Sooooo...where's the full DCFC test?

[vandy1981]

I've pulled up to 174 kw at 50% on the 350 kw Electrify America chargers in my Lariat ER.

I haven't tried using many of the 150 kW EA stations, but the ones I have used peak in the 120s-130s. I think there are some amperage limitations on the 150 kW chargers that prevent you from getting the maximum wattage.

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[Sklith]

I've pulled up to 174 kw at 50% on the 350 kw Electrify America chargers in my Lariat ER.

I haven't tried using many of the 150 kW EA stations, but the ones I have used peak in the 120s-130s. I think there are some amperage limitations on the 150 kW chargers that prevent you from getting the maximum wattage.

The Lightning's battery nominal voltage is fairly low so that's correct - 150 kW stations won't max out when charging a Lightning unless the charging session's nearly finished.

 

[blpublic]

SR or ER?

Mine is ER platinum so has all the options.

TBH your situation sounds like normal behavior. After the initial burst anything from 80-130kw is normal depending on weather, charge state, cell voltages, etc. Mine tends towards 128-132 so far but this is summer. Will change in winter, your may think different.

It depends on the station. At the St Charles location station #2 has got me to 166-172 kw for the first 10-15 minutes. usually get about 80-100 miles or 30%-40% charge. Have charged here 4 times this past 2 months. Station #3 once gave me just 34kw so I moved.

I used Booneville probably 10+ times past 2 months with. Usually Station #3 & #4 do well. Station #2 is unpredictable.

As long as you are driving above 40 mph the truck battery will never get above 30c. The cooler is powerful enough to to get the battery from 45c to 30c in 2 minutes under DC fc charging at 60 kw, check out some of the charge curve videos. Even towing you won't exceed that for more than a few seconds.

The logic the truck uses to set the charge speed is a mystery to us all. We make some educated guesses but only the truck logic knows what it is doing. You might have to experiment with chargers and SoC you arrive at to see what your truck says.

Thanks for the reply! We have the Lariat ER. I was expecting what Ford advertized as going from 15% to 80% in about 41 minutes (https://www.ford.com/support/how-to...htning-charging-frequently-asked-questions/#8). The last experience I described above was with station #3.

Do you have the Max Tow package?

We called Ford to see how to fix this. They said they can't tell remotely and said we have to go to the Dealer. The dealer near me (Bo Beuckman) said the first service appointment is in October. We didn't buy it there (we moved in the last two weeks). The dealer were we bought it 2.5 weeks ago (3 hours away now), said it will be a week. We need to take a trip from Missouri to Montana on Saturday. This could be painful if we can't charge above 30-60kW.

 

[Theo1000]

We called Ford to see how to fix this. They said they can't tell remotely and said we have to go to the Dealer. The dealer near me (Bo Beuckman) said the first service appointment is in October. We didn't buy it there (we moved in the last two weeks). The dealer were we bought it 2.5 weeks ago (3 hours away now), said it will be a week. We need to take a trip from Missouri to Montana on Saturday. This could be painful if we can't charge above 30-60kW.

Mine has the max tow.

60 kw dcfc while under 80% , there is something likely broken. Your truck would light up like a Christmas tree though….

If there are no codes it has to be the chargers. Try swapping them around. I just did a 1,600 mile round drive to Indiana and almost every EA station that is listed for 350 kw got me in the 170 kw peak and 120 kw steady range. Even the 150 kw units gave me at least 110-120kw eventually.

One trick, once you plug in do not slam doors or jostle the charge connection in any way. Sometimes the charger logic can freak out.

 

[blpublic]

Mine has the max tow.

60 kw dcfc while under 80% , there is something likely broken. Your truck would light up like a Christmas tree though….

If there are no codes it has to be the chargers. Try swapping them around. I just did a 1,600 mile round drive to Indiana and almost every EA station that is listed for 350 kw got me in the 170 kw peak and 120 kw steady range. Even the 150 kw units gave me at least 110-120kw eventually.

One trick, once you plug in do not slam doors or jostle the charge connection in any way. Sometimes the charger logic can freak out.

Thank you! Today we charged at Boonville again. The first time on station 3 it did the same thing (at 35% charge, started at ~170kW and within a few minutes it went back down to 35kW). We swiched to the other cable on the same station tower and this time it went to 175kW and stayed above 125kW for 15 minutes! The temperatures were much lower this morning (70s). Maybe that helped. I sure hope the max towing package is not required to get good DC fast chargning since you can't add that through the dealer. We are still trying to get into a dealer to dianose, but none are really near a fast charger and we can't get in quickly. Also, we are driving to Montana starting this weekend. So, it will likley be in Montana. I will post how the trip went and if we get a resolution.

 

[vandy1981]

Thank you! Today we charged at Boonville again. The first time on station 3 it did the same thing (at 35% charge, started at ~170kW and within a few minutes it went back down to 35kW). We swiched to the other cable on the same station tower and this time it went to 175kW and stayed above 125kW for 15 minutes! The temperatures were much lower this morning (70s). Maybe that helped. I sure hope the max towing package is not required to get good DC fast chargning since you can't add that through the dealer. We are still trying to get into a dealer to dianose, but none are really near a fast charger and we can't get in quickly. Also, we are driving to Montana starting this weekend. So, it will likley be in Montana. I will post how the trip went and if we get a resolution.

~35 kW is the default charging rate when the coolant loop sensor goes out on EA chargers. If you see this at lower states of charge it's a charger issue not a truck issue.

 

[Theo1000]

Thank you! Today we charged at Boonville again. The first time on station 3 it did the same thing (at 35% charge, started at ~170kW and within a few minutes it went back down to 35kW).

BTW the symptom you reported indicates bad charge cable cooling slow sensor specifically since the other cable works. I would report it on plug share so the next person can avoid it. Also EA does monitor the comments and will eventually send someone to fix.

So your truck is fine. You just need to get into a pattern of checking plugshare to see which chargers to avoid. Thankfully these days there is only the odd station here or there that is trouble some.

Watch out for the charging deserts. There was a time couple of years ago the entire state of Montana did not have a single dcfc, because... ...Montana....

Your trip to Montana should go fine as long as you look up chargers and figure out your strategy. Enjoy it. Beautiful country. I'm going to be in Gillette in a few weeks, not too far away...

 

[LightningShow]

I've pulled up to 174 kw at 50% on the 350 kw Electrify America chargers in my Lariat ER.

I haven't tried using many of the 150 kW EA stations, but the ones I have used peak in the 120s-130s. I think there are some amperage limitations on the 150 kW chargers that prevent you from getting the maximum wattage.

Same here, I've seen up to 175kW on the display on a 350kw station, most 150kW stations max at 130kw although I did have *one* 150kW station pull up to 155kW. I've plugged into about 15-20 different DCFC at this point. Maybe ten 150kw stations, all EA.

Tom is really taking his time on that F-150 DC fast charge video!

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