Charging apps question

[Maquis]

I'd rather use the app for the EVSE. I've woke up to a non charged truck numerous times because I've relied on the truck to start the charge. I've never had an uncharged Mach-E in the morning with the app controlling the charge settings.

That’s fair….in my case, I don’t need a schedule. I just plug in at night and let it charge.

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[shutterbug]

Honestly, for at home use, unless you have a need or strong desire for a smart unit, you should look for a "dumb" EVSE. Just plug in to charge, no muss, no fuss, no app, and lower cost. If you need to manage charging times, the truck can do that, through that can be a bit finicky.

It only happened a few times, but both my Lightning and MME decided that I was parked at some non-existent address, and started charging as soon as I plugged in. Since my peak electricity costs are significantly higher than off-peak, It makes a difference.

 

[GarageMahal]

I love my Emporia. The only time I use the is app is to adjust the charging amps. I keep it at 30 even though it can do 48.

I see no reason to pull more than 30 daily as it replenishes my daily use in under 3 hours. I have bumped it up once or twice when I needed a quicker charge.

 

[Pioneer74]

That’s fair….in my case, I don’t need a schedule. I just plug in at night and let it charge.

My "super off peak" hours start at 11pm. I get up for work at 5:30am. I shouldn't have to babysit my truck to make sure it starts to charge according to my schedule. But because I can't control the charging by the FCSP, I do.

It's sad I have to stay up that late because the software engineers can't make a reliable product, but here we are.

 

[Phineas Magliozzi]

All valid points, however, if you have solar panels and TOU metering, then the Emporia "Excess Solar" feature is the Killer App. It charges the vehicle with excess solar power at a continuously variable rate using whatever your panels generate above your otherwise base load, but at a minimum of about 1.5kW. Anything less than that and it just shuts off. You have to manually diddle with it a bit potentially, like flipping it back in to Scheduled mode if you want it to charge that night, but with the rate structure in PG&E territory its essential, IMHO.

 

[mr.Magoo]

Check with your power company if they offer incentives and if so on what chargers. I have a chargepoint ($500 check from the power company for installing one).

Once you've made your setting you don't really need the app, you can either disable it or completely uninstall it.
I kept it as it's the same for the fast charging network.

I'm not using the trucks app/settings anymore as I find it highly annoying with a bunch of useless warnings about being outside preferred hours even though it's clearly within.

 

[MickeyAO]

Two EVs in the household (ER Lightning and EV6), one EVSE (40 A) for both. Really haven't had a problem with this. I don't bother with the EVSE app.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'm not using the trucks app/settings anymore as I find it highly annoying with a bunch of useless warnings about being outside preferred hours even though it's clearly within.

Some of the alerts can be switched off.

 

[RickLightning]

The easy way to stop FordPass alerts is to use the Android app. Not a single notification ever.

 

[hturnerfamily]

... I shouldn't have to babysit my truck to make sure it starts to charge according to my schedule.
It's sad I have to stay up that late because the software engineers can't...

touche... and to your point, those of us with Time-of-Use utility savings options for overnight charging should be able to simply tell the truck what time to START charging, and what time to END charging, no matter what 'level' the battery is at when the timing ends...

I'm tired of plugging in my LIGHTNING when I arrive home, only to have it start charging IMMEDIATELY, even though I have told it that I don't want ANY charging to take place UNTIL 11pm...

crazy why it's so 'hard' for this to be a such a seemingly simple task.

by the way, not just FORD, but others:
I am tired of having to set up a 'departure schedule' for my Wife's KIA PHEV to allow it to make use of my 11pm to 7am charge 'window', even though it explicitly asks me 'when' I want the car to charge... I don't care about 'departure' times, I just want it to START at 11pm... it's only a hybrid PHEV with less than 4 hours to a full charge - how hard should this BE!???

 

[Hammick]

Have been using the Autel (50a) hard wired model for about a year. It's been flawless. Recent had to switch to a time of use plan with our POCO. Set the Autel to start charging at Midnight and stop at 6:00 am and it hasn't missed a beat. I also love that it has the ability to show you the charge costs for each session (let's you input all the different daily kwh rates)

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