Free charging credit with new truck?

[lightspeed]

I read somewhere that we get some free charging credit with the truck?

So far I haven't found any threads on where/how to get that. Anyone know what the deal is?

Thanks!

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[Wsl346]

You’ll get 250kWh with EA.

 

[shutterbug]

I read somewhere that we get some free charging credit with the truck?

So far I haven't found any threads on where/how to get that. Anyone know what the deal is?

Instructions are here:
https://www.ford.com/content/dam/br...mache/MACHE_PublicCharging_Job_Aid_4_9_21.pdf
Officially this is for MME, but should work with Lightning. Your trial is for 250KwH and it expires after 2 years.

 

[lightspeed]

Instructions are here:
https://www.ford.com/content/dam/br...mache/MACHE_PublicCharging_Job_Aid_4_9_21.pdf
Officially this is for MME, but should work with Lightning. Your trial is for 250KwH and it expires after 2 years.

When I go to ConnectedServices on the Ford website I only see:

BlueOval Charge Network
Connected Built-In Navigation
Ford Streaming
Alexa Built-In

Nothing about EA or charge credits. Hmmm..

NEVERMIND, I see that BlueOval Charge network is the one that offers the 250kWh through EA.

What about FordPass rewards? I was told by the salesperson that I would get some reward points or something (filled out some form).

 

[YankeeCP]

Should get 22,000 Ford pass points. Not sure how long they take to show in your account

 

[sotek2345]

Should get 22,000 Ford pass points. Not sure how long they take to show in your account

Correct - and each point about 1/2 a cent, so that equals ~$110.

 

[Maquis]

Should get 22,000 Ford pass points. Not sure how long they take to show in your account

It took about 4 weeks after I bought my Mach-E.

 

[RickLightning]

You need to setup BlueOval Network and provide a credit card. You will see the free hours.

The $110 in points will show within several days in my experience.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I just used all my EA charging credits after several trips through N Alabama and far N Georgia from my home in W C Georgia... at least when EA is an option along my travel paths.

I can tell you that, for my travels and area, EA is THE place to charge. Chargepoint has always been the 'regular' place to charge, since they have more options in 'rural' areas of these states, but EA is terrific when it comes to the shear NUMBER of stations at each site, WHERE they are located in proximity to food/shopping/Walmart, etc., and the SPEED that they offer.
No Chargepoint, at this point, will give you anything more than 64-67 kwh speed, at BEST...many are capped at 50.
EA, though, gives you a MINIMUM of 150kw speeds, even though I've seen those go above that for several minutes of the charging curve. Even when the speeds start slowing down around 70%, dropping a kwh every minute, you are still WAY faster than even the faster chargepoint stations.

With the EA 'free charging' credits, you simply set this up in your Ford Pass App, and then when you start using it, you arrive, choose the correct station on your app, ACTIVATE it, then hop out and plug in. The charging will start automatically once the station and the truck 'connect' with each other. When you are finished, push the truck's charge button in the charge port, which stops the charging, and then the station will stop and give you your final 'kwh provided' information, and you'll receive a RECEIPT on both your Ford Pass App, AND to your email. You'll know the BALANCE of Free Kwh charging, also.

Interestingly, you can ALSO use 'PlugNCharge' with Chargepoint and EV GO stations, as well. Arrive, use the Ford Pass App to identify the station, press 'ACTIVATE', and let the Ford Pass App charge your preferred credit card, versus having to even use any Chargepoint app.
Although this works 90% of the time, for me, I did run into a station yesterday that not only did not show up in the Truck's navigation to 'charging stations', but only showed up in the App. The app, though, showed the station as 'not available', although, it clearly was. I hopped out, put my iphone up to the station, and the 'wallet' in my iphone showed my Chargepoint app 'card', which I then pressed to ACTIVATE the station. Worked just fine.


also, as a note about the other 'third party' charging ACCOUNTS, such as Chargepoint and EA, I've found that while I had CLOSED my separate EA account, when I realized I could simply charge thru the Ford Pass App, it continues to work even AFTER all the 'free' credits were used. Ford charges me, rather than EA.
Now, interestingly, I ran into the opposite revelation with Chargepoint. It seems that you must continue to maintain an 'open' Chargepoint account in order for Ford Pass App to provide Activation and Charging. I had stopped at a chargepoint and could not get it to activate, EVEN when using the 'guest' function within their app, inputting your credit card info each time. It never would accept it.
I realized that Chargepoint must 'require' an active account for even the Ford Pass App to allow it to 'push thru' the charging and billing. Once I re-established my account with Chargepoint, allowing them to 'pre-load' a $10 balance, the Ford Pass App worked just fine to start the charge.

