Home Charging with the Ford Mobile Charger has slowed down ~3kw

[HaroldCal]

Greetings y'all,

I have 2 2023 F150 Lightnings, both with the OEM mobile charge cord. It seems in recent months that the charging with these units has slowed down considerably. I used to get 7kw charging (32a@240v - plugged into a NEMA 14-50). Now if I watch the charging in the Fordpass app, it is very erratic, but usually settles into about 3kw overnight. I am finding it is taking more than 24hours on the charger to recover from a road trip.

These 2 trucks get charged at 2 different homes, so it is not about a single location being problematic. I have also swapped the EVSE's, to see if anything changed. It did not. Is this just the mobile cord beginning to fail? One is almost 3 years old, while the other is almost 2 years old. Both were purchased with the truck, so if I understand correctly, that means they are covered by the factory (and extended) Ford warranty, correct?

Anyone else run into this?

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[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

What color lights are you seeing on the charge cords during the charging session?

 

[HaroldCal]

What color lights are you seeing on the charge cords during the charging session?

I haven't made note. Are we talking about the brick in the cord, or the lights on the charge port of the truck?

 

[Peddyr]

I had to replace this charger, because any time the temp would exceed 85 degrees, it would slow to a crawl. Replacing it with an Emporia was my solution. If you do a search of the forum, you'll see similar posts. The Ford mobile charger is garbage.

 

[HaroldCal]

I had to replace this charger, because any time the temp would exceed 85 degrees, it would slow to a crawl. Replacing it with an Emporia was my solution. If you do a search of the forum, you'll see similar posts. The Ford mobile charger is garbage.

That's kinda where I was going with it too. I actually recently added an Emporia for charging my son's i3, and so far that thing is rock solid at 40a. So I might end up warranty-ing both of these Ford chargers, and then relegating them to be backup chargers in a pinch.

I am in Las Vegas, so heat sensitivity is a concern. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

I haven't made note. Are we talking about the brick in the cord, or the lights on the charge port of the truck?

The brick in the cord.

Whenever charging, the lights on the charge port should all be blue with the last one flashing.

 

[HaroldCal]

The brick in the cord.

Whenever charging, the lights on the charge port should all be blue with the last one flashing.

Yeah, the lights on the charge port are all normal. But I will check the brick next time I am charging.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I have seen this same phenomenon over the last several months with my own Ford MOBILE EVSE, although it worked perfectly fine since August 22 when the truck was just a baby : )

The LED notification on this unit is not real clear: why, Ford?, we don't know... but, since there is no relative information, you can only assume that any 'yellow'/'orange' you see as part of the Blue indicator is a DERATING of the power from the EVSE to the truck. But, there is no further information as to 'why'...

could it be ambient heat temperatures? Maybe.
could it be something from the truck? Probably not. It uses other EVSE's with no issues.
could it be the power from the outlet/circuit/breaker? Doubtful.

It seems to me that this is a downside to this unit. Internally, whether a failure of a sensor, or some other problem, the unit is sensing a need to 'slow' the power.... to me, this means heat related.

Your Ford Pass App is correctly showing the 'bouncing around' of power from the EVSE.

 

[HaroldCal]

I have seen this same phenomenon over the last several months with my own Ford MOBILE EVSE, although it worked perfectly fine since August 22 when the truck was just a baby : )

The LED notification on this unit is not real clear: why, Ford?, we don't know... but, since there is no relative information, you can only assume that any 'yellow'/'orange' you see as part of the Blue indicator is a DERATING of the power from the EVSE to the truck. But, there is no further information as to 'why'...

could it be ambient heat temperatures? Maybe.
could it be something from the truck? Probably not. It uses other EVSE's with no issues.
could it be the power from the outlet/circuit/breaker? Doubtful.

It seems to me that this is a downside to this unit. Internally, whether a failure of a sensor, or some other problem, the unit is sensing a need to 'slow' the power.... to me, this means heat related.

Your Ford Pass App is correctly showing the 'bouncing around' of power from the EVSE.

Yep, that's exactly what I am seeing. SO maybe it's not necessarily defective, just trash.

Sounds like it's new Emporias all-round.

 

[HaroldCal]

I came across this thread, which pretty much confirms it.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/mobile-charging-at-3kw.15894/

 

[Brent@ANParts]

I definitely suspect ambient temps are playing a role, my charging is absolutely terrible if I try anything during the day here in AZ.

 

[Adventureboy]

Unfortunately, the FMC is not very tolerant to heat or cold swings. The EVSE is a glorified switch that tells the truck the maximum power it can take, and on confirmation from the truck, turns on the switch. It then monitors that the truck is complying with the limit and shuts down if not. The contacts in the FMC are of inadequate quality (IMHO) and as the FMC ages, they generate more heat as current travels through the contacts, and many eventually fail completely. If the FMC gets warm (ambient temperature plus contact heat), the FMC tells the truck to take less power, and the truck must comply or the EVSE must shut down. It is a safety protocol built into all J1772-compliant certified EVSEs.
Emporia did the job for me. We don't get as hot as Arizona or Nevada, but we hit 98°F last week and no issues.

 

[RickLightning]

Threads going back to 2021 on this. Some aimed a fan on the unit.

No dumb charger is going to provide any more diagnostics than "I have slowed down". It doesn't know why.

The Ford Mobile Charger is not designed for long-term use as a home charger. Nor are any of the other makes for that matter. Go to any forum / FB Group and you will see the same posts.

 

[Rtashiro]

I had the same issue with my mobile charger. Dealer replaced it under warranty.

 

[Bigisland Guy]

I had an issue too, contacted Ford Dearborn and they replaced the unit.

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