DC Fast Charging lack of info

[Danface]

I find the whole ethos around Ford software to be awful, no more awful then lots of others but awful none the less. Yup, I'm old and yearn for the early days of the internet when everything wasn't about collecting personal data to sell you crap.

I didn't accept the latest Terms and Conditions for the app so I suppose I'll just have to hop in the truck and drive it like every other vehicle I've ever driven for the last 47 years. Honestly, I would like to use new tech but, for me, the cost is just to high.

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[VAF84]

Same here with the 10 different apps. Although I use them more so to retain my rate discounts since FordPass won't discount the rate when you just plug in; even with an active membership.

 

[Etsquared]

I'm not a road tripper, but I like to be ready for stuff, you know, just in case. So I just had to try DC fast charging. My first DC fast charging session was at a EA charging station located in Globe AZ. Fairly small only 3 or 4 plugs but I was the only one using the facility so it didn't matter. Followed the directions on the charger screen and everything worked great. I only added about 7.9 kWh since this was just a test for me and I had enough charge to get home. The truck didn't tell me squat about what was happening, the charger was my only information source. But hey, I got a notification in FordPass after the fact that my charging bundle had been reduced by 7.9 kWh.

Then I received my A2Z adapter the other day and decided to try a local (20 miles away) v3 supercharger. CarPlay navigated me to the charging location because Ford nav had no clue a useable charger was located there. Got to the location and attached the adapter. Hardest thing about that was locking the adapter and the charging handle together. Tesla app wanted my billing address updated for some reason, I had added that the other day, so gave up on that app at least for that session. FordPass was useless since it didn't show a charger anyway, so I tried plug and charge, it worked. I left the truck on since I wanted the A/C to work the truck showed Fast Charging in orange on the big screen, no other indication I was charging, how fast I was charging etc. However, SOC was updating and I had set a 60% charge limit that appeared to work. In the end, FordPass had a notification that I had been charged $6.88 for the session.

Lack of real time information in my truck especially when using plug and charge is pretty awful. Just my $.02 as a newb to this DC thing.

Tried something similar by testing DC charging at EA flawless for me as well. Kudos to Ford in allowing Tesla to hook up their charging stations as well. When I get my adapter I intend on doing exactly what you did. Seems like sharing successfully executed tests with the rest of Ford family owners out there the best way to help everyone out

 

[Etsquared]

I find the whole ethos around Ford software to be awful, no more awful then lots of others but awful none the less. Yup, I'm old and yearn for the early days of the internet when everything wasn't about collecting personal data to sell you crap.

I didn't accept the latest Terms and Conditions for the app so I suppose I'll just have to hop in the truck and drive it like every other vehicle I've ever driven for the last 47 years. Honestly, I would like to use new tech but, for me, the cost is just to high.

63 years old and never used or worked on a computer after working on F4 phantoms in the USAF.Honestly the new app doesn’t take much time investment to see the progress Ford is making to make ease of technology reachable for us elders. Did love my ‘96 ranger five speed stick I bought new for 10k it was simple a workhorse and fun. But this lightning is changing my mind about tech complexity

 

[Danface]

63 years old and never used or worked on a computer after working on F4 phantoms in the USAF.Honestly the new app doesn’t take much time investment to see the progress Ford is making to make ease of technology reachable for us elders. Did love my ‘96 ranger five speed stick I bought new for 10k it was simple a workhorse and fun. But this lightning is changing my mind about tech complexity

I do database programming all day long (still use vi/gvim though). I can see the value but I'm not in any hurry to provide all that info to Ford. I mean I've rooted my phone and installed a firewall to block traffic for apps, adway (which created a 4 MB hosts file with 125,000 entries) to block server crosstalk, File Manager to block low level permissions like fine location access and sending info to Google, Akamai etc and my network traffic goes through a VPN installed on the router and I have my own domains and email service. No tinfoil beanies ... yet!!

