A2Z Tesla and Charge Fault

[TheWoo]

Sorry everyone, I thought I posted on here that I finally got it to charge. What I do now is attach adapter, then push solidly into the ground to make sure it's in all the way, then it's good to go.

I charged using all Tesla on my way back from KY last week. So many benefits. Member pass saved me a bundle even when compared against EA pass. On average Tesla was $.31kwh and EA $.56. Both of those are member prices.

The stops were more convenient and closer to the highway.

The stops had a decent option of places to eat vs just Walmart over my 18 hour trip.

No more range anxiety. I mean, I still want more range. However, I pushed the limit a little more to save me from unnecessary additional spots.

Only complaint is on the Ford side. I had to use ABRP because Ford kept trying to send me to non-Tesla stops. Also a pain because ABRP would tell me how long to stop for whereas Ford Nav wouldn't. I basically used Ford nav to go to another nearby charge to trigger preconditioning, while running a second phone with ABRP trip since you can't run two maps simulatneously in the LER using CarPlay.

It will be a nice addition when Ford adds open Tesla SCs to Nav. I wonder if they're having to work out a way for people to filter them out if they don't have adapters...

Ford's nav is generally garbage, though, so I'm not holding my breath.

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[TomB985]

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Only complaint is on the Ford side. I had to use ABRP because Ford kept trying to send me to non-Tesla stops. Also a pain because ABRP would tell me how long to stop for whereas Ford Nav wouldn't. I basically used Ford nav to go to another nearby charge to trigger preconditioning, while running a second phone with ABRP trip since you can't run two maps simulatneously in the LER using CarPlay.

I don’t think we have any kind of preconditioning. I’ve heard it talked about, but I monitored temperatures constantly on my last trip. Nothing I did got the truck to change its behavior with battery cooling.

I tried navigating to an EA station using the truck’s nav last January and saw no heating. I navigated to half dozen adjacent DCFC on my recent trip and saw no cooling. I constantly rolled into superchargers with my battery over 90°F despite navigating to other DCFC a few miles away. The truck is capable of chilling the battery with the AC compressor, but my coolant inlet temp never decreased until after I started charging. All of this was done using the trucks navigation while using my secondary phone to find the supercharger.

Either my truck is broken or we don’t have preconditioning. I think it’s the latter.

 

[biers]

I don’t ever use for Nav and therefore no preconditioning. Never had a notice issue with DC charging speeds. In fact, I prefer to not burn the extra kWhs if I’m paying DC charging rates.

 

[RickLightning]

I don’t think we have any kind of preconditioning. I’ve heard it talked about, but I monitored temperatures constantly on my last trip. Nothing I did got the truck to change its behavior with battery cooling.

I tried navigating to an EA station using the truck’s nav last January and saw no heating. I navigated to half dozen adjacent DCFC on my recent trip and saw no cooling. I constantly rolled into superchargers with my battery over 90°F despite navigating to other DCFC a few miles away. The truck is capable of chilling the battery with the AC compressor, but my coolant inlet temp never decreased until after I started charging. All of this was done using the trucks navigation while using my secondary phone to find the supercharger.

Either my truck is broken or we don’t have preconditioning. I think it’s the latter.

We have preconditioning. I believe an update broke it.

 

[VTHokies]

I was having some issues the other day with charger fault when activating from the Tesla app, then I remembered I had the plug and charge turned on so assumed that was the issue. As soon as I turned that off no issue activating from the Tesla app.

 

[TomB985]

We have preconditioning. I believe an update broke it.

I look forward to my truck proving me wrong.

 

[Maquis]

We have preconditioning. I believe an update broke it.

Updates giveth, updates taketh away….

 

[TomB985]

We have preconditioning. I believe an update broke it.

I remember discussing this in another thread. @TaxmanHog pointed out that preconditioning was only listed for the Mach E. In the Ford EV Q&A site, the Q is listed as “How do I precondition my Mustang MachE Battery for fast charging?”

If someone can point to something that suggests the Lightning is supposed to precondition, I’d love to see it.

 

[RickLightning]

I remember discussing this in another thread. @TaxmanHog pointed out that preconditioning was only listed for the Mach E. In the Ford EV Q&A site, the Q is listed as “How do I precondition my Mustang MachE Battery for fast charging?”

