adoublee
Well-known member
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- #1
A bullet point summary of my trip strategy and experience for others just getting or still waiting for a NACS adapter:
1. I have received my adapter from Ford. Not much to say about it. Prior to setting out I attempted to use it at a local Supercharger with 250kW Gen 3 hardware but not on the map as supporting the adapter. Lack of support confirmed.
2. I used ABRP app to set a course. If vehicle is already selected, go in and re-select the Lightining and it will ask if it is NACS ready. This opened up option of Superchargers in the planner, and it appears it only picks supported Supercharger sites (versus all Superchargers).
3. On the trip out, ABRP picked all Superchargers for charging. On the return trip, ABRP charted a selection that included a Electrify America stop. However, I had already decided I wanted to only use Superchargers to see if I would experience "no drama" of fully broken chargers, power stunted chargers, or a fight for a capable charging stall (Supercharger sites generally have more charging stalls than all other providers).
4. Because of my plan to only use Superchargers, I bought a month of membership at $12.99 to get reduced kWh rates. This re-enforced my resolve to utilize Superchargers for as many stops as practical which turned out to be all 6 stops. I disabled Plug n Charge in the Fordpass app so that charges would not be via Ford at non-member rates.
5. I started the trip at 100% charge and set the departure time with truck plugged in at home. On the road I paid $180.43 for 490 kWh, which is an average of $0.37/kWh. It is $0.395 if adding in the membership fee that was purchased for the trip. Pricing seems very competitive compared to ~$0.65/kWh recently paid at a GM EVgo site with pricing "concealed" both on PlugShare and EVgo's app.
6. Invoicing indicates I charged for 272 total minutes. Based on 490kWh, average charging speed was therefore 108kW. This included multiple pushes above 80% SOC but not more than 90% SOC.
7. Overall, the experience was indeed much better than experience with most other public DCFC sites. Nothing seemed broken. Sites had plenty of stalls - utilization was low enough that I wasn't too self conscious about taking up two spaces. At one site I initially thought that the spacing of the Teslas at the site was fully blocking me, but then found that the one "side" charger was accessible if the back end of truck stuck out of the stall a good ways which wasn't really a problem. Locations were fine (convenience store) to good (finer dining options). I would definitely consider sticking to 100% Superchargers on a future long trip, unless needing to fill in gaps that still exist for NACS adapter compatibility.
8. Minor criticisms: My main criticism (apart from cord length/location) is a general lack of information about stall power/current capability and other useful analytics not on a screen OR in the app. In a way, not having the screen takes away some of the stress - there is no worry about a Karen looking to see that I am at 84% and trying to educate me about charging above 80%. However, while I did experience full charging power (I recall 168kW at one point) I also was suspicious there were times where the charger might have been the limiting factor. I generally experienced rates of 105kW, 115kW, or ~160kW until 80%. It is not the most clear how power and current are split and what affect vehicles are having on other vehicles in near proximity. I'd like to see the app provide information like a charge session power curve, as well as log of current draw and power requested by vehicle. And of course cord length/location is a real issue long term.
1. I have received my adapter from Ford. Not much to say about it. Prior to setting out I attempted to use it at a local Supercharger with 250kW Gen 3 hardware but not on the map as supporting the adapter. Lack of support confirmed.
2. I used ABRP app to set a course. If vehicle is already selected, go in and re-select the Lightining and it will ask if it is NACS ready. This opened up option of Superchargers in the planner, and it appears it only picks supported Supercharger sites (versus all Superchargers).
3. On the trip out, ABRP picked all Superchargers for charging. On the return trip, ABRP charted a selection that included a Electrify America stop. However, I had already decided I wanted to only use Superchargers to see if I would experience "no drama" of fully broken chargers, power stunted chargers, or a fight for a capable charging stall (Supercharger sites generally have more charging stalls than all other providers).
4. Because of my plan to only use Superchargers, I bought a month of membership at $12.99 to get reduced kWh rates. This re-enforced my resolve to utilize Superchargers for as many stops as practical which turned out to be all 6 stops. I disabled Plug n Charge in the Fordpass app so that charges would not be via Ford at non-member rates.
5. I started the trip at 100% charge and set the departure time with truck plugged in at home. On the road I paid $180.43 for 490 kWh, which is an average of $0.37/kWh. It is $0.395 if adding in the membership fee that was purchased for the trip. Pricing seems very competitive compared to ~$0.65/kWh recently paid at a GM EVgo site with pricing "concealed" both on PlugShare and EVgo's app.
6. Invoicing indicates I charged for 272 total minutes. Based on 490kWh, average charging speed was therefore 108kW. This included multiple pushes above 80% SOC but not more than 90% SOC.
7. Overall, the experience was indeed much better than experience with most other public DCFC sites. Nothing seemed broken. Sites had plenty of stalls - utilization was low enough that I wasn't too self conscious about taking up two spaces. At one site I initially thought that the spacing of the Teslas at the site was fully blocking me, but then found that the one "side" charger was accessible if the back end of truck stuck out of the stall a good ways which wasn't really a problem. Locations were fine (convenience store) to good (finer dining options). I would definitely consider sticking to 100% Superchargers on a future long trip, unless needing to fill in gaps that still exist for NACS adapter compatibility.
8. Minor criticisms: My main criticism (apart from cord length/location) is a general lack of information about stall power/current capability and other useful analytics not on a screen OR in the app. In a way, not having the screen takes away some of the stress - there is no worry about a Karen looking to see that I am at 84% and trying to educate me about charging above 80%. However, while I did experience full charging power (I recall 168kW at one point) I also was suspicious there were times where the charger might have been the limiting factor. I generally experienced rates of 105kW, 115kW, or ~160kW until 80%. It is not the most clear how power and current are split and what affect vehicles are having on other vehicles in near proximity. I'd like to see the app provide information like a charge session power curve, as well as log of current draw and power requested by vehicle. And of course cord length/location is a real issue long term.
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