle and adapter...

 

[Elmst-e]

I have mentioned this in a few other threads recently, but will comment again. 3 long road trips both east and west from the Kansas City area in the last few months. Lots of DCFC, and the most reliable network has been EVgo/ Pilot/Flying J. Absolutely no problems at all using auto charge+. They seem to be expanding at a very rapid rate. Used an Ionna charger in Abilene, Kansas and it was very smooth.

 

[Jimrpa]

You can find Tesla chargers (and non-tesla chargers) in the Public Charging app on the Sync 4 screen. You select a charger (including teslas) and it sends it over to the navigation app so the car preconditions en-route.

 

[AZBill]

I have mentioned this in a few other threads recently, but will comment again. 3 long road trips both east and west from the Kansas City area in the last few months. Lots of DCFC, and the most reliable network has been EVgo/ Pilot/Flying J. Absolutely no problems at all using auto charge+. They seem to be expanding at a very rapid rate. Used an Ionna charger in Abilene, Kansas and it was very smooth.

I have also found the Pilot chargers, (actually GM Energy BTW) to be very reliable. Those are made by Delta. They are the only chargers that have actually given me 350kw on my Hummer. EA chargers, supposedly rated at 350, actually never go above 300kw.

I have had Tesla chargers derate many times, but not really noticeable with the MME, since it is already one of the slower charging cars. They also do not support 800V so that limits the charging capability also.

I hope to be able to try an Ionna charger soon, they have an open site in Wilcox AZ and are going to open one in Flagstaff as well. Those support 400kw and some GM trucks have reported 370-380kw on those.

 

[janstubbs]

My wife and I went from Tucson to Phoenix for a quick overnight trip. We have done this multiple times in the MME. It is about 250 miles RT, so a charge is needed. Yesterday on the way up stopped in Phoenix at an Electrify America location we have used multiple times. As usual 2 out of the 8 chargers down, but got one after about 10 minutes. Pull in and hook up to find it charging at 35kW. Only 3 times what I do at home. Pulled it out, but my wife remembered that Ford locations now have public CCS chargers. Went to the dealer where I bought the car - 4 charging cables on 2 posts. The the chargers directly in front of the Ford Dealership are not part of the blue oval charge network - so the chargers sitting in front of a Ford dealership have to be activated manually through the app. No labels on the posts. Finally figure out (and someone warns me the listing in the app is wrong - east post is actually west and visa versa) plug in the exorbitantly expensive chargers (25% more than any other public chargers) and it stops charing after a couple of kilowatts. Charger broken.

This morning drove to a not too far Tesla charger. 16 chargers, 8 or 9 free, one with side access. Plugged in and it worked immediately.

Some months ago we took a trip from Tucson to southern CA in the MME and also found the Tesla chargers to be totally reliable. I'm grateful Ford supplied me with a reliable adapter, but these private companies providing CCS charging should be collectively ashamed. Never again - only going directly to Tesla chargers. Hate to give Elon the money for the kilowatts, but it's not worth the agita to try anything else.

Steve

Minor rant on Tesla chargers. Even though I paid monthly fee for the Tesla plan, it does not automatically use the lower price, so 65 cents/kwh here in CA is common. Also wondering when the Nav app is going to start showing the Tesla chargers.

 

[Jimrpa]

Minor rant on Tesla chargers. Even though I paid monthly fee for the Tesla plan, it does not automatically use the lower price, so 65 cents/kwh here in CA is common. Also wondering when the Nav app is going to start showing the Tesla chargers.

You can find Tesla chargers in the public charging app. When you select them, they’re sent to the navigation app automagically.

 

[ipca204]

Some people prefer to avoid Tesla superchargers when possible.

then expect that "some people" will have more issues than people who use Tesla superchargers...lol

 

[RickMachE]

Minor rant on Tesla chargers. Even though I paid monthly fee for the Tesla plan, it does not automatically use the lower price, so 65 cents/kwh here in CA is common. Also wondering when the Nav app is going to start showing the Tesla chargers.

You must activate the charger with the Tesla app.

 

[janstubbs]

You can find Tesla chargers in the public charging app. When you select them, they’re sent to the navigation app automagically.

I mean when I click "where to" , then "chargers" on nav app, it still does not show tesla chargers.

 

[Jimrpa]

I mean when I click "where to" , then "chargers" on nav app, it still does not show tesla chargers.

No, it does not. You can see the Tesla chargers in the public charging app. When you select a Tesla charger in the public charging app, it is sent to the navigation app.

 

[superdave80]

EA have a mode they fall into when not everything is working correctly (e.g. the cooling system is not working) but they still have power.. So they fall back to this slow mode where it technically works … but isn’t very fast.

And that's fine, but here is what bugs the hell out of me: Why isn't EA alerted to this and at least attempt a remote reboot without someone having to call them? All this connectedness and advanced tech, and we are still down to calling someone to let them know that their machine isn't working right. Or at least add a 'reboot' button to a screen somewhere so that we can just try it ourselves quickly.

The bare minimum seems to be the standard at some of the charging companies.

 

[janstubbs]

And that's fine, but here is what bugs the hell out of me: Why isn't EA alerted to this and at least attempt a remote reboot without someone having to call them? All this connectedness and advanced tech, and we are still down to calling someone to let them know that their machine isn't working right. Or at least add a 'reboot' button to a screen somewhere so that we can just try it ourselves quickly.

The bare minimum seems to be the standard at some of the charging companies.

EA exists only because VW cheated on emissions testing for diesels. So they do the bare minimum.

 

[TheSteelRider]

I can't agree more -- since getting our Tesla adapter, we now attempt to only charge at Tesla chargers. We tried our first v4 Tesla station recently. We have yet to have any issues, it takes maybe 12 seconds to start charging, and we have noticed we almost instantly get 150 - 160 KW charging rate.

Given the current state of Tesla, I'm seriously wondering whether, in the long run, Tesla derives most of their revenue from energy and the least amount from actually selling vehicles.

 

[Jimrpa]

I can't agree more -- since getting our Tesla adapter, we now attempt to only charge at Tesla chargers. We tried our first v4 Tesla station recently. We have yet to have any issues, it takes maybe 12 seconds to start charging, and we have noticed we almost instantly get 150 - 160 KW charging rate.

Given the current state of Tesla, I'm seriously wondering whether, in the long run, Tesla derives most of their revenue from energy and the least amount from actually selling vehicles.

For a long time, all of their “profits” came from selling offset credits to other vehicle manufacturers. I suspect that they’ll either have to pivot to IC (internal coal) powered cars, or begin buying “drill baby drill” credits from the legacy manufacturers ?

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