Charge Station Pro vs. Ford Mobile Charger

[jthiesse13]

Has anyone used both of these for their Lariat ER and can offer an opinion on which is better? I have both and haven't had the wiring done yet, but if the only advantage is the speed of charging, I would stick with the mobile charger which will save me roughly $1,000 in installation costs. That would pay for a LOT of charging. I won't be suckered into the home integration kit and I can live with charging from 15%-100% in 20 hours vs 8.

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[cdherman]

You need to give some more information. Do you have 240v in your garage or close to your garage (say a dryer or a welder plug)?

15-100% on a ER is 85% of the 131kwh, so roughly 110kwh. I was not able to quickly find a rating for the Ford portable charger on 120v, but it has a 15A plug, and thus, I assume its charging at 12A (due to the 80% derating rules for continuous duty). Thus: 110,000 watts / 12A /120v = 76 hours. On 120v. Or put differently -- 12A x 120v = 1440w Lighning gets about 2 miles per kwh. So that's 3 miles per hour. 12 hours in your garage will be 36 miles.

The numbers you quote for charging times are assuming you have 240v. The portable unit is is rated to 32A on 240v, so 7,680w/hr So that same 110,000 /32A/240 = 14 hours

IF you have some sort of 240 in your garage, then you can get by with the portable unit. If you do not, you are looking at paying someone to put in 240, or you are going to hate life I think.

Mind you, I do not have my Lightning yet, but I have 12 years BEV experience and multiple EVSE in my life......

 

[Maquis]

The mobile charger will net 6-6.5 KW on 240V, so taking the ER from 15-90% (about 100 KW) in about 16 hours. Many have reported overheating problems with the mobile charger, and being in Phoenix, you’re a prime candidate!

There are also overheating issues with the Pro, but at least you can turn it down to mitigate that.

And it‘s best to not charge to 100% unless you need it for a long trip.

I haven’t installed my Pro yet. That project starts after vacation in 2 weeks.

 

[jthiesse13]

You need to give some more information. Do you have 240v in your garage or close to your garage (say a dryer or a welder plug)?

15-100% on a ER is 85% of the 131kwh, so roughly 110kwh. I was not able to quickly find a rating for the Ford portable charger on 120v, but it has a 15A plug, and thus, I assume its charging at 12A (due to the 80% derating rules for continuous duty). Thus: 110,000 watts / 12A /120v = 76 hours. On 120v. Or put differently -- 12A x 120v = 1440w Lighning gets about 2 miles per kwh. So that's 3 miles per hour. 12 hours in your garage will be 36 miles.

The numbers you quote for charging times are assuming you have 240v. The portable unit is is rated to 32A on 240v, so 7,680w/hr So that same 110,000 /32A/240 = 14 hours

IF you have some sort of 240 in your garage, then you can get by with the portable unit. If you do not, you are looking at paying someone to put in 240, or you are going to hate life I think.

Mind you, I do not have my Lightning yet, but I have 12 years BEV experience and multiple EVSE in my life......

I'm getting a 50 amp breaker installed with a NEMA 14-50 outlet to use with the mobile charger. I have the Lariat ER Lightning truck. I have the FCSP too but it's extremely costly to have installed compared to adding a 50 amp breaker and an outlet.
I currently have a 240V outlet for a dryer that I don't need (I have a gas dryer), but it has a 14-30 outlet and is fed by a 30 amp breaker.
I was told by a Ford EV "expert" on the phone that I could use any 240V outlet in my house so I thought I got lucky and could use the existing 240V supply by simply changing the outlet. What he didn't say was that I needed to make sure the 240V outlet was fed from something bigger than a 30 amp breaker.
Every home I've ever lived in only had a 30 amp breaker for dryers, stoves, etc. That seems like a pretty important piece of data to share with people who aren't electricians but plan on using the mobile charger. I could just swap the 14-30 outlet with a 14-50 but I don't want to risk starting a fire or constantly tripping a breaker.

 

[Maquis]

I'm getting a 50 amp breaker installed with a NEMA 14-50 outlet to use with the mobile charger. I have the Lariat ER Lightning truck. I have the FCSP too but it's extremely costly to have installed compared to adding a 50 amp breaker and an outlet.
I currently have a 240V outlet for a dryer that I don't need (I have a gas dryer), but it has a 14-30 outlet and is fed by a 30 amp breaker.
I was told by a Ford EV "expert" on the phone that I could use any 240V outlet in my house so I thought I got lucky and could use the existing 240V supply by simply changing the outlet. What he didn't say was that I needed to make sure the 240V outlet was fed from something bigger than a 30 amp breaker.
Every home I've ever lived in only had a 30 amp breaker for dryers, stoves, etc. That seems like a pretty important piece of data to share with people who aren't electricians but plan on using the mobile charger. I could just swap the 14-30 outlet with a 14-50 but I don't want to risk starting a fire or constantly tripping a breaker.

The Ford Mobile Charger requires a minimum 40A circuit.

 

[mr.Magoo]

I have the FCSP too but it's extremely costly to have installed compared to adding a 50 amp breaker and an outlet.