I like tech but I feel it's being "abused" and, not to get political, this country really has nothing akin to GPC in the EU or even what California has for privacy controls. All tools can be used and abused so I'm not railing against anything, just not willing to feed the information hogs.

 

[Etsquared]

I do database programming all day long (still use vi/gvim though). I can see the value but I'm not in any hurry to provide all that info to Ford. I mean I've rooted my phone and installed a firewall to block traffic for apps, adway (which created a 4 MB hosts file with 125,000 entries) to block server crosstalk, File Manager to block low level permissions like fine location access and sending info to Google, Akamai etc and my network traffic goes through a VPN installed on the router and I have my own domains and email service. No tinfoil beanies ... yet!!

I like tech but I feel it's being "abused" and, not to get political, this country really has nothing akin to GPC in the EU or even what California has for privacy controls. All tools can be used and abused so I'm not railing against anything, just not willing to feed the information hogs.

Wish it wasn’t so but alas I gave up, just VPN everything and hope for sanity to evolve by 2035. No reason for the year just a gut feeling it’s going to take a decade or more to get privacy back in the fold

 

[Danface]

Wish it wasn’t so but alas I gave up, just VPN everything and hope for sanity to evolve by 2035. No reason for the year just a gut feeling it’s going to take a decade or more to get privacy back in the fold

Yeah, I think the "decade" is about right. Hopefully the boomers will "pass the torch to a new generation" and that generation, who will have lived with the "lack of privacy" ramification, will assert some control (and not "sell out" )

Yeah, driving stick was (and still is) great! Of course I think of the old joke "Four on the floor and a fifth under the seat"

 

[chl]

I find the whole ethos around Ford software to be awful, no more awful then lots of others but awful none the less. Yup, I'm old and yearn for the early days of the internet when everything wasn't about collecting personal data to sell you crap.

I didn't accept the latest Terms and Conditions for the app so I suppose I'll just have to hop in the truck and drive it like every other vehicle I've ever driven for the last 47 years. Honestly, I would like to use new tech but, for me, the cost is just to high.

I worked in a systems software group at Bell Labs in the 1980's - the group tested things for months before giving the software to the 'baby bells' and documented it thoroughly but even then there were unexpected glitches, users trying to do things the software wasn't designed for, changing parameters they shouldn't, hardware issues, etc.

But that was when people wrote tight code because memory and processing power was limited.

Nowadays, software is millions of lines of code long, written in modules by different departments, and barely beta tested before release.

It is not just Ford - look what happened with Crowd Strike and Windows the other day!

Have to make regular backups of the Windows OS to avoid crashes when they send out a major update that bricks the PC.

Now we have computers with wheels to contend with.

But it is perfectly acceptable to just get in and drive and ignore the software update issues.

As long as the truck runs and can charge, the radio works, the heat and A/C work, the locks and windows work, the turn signals and other lights work, it's all good.

 

[chl]

I do database programming all day long (still use vi/gvim though). I can see the value but I'm not in any hurry to provide all that info to Ford. I mean I've rooted my phone and installed a firewall to block traffic for apps, adway (which created a 4 MB hosts file with 125,000 entries) to block server crosstalk, File Manager to block low level permissions like fine location access and sending info to Google, Akamai etc and my network traffic goes through a VPN installed on the router and I have my own domains and email service. No tinfoil beanies ... yet!!

I like tech but I feel it's being "abused" and, not to get political, this country really has nothing akin to GPC in the EU or even what California has for privacy controls. All tools can be used and abused so I'm not railing against anything, just not willing to feed the information hogs.

The problem is, no matter what you do, they still have tools that can crack it.
The minute you come up with a barrier they find a way over it, under it, around it or through it.

Want real privacy?
Have to go completely off the grid and live where the satellites can't see you from above, where drones can't fly, where there is no line of sight to bounce lasers off your windows and listen to convos, no walls that x-rays can penetrate, and wear that tin foil hat so they can't zap your brain with microwaves.

