Charging at Ford dealerships

[djteotancolis]

Planning my trip and seeing most Ford dealerships seems to have to a charging point. Is this open to anyone wanting to charge or specific for dealership use?

Traveling from Iowa to Georgia and trying to plan out charging. Thanks.

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[astricklin]

Plugshare may have some details, but I would contact each dealer to make sure if/when it's available. It's possible they have it someplace that it is publicly accessible and it's possible they have it back in the service area somewhere. Also I would expect most will only have lvl2 and not DCFC at this point. Maybe in the future there will be DCFC at most dealers but it is going to be a while for that to happen.

 

[davehu]

can't speak for anything on your route but driving to Houston yesterday stopped at the Ford dealer in Nagadoches. the pro charger was just attached to a post in their parking lot. no sign or anything to call attention to it. I stopped and asked the dealer about using it (I have a res but am still waiting for an invite to order) and he said anyone could pull up and plug in. parking lot was not blocked off so it's available 7x24. IT was a Level 2 charger, however. I am confident that it's a dealer by dealer decision. you should call ahead and check.

 

[djteotancolis]

Thanks! I will call them to be safe but appreciate the replies.

 

[Ken]

Picked up today and dealer mentioned that there was a plan to install chargers at all Ford dealerships for use by Ford customers, but as others have said I think they are only level 2. Better than nothing, but not something for a road trip

 

[Texas Dan]

Ford is going to split into several different divisions with some dealerships dedicated to selling EVs. Ford dealerships that sell EVs will be required to install DC fast chargers. Low volume EV dealerships will probably on get a single Level 1 DC fast charger that will only charge up to 24 kW but high volume EV dealerships will get multiple Level 2 DC fast chargers that will charge greater than 50 kW.

 

[metroshot]

My selling dealer has 3 L2 chargers for the public + 2 in the service dept, but most of the time they are being used by sales dept to top off EV/PHEV vehicles being picked up that day.

Another dealer near my work has zero chargers - only 1 in service dept.

That's how wildly different dealers are...

 

[cvalue13]

Ford is going to split into several different divisions with some dealerships dedicated to selling EVs. Ford dealerships that sell EVs will be required to install DC fast chargers. Low volume EV dealerships will probably on get a single Level 1 DC fast charger that will only charge up to 24 kW but high volume EV dealerships will get multiple Level 2 DC fast chargers that will charge greater than 50 kW.

worth adding …. “Years away”

 

[RickLightning]

Planning my trip and seeing most Ford dealerships seems to have to a charging point. Is this open to anyone wanting to charge or specific for dealership use?

Traveling from Iowa to Georgia and trying to plan out charging. Thanks.

You should plan your trip with level 3 chargers. You get 250 free kWh at EA, and then join Pass+. Level 2 at a hotel overnight.

Use A Better Route Planner, and set EA as preferred network.

 

[WWJPD]

By default I avoid dealer chargers because they are generally taken by the dealer charging(rightly so,) they are ICE’d, not accessible, or have poor DC charging speed. I’ve even put a request into PlugShare to let you filter out dealers. Due to this, I tend to not use Ford’s Nav either. I suggest using PlugShare and filter for DCFC greater than 50kW or 70kW.

 

[Joneii]

By default I avoid dealer chargers because they are generally taken by the dealer charging(rightly so,) they are ICE’d, not accessible, or have poor DC charging speed. I’ve even put a request into PlugShare to let you filter out dealers. Due to this, I tend to not use Ford’s Nav either. I suggest using PlugShare and filter for DCFC greater than 50kW or 70kW.

I second that. Although, I have charged at a Hyundai dealer with a reasonable DCFC charging speed and good price, but generally dealerships are my last choice for DCFC. Through trial and error (some quite frustrating errors) we’ve developed a method for route planning that while complicated, does seem to save us heartache.
1. Plot route on Googlemaps for overall situational awareness using whatever settings you prefer (avoid tolls, etc.).
2. Plot route in ABRP with appropriate settings (for example, when towing we adjust the efficiency to 1000w/mile).
3. If you are happy with ABRP’s choices for charging stops, proceed to step 6.
4. If you don’t like the charging stops use Chargehub or Plugshare to see a map with alternate possibilities.
5. Replot in ABRP with selected stops.
6. Check all charging stops with Plugshare to see latest reviews and status. If anything looks sketchy determine alternates or repeat steps 4 and 5.
7. Navigate on the trip with Ford’s system at or own risk (it has taken us on some squirrelly routes) or preferably use Googlemaps with CarPlay or android auto.

Hope this helps.

 

[AlaskaFlash]

Planning my trip and seeing most Ford dealerships seems to have to a charging point. Is this open to anyone wanting to charge or specific for dealership use?

Traveling from Iowa to Georgia and trying to plan out charging. Thanks.

I would make sure other options are available. We drove from Skagway, AK to Whitehorse Yukon, Ca last may. We spent a week there. When we arrived on Monday, we noticed there was a fast charge station at the Ford Dealership there. We charged up and were not concerned about driving around the rest of the week. We were scheduled to return on Friday and went to the Ford Dealership to charge up for our return trip, Well, the Fast Charger was turned off. The folks at the Dealership didn't know anything about it or how to turn it back on, The toll free number on the charger connected me to a nice lady who didn't know why it was turned off and was unable to turn it back on. In the Yukon, the Government provides free fast charging at Flo chargers, but only if you have an account assigned by the province. No help for out-of-towners. A very helpful Canadian EV owner used his Flo account card to turn it on for us to get enough charge to head back to Alaska.

 

[Timeless Epoch]

I’ve charged twice at a Ford dealer while on the road. It was good experience. They had 250KW chargers (2x2), I was the only one there, and they had a nice lounge and bathrooms. My only negative thing to say is they cost the same as most other providers, but there is no option to buy into a plan. So ultimately they were a bit more expensive.

 

[K6CCC]

Realizing that this is a three year old thread, but I would still consider a dealer charger to be very low on my priority list. Since the Tesla network opened up to us between when this thread started and the updates today, my first priority is a Tesla superCharger if I need fast charging.

 

[Firn]

Realizing that this is a three year old thread, but I would still consider a dealer charger to be very low on my priority list. Since the Tesla network opened up to us between when this thread started and the updates today, my first priority is a Tesla superCharger if I need fast charging.

Same

I'll spend a half out at the dealer lot because I have to, not because I want to. If the choice is available I will spend my time somewhere I want to spend time.

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