IF you request that they install it per its full capability (i.e. 80A) then yes.
If you install it with a 50A breaker/wiring and downrate the charger to 40A (this is a possibility), then no, probably not, might even be less expensive than the 14-50 outlet.

Plus you'll have the benefit of a "real" charger at home and you can leave the mobile as just that, mobile (it doesn't have great track record of being the main/only charger).

 

[Monkey]

The Ford Mobile Charger is not good - very flakey/not reliable... Much better ones out there. But you have the FCSP and you can put that on your 50A circuit your'e having installed and it will charge at 40A. If you can upgrade the wiring, still 6 AWG but 90°C rated THHN and not NMB, you can charge at 48A on a 60A breaker. Probably not worth going more than that as circuit requirements become 80 or 100 AMPS after that and wiring more expensive.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

I'm getting a 50 amp breaker installed with a NEMA 14-50 outlet to use with the mobile charger. I have the Lariat ER Lightning truck. I have the FCSP too but it's extremely costly to have installed compared to adding a 50 amp breaker and an outlet.
I currently have a 240V outlet for a dryer that I don't need (I have a gas dryer), but it has a 14-30 outlet and is fed by a 30 amp breaker.
I was told by a Ford EV "expert" on the phone that I could use any 240V outlet in my house so I thought I got lucky and could use the existing 240V supply by simply changing the outlet. What he didn't say was that I needed to make sure the 240V outlet was fed from something bigger than a 30 amp breaker.
Every home I've ever lived in only had a 30 amp breaker for dryers, stoves, etc. That seems like a pretty important piece of data to share with people who aren't electricians but plan on using the mobile charger. I could just swap the 14-30 outlet with a 14-50 but I don't want to risk starting a fire or constantly tripping a breaker.

I did exactly that--had a 50A NEMA 14-50 outlet installed. I sold the FCSP on eBay, and it paid for the installation of the 240V. (The panel is on the garage wall outside of the plug, so a short run.)

I get 5% of my ER battery charged per hour, so if I get home for dinner and leave for work 12 hours later, I can go from 30% to 90%. That charging speed is more than enough for me.

The charger stays plugged in unless I take the truck out of town, which is rare. When I unplug the truck, the cord feels a little warm, but other than that, I have had no issues.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I have used the FordMobileCharger, included with the truck, to charge my PRO successfully and without any issues... it works just fine on a basic NEMA 14-50 outlet, with a 50amp double-pole breaker. It is shown as a '32 amp' charger, but realistically runs at only about 30.5amps at max.

I wish the FordMobileCharger had more information on the face about charging speed, kwh, etc., rather than just a 'blue' faded light, but, oh well... my FordPassApp can generally tell me what I need.

I also have a MAX GREEN 240v Mobile EVSE, which I carry with me, along with some 240v extension cords, in the event of Camping, or other times where I might want to 'dial down' from 30amps to 10, 12, 16, 20, or 24 amps, in rare situations.

A NEMA 14-50 outlet is not difficult to find at most any hardware store, and not difficult to wire, but it DOES take larger 6awg 4-wire run, even though your EVSE might only be using 30~amps of that, and they are fairly stiff and harder to handle. Your breaker panel will need the 50amp double-pole 240v breaker, which is the same as many newer stoves and ovens use.

Some suggests that you can use a 40amp double-pole breaker, but those are hard to find, and would need to be labeled as "40amp Max".

And interestingly, since your EVSE only uses THREE wires: hot, hot, and ground, some may wire with only a 3-wire cable, labeled as "No Neutral", for future reference.

Some might also use a smaller 8awg SOOW cable, which is much easier to handle, much like the J1772's flexible cabling, but would need to also be labeled "40amp Max", as well.

Check with your local certified electrician for your best options.

 

[Mmatthews]

The attachment show what I've been getting with a 240v on a 50A. I'm sure my mobile charger has an error.

 

[Maquis]

The attachment show what I've been getting with a 240v on a 50A. I'm sure my mobile charger has an error.

What color lights are lit on the charger? That should indicate the error.

 

[Mmatthews]

Sometimes Orange but for the Error red on the charger and red on the truck charge port

 

[Maquis]

Sometimes Orange but for the Error red on the charger and red on the truck charge port

Red is bad. If it’s pulsing, it means ground fault. A single intermittent flash or solid means internal error, which means your dealer should replace it.

 

[Mmatthews]

Thank you. Much appreciated. I've been going crazy over this.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

Has anyone used both of these for their Lariat ER and can offer an opinion on which is better? I have both and haven't had the wiring done yet, but if the only advantage is the speed of charging, I would stick with the mobile charger which will save me roughly $1,000 in installation costs. That would pay for a LOT of charging. I won't be suckered into the home integration kit and I can live with charging from 15%-100% in 20 hours vs 8.

I was the first delivery of a Lightning in the Boston area. I used the Mobile charger for a month (until my CPS arrived; they were on back order.) I LOVE the CSP; it's so fast and seemless. I spent $7k to get the CSP installed -- power had to be brought in from quite a distance -- and it was worth every penny. But that's just my opinion.

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