Why would I need a mobile charger?

[Maquis]

Huh. My older Tesla would loss range overnight in cold weather when not plugged in. Maybe the F-150 is different or I had weird settings on my Tesla.

Yes, Teslas are (were?) prone to lose SoC when sitting due to things like Sentry Mode. They have a lot more stuff running when the car is sitting.

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[Heliian]

poll

I don't think they meant the specific Ford one, just a mobile one in general.

Add your vote!

 

[Grease Lightning]

I have a mobile charger that lives in the frunk for traveling. It is an essential as you never know when you are going to need a little bit of power and there is not a fixed charger available.

I also, like others, look to only rent places on vacation where there is opportunities to charge such as a garage or even Turtle speed. This came in handy right after buying my Lightning as I was going to hit the only fast charger in the town we were eating at and found it out of commission. Turtle charged the two days I was at a conference and made it home without having to go out of my way to find another DCFC.

 

[nldoty]

We have the Tesla mobile charger for our Model Y, and I will say - we use it almost never, but it was worth it to us for the peace of mind, if say something were to happen with our EVSE or while visiting relatives, etc.

 

[WhipSticks]

Since getting my Lightning, I've been debating whether I need a mobile charger or not. Ninety-eight+ percent of my charging will be done with the charger mounted in my garage. While I haven't done one yet, I would expect that during any long-distance trips I'd use public, fast chargers along the way. I don't see a reason to get a mobile charger. But some family members are trying to convince me I should have one.

Do you have a mobile charger? If so, how often do you use it and why? I'm wondering if I'm alone with this viewpoint or hearing the reasons why I might want to change it.

(For purposes of this discussion, I'm referring to chargers that are truly mobile. Not ones that are advertised as mobile but you have mounted permanently)

I have a jack in the back of my car that I have never used. I have a fire extinguisher under my kitchen sink which has also never been used. I guess that, if you are looking for high-frequency reason to buy one, you are thinking about it the wrong way. It is a charging option of last resort: an emergency precaution.

 

[richl025]

I use my mobile charger in the garage via a 240v 50 amp outlet (7-8 kW). Also take it with me camping. There are a reasonable number of campgrounds with 240v 50 amp receptacles for charging overnight.

THAT is an important tidbit I was not aware of - thank you!

 

[Old Aviator]

I routinely make a 240 trip between 1st and 2nd homes. I can make the trip in about 4.5 hours and have 60-70 miles reserve. Since I always stay at my 2nd home for 4-5 days I purchased a 10 foot extension/conversion cord and plug the truck in to my dryer outlet. Cheaper electricity at home and it will charge to full in less than a day. Before I leave charge to 100% and drive home without recharging. I have Charge Pros in both my detached and house garages. Should have Fisker Ocean in the next 30 days and will charge it with one of those units. Even better I only paid for 1 of those. I got a used Charge Pro for $550 delivered I found here on the forums and the electrian who did my detached garage when I built it, installed both Charge Pros for $1000 including breakers, wire, and labor.
Right now I can’t access the Charge Pros on the Ford App because the Truck modem if OOS but dealer appointment tomorrow and hopefully fixed. Everything worked fine until the modem went off line on 8/26.

 

[RedLightning86]

Visiting family, some have a 240v outlet in their garage. It is nice to head straight to their home and top off rather than adding another charging stop on the way. We do truck bed camping and if a site has a 240v, we are good for the weekend. But honestly it is a nice to have option that can aid in determining if you need to make a charging stop or use what is available at a friendly destination. We got ours included with the 2022 purchase, not sure if I would get it after the fact since there are probably cheaper options that have both plug types included.

The only problem with topping off from someones 240 garage outlet, is that could fry their outlet - literally, especially if you pull 40 or more amps from it. Maybe an hour would be ok, but serious charging, like overnight, could melt/short their fusebox or same to outlet, especially the outlet. wahsers and dryers don't have the high sustained load of the Lightning. Might want to suggest they have their 240V garage outlets upgraded by an electrician, with an industrial outlet.

That all being said, what I like about the Ford portable, is that it is only 30 amps from a NEMA 14-50 outlet, or 10 amps from a house outlet, which makes it safer plugging into home outlets, which I did once to test it for a little while (did warm up the outlet). I have a more expensive, variable up to 50 amp portable charger, that I got when waiting for a replacement for my Ford charger. It works great in 50 amp outlets, but won't work plug into others. And I still limited it to 32 amps in my 50 amp RV pedestal, because who knows if the wires in the connection are loosening over the years, since I've never opened the pedestal to tork them down again.

For myself, I've used The Ford portable charger in the winter at a hotel that has 120v outlets on light poles for EV's to use (which at least keeps the battery warm and not losing power while I sleep), and at RV pedestal 50 Amp NEMA 14-50 outlets, which are more robust. I had to do that for the 9 months it took to get my FCSP installed (finally, 2 days ago!)

So count me in as someone who likes the Ford portable charger. Will be using it again this winter when working away from home.

 

[jdmackes]

I have one but have never used it, which is not an option on the poll. That said, to me it's like jumper cables. It doesn't matter how often you use them, but it's still a good idea to have them.

I'm the same. I haven't used mine since my actual charger was installed at my house, but it's sitting in my truck in case I ever need it

 

[pseudonym]

I decided to use a mobile charger as my permanent at-home charging solution and skipped the installation of any hardwired charger. I'm installing a 50amp Nema 14-50 in the garage and will be able to take the mobile charger with me when I travel and camp. My utility will also give me a $700 rebate for the plug install.

 

[Footester]

Since getting my Lightning, I've been debating whether I need a mobile charger or not. Ninety-eight+ percent of my charging will be done with the charger mounted in my garage. While I haven't done one yet, I would expect that during any long-distance trips I'd use public, fast chargers along the way. I don't see a reason to get a mobile charger. But some family members are trying to convince me I should have one.

