New to EVs and Mach E not Charging

[lamphs]

Good morning. I have an employer-issued base Mach E; the first of three ordered. Received the vehicle Friday, and the battery level was about 7/8. Took it for its first drive on Saturday. Battery level is now 3/4.

As part of my drive, I took it to the employer's charging station (Chargepoint), as I was told it would fully charge in about 20 minutes. All of the indicators worked. When I plugged it in, 3 of the 5 portions were solid blue, the 4th portion was flashing. Returned to the car about 40 minutes later; no change. A number of kWH was displayed on the Chargepoint device. Disconnected, got back into the car, and the battery was still at 3/4. Returned to my remote office.

I tried the Ford charger that was delivered with the car. I read through the instructions. Seem to be self-explanatory. Exact same results after 3 hours.

I am trying it again today with the Ford charger for a six hour period. In addition, my colleauge advised me that he utilized the Ford charger overnight and he only got to a bit over 7/8.

I assume that I am not understanding something.

(The vehicle is really nice. The base model has a lot of features. It handles well. I am going from a Dodge Charger AWD Hemi to the Mach E.)

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[Maquis]

When you returned, we’re the lights on the car amber? Several people have been reporting this or similar lately. They unplug, plug back in and it charges for a while, then faults again.

Unless your daily driving needs more range, 90% is a good max charge level for long-term battery health.

ETA: If the lights are out on the car, it’s been charged to the desired level. In that case, you need to check what the max charge level is set at.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

There are three versions of charging:

Level 1 which is 120 volt and will add very few miles to your car in an hour.
Level 2 is 229 volt based and the rate it charges at is based upon amperage. My 32 amp L2 charger is rated at about 7.7 kW.” Although the actual charge rate will be somewhat lower.
DCFC (DC Fast Charge) is the faster charging method but also is the mist expensive and the “hardest” on the battery.

Unless your employer’s charger was a DCFC, you’re unlikely to get much of a charge from a 20 minute plug in. Plus the car charges at a slower rate when it’s above 80% full and using a DCFC.

The included Ford charger has two plugs, a standard 120 volt plug which is about as slow as can be — maybe 2 or 3 miles in an hour. The other is a 14-50 229 volt plug. You can’t confuse those two. If you were using the 120 volt plug and only had it plugged in plugged in for an hour, you’re unlikely to notice any difference in your state of charge.

One other thing about the Ford charger. The plug ends are very tight. It can be quite hard to get them to seat properly. Make sure the ends are fully flush with the charger.

Finally, I can guarantee you the car charges. It arrived at the dealer with a fairly low charge. They charged it up for delivery. If you can, I’d suggest you have someone show you how to make all the charging work on the car. You’ll be an expert in no time.

 

[generaltso]

As part of my drive, I took it to the employer's charging station (Chargepoint), as I was told it would fully charge in about 20 minutes.

Yikes. I cringe to think your employer is giving out those cars with such incorrect information. In all likelihood, that ChargePoint station is a Level 2 running at about 6kW. That will fully charge your car (when empty) in about 11 hours. That’s a far cry from 20 minutes.

You would likely benefit from spending some time on YouTube learning about the basics of EV charging. Here’s a video to get you started:

 

[RickMachE]

As part of my drive, I took it to the employer's charging station (Chargepoint), as I was told it would fully charge in about 20 minutes. All of the indicators worked. When I plugged it in, 3 of the 5 portions were solid blue, the 4th portion was flashing. Returned to the car about 40 minutes later; no change. A number of kWH was displayed on the Chargepoint device. Disconnected, got back into the car, and the battery was still at 3/4. Returned to my remote office.

I tried the Ford charger that was delivered with the car. I read through the instructions. Seem to be self-explanatory. Exact same results after 3 hours.

I am trying it again today with the Ford charger for a six hour period. In addition, my colleauge advised me that he utilized the Ford charger overnight and he only got to a bit over 7/8.

I assume that I am not understanding something.

As has been brought up, you've been given incorrect information.

A DC Fast Charger would charge the car from 20 to 80% in 40 minutes or less.

A ChargePoint charger at your employer is likely Level 2. That's not a DC Fast Charger. You said "A number of kWh was displayed on the ChargePoint device." Noting that, and the amount of time, would have given you a rough approximation of the capacity of the charger.

The outside indicators on the car show 20% blocks, i.e. 3 of them means you're around 60% of capacity. INSIDE the vehicle it gives you the EXACT percentage right on the display above your steering wheel.

The Ford charger, plugged into a 240v outlet, is also Level 2. Plugged into a 120v outlet is Level 1, and very slow, like 3 miles an hour IF you're lucky.

In very cold weather, the chargers will all slow down.

What your colleague got is not good info because you didn't say how low of a charge they had before charging, nor whether it was plugged into 120 or 220...

The included Ford charger, plugged into the PROPER 220 outlet (NOT YOUR DRYER OUTLET) runs at 32 amps, which is about 7kW. So if you have the standard 68kWh battery, from 10% charge, to go to 100% would be 68 x 90% = 61 / 7 = about 9 hours. However, in traveling from the wall to the car and into the battery, you'll lose roughly 10%, so closer to 10 hours.

If your work charger is slower (very likely), it will take longer. You can see what it's delivering on its display, or in the ChargePoint app, or on PlugShare if it's listed.

By the way, this picture below is awful, for two reasons. First, it quotes how many miles per hour you will gain in range, but that's particular to your car's battery size, and is impacted by temperature. Much better is to figure out, for yourself, how much YOUR charger delivers in an hour in winter, then in summer, so you can adequately plan your charging.

For most people, if they plug the included charger into a proper 220v outlet, overnight they will be fully charged.

 

[generaltso]

The included Ford charger, plugged into the PROPER 220 outlet (NOT YOUR DRYER OUTLET) runs at 32 amps, which is about 7kWh. So if you have the standard 68kW battery

You were probably just typing fast, but you have kWh and kW reversed.

 

[RickMachE]

You were probably just typing fast, but you have kWh and kW reversed.

 

[generaltso]

It happens to the best of us. ?

 

[Maquis]

It happens to the best of us. ?

…as well as the rest of us….?

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