 

[Maquis]

I just used all my EA charging credits after several trips through N Alabama and far N Georgia from my home in W C Georgia... at least when EA is an option along my travel paths.

I can tell you that, for my travels and area, EA is THE place to charge. Chargepoint has always been the 'regular' place to charge, since they have more options in 'rural' areas of these states, but EA is terrific when it comes to the shear NUMBER of stations at each site, WHERE they are located in proximity to food/shopping/Walmart, etc., and the SPEED that they offer.
No Chargepoint, at this point, will give you anything more than 64-67 kwh speed, at BEST...many are capped at 50.
EA, though, gives you a MINIMUM of 150kw speeds, even though I've seen those go above that for several minutes of the charging curve. Even when the speeds start slowing down around 70%, dropping a kwh every minute, you are still WAY faster than even the faster chargepoint stations.

With the EA 'free charging' credits, you simply set this up in your Ford Pass App, and then when you start using it, you arrive, choose the correct station on your app, ACTIVATE it, then hop out and plug in. The charging will start automatically once the station and the truck 'connect' with each other. When you are finished, push the truck's charge button in the charge port, which stops the charging, and then the station will stop and give you your final 'kwh provided' information, and you'll receive a RECEIPT on both your Ford Pass App, AND to your email. You'll know the BALANCE of Free Kwh charging, also.

Interestingly, you can ALSO use 'PlugNCharge' with Chargepoint and EV GO stations, as well. Arrive, use the Ford Pass App to identify the station, press 'ACTIVATE', and let the Ford Pass App charge your preferred credit card, versus having to even use any Chargepoint app.
Although this works 90% of the time, for me, I did run into a station yesterday that not only did not show up in the Truck's navigation to 'charging stations', but only showed up in the App. The app, though, showed the station as 'not available', although, it clearly was. I hopped out, put my iphone up to the station, and the 'wallet' in my iphone showed my Chargepoint app 'card', which I then pressed to ACTIVATE the station. Worked just fine.


also, as a note about the other 'third party' charging ACCOUNTS, such as Chargepoint and EA, I've found that while I had CLOSED my separate EA account, when I realized I could simply charge thru the Ford Pass App, it continues to work even AFTER all the 'free' credits were used. Ford charges me, rather than EA.
Now, interestingly, I ran into the opposite revelation with Chargepoint. It seems that you must continue to maintain an 'open' Chargepoint account in order for Ford Pass App to provide Activation and Charging. I had stopped at a chargepoint and could not get it to activate, EVEN when using the 'guest' function within their app, inputting your credit card info each time. It never would accept it.
I realized that Chargepoint must 'require' an active account for even the Ford Pass App to allow it to 'push thru' the charging and billing. Once I re-established my account with Chargepoint, allowing them to 'pre-load' a $10 balance, the Ford Pass App worked just fine to start the charge.

It’s not Plug & Charge if you have to use an app.

 

[RickLightning]

With the EA 'free charging' credits, you simply set this up in your Ford Pass App, and then when you start using it, you arrive, choose the correct station on your app, ACTIVATE it, then hop out and plug in. The charging will start automatically once the station and the truck 'connect' with each other. When you are finished, push the truck's charge button in the charge port, which stops the charging, and then the station will stop and give you your final 'kwh provided' information, and you'll receive a RECEIPT on both your Ford Pass App, AND to your email. You'll know the BALANCE of Free Kwh charging, also.