Pass a law, and they'll go to a secret court ex parte and get an secret warrant, or ignore the law until they get caught, but they'll slap national security on the file and redact it into the abyss, or burn it in the WH fireplace.

In the worse case scenario, they'll use extraordinary rendition and send you to a black sight out of the jurisdiction of US or EU laws and teach you what it feels like to drown.

But it won't last much longer, mother nature has some real serious disasters planned, thanks to all that carbon burning we've been doing.

And if we happen to avoid the worst, by driving EVs, etc., there's an asteroid out there with our planet's name on it waiting in the wings.

So carpe diem, and send them a lot of useless noise data to collect and waste time on.

 

[hturnerfamily]

as for the DC Fast Charging or Tesla Supercharging 'speeds' for the LIGHTNING, the FordPass APP is the real place to find current/ongoing charging speeds, time, kwh, etc.

yes, the truck might 'should' tell you all this, and we'll certainly appreciate it when it eventually gets updated with that info, but the APP currently gives you everything you need under the 'ENERGY' tab, WHEN you are currently charging.
The truck driver screen really only tells you that you are successfully 'charging', and at what time you might reach the current 'goal'.

As to PLUG-N-CHARGE at Tesla Superchargers and Electrify America stations, it works perfectly. No need for ANY charging app, or fumbling thru other requirements. Easy.
I've never found any charging simplicity more than Tesla Superchargers. No screen, no fuse, just plug in and it starts charging. BOTH of these flow effortlessly thru your FordBlueOval payment account, where FORD debits your preferred payment method, and sends you a nice email summary of your charge.

If I find myself HAVING to make use of a Chargepoint or EVgo stations, well, the Chargepoint APP is fairly easy, it handles BOTH of these providers, and especially easy if you have it loaded into your phones 'tap and pay' method. Tap the phone on the front of the unit, touch Chargepoint, and away you go.

Now, if all the 'other' Charging apps were so quick and easy.... not! The other day I used a brand-new AUTEL unit in front of a gas station. I'd never seen the 'RED E' charging payment method, where you have to scan the QRcode to then type in ALL of your payment information, by hand, one letter or number at a time, and then find out that they put a $50 HOLD on your card, for several days, before they finally square away the ACTUAL charge of $8.06.

Florida's I75 Lake City FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT(FPL) stations seem to be a good stopping place, although they, too, require you to load THEIR app, apply manually ALL of your payment information, before you can start to charge. This can take a while, and even when you have set up the app, you have to 'find' the charging station NUMBER to let it know 'which' station you are charging at. Why charging stations don't make a station's NUMBER very, very apparent is beyond me, when you are also REQUIRED to enter it to start charging. They hide them. : /

ORLANDO's OUC downtown Charging HUB is a great place, but, just like before, it too requires you to 'hunt and find' the charging station's NUMBER, hidden somewhere on the unit, on a tiny little label, to start charging. CRAZY.
How 'bout let's make some BIG LETTERS/NUMBERS, OUC, and post them way up HIGH so they are very apparent and easy to see! Come on, people. There are only 21 various stations here....so...... (this is also AFTER you have to load THEIR app, and upload a minimum amount of 'FUNDS' before the app while allow you to charge.) Crazy. My station number was 128004. Makes little sense.

I'll admit, too, that while Chargepoint stations don't make their station numbers easily read, either, EVgo has made it very easy: they NAME their units. Ever see a 'Tsunami' ? or a
' Yolanda' ? or a ' Khamani ' ? ...


ok., rant over.
I'll stick with Tesla when possible. Easy. No fuss. No concerns. Plenty of stations. They work.

 

[TaxmanHog]

 

[RickLightning]

FPL lets you scan a code on the charger.

 

[Zprime29]

ODBII readers are cheap, I started playing more with mine finally. I still don't have all the PIDs set up but I can watch the incoming amps, amps requested, temperatures, etc.... I think I paid $20 for it. Super useful.

 

[potato]

It also assumes you are paying the subscription fee to keep the truck connected.

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