Hitting the road this weekend? Get ready for your electric road trip!

[RickLightning]

To confirm - Ford does not get a cut of BlueOval Charge Network transactions, regardless of if they're Plug & Charge or Ford app activated, just so everyone's clear. The service is provided to make your charging easier.

So, if I charge at a charger, and use Plug and Charge, or Ford app, who pays credit card processing - Ford or Tesla/EA/IONNA?

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[Charge_Rob]

So, if I charge at a charger, and use Plug and Charge, or Ford app, who pays credit card processing - Ford or Tesla/EA/IONNA?

As your credit card statement will say, Ford Motor Company runs your credit card and is the merchant of record for BlueOval Charge Network transactions, whether that's Ford app or Plug & Charge.

This is a service provided to you to make your charging easier. One of the largest barriers to EV adoption is making public charging easy, as many of us know.

 

[RickLightning]

As your credit card statement will say, Ford Motor Company runs your credit card and is the merchant of record for BlueOval Charge Network transactions, whether that's Ford app or Plug & Charge.

This is a service provided to you to make your charging easier. One of the largest barriers to EV adoption is making public charging easy, as many of us know.

Right. I just wondered if the networks repaid Ford the processing fee.

 

[Mal106]

This seems a good place for a road trip warning. I travel from SW VA to New York and the east coast various places from NY to SC. I plan ahead so I usually know what I'm getting into and have little problems. This weekend I didn't plan just went. Here's what I ran into:

Woodstock VA. Tesla. Couldn't start the charge from the app, no cell service. Oh I'll restart plug and charge, no cell service.

Android Auto suggested Mt Jackson VA. Nope Tesla only. Gave up and went to my regular in Harrisonburg VA.

After playing on the Blue Ridge Pkway went to Electrify America at Brughes General Store in Fincastle. Try 1 No charge? 2 charger error. 3 Plug not secure. 4 Charger error see manual. 4 Payment declined so I left in a huff.

Wife wanted to see the 2 room school in Ironto VA. I knew it was on the way to VA Tech so I put asked Google (Android Auto) for a Tesla Supercharger in Blacksburg and went there. Tesla only!

Decided on an old standby in Adkins VA. Android Auto wanted a stop at another EA. No way! Truck and AA said I couldn't make it. By avoiding hiways, I made it to Adkins where 10 min got me home.

Lessons learned, Tesla app needs cell service. EA is unreliable. Android Auto thinks I can't charge at a Tesla that I can charge at but will happily direct me to a Tesla that I really can't charge at. It's directions are good but it seems that they end up being to a charger when I dont want one. It's just difficult to immediately see where it's directing you to.

Note to self: plan ahead, dont use EA and overcharge if the wife wants to sightsee.

Apologize for wasting forum space venting.

 

[DavidS]

This seems a good place for a road trip warning. I travel from SW VA to New York and the east coast various places from NY to SC. I plan ahead so I usually know what I'm getting into and have little problems. This weekend I didn't plan just went. Here's what I ran into:

Woodstock VA. Tesla. Couldn't start the charge from the app, no cell service. Oh I'll restart plug and charge, no cell service.

Android Auto suggested Mt Jackson VA. Nope Tesla only. Gave up and went to my regular in Harrisonburg VA.

After playing on the Blue Ridge Pkway went to Electrify America at Brughes General Store in Fincastle. Try 1 No charge? 2 charger error. 3 Plug not secure. 4 Charger error see manual. 4 Payment declined so I left in a huff.

Wife wanted to see the 2 room school in Ironto VA. I knew it was on the way to VA Tech so I put asked Google (Android Auto) for a Tesla Supercharger in Blacksburg and went there. Tesla only!

Decided on an old standby in Adkins VA. Android Auto wanted a stop at another EA. No way! Truck and AA said I couldn't make it. By avoiding hiways, I made it to Adkins where 10 min got me home.

Lessons learned, Tesla app needs cell service. EA is unreliable. Android Auto thinks I can't charge at a Tesla that I can charge at but will happily direct me to a Tesla that I really can't charge at. It's directions are good but it seems that they end up being to a charger when I dont want one. It's just difficult to immediately see where it's directing you to.

Note to self: plan ahead, dont use EA and overcharge if the wife wants to sightsee.

Apologize for wasting forum space venting.