Interestingly, you can ALSO use 'PlugNCharge' with Chargepoint and EV GO stations, as well. Arrive, use the Ford Pass App to identify the station, press 'ACTIVATE', and let the Ford Pass App charge your preferred credit card, versus having to even use any Chargepoint app.
Although this works 90% of the time, for me, I did run into a station yesterday that not only did not show up in the Truck's navigation to 'charging stations', but only showed up in the App. The app, though, showed the station as 'not available', although, it clearly was. I hopped out, put my iphone up to the station, and the 'wallet' in my iphone showed my Chargepoint app 'card', which I then pressed to ACTIVATE the station. Worked just fine.


also, as a note about the other 'third party' charging ACCOUNTS, such as Chargepoint and EA, I've found that while I had CLOSED my separate EA account, when I realized I could simply charge thru the Ford Pass App, it continues to work even AFTER all the 'free' credits were used. Ford charges me, rather than EA.
Now, interestingly, I ran into the opposite revelation with Chargepoint. It seems that you must continue to maintain an 'open' Chargepoint account in order for Ford Pass App to provide Activation and Charging. I had stopped at a chargepoint and could not get it to activate, EVEN when using the 'guest' function within their app, inputting your credit card info each time. It never would accept it.
I realized that Chargepoint must 'require' an active account for even the Ford Pass App to allow it to 'push thru' the charging and billing. Once I re-established my account with Chargepoint, allowing them to 'pre-load' a $10 balance, the Ford Pass App worked just fine to start the charge.

You're confusing a few things. Not uncommon for a new EV owner.

Plug and Charge is when you pull up, plug in, and you're all set. Your Ford BlueOval Network account is used, and the credit card you setup. After your free 250kWh, you're paying full rate at whatever network you use (EA, ChargePoint, etc.).

Note - Ford just pointed out to owners that ChargePoint may not work with Plug and Charge, and to use the app to start the session.

Your understanding of the issues you had with ChargePoint are totally incorrect. If you want to use the FordPass app, activate the charger and plug in. You do NOT need a ChargePoint account. I suspect your issues with FordPass and ChargePoint came about because you didn't properly activate the charging session in FordPass and then plug in. Then, you reopened the ChargePoint account, did the same process as before (but this time waited for the session to activate), and then plugged in, and you attributed that to needing a ChargePoint account to use FordPass with ChargePoint chargers. That isn't the case.

Discounts - Why did you close your EA account? Do you like paying more for your charging? If you use EA's Pass+, instead of paying 43 cents plus tax per kWh, you'd pay 31 cents plus tax. In a per minute state (about a dozen), instead of paying 32 cents plus tax per minute, you'd pay 24 cents. With an F-150L, breakeven would be possibly in your first session. And, you can turn on Pass+ the morning of a trip, immediately downgrade (which takes effect in 30 days), and not pay monthly if you don't travel.

Ford did provide a $50 per year plan that gave you the EA discount, but they pulled it when the discount failed to work. They have not yet relaunched it. If you travel all the time, $48 ($4 x 12 months) and $50 are basically the same, and you get Plug and Charge. But, if you only travel every few months, paying $4 here and there would still be cheaper.

I suspect that Plug and Charge will be what mainstream EV owners use, because they won't care about price (and they'll pay for the $50 package when it's available). I base this on people pulling into the expensive gas station right off the freeway instead of using GasBuddy to save money, and the crowd at the Shell station that is always paying a lot more and often has no clue.

Data - Plug and Charge is an advantage over having to activate a charger in an app. Park, plug in, done. Everything on one credit card, versus opening an app, activating a charger, and then plugging in, and maintaining balances in multiple places. HOWEVER, there's a big difference in data / reporting between FordPass and the various network apps. The BlueOval Network will send you an email with the amount of energy you used, and the final price. Tax is lumped into the session fee, despite there being a tax field. FordPass will show you the kWh in the session, but then when you look into the logs you won't find that, you will find % added, and the start and end %. And, no cost. FordPass will then drop the data off within a month. You cannot download the data.

