Electrify America fast charger not connecting [Post 27 resolution]

[richl025]

I've had my F150L for about 2 weeks now, and have just been charging at home with a 110V charger.

Today I took my first long trip with it - 125 miles, but it was over the Cascades so my battery was about 50% when I got to my destination. So I decided I would need to hit a fast charger for the very first time...

I tried 5 different Electrify America 350kW chargers, at 2 separate locations, and they would not "connect" with my truck. The EA charger would give an error message that said "failed to connect, unplug and try again" (or maybe it said "failed to communicate?"). The truck was not consistent - most of the time it wouldn't give any error message, but once or twice it showed a wrench icon and said "Service Needed" and once it said "charging failure".

I tried with both the FordPass app and the EA app, but the same error happened - I literally never got to the point where I could use the app or even use a credit card to pay at the charger. Charging using the Ford provided 110V charger works just fine (albeit glacially, of course).

I wound up driving to a Ford dealership where they let me plug into their 220V 30 amp charger, and I had to wait for 2-3 hours to get enough charge to limp home (literally - I coasted into my driveway on "fumes" with my battery charge reading 0%!!!)

Anyone have problems like this? I'm assuming this is a software glitch of some sort - I did call EA's customer service line but gave up after being on hold for 10 minutes in front of a charger I could not use...

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[invertedspear]

Still waiting on my truck, but in my MachE I tend to have connection issues if I just slap the plug in and expect it to work. I have to plug it in and hold it, keeping it lined up perfectly and inward pressure on until I hear the little whir of the locking mechanism. Once it locks, it's good to go.

 

[greenne]

Just to confirm, did you start the station via EA app BEFORE you plugged it into the truck?

(Yes I know that is not what it says on the EA station...ask me how I know)

If not you need to make sure you start the EA charger(via EA app)before you plug into the station. If you plug in first, the EA will try to access your blue oval charging account as default. If that has not been setup or is malfunctioning for a some reason..it will lead to this revolving loop of the truck and charger not talking to one another)

Always start the EA station via app BEFORE plugging in to mitigate any problems...

 

[Adventureboy]

Just to confirm, did you start the station via EA app BEFORE you plugged it into the truck?

(Yes I know that is not what it says on the EA station...ask me how I know)

If not you need to make sure you start the EA charger(via EA app)before you plug into the station. If you plug in first, the EA will try to access your blue oval charging account as default. If that has not been setup or is malfunctioning for a some reason..it will lead to this revolving loop of the truck and charger not talking to one another)

Always start the EA station via app BEFORE plugging in to mitigate any problems...

This is good to know.

 

[G-Zeus]

Still waiting on my truck, but in my MachE I tend to have connection issues if I just slap the plug in and expect it to work. I have to plug it in and hold it, keeping it lined up perfectly and inward pressure on until I hear the little whir of the locking mechanism. Once it locks, it's good to go.

Yes, this is the ONLY way to attempt to get consistent results.

1. Plug in the CCS to your truck
2. Hold it firmly in place
3. Let the charging station do it's connection thing
4. Open the EA app, find your charger, and start the charging (or use Ford pass app to do that instead)
5. Keep holding on to the plug to keep it in place
6. Do a little prayer that the charging station will activate, spin up, and start giving you a decent charge speed

In general, charging is hit-and-miss, a lot. It really sucks, quite surprisingly. There are so many things that can go wrong, and the charging stations are incredibly unreliable.. That we even need an app like PlugShare is ridiculous and shows this isn't ready for mainstream usage... just us bleeding edge types that will tolerate some pain. I'm more shocked when it works without any glitches and gives a high speed, it seems to be 50/50 in the few road trips I've had.

 

[Adventureboy]

I've had good success calling the charger owners when things don't go as planned. Sometimes they need to kick it from the inside to get it to connect. The number is usually posted right on the charger station. I do think the Blue Oval network sometimes gets in the way and keeps things from working the way they should. I've had better success with the individual apps for the charging networks than Blue Oval but even still, a phone call usually solves the issues.

 

[greenne]

This is good to know.