Do you have a mobile charger? If so, how often do you use it and why? I'm wondering if I'm alone with this viewpoint or hearing the reasons why I might want to change it.

(For purposes of this discussion, I'm referring to chargers that are truly mobile. Not ones that are advertised as mobile but you have mounted permanently)

I vacationed for a week in Logan, UT last summer. No DCFC within 30 miles. My nephew had a NEMA 14-50 outlet in his garage and let me use it at night with my portable charger. It saved my butt.

 

[Adventureboy]

The really depends on how you will use the truck.

I have an aftermarket mobile charger and use it pretty much weekly. The truck charges daily during the week on my fixed EVSE and on the weekends I travel either to my parents or to my marina and charge using the mobile charger on either a welder supply outlet (240/50A) or my marine supply (240/30A). I needed a selectable amperage after-market mobile charger since the Ford mobile charger draws 30A and will not work on my marina's 30A circuits. The aftermarket charger lets me set it at a safe 24A for a 30A circuit and up to 40A for 50A circuits.

 

[Mcgyverrod]

Since getting my Lightning, I've been debating whether I need a mobile charger or not. Ninety-eight+ percent of my charging will be done with the charger mounted in my garage. While I haven't done one yet, I would expect that during any long-distance trips I'd use public, fast chargers along the way. I don't see a reason to get a mobile charger. But some family members are trying to convince me I should have one.

Do you have a mobile charger? If so, how often do you use it and why? I'm wondering if I'm alone with this viewpoint or hearing the reasons why I might want to change it.

(For purposes of this discussion, I'm referring to chargers that are truly mobile. Not ones that are advertised as mobile but you have mounted permanently)

I have a mobile charger that lives in the frunk for traveling. It is an essential as you never know when you are going to need a little bit of power and there is not a fixed charger available.

I also, like others, look to only rent places on vacation where there is opportunities to charge such as a garage or even Turtle speed. This came in handy right after buying my Lightning as I was going to hit the only fast charger in the town we were eating at and found it out of commission. Turtle charged the two days I was at a conference and made it home without having to go out of my way to find another DCFC.

Like many others, I keep it in my Frunk just in-case. I haven't used it since putting in my pro charger. I occasionally use public charging when on long trips. I have solar panels and 2 Tesla Power Walls with a NG 10Kw back-up Genset. However, if ever out of grid back-up which allows me to use 13Kw of power, my 2 powerwalls only put out 10Kw. Likewise, if solar is compromised and no grid is available, my back up Natural Gas generator only puts out 10Kw. At those times, I would use my NEM14 220v plug .

 

[Solar_EE]

Since getting my Lightning, I've been debating whether I need a mobile charger or not. Ninety-eight+ percent of my charging will be done with the charger mounted in my garage. While I haven't done one yet, I would expect that during any long-distance trips I'd use public, fast chargers along the way. I don't see a reason to get a mobile charger. But some family members are trying to convince me I should have one.

Do you have a mobile charger? If so, how often do you use it and why? I'm wondering if I'm alone with this viewpoint or hearing the reasons why I might want to change it.

(For purposes of this discussion, I'm referring to chargers that are truly mobile. Not ones that are advertised as mobile but you have mounted permanently)

I use the SplitVolt 240V, 24A charger with a NEMA 14-30 plug and NEMA 10-30 adapter. Very helpful when traveling as it is much more likely to find a dryer outlet than the NEMA 14-50 needed for the Ford Mobile charger. This one is four times faster than the 120V, 12A charger so is quite useful when stopping overnight at a relative's house. 12 hours at 5.5kW = 66kWh so usually enough to get me up to 90%.
So far I've used it in two relative's houses and three different rental properties- many in the outer banks have the dryer on the ground floor. So with a 50 foot 10 awg extension cord I have so far been able to easily recharge while staying overnight. Much easier that hunting for a fast charger plus there is only one station on all of Hatteras Island.

 

[Solar_EE]

The only problem with topping off from someones 240 garage outlet, is that could fry their outlet - literally, especially if you pull 40 or more amps from it. Maybe an hour would be ok, but serious charging, like overnight, could melt/short their fusebox or same to outlet, especially the outlet. wahsers and dryers don't have the high sustained load of the Lightning. Might want to suggest they have their 240V garage outlets upgraded by an electrician, with an industrial outlet.

That all being said, what I like about the Ford portable, is that it is only 30 amps from a NEMA 14-50 outlet, or 10 amps from a house outlet, which makes it safer plugging into home outlets, which I did once to test it for a little while (did warm up the outlet). I have a more expensive, variable up to 50 amp portable charger, that I got when waiting for a replacement for my Ford charger. It works great in 50 amp outlets, but won't work plug into others. And I still limited it to 32 amps in my 50 amp RV pedestal, because who knows if the wires in the connection are loosening over the years, since I've never opened the pedestal to tork them down again.

For myself, I've used The Ford portable charger in the winter at a hotel that has 120v outlets on light poles for EV's to use (which at least keeps the battery warm and not losing power while I sleep), and at RV pedestal 50 Amp NEMA 14-50 outlets, which are more robust. I had to do that for the 9 months it took to get my FCSP installed (finally, 2 days ago!)

So count me in as someone who likes the Ford portable charger. Will be using it again this winter when working away from home.

I always check the temperature of the cable close to the outlet after charging for 5-10 minutes. In my case I'm using dryer outlets rated at 240V, 30 amps and drawing 24 amps with the SplitVolt mobile charger. When charging at unknown places there is always that question about the outlets and if they are older they might have significant internal corrosion.

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