If you think you’re going to be trying to charge in areas with spotty cell service, I’ve found it’s best to leave plug and charge enabled. You can always try and use Tesla or EA apps to pre authorize your charge session to get the membership discount and if the apps fail due to cell service issues, you can still charge.

 

[K6CCC]

Woodstock VA. Tesla. Couldn't start the charge from the app, no cell service. Oh I'll restart plug and charge, no cell service.

Of course it does. Not that I run into lack of cell service very often, but one of the reasons I leave Plug and Charge enabled. I know some people recommend leaving it off so if the app start (to get the lower rate) fails, you don't get charged the non-Tesla price via P&C. The other side of that is the ability to charge. So far I have never had the app start fail for either Tesla nor E.A. Given a choice of running out of charge where there are no other choices and having to pay the higher price, I would choose the higher price.

Android Auto suggested Mt Jackson VA. Nope Tesla only.

You're lucky that AA routed you to a charger at all. In my experience, getting AA to reliably show chargers at all is dismal (Ford Nav is no better). Sometimes they show and most of the time they don't - and it's not reliable which ones show up.

 

[Shmoe]

If there is a widespread exception, I would speculate that it is Tesla drivers because they most likely just go to the closest Tesla SuperCharger...

Don't forget with Tesla's vertical integration it is also routing them and the cars around them to the least busiest supercharger that they can reach, not necessarily the closest.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We just got home from a ~1600 mile road trip from northern AZ through north-eastern AZ, to southern and eastern Utah, through the Rockies to Boulder, CO, then back through the Rockies to Durango, then the Four Corners region, back across the Navajo Nation to northern Arizona.

We did it in our 2024 Silverado with the max pack 205 kWh battery. With the 440 mile EPA estimated range, we were able to charge mostly on L2 hotel charging, except a few times when we chose to DCFC because we were there anyway.

The total cost to us for charging was less than $160. One of the benefits of a longer range vehicle is that you can more easily pick and choose which chargers you’re going to use.

On this particular road trip, if we had the Lightning, we would have had to stop at the expensive SCs, EAs, EVGos, ChargePoints, and at several other expensive DCFCs. Instead, we were able to use L2 to charge most of the time.

 

[Mal106]

^ One of the best reasons to have long range. That and the ability to charge for that long range at home. Until charging becomes competitive and common, long range rules.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Anybody who uses Android Auto with Google Maps to do EV routing basically deserves the disaster they are almost certain to encounter. That is the most worthless combination I can imagine.

I recently finished my 20th EV road trip of 1500+ miles and I’m pretty sure I have not encountered as many issues as the OP just described in all 20 trips put together. And my trips are not in a heavily traveled corridor like the East Coast. Instead, I spend most of my miles in the remote areas of the open West in an SR Pro.

Pro Tip: Get yourself an iPhone and use CarPlay + Apple Maps. And use PlugShare to check station status one stop ahead.

That said, I’d concur that EA remains the most pathetic charging network in America.

 

[DavidS]

We just got home from a ~1600 mile road trip from northern AZ through north-eastern AZ, to southern and eastern Utah, through the Rockies to Boulder, CO, then back through the Rockies to Durango, then the Four Corners region, back across the Navajo Nation to northern Arizona.

We did it in our 2024 Silverado with the max pack 205 kWh battery. With the 440 mile EPA estimated range, we were able to charge mostly on L2 hotel charging, except a few times when we chose to DCFC because we were there anyway.

The total cost to us for charging was less than $160. One of the benefits of a longer range vehicle is that you can more easily pick and choose which chargers you’re going to use.

On this particular road trip, if we had the Lightning, we would have had to stop at the expensive SCs, EAs, EVGos, ChargePoints, and at several other expensive DCFCs. Instead, we were able to use L2 to charge most of the time.

Unless you’re driving a lot away from home, a bigger battery probably isn’t going to save you a lot of money overall. If that bigger battery cost a modest extra $5000, at say 0.40/kwh and 2 m/kwh, that’s 25000 miles of road trips vs 62 nights of free L2 charging.

 

[RetiredLightning]

I think that I was charging next to you today just outside of Baker & talking about coolers in frunks. Driving off, I’m thinking……..gee that guy seemed familiar.
If I happen to be wrong, know there’s another delight gent traveling on I-15.

 

[RickLightning]

Is your AA setup with vehicle AND adapter?

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