Yes.. I've dealt with this before....
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/new-owner-ea-charging-issue.13910/

It shouldn't be this hard, esp for new EV owners..but here we are. Also, EA tech support is worthless.. they will insist time after time you plug in first which is not recommended (also..its not just Ford..other EVs have issues too with initial plug in)

 

[Peddyr]

Yes.. I've dealt with this before....
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/new-owner-ea-charging-issue.13910/

It shouldn't be this hard, esp for new EV owners..but here we are. Also, EA tech support is worthless.. they will insist time after time you plug in first which is not recommended (also..its not just Ford..other EVs have issues too with initial plug in)

I usually check in first using my Ford Pass app, select the station, hop out and plug in, and then hit a button on the station screen to get going. That's when EA equipment actually works. I'd download the PlugShare app (if you havent already) and see if there are any other fast or public chargers close by. Even a free (for the first couple hours) ChargePoint station to see if you have the same issues. I suspect you won't.

 

[Zprime29]

I've never had to hold the plug in place to get an EA station to work. The only time they haven't worked is the station not connecting to the EA servers (confirmed after calling EA support). My approach is the same as @greenne, swipe first, then plug in.

There was a owner not long ago that posted he got stranded when his truck didn't DC charge on the way home from picking it up (dealer didn't top up his battery on delivery...different issue there) and I seem to recall it turned out he had something faulty on the truck that prevented DC charging. If you have a nearby DCFC, try one more time with the above suggestions and if you are still not able to charge then I would get it in to a dealer to be looked at.

 

[Antdaddy]

How many days did it take you to charge from 0 miles 0 percent, to reach 90 or 100 percent on 110volts? I immediately upgraded after purchase to 220volts at home, after seeing it would take at least 3 days. Used EA in Pleasanton last week already had app and credit card on file, charged no problem added 134mi in 25mins amazing.

 

[RickLightning]

I've had my F150L for about 2 weeks now, and have just been charging at home with a 110V charger.

Today I took my first long trip with it - 125 miles, but it was over the Cascades so my battery was about 50% when I got to my destination. So I decided I would need to hit a fast charger for the very first time...

I tried 5 different Electrify America 350kW chargers, at 2 separate locations, and they would not "connect" with my truck. The EA charger would give an error message that said "failed to connect, unplug and try again" (or maybe it said "failed to communicate?"). The truck was not consistent - most of the time it wouldn't give any error message, but once or twice it showed a wrench icon and said "Service Needed" and once it said "charging failure".

I tried with both the FordPass app and the EA app, but the same error happened - I literally never got to the point where I could use the app or even use a credit card to pay at the charger. Charging using the Ford provided 110V charger works just fine (albeit glacially, of course).

I wound up driving to a Ford dealership where they let me plug into their 220V 30 amp charger, and I had to wait for 2-3 hours to get enough charge to limp home (literally - I coasted into my driveway on "fumes" with my battery charge reading 0%!!!)

Anyone have problems like this? I'm assuming this is a software glitch of some sort - I did call EA's customer service line but gave up after being on hold for 10 minutes in front of a charger I could not use...

Your issue is likely that you haven't activated your FordPass Blue Oval Charging Network, which would have let you use your 250kWh of free charging. Sign into your account and do that.

 

[greenne]

Your issue is likely that you haven't activated your FordPass Blue Oval Charging Network, which would have let you use your 250kWh of free charging. Sign into your account and do that.

If you have not set up a Fordpass Blue Oval Acct and/or it is not working correctly and you plug in before the station is started it will probably fail to communicate/start. It could also possibly brick the charger.

 

[richl025]

Your issue is likely that you haven't activated your FordPass Blue Oval Charging Network, which would have let you use your 250kWh of free charging. Sign into your account and do that.

No, the Blue Oval is activated & set up

 

[richl025]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

There is an EA fast charger in my town, I'll give that a try after work, by activating BEFORE I plug in...

(Note to self: do NOT read the directions this time!)

 

[richl025]

How many days did it take you to charge from 0 miles 0 percent, to reach 90 or 100 percent on 110volts?...

Ha ha, luckily my 220V (aftermarket) charger that can run on my 20 amp 220V circuit arrived last night - so after about 8 hours of charging time I had over 60 miles of range back.

But man, I cruised into my driveway on FUMES!

Well, OK, not fumes. Weak sparks?

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