Setting preferred charge time causes Charge Station to cycle

[WEC]

Has anyone interacted with Fords EV support team on this issue? I am going to try and call them this weekend to troubleshoot the issue. I still have not had time to try setting up preferred charging times on our F150 Lightning to see if this is isolated to the Mach E, but hope to do that soon.

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[dnaDingo]

I received my Ford charge station when I purchased my 2025 F150 Lightning. No issues with my truck being set with preferred charge times but I am having the same power cycling issue with my 2023 Mach E. When checking the charge settings in the car vs the FordPass app, I noted the target charge % was different - 80% in the car vs 100% in the app. I changed the app to match the car and the charge station then stopped power cycling and went into a waiting to charge state for my preferred charge time. I'll test it out again tonight to see if it remains 'fixed'.

 

[WEC]

I received my Ford charge station when I purchased my 2025 F150 Lightning. No issues with my truck being set with preferred charge times but I am having the same power cycling issue with my 2023 Mach E. When checking the charge settings in the car vs the FordPass app, I noted the target charge % was different - 80% in the car vs 100% in the app. I changed the app to match the car and the charge station then stopped power cycling and went into a waiting to charge state for my preferred charge time. I'll test it out again tonight to see if it remains 'fixed'.

When the charger is cycling, watch the charging screen in the app. On mine, it will oscillate between saying "waiting to charge at 7:11 pm" [7:11 pm being the current time] and "waiting to charge at 1 am" [1 am being the time I have set for charging to begin]. I have tried setting preferred charging times on both the app and in the vehicle and get similar behavior. About 50% of the time the charger will fault; unplugging from vehicle clears the fault. Very occasionally, the oscillation will stop and the app will say "waiting to charge at 1 am" and the car will successfully complete the charging session at the programmed time. I have not determined what conditions allow it to work. Very frustrating since our charging rates begin at 1 am. I will see if my Lightining behaves same as yours; mine is a 2025 as well.

 

[GoNavy62]

Same behavior on my charger. I called support with no solution. Frustrating, so I don’t use it and plug in my car at 9 when it’s was suppose to

 

[ADVDan]

I wonder if it's a charge station pro thing? I have a level 2 ChargePoint charger, and haven't' experienced this.

 

[ADVDan]

I agree with the prior post. I also have been using the ChargePoint charger and have never experienced the problem. I would suggest that you contact your home charger’s tech support. If it is associated with their charger, they probably have an explanation at hand and, hopefully, a solution.

 

[ChrisO]

The Ford Pro charger seems like a gift that just keeps on giving.

Sort makes me happy that deal wasn't available when I got my 2024 Mach-E.

 

[WEC]

I agree with the prior post. I also have been using the ChargePoint charger and have never experienced the problem. I would suggest that you contact your home charger’s tech support. If it is associated with their charger, they probably have an explanation at hand and, hopefully, a solution.

Well, my charger is the Ford Charger Pro which you would think would work with their OWN vehicles!! and if not, they could/would fix it in a timely manner. I'm planning on calling the Ford EV support center this weekend but I'm not holding out much hope.

 

[Sally_mache]

This issue has been happening for me for awhile now - I think it started around Feb. Prior to that - I never had an issue with preferred times and it was working as it should every night. I can't keep setting an alarm to get up at midnight to plug it in. Has anyone found a resolution?

Just an update on this post - I contacted Tesla and connected and updated the Tesla wall charger. The issue was a difference between the set preferred times on my app vs the auto times set to the wall charger. Once updated, it's all working fine.

 

[WEC]

When the charger is cycling, watch the charging screen in the app. On mine, it will oscillate between saying "waiting to charge at 7:11 pm" [7:11 pm being the current time] and "waiting to charge at 1 am" [1 am being the time I have set for charging to begin]. I have tried setting preferred charging times on both the app and in the vehicle and get similar behavior. About 50% of the time the charger will fault; unplugging from vehicle clears the fault. Very occasionally, the oscillation will stop and the app will say "waiting to charge at 1 am" and the car will successfully complete the charging session at the programmed time. I have not determined what conditions allow it to work. Very frustrating since our charging rates begin at 1 am. I will see if my Lightining behaves same as yours; mine is a 2025 as well.

Well, I tested my 2025 Lightning this evening; It worked flawlessly with the same charger that is causing issues on the Mach E; so it is something with the Mach E software

 

[WEC]

Just an update on this post - I contacted Tesla and connected and updated the Tesla wall charger. The issue was a difference between the set preferred times on my app vs the auto times set to the wall charger. Once updated, it's all working fine.

I know the OP was not clear on this, but this thread was specific to the Ford Charge Station Pro charger; however, I am glad you got your situation worked out!

 

[dnaDingo]

Update for my situation. Since ensuring the Ford Pass app and in car charge settings match in preferred times and charging percentage, I have now plugged in three nights in a row without any issue. Preferred start time stays at 12 am, charging starts at 12 am. No more cycling of the charge station. As WEC noted above, my app would also switch between showing the charge start time as a few minutes after plugging in and 12 am - it no longer does this, just stays at 12 am.

 

[MetalCord]

Not to necro, but the optionally included mobile charger is limited to 32A when using the 240V plug. Obviously, a more capable EVSE allows 48A but this must be how the reddit threads started.

That actually makes sense! Thanks for sharing that. Now I can tell people WHY they are wrong instead of just saying they're wrong.

 

[MetalCord]

I went back to a new thread started about this topic but it was closed so I couldn't share an update on it. Brian, that posts under "Ford Motor Company" shared the following info regarding this issue:

From Brian - Ford Motor Company
See attached (and below picture) – Ford engineering team is aware of the issue and is testing the solution now. It will require an OTA to charger – so make sure you charger is connected. From the previous timeline I was provided, it shouldn't be far away.

Below is what I do every time I plug in to avoid this situation in the meantime – I hit that button twice every time I plug in and I have not faulted out in several months. It will usually fault out in less than 5 min, if it does.

In a rare instance of ignoring my apathetic tendencies, I decided to set a preferred charge time and tried this band-aid out. It worked! So now, when I get home after work, I plug in, wait a moment for the FCSP to start pulsing, I press the button on the handle and release after the FCSP clicks. Then I just leave it connected and walk away. It worked. Once. I'll report back if fails. Hopefully Brian heard correctly and Ford releases an update to the FCSP soon.

 

[stoopid]

Update for my situation. Since ensuring the Ford Pass app and in car charge settings match in preferred times and charging percentage, I have now plugged in three nights in a row without any issue. Preferred start time stays at 12 am, charging starts at 12 am. No more cycling of the charge station. As WEC noted above, my app would also switch between showing the charge start time as a few minutes after plugging in and 12 am - it no longer does this, just stays at 12 am.

Is your in car and app charging % both set to 100%? You mentioned 80% in your prior post. Charging to 80% isn't desirable for most.

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