My Travels With Marlin (GB FE)

[Kamuelaflyer]

Best photo ever.
I cant get enough photos showing Marlin out in the wild living the good life.

I wonder if @ChasingCoral does mobile detailing? Just need my MME.

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[engnrng]

one question...silly of course. under the speedometer it clearly states GROUND SPEED"...Is there an OTA to suggest something else??? Like maybe airspeed????

I would love to know air speed while highway driving. Tail wind, head wind? Data should actually be used by the range prediction algorithm.

 

[ChasingCoral]

The Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Centering work great together on interstates. In our trip down I used them almost exclusively while driving, so I've put in more than 1,100 miles with it. It worked like a charm. There are things to get used to like remembering you will start slowing very gently as you approach a car and forget you are now going 10 mph slower than you intend. I struggle to find just how tightly to hold the wheel and often get chided for not holding it enough, even when I am. I'm looking forward to replacing the "gentle touch" on the wheel with the gaze sensing.

The Intelligent Cruise Control is excellent as well. It's great on smaller roads, and even on interstates, to remind you when you move from one speed zone to another. However, it often detects speed signs on frontage roads or local lanes. In Florida there are many cases where there is a local lane or frontage road at 55 while the Interstate is 70. It's a shock to suddenly slow down by 15 mph for no good reason.

 

[eastern refugee]

In Cali the cruise control is great. It slows down and speeds up smoothly. It is way better adaptive cruise then what is in my fusion sport. It puts a blue bubble around the mustang in the middle of the speedometer. If another car gets to close the side of the bubble disappears. As soon as distance is resolved the bubble returns. Used it going up a mountain and down it as well. Never hesitated nor felt like there was not enough power

 

[Deleted member 2014]

Marlin’s first bath (by us).

So nice how the "muscles" on top of the hood stand out in that pic.
Btw. Finally my MME went to "in production" yesterday ?

 

[ChasingCoral]

Charging Sessions, good and bad:

After picking Marlin up the evening of 26 February I reprogrammed profiles, PAAK, Plug & Charge, etc. that were lost in the reset during Marlin’s PDU transplant (a minor inconvenience to get him healthy again!). I have the confirmation message in the FordPass app that I turned on Plug & Charge.

27 February: Shakedown drive and attempted P&C in Columbia, MD. No luck with P&C, successfully charged using the EA app to initiate charging sessions.

Days 1 & 2 of drive: Failed P&C at EA stations in Emporia, VA (Signet? 350kW) on 28 Feb., Florence, SC (Signet? 350kW) and Puller, GA (ABB 350kW) on 1 March. Succeeded in initiating charging using EA app all three times. Realized P&C was no longer turned on in FordPass app. When I tried to turn it on using my phone, app just spun. On my wife’s phone it gave an error about unable to complete action. Was emailing with Cole Buccafurri regarding P&C instructions he sent me and I mentioned these issues to him as well. Charged fine on a ChargePoint station in Kingsland, GA using RFID charging card (125kW-shared unit, only person using either station but never exceeded 70kW).

Emporia, VA EA charging videos:



Florence, SC EA charging video:


Puller, GA EA charging video:


Kingsland, GA ChargePoint charging video:



Day 3 of drive, 2 March: Cole reported the team got our P&C settings overnight (go Team!) and I confirmed it on both my phone and my wife’s. Successful P&C in Port Charlotte, FL (ABB 350kW) and Naples, FL (ABB 350kW #2). Arrived at destination (Marco Island, FL).

Port Charlotte, FL EA charging video (successful P&C):


Naples, FL EA charging video (successful P&C):



5 March: Headed to the Everglades. On the way across the state on Tamiami Trail, I checked out the charging stations at National Park Service facilities.
Charging issue #1: The Shark Valley Visitor center had a pair of SemaConnect L2 chargers (fee, $2/hr). We decided to test them while we talked to the rangers there about reserving a tour. SemaConnect failed to authorize the session. After failing, it also failed to release the lock. I was unaware these units would engage a the lock in the Mach E charger despite only being J-1772 plugs. We couldn’t get the SemaConnect units to initiate the release of the lock. We also couldn’t try to release it from the center screen as PAAK failure prevented us from accessing the center screen (see PAAK issues below). Because there was no cell signal, we couldn’t try forcing it from within the SemaConnect app, nor could we call SemaConnect for customer service. We ended up removing the Rear and Left Luggage Compartment (Beauty) Covers in the Frunk to access the manual release cable. Like the jumper cable connection points, this seems to be another item that should not require so much panel removal to access. The manual release worked to free us from the charger.
Shark Valley, FL non-charging video:


I recommend everyone buy a roll of Duck Tape to match your Mach E (Electric Blue is almost a perfect for Marlin) and keep the ripcord available:

Charging issue #2: Miami International Mall EA station (Signet 150kW). Tried two different stations, P&C failed on both (unable to initiate charging session). I then couldn’t get the EA app to initiate a charging session. Called EA, they reset the Signet charger. P&C failed again but was able to initiate the session using the EA app. Came back to the same station that night and charged using EA app (didn’t even try P&C).

Miami International Mall EA charging video:



6 March: Multiple failures at the same EA charger in Naples, FL used for successful P&C on 2 March (350kW #2). First attempt, P&C initiated charging, then abruptly ended after ~12 kWH of charging. Second attempt, P&C initiated charging, then abruptly ended after ~3 kWH of charging. Could not re-initiate P&C. Tried using the EA app and could not initiate charging. Moved to another 350kW charger, could not initiate P&C or from EA app. Interesting observation: sometimes the LED charging indicators on the Mach E were glowing orange even before I connected the charger. Called EA, they reset the charger (#3) and P&C worked but the charger hung at a 32kW charging rate. She reset charger #2, I moved back to there and P&C worked, reaching about 115kW — a bit slow but battery over 50% SOC by then. Since this charging session started at near 50% SOC, there was no 150kW peak and it stayed at around 100kW to the 80% wall.

Sorry, it was raining. No videos.

 

[ajmartineau]

Thanks for the update! I've never had a charger stay locked. That sounds awful.
Don't forget to rate/review the chargers on PlugShare while you are waiting to charge.

 

[buffasnow]

Covers in the Frunk to access the manual release cable. Like the jumper cable connection points, this seems to be another item that should not require so much panel removal to access. The manual release worked to free us from the charger.

Mark,
Is there a specific direction the release cable needs to be pulled (i.e. up vs. toward passenger side)? If one was to create a hole above the cable in the panel, could the cable be pulled upward through it to release the connector lock?

Thinking of this in the same way as drilling holes for LV battery terminal access.......

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Thanks for the update! I've never had a charger stay locked. That sounds awful.
Don't forget to rate/review the chargers on PlugShare while you are waiting to charge.

There really should be a way to do that without pulling the ripcord.

 

[eastern refugee]

Thanks for the update! I've never had a charger stay locked. That sounds awful.
Don't forget to rate/review the chargers on PlugShare while you are waiting to charge.

It happened to me as well. I had EA tell me about the emergency charge release. It is right next to where the port is.

 

[Mopey]

Clearly, inconsistent charging success is the long pole in the tent when it comes widespread EV adoption by the masses. Mandating the end of ICE had better be preceded by a 99.99% successful universal charging solution. It's great that Tesla charging appears to work well for its vehicles, but proprietary technology\ dual standards isn't the answer for the future.

 

[benk016]

Two times I thought the DCFC plug was stuck with the lock. Both times, I found if you try and push it back in fully it will click, and then you can push the button and it will release fine. It almost is like if you don't do it just right, the lock doesn't quite disengage right. My brothers Bolt also has done this a few times.

 

[DBC]

I don't think I'd be bothering with P&C at this point. If it's not a five star fail it's a four star fail. Apparently there are reasons VW didn't try to implement P&C with EA.

You're a lot more sanguine about your experiences than I would be. Congrats! Hope your luck changes for the better.

 

[generaltso]

It happened to me as well. I had EA tell me about the emergency charge release. It is right next to where the port is.

That button is the normal release for DCFC. The emergency release is for when that button doesn’t work.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Thanks for the update! I've never had a charger stay locked. That sounds awful.
Don't forget to rate/review the chargers on PlugShare while you are waiting to charge.

Yes. I have been. This just reminded me to go back and comment on the one at Shark Valley. I couldn’t do it at the time as there was no signal.

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