I just DC fast charged for the 1st and 2nd time... it didn't go well.

[GDN]

It's simple - you bought an $80,000 vehicle. Read the manual. The Lightning is not a LEAF.

We ended an ElectrifyAmerica session by using the button on the charger. The EA account was hung up for the entire day until EA's IT department got it reset. We had difficulty charging at every stop.

While I'm about following the correct procedures and this is good to know to stop the charging on the pedestal first, lets just say this is nothing more than another huge EA fallacy and issue. They need to be thrown under the bus until they get this "junk" they call charging whipped into shape.

Tesla only has a few million vehicles on the road and several of them cost quite a bit more than the $80K pickup and you NEVER have to stop charging first. I do agree you push the button to unlock the cord, which stops the charging, but the pedestal itself doesn't even have a screen or a single button. This is on EA and is not a behavior everyone will learn or remember.

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[RickLightning]

While I'm about following the correct procedures and this is good to know to stop the charging on the pedestal first, lets just say this is nothing more than another huge EA fallacy and issue. They need to be thrown under the bus until they get this "junk" they call charging whipped into shape.

Tesla only has a few million vehicles on the road and several of them cost quite a bit more than the $80K pickup and you NEVER have to stop charging first. I do agree you push the button to unlock the cord, which stops the charging, but the pedestal itself doesn't even have a screen or a single button. This is on EA and is not a behavior everyone will learn or remember.

No, you stop charging on the vehicle by pushing the button - not on the pedestal.

Yes, the pedestal does have a button to stop charging... And it has a screen and it has buttons...

 

[Theo1000]

Done over 30 DCFC now. Always stop on the vehicle. Center button. give it a couple of seconds. Never an issue. Never know on the station equipment. Could be buggy, someone may have taken a baseball bat to it, etc


Not like gas where you yank away immediately. Though to be honest even on gas you should give it a few seconds to no spill gas but almost no one waits...

 

[GDN]

How would the charging port at the front of the vehicle be impossible to reach, but the one on the side isnt? Charging at every charging station has been a real problem because of trying to ensure the truck fits and the cord reaches. One of the EA stations at walmart I had to park offcenter or else there was no way even with stretching that the plug would have reached. The back center would have also been fine. Im sure relocation kits will come out, so ill just wait for those.

My garage is 20' deep, when I pull in I kiss the wall or stop 1" to 2" short. I would never be able to plug in while parked and the garage door closed.

 

[Theo1000]

How would the charging port at the front of the vehicle be impossible to reach, but the one on the side isnt?

I think if you had the truck you would not question this. There is about 6" clearance from front of truck to wall in my and I think most garages.

Also many DCFC stations are side access. take a look at picture below. Just imagine the cable strain if it was in front.

The Lighting has it in the only correct place IMO. I wish all companies put it there. In fact one of the reasons the ID-4 was crossed of my list is because it is in the rear, like my I3 which is pain in butt to charge.

 

[RickLightning]

How would the charging port at the front of the vehicle be impossible to reach, but the one on the side isnt? Charging at every charging station has been a real problem because of trying to ensure the truck fits and the cord reaches. One of the EA stations at walmart I had to park offcenter or else there was no way even with stretching that the plug would have reached. The back center would have also been fine. Im sure relocation kits will come out, so ill just wait for those.

My garage is 20' deep. An F-150L is almost 20'. When I pull my 2013 in, my front bumper touches the wall. I cannot walk in front of the bumper at all. I could not plug in anything that was more than about 18" in from the side.

In fact, to charge our Mach-E, in the right bay, we have the charger cord running along the floor under the F-150 bumper, then down between the vehicles, so we can plug in.

As to relocation kits, I doubt you will ever see one.

 

[Theo1000]

I have the truck, I guess the thing I underestimated was how many people pull in the garage vs back in.

It would be even worse if I backed in. Now the cable and handle are right by the garage door where all kind of things can go wrong.

I think Rivian has a nice compromise. Low down on the diver side near bumper but still think Lightning has it right and where it should be. The newer DCFC stations have an arm that swings out and suspends the cable closer to the port. These work very well too.

 

[VTbuckeye]

It would be a problem for me to have charging in the front. Front would be good on smaller vehicles, but many garages are very tight with something this large. Making aong vehicle longer is problematic in constrained or possibly constrained spaces. I also have storage above the front of the vehicle, so it parks under a shelf (just like my 2011 was parked). Front left makes a lot of sense. It is next to the driver. They will not have to go out of their way to plug/unplug. Left rear, like Tesla and a few others, is a close second for me. Driver's side, but out of the way. Right rear means going around the car every time you want to plug/unplug (something that happens VERY frequently compared to filling with gas). Right front????WTF. This is all a bit different in a right hand drive country, so world cars are right for one market and wrong for another. Ideally a plugs on both sides would be great, but that is not likely to happen.

 

[kbrannen]

I have the truck, I guess the thing I underestimated was how many people pull in the garage vs back in. ... Great feedback on the garages, that honestly is just something I would have thought about. I would have thought for trucks almost everybody backed in.

Isn't that going to depend on where you have your charger installed, which will vary by house? I'll have mine at the back of the garage near the driver's headlight, so plugging in the Lightning will mean I'll only need about 5 feet of cord. The reason for having the charger there is because my main panel is there too, so a super short run between them. Backing in wouldn't work so well for me. So yeah, it depends on the garage...

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