Mustang Mach-E scheduled charging issue

[abs]

I recently leased a 2025 Mustang Mach-E Premium, Extended Range (my first EV). I had an Emporia Pro level 2 charger installed in my garage and enrolled in the Charge Smart NY program (discounts from the utility company for charging during off peak hours).

Following is what I want to accomplish:

• Schedule charging to occur between 11pm-7am on a daily basis
• Utilize the departure time feature of the Mach-E, which enables a departure time(s) to be set in the Ford app (or the vehicle itself) so that the vehicle automatically preconditions the battery and cabin by the scheduled departure time using power from the Emporia charger.

Following is the issue I am trying to resolve:

• If I set a charging schedule in the Emporia app, the vehicle consistently charges during the scheduled window BUT the vehicle’s departure time feature does not work outside the scheduled window because (confirmed with Emporia support), if a schedule is set, the charger is not available outside the scheduled window to supply power in response to vehicle requests (it is essentially ‘off’)
• Based on this, both Ford and Emporia recommended turning off the charging schedule in the Emporia app and setting the preferred charging times in the Ford app so that the vehicle could control both the charging timeframe and departure times. However, with this configuration, the vehicle does not consistently (only 1 of 3 nights so far) charge. On the nights it hasn’t charged I have received no alerts or errors from either the Emporia or Ford apps so I can’t tell whether the vehicle is trying to initiate a charge and the charger is not responding, or whether the vehicle isn’t trying to initiate a charge. And, yes, the vehicle should have charged all 3 nights because the battery charge was well below the 80% capacity threshold I have set.
• So I basically want to determine how to configure the charger and/or vehicle to ensure that the vehicle will consistently charge based on its preferred charge times schedule AND ALSO respond to the departure times by preconditioning the battery and cabin.

Following is the troubleshooting I’ve done to date in conjunction with Ford and Emporia support:

• (Ford) performed a SYNC module reset and key cycle
• (Emporia) enabled debugging on the charger. Still awaiting a response after last night’s charging failure
• (Self) tested the departure time feature with the emporia schedule disabled and the Ford preferred charging time enabled. A departure time set outside the scheduled charging window worked as expected. This indicates that the vehicle can communicate with/control the charger
• (Self) manually initiated a charge during the scheduled charging window after discovering that the vehicle had not automatically started charging. The vehicle charged to the set threshold of 80% and automatically ended the charge session. Again, this indicates that the vehicle can communicate with/control the charger.

Any guidance that could help me resolve this would be appreciated.

Sponsored

 

[RickMachE]

Discussed dozens of times.

1) You cannot use the charger's schedule.
2) Set the charging time IN THE VEHICLE. Do not use the app, it's crap.

You will need to do a short charge (minute) to be able to save the location if you have no already.

 

[abs]

Discussed dozens of times.

1) You cannot use the charger's schedule.
2) Set the charging time IN THE VEHICLE. Do not use the app, it's crap.

You will need to do a short charge (minute) to be able to save the location if you have no already.

Thanks for the response.

As stated in my initial post, I am currently using the Ford ’preferred charging times’ settings to schedule charging at my home location (Emporia schedule disabled). The SYNC application’s charging card in the vehicle displays the correct schedule and it has worked, but inconsistently (1 of 3 nights so far).

Any additional guidance appreciated.

 

[RickMachE]

Thanks for the response.

As stated in my initial post, I am currently using the Ford ’preferred charging times’ settings to schedule charging at my home location (Emporia schedule disabled). The SYNC application’s charging card in the vehicle displays the correct schedule and it has worked, but inconsistently (1 of 3 nights so far).

Any additional guidance appreciated.

You stated clearly that you set the charging hours in the app. Now you're saying it's showing that in the vehicle, which is new information.

Make sure it shows the vehicle is HOME when you park, sometimes it doesn't think you are home.

Check the date and time in the vehicle. If it's right, make sure Auto Update is turned on.

If none of this works:

1) Delete the location.
2) Charge for a minute, then save the location in the vehicle.
3) Set the hours in the vehicle, don't touch the Ford app.

The charger is like a light switch. Any hour settings in it control whether power is sent to the car. That is why a departure time can't work outside hours set in the charger, UNLESS YOU TEMPORARILY OVERRIDE THEM.

 

[E90alex]

Alternatively, delete the schedule in the car and the Ford app.

Set the charge schedule in emporia to start within your off peak rate (eg 11pm), but set the end time for the schedule to sometime after you normally leave.

So if your off peak ends at 7am but you leave at 830am, set the schedule charging to end at 9am.

Unless you are using your whole battery every day, the charge should still finish well before the off peak end time so you won’t be actually charging the battery during peak rates. But it will still allow the car to pull power for preconditioning.

 

[abs]

You stated clearly that you set the charging hours in the app. Now you're saying it's showing that in the vehicle, which is new information.