EA will keep your data forever. My first EA session (note - any sessions done with the BlueOval Network, including using the free EA hours, cannot be seen by EA - Ford charged with them, not you) was 8/30/21. By clicking the download button I can send all that data to myself. It includes date, location, address, charger ID, session ID, total cost, tax, base cost before tax, ending state of charge, total energy paid for, charge duration, not charging duration, total duration, and max charger speed (which is inaccurate).

 

[metroshot]

While I have not used nor activated the Blue Oval app for charging, I use the independent apps (EV Go, EA, Chargepoint, Volta) and have it charge my Ford Pass VISA card to summarize the total expenses for EV charging.

Is there a true plug and charge available for the Lightning other than EVGo Autocharge+ ?

Example: EA still has me opening their app, selecting the charger, then slide to activate to initiate a session.

Does using the Ford Blue Oval charge app have any advantage over my current setup ?

 

[RickLightning]

While I have not used nor activated the Blue Oval app for charging, I use the independent apps (EV Go, EA, Chargepoint, Volta) and have it charge my Ford Pass VISA card to summarize the total expenses for EV charging.

Is there a true plug and charge available for the Lightning other than EVGo Autocharge+ ?

Example: EA still has me opening their app, selecting the charger, then slide to activate to initiate a session.

Does using the Ford Blue Oval charge app have any advantage over my current setup ?

Assuming you used your free 250 hours up, that means you have in fact activated the BlueOval network (there is no BlueOval app, it's FordPass).

EA is true Plug and Charge via the BlueOval network, but you don't get the discount that you're getting through EA. YET.

ChargePoint is supposed to be Plug and Charge, but it doesn't work reliably, which is why Ford sent out the message to EV owners.

Let's be clear - Plug and Charge refers to the ability to plug in your vehicle and do nothing else, and it charges. It is not a Ford-specific term, nor does it refer to the BlueOval network.

 

[lightspeed]

Great information. Thanks to everyone who responded!

One note, in case it's not clear from the thread, is that you have to activate the Plug & Charge feature in the Ford Pass app before it becomes available. If you have a credit card already registered with Ford, which you probably do for your reservation deposit, etc.., you will be able to select it to use for charging. You can also add/manage another card I'm sure.

It's under Vehicle (icon) -> CHARGING -> Blue Oval Charge Network -> Plug & Charge

Once you've done that, for Electrify America only, you can just show up and plug the connector in and the billing is automatic (none of the 'activating' each time through the app tomfoolery).

Plug & Charge + Tesla Superchargers would be so good.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I'm an ev owner for years, with Leafs, so nothing new there.

I'm not new to traveling with my Lightning, either. PlugNCharge is the ability to, yes, simply plug in and charge, which to me, means NOT HAVING TO SWIPE A CARD or do anything at the 'machine' to provide the payment method. Having the ability to actually/simply touch the ACTIVATE on the Ford Pass App to have the ability to then hop out and simply PLUG IN TO CHARGE, is just as simple - that's why I consider the same.

I get that not having to have a specific company's own app to charge is VERY NICE, although, yes, I might have not 'really' needed to reactivate my old Chargepoint account, though it seemed as though that's what the final outcome became. Chargepoint customer service could not tell me why, either. But, once I re-established the account, it DID work.

None of these things are necessarily 'easy' in today's ev world. We are ALL working through how it works for us and our own needs and situations. I, personally, don't want separate charge companies apps to deal with, when the Ford Pass App can do all the 'work' for me. I don't really 'care' about whether I'm getting the 'best' price, as I really RARELY use fast charging, in light of everyday costs.
I don't like that the charge providers have to continually 'debit' your credit card to add another 'balance' to your account, rather than just charging you for what you use, at the time you use it. Chargepoint dinged my account for $70, although I never charged at any of their stations for more than a $15 charge fee - which is when I decided that using 'their' app was not in my best interest.
They refunded the full account balance, but I do remember the customer service person stating that specifically: "you will also no longer be able to use the app to charge at any Chargepoint stations, or EV GO stations"... which I thought was strange. But, I blew it off thinking that the Ford Pass App would still integrate the payment, but it did not. I even tried using the Chargepoint 'guest feature', inputting my credit card manually, but it would never ACTIVATE the station.

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