Ford Mobile Charger - Scheduling Charges

[MapleMan650]

Can you use the Ford mobile charger and schedule your charge times? We have time-of-use charging rates here with PG&E and their cheapest EV charging rate is from 12am-3pm. I’d love to be able to plug the truck in after work but only have it start charging at midnight.

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[PA Lightning]

Can you use the Ford mobile charger and schedule your charge times? We have time-of-use charging rates here with PG&E and their cheapest EV charging rate is from 12am-3pm. I’d love to be able to plug the truck in after work but only have it start charging at midnight.

Look at page 214 of the Owner's Manual. It explains timed charging

 

[MapleMan650]

Perfect. I was hoping the charging schedule was setup in the truck and not the charger.

From the manual “Scheduled charging can be set up on the touchscreen or in the FordPass app.”

 

[jefro]

You may have to set home location??

 

[shutterbug]

You may have to set home location??

You definitely need to set preferred location, if you want to control charging at that location. That's home, or any other location such as work.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I wonder if the app can also change the amperage for certain locations?

 

[Mike G]

I wonder if the app can also change the amperage for certain locations?

No. The mobile charger isn't that flexible. It will however reduce the charge rate as heating builds up. You can spend hours and hours watching the little blue LED change to a bar of pulsing yellow, and then back to blue...and then back to yellow.....fascinating...

 

[Maquis]

No. The mobile charger isn't that flexible. It will however reduce the charge rate as heating builds up. You can spend hours and hours watching the little blue LED change to a bar of pulsing yellow, and then back to blue...and then back to yellow.....fascinating...

It should be noted that the amber/blue light combination should not happen during normal use. It indicates a fault due to overheating. Several MME owners have had theirs replaced under warranty for exhibiting this behavior even though there was no overheat condition.

 

[Crilly]

My just started slowing down a couple week ago on my GT. I hope ford has change something for the Lightning.

If my Lightning doesn’t come in tomorrow, it well be LATE.

 

[Mike G]

It should be noted that the amber/blue light combination should not happen during normal use. It indicates a fault due to overheating. Several MME owners have had theirs replaced under warranty for exhibiting this behavior even though there was no overheat condition.

Are you sure? It only does it when charging my Lightning, not the Mach-E...and on the Lightning only when it's nearing the end of a full charge cycle.

Mike

 

[Maquis]

Are you sure? It only does it when charging my Lightning, not the Mach-E...and on the Lightning only when it's nearing the end of a full charge cycle.

Mike

Your case could be different. I’m guessing it runs a lot longer to charge the Lightning and may be getting hotter than it does with the car?
You‘re the first person I know of using the FMC regularly for both vehicles.
A couple other questions:
What’s the ambient temperature in each case?
Are you using the same physical unit for both vehicles? Presuming you received one with each. Do both FMCs behave the same way?

Yours is an interesting case, for sure. Your experience may help us amateur sleuths finally figure out what’s going on with these failures.
Thanks for the info!

 

[Mike G]

Your case could be different. I’m guessing it runs a lot longer to charge the Lightning and may be getting hotter than it does with the car?
You‘re the first person I know of using the FMC regularly for both vehicles.
A couple other questions:
What’s the ambient temperature in each case?
Are you using the same physical unit for both vehicles? Presuming you received one with each. Do both FMCs behave the same way?

Yours is an interesting case, for sure. Your experience may help us amateur sleuths finally figure out what’s going on with these failures.
Thanks for the info!

Well I haven't gotten the Pro charger yet. Sunrun says they have confirmed my shipping address so now I just have to wait...so yes it's the same charger I've been using on my Mach-E for a year with no issues, and I honestly never noticed the LEDs changing until I started using it to charge the Lightning and noticed that it took a huge increase in time compared to the Mach-E. As in if I started with say 55% battery in the Lightning when the charge time starts at 7:00PM (reduced rates) it would still not be fully at 85% by 7:00AM (reduced rates end).

Unusually warm here in northern Alabama for this time of year as it seems to be everywhere right now in the US. So high 70's even in the middle of the night.

I have only used the one that came with the MME and it's mounted on the wall bracket in the carport on it's own 48A circuit. I do have a spare that I bought as well as the one from the Lightning still in the plastic bag in the frunk.

Mike

 

[Maquis]

Well I haven't gotten the Pro charger yet. Sunrun says they have confirmed my shipping address so now I just have to wait...so yes it's the same charger I've been using on my Mach-E for a year with no issues, and I honestly never noticed the LEDs changing until I started using it to charge the Lightning and noticed that it took a huge increase in time compared to the Mach-E. As in if I started with say 55% battery in the Lightning when the charge time starts at 7:00PM (reduced rates) it would still not be fully at 85% by 7:00AM (reduced rates end).

Unusually warm here in northern Alabama for this time of year as it seems to be everywhere right now in the US. So high 70's even in the middle of the night.

I have only used the one that came with the MME and it's mounted on the wall bracket in the carport on it's own 48A circuit. I do have a spare that I bought as well as the one from the Lightning still in the plastic bag in the frunk.

Mike

It would be interesting to know if the new one from your Lightning acts the same way?

 

[COrocket]

Are you sure? It only does it when charging my Lightning, not the Mach-E...and on the Lightning only when it's nearing the end of a full charge cycle.

Mike

This could be completely unrelated, but I observed a similar phenomenon charging my Tesla with the OEM mobile charger hooked to a 50 amp outlet in the garage, where the car would drop the amps due to the outlet overheating near the end of the charging cycle.

When I installed my garage outlet, I just used one of those ~$10 appliance outlet receptacles that you find at big box stores (and most electricians install), even though Tesla recommended installing a $50-100 industrial grade Hubbell brand outlet. My reasoning is I wouldn’t be unplugging the mobile charger a lot and wearing out the contacts in the less expensive outlet. This setup worked for about a year, then the outlet started overheating after several hours of charging. I replaced the outlet with an industrial grade outlet, and that immediately fixed the problem. I’ve been using it about six months so I’m not sure if it’ll last indefinitely, but it seemed to fix the overheating issue.

If Fords mobile charger has temperature sensors in the plug like the Tesla one does, it might be worth getting an industrial grade outlet if you don’t have one already installed.

 

[Firestop]

This could be completely unrelated, but I observed a similar phenomenon charging my Tesla with the OEM mobile charger hooked to a 50 amp outlet in the garage, where the car would drop the amps due to the outlet overheating near the end of the charging cycle.

When I installed my garage outlet, I just used one of those ~$10 appliance outlet receptacles that you find at big box stores (and most electricians install), even though Tesla recommended installing a $50-100 industrial grade Hubbell brand outlet. My reasoning is I wouldn’t be unplugging the mobile charger a lot and wearing out the contacts in the less expensive outlet. This setup worked for about a year, then the outlet started overheating after several hours of charging. I replaced the outlet with an industrial grade outlet, and that immediately fixed the problem. I’ve been using it about six months so I’m not sure if it’ll last indefinitely, but it seemed to fix the overheating issue.

If Fords mobile charger has temperature sensors in the plug like the Tesla one does, it might be worth getting an industrial grade outlet if you don’t have one already installed.

BTW, Ford does recommend an “industrial grade” 14-50 outlet in their mobile charger literature…………

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