If someone can point to something that suggests the Lightning is supposed to precondition, I’d love to see it.

Ford stated this multiple times. See #6 below.

Dec 18, 2023
Hi owners! With winter fast approaching and temperatures dropping across the country, we want to make sure you and your EV are prepared to take on the winter weather.

Ford EVs have been tested in extreme conditions. They’ve endured months of real-world winter driving in Alaska and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – and Ford EV batteries have been subjected to temperatures as high as 140°F to as low as minus 40°F in Ford’s atmospheric test chambers. Still, colder temperatures impact EV range – this is normal and can be minimized with some extra planning.

Here are some tips & tricks to maximize your range this winter:

1. Park your EV in a garage whenever possible – Garage storage helps to ensure that harsh weather conditions outside do not affect your vehicle, and maintaining a warmer storage temperature than outdoors will aid in vehicle and battery performance.
2. Keep your EV plugged in when parked – Keeping the vehicle plugged in works to maintain battery health and helps to prevent excessive discharge scenarios.
3. Precondition your vehicle before use to warm the battery while plugged-in – By preconditioning your vehicle, you’re allowing the battery to warm to optimum temperature before use, positively affecting range and driving dynamics. Preconditioning can be scheduled using the vehicle’s center touch screen or from the comfort of your couch using the FordPass app.
4. The best way to keep warm – If equipped, use the heated seats and steering wheel as primary heat to reduce energy consumed by HVAC.
5. Turn off the heat when charging your EV – When charging, turn off the heater if possible, or lower the temperature enough to remain comfortable (especially when using DCFC).
6. Use your vehicle’s Ford Onboard Navigation to locate a DC Fast Charging station - In doing this, the vehicle preconditions by warming up the battery within 20 miles of your destination. This allows the battery to accept a charge faster in cold weather, getting you back on the road quicker.
7. Brush all the snow off before driving to eliminate extra weight and drag – While your EV likely wouldn’t have a problem hauling Frosty the Snowman on your roof, loose snow and ice is a hazard for both you and other drivers.
8. Keep driving speeds moderate in cold temperature as high speeds use more energy – Higher speeds can negatively impact range, for best results, Ford recommends limiting your speed when possible.
9. Ensure your tires are at the proper pressure – Proper tire pressure not only works to maximize range, it also works to ensure that the correct amount of tire surface area is gripping the road. Tires that are over or underinflated can lead to range degradation along with safety and performance issues. You can find the proper tire pressure figures for your vehicle using either the sticker on the door jamb, the tire pressure app on your center screen, or the owner’s manual shortcut also located using the center screen.
10. Plan your route + be prepared for whatever winter brings: Before leaving, identify all the charging locations on your route and plan your stops strategically. As with all winter driving, expect the unexpected. Make sure you have a plan in the event you run into poor conditions.

So, bundle up, grab a cup of hot chocolate, and safe travels!

 

[TaxmanHog]

I remember discussing this in another thread. @TaxmanHog pointed out that preconditioning was only listed for the Mach E. In the Ford EV Q&A site, the Q is listed as “How do I precondition my Mustang MachE Battery for fast charging?”

If someone can point to something that suggests the Lightning is supposed to precondition, I’d love to see it.

I was talking about the graphic, they should have something to the effect {How do I precondition my [BEV vehicle] battery for DC Fast Charging}

I've experienced substantial winter charging performance over the past 20 months, barring the most recent glitch in the programming, luckily we're heading into a warm spring and summer, so this won't be an issue for me and many folks south of the Arctic circle.

 

[sdingeldein]

You should be able to plug and charge through Fordpass, but if that isn't working or you want to subscribe and save a few bucks you can use the Tesla app to activate a charger prior to plugging in.

I got the plug and charge update last night and will try it this morning. I thought the dealer had done it, but evidently not. Yay!

 

[Lightning Rod]

I tried my A2Z yesterday on 4 different stalls and I too kept getting the Charger Fault error. After reading this thread, I will try it again in a couple days when I have time.

Thank goodness for this forum and this thread.