Make sure it shows the vehicle is HOME when you park, sometimes it doesn't think you are home.

Check the date and time in the vehicle. If it's right, make sure Auto Update is turned on.

If none of this works:

1) Delete the location.
2) Charge for a minute, then save the location in the vehicle.
3) Set the hours in the vehicle, don't touch the Ford app.

The charger is like a light switch. Any hour settings in it control whether power is sent to the car. That is why a departure time can't work outside hours set in the charger, UNLESS YOU TEMPORARILY OVERRIDE THEM.

You stated clearly that you set the charging hours in the app. Now you're saying it's showing that in the vehicle, which is new information.

Make sure it shows the vehicle is HOME when you park, sometimes it doesn't think you are home.

Check the date and time in the vehicle. If it's right, make sure Auto Update is turned on.

If none of this works:

1) Delete the location.
2) Charge for a minute, then save the location in the vehicle.
3) Set the hours in the vehicle, don't touch the Ford app.

The charger is like a light switch. Any hour settings in it control whether power is sent to the car. That is why a departure time can't work outside hours set in the charger, UNLESS YOU TEMPORARILY OVERRIDE THEM.

Agreed - I did not state that the preferred charge time also displayed in the vehicle.

Based on your last response, I have:

• Confirmed that the vehicle is set to the correct time and that auto-update is turned on
• Deleted and re-added the preferred charge times in the vehicle’s SYNC system after a short charge. The SYNC Charging card now displays ‘Waiting for preferred charge time’ (previously this had displayed ‘Will wait for preferred charge time’), the vehicle and energy pages in the Ford app both display ‘Waiting to charge’ and the energy page also displays ‘Charge session to begin at 11 pm’

I’ll report back tomorrow…

 

[abs]

Alternatively, delete the schedule in the car and the Ford app.

Set the charge schedule in emporia to start within your off peak rate (eg 11pm), but set the end time for the schedule to sometime after you normally leave.

So if your off peak ends at 7am but you leave at 830am, set the schedule charging to end at 9am.

Unless you are using your whole battery every day, the charge should still finish well before the off peak end time so you won’t be actually charging the battery during peak rates. But it will still allow the car to pull power for preconditioning.

Thanks for your response. I have considered this approach as a potential workaround. The complication is that if I drive the vehicle during the on peak (between 7 am and the specified end time) portion of the schedule, it will charge for the remainder of the schedule period when I return and plug it in. I’d rather not have to remember leave it unplugged until after the schedule end time.

 

[Maquis]

Consider that unless you need to maximize range, you don’t need to use departure times. If all you are trying to accomplish is a warm cabin, just remote start 5 minutes before you leave.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Consider that unless you need to maximize range, you don’t need to use departure times. If all you are trying to accomplish is a warm cabin, just remote start 5 minutes before you leave.

Makes total sense. I initially did what @E90alex Alex suggested above, but found out that the preconditioning sucks up a lot of power. To add insult to injury, the electric rate shoots through the roof at the time when I need to recondition cause everyone is turning up the heat at the same time. I’m now only using preconditioning when temps outside are very cold (in negative F), and warming the cabin when needed.

 

[E90alex]

Thanks for your response. I have considered this approach as a potential workaround. The complication is that if I drive the vehicle during the on peak (between 7 am and the specified end time) portion of the schedule, it will charge for the remainder of the schedule period when I return and plug it in. I’d rather not have to remember leave it unplugged until after the schedule end time.

I don’t know how granular emporia allows the scheduling to be. But if you are driving such short distances that you will return home within 30-60 minutes of unplugging in the morning, then the scheduled departure time is simply a waste of energy for your use case. Just start climate manually in the app 10-15 minutes before you leave and let the car pull from battery power to condition the cabin.

 

[abs]

All - thanks for your input on this. I’d still like to figure out why the vehicle initiated charging schedules aren’t functioning consistently, but your feedback re: when to use preconditioning has been helpful. Seems like consensus is that using the remote start to condition the cabin is sufficient unless I’ll be traveling far enough that preconditioning the battery will make the difference between getting to my destination without needing to charge (or charging only once vs twice, etc.).

 

[abs]

Agreed - I did not state that the preferred charge time also displayed in the vehicle.

Based on your last response, I have:

• Confirmed that the vehicle is set to the correct time and that auto-update is turned on
• Deleted and re-added the preferred charge times in the vehicle’s SYNC system after a short charge. The SYNC Charging card now displays ‘Waiting for preferred charge time’ (previously this had displayed ‘Will wait for preferred charge time’), the vehicle and energy pages in the Ford app both display ‘Waiting to charge’ and the energy page also displays ‘Charge session to begin at 11 pm’

I’ll report back tomorrow…

The vehicle charged overnight after deleting and resetting the preferred charge times for our home location in the vehicle’s SYNC system rather than the app. Thanks for your help - hopefully this resolves the issue.

Sponsored