Ok, I did what you guys said and I made sure the lock was in the UNLOCKED position before inserting the charger plug into the A2Z and I knew right away that the plug went in further and made a reassuring "click" sound and that's when I knew that I was doing it wrong the first time I tried it last week.

I plugged in and it started charging right away. I charged from 76 percent to 78 in just a couple of minutes. I received a Ford Motor Company receipt via email and my charge session costed me 92 cents. I feel so much better now, knowing that I have much more charging options.

Thanks, guys!

 

[TheBigBezo]

Friends,

I'm in dire straits here. My A2Z adapter has failed, at least, that's how it appears. I'm currently stranded in Baton Rouge. I've used my A2Z for both Plug and Charge as well as via the Tesla App. Today, after pulling in to charge, it failed with a fault after a few minutes. It was charging normally before then. Since that issue, it will not charge at all. I tried multiple stalls, a different Supercharger all together... The nearest EA station is down and the next closes is 70 miles away via I10 when I'm sitting at a 8kW L2 at 12%. This sucks. Really bad. A2Z didn't pick up the times I tried calling, so I guess I'm sitting here until I have enough to limp to EA and then never touch a Tesla station until I have my official Ford adapter.

I tried everything folks, ensured it was open, inserted the Tesla end, and locked it. It's worked fine before this. But now, nothing. Plug and Charge just flashes red. Trying via the app says it can't connect to the truck. I don't know what's causing it but man I'm both seriously frustrated and embarrassed. I guess my dog and I will sit here for the next few hours.

My first honest to God nightmare charging story and it's happening while I'm driving a thousand miles for work.

Edit: See further down posts, A2Z called me back and we worked through it via video chat. Not confirmed yet but I think the tension from the short Tesla cables had caused an issue. Holding the charger to relieve tension got it to work and after letting it out slowly, now I'm back to rock and rolling. Looking inside the port on the truck itself one of the upper J1772 pins looks possibly bent, which may have caused a communication failure. The truck would show no lights when the adapter was inserted nor pass a fault. Something to consider for everyone is how tension could damage the vehicles (still only a theory).

 

[RickLightning]

Friends,

I'm in dire straits here. My A2Z adapter has failed, at least, that's how it appears. I'm currently stranded in Baton Rouge. I've used my A2Z for both Plug and Charge as well as via the Tesla App. Today, after pulling in to charge, it failed with a fault after a few minutes. It was charging normally before then. Since that issue, it will not charge at all. I tried multiple stalls, a different Supercharger all together... The nearest EA station is down and the next closes is 70 miles away via I10 when I'm sitting at a 8kW L2 at 12%. This sucks. Really bad. A2Z didn't pick up the times I tried calling, so I guess I'm sitting here until I have enough to limp to EA and then never touch a Tesla station until I have my official Ford adapter.

I tried everything folks, ensured it was open, inserted the Tesla end, and locked it. It's worked fine before this. But now, nothing. Plug and Charge just flashes red. Trying via the app says it can't connect to the truck. I don't know what's causing it but man I'm both seriously frustrated and embarrassed. I guess my dog and I will sit here for the next few hours.

My first honest to God nightmare charging story and it's happening while I'm driving a thousand miles for work.

When a charging fault happens, here's the method to possibly reset the vehicle (note - if no error messages are shown in the vehicle it may not work):

1) Unplug charger.
2) Turn vehicle off completely.
3) Open and close driver's door.
4) All screens should go black (you can sit inside).
5) Wait at least 5 min, if not 10.
6) Start the car and see if there are error messages.

If not, try again. @A2ZEV

 

[TheBigBezo]

When a charging fault happens, here's the method to possibly reset the vehicle (note - if no error messages are shown in the vehicle it may not work):

1) Unplug charger.
2) Turn vehicle off completely.
3) Open and close driver's door.
4) All screens should go black (you can sit inside).
5) Wait at least 5 min, if not 10.
6) Start the car and see if there are error messages.

If not, try again. @A2ZEV

I'll give this a shot. I wondered if it was a vehicle issue since Tesla could tell the charger was connected but they there was no communication from the truck. I'll shut it off for a while and see if that works. I had shut it off and let it power completely down when I was troubleshooting at the Supercharger but I didn't have it off super long. Too busy panicking about how I'm going to make it to San Antonio I guess lol.

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