Is the Ford Charge Station Pro worth it?

[Highpi]

I'm getting close to pulling the trigger, finally, and the sales guy said the station pro is included, with install. Is it a decent evse or is it better to take the $500 and go third party. I had been eyeballing the Grizzl-e until I heard about the Ford unit being included in the purchase.

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[flyct]

The FCSP “free” deal includes ”basic installation”. You still will be responsible for permit fees. The FCSP is unique in that it’s designed to also work as a power source for your home if you spend another $10,000 for the unreliable additional hardware and labor.

Every EV manufacture is going to the Tesla standard connector in the near future. At This time a FCSP doesn’t have an adapter to charge Vehicles with Tesla NACS port.

My recommendation is to take the $500 and buy a Tesla UNIVERSAL Wall Connector for $650 and pay a local electrician to install it on a 60 amp circuit. It’s very reliable and has a 4 year warranty. The Universal Wall Connector has built in adapters to charge virtually any EV on the market today or in the near future. That way you future proof your installation.

 

[davehu]

I'm perfectly happy with my FCSP. It was included with my Lariat so price wasn't an issue. But if I were having to pay for one now, there are several others that are probably a better value. I'm sure many posters to come will have recommendations.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'm getting close to pulling the trigger, finally, and the sales guy said the station pro is included, with install. Is it a decent evse or is it better to take the $500 and go third party. I had been eyeballing the Grizzl-e until I heard about the Ford unit being included in the purchase.

What model year Lightning will you be driving?

 

[Highpi]

Well, I should be picking up a 2025 Lariat in the next couple of days. And I’m taking the FCSP.
It’s a dealer trade and I’m about an hour from the dealer.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Well, I should be picking up a 2025 Lariat in the next couple of days. And I’m taking the FCSP.
It’s a dealer trade and I’m about an hour from the dealer.

Nice, just remember that your 2025 Lightning will charge at a maximum rate of 48 amp's, the 80 AMP EVSE won't be much use unless you have a future EV that has higher charging capacity.

 

[Highpi]

Yeah, that’s fine. The way the panel is setup, I’ll need to watch when I can charge.
I have a 100 amp sub panel with 50 amps going to an induction stove and a microwave and trash compactor on other circuits.
I’m home enough during the day, so most of my charging should be done before needing the big draw.
Or at least that’s my understanding of how it will play out.

 

[cdherman]

You could look into the Emporia chargers -- they can interface with Emporia's load management system. Probably more money. They sell you coils that can detect other loads and then manage rate of charge via their charger. The actual Emporia 48A charger is a pretty good deal and well made in my opinion -- plastic, but brass inserts, decent seals, nice ferrules on the wires. I had to deal with Emporia on a malfunction. Their customer service was excellent.

The Grizzl-E 80A would be my choice for 80A. The FCSP has all the CCS DC pins on it. SO YOU CANNOT PLUG IT INTO A J1772 VEHCILE. You might not have another J1772 now, but someday? Visitors? And the J1772 >> NACS adaptors are reasonable. FCSP is an albatross. I would avoid it.

 

[PJnc284]

The Grizzl-E 80A would be my choice for 80A. The FCSP has all the CCS DC pins on it. SO YOU CANNOT PLUG IT INTO A J1772 VEHCILE. You might not have another J1772 now, but someday? Visitors? And the J1772 >> NACS adaptors are reasonable. FCSP is an albatross. I would avoid it.

You could but would need to frankenstein the A2Z Thunderstorm lite along with a nacs-j1772 adapter

 

[cdherman]

You could but would need to frankenstein the A2Z Thunderstorm lite along with a nacs-j1772 adapter

If you are willing to void the warranty, I am nearly certain you can cut the CCS DC pins off with a vibratory tool and a carbide blade and all would be well. The DC pins are connected to NOTHING so long as you do not have the vehicle to home stuff installed. If our FCSP makes it three years, I will be doing exactly that......

 

[CD4TNF]

I'm a fan of ChargePoint Homeflex. My utility had a rebate for it because it synced with their system for time-of-day pricing.


https://store.chargepoint.com/product/home-flex-hardwired


Has flip levers to swap the cable from J1772 to NACS. That way you're future proofed.

https://store.chargepoint.com/product/nacs-cable-kit

 

[rdr854]

Yeah, that’s fine. The way the panel is setup, I’ll need to watch when I can charge.
I have a 100 amp sub panel with 50 amps going to an induction stove and a microwave and trash compactor on other circuits.
I’m home enough during the day, so most of my charging should be done before needing the big draw.
Or at least that’s my understanding of how it will play out.

My county‘s building department in Virginia looks at the total draw vs. the circuit and service available. In our case, we needed a 100 amp circuit for the charge station pro and were able to pull off the install because we were only using 99 amps (assuming everything was running at the same time) out of our 200 amp service.

 

[K6CCC]

I have the FCSP, but it's total overkill for my 2024 Flash. I have zero expectation to ever use the home power integration. Had I known better after getting my truck, I would have gotten something else - Most likely the Tesla universal.

 

[Highpi]

Originally, I was thinking Grizzl-e or Tesla, but since the Ford is “free”, including install, I’m cheap enough to give it try.

 

[flyct]

Yeah, that’s fine. The way the panel is setup, I’ll need to watch when I can charge.
I have a 100 amp sub panel with 50 amps going to an induction stove and a microwave and trash compactor on other circuits.
I’m home enough during the day, so most of my charging should be done before needing the big draw.
Or at least that’s my understanding of how it will play out.

Hopefully the installer can install the FCSP on a 60 amp circuit with that 100a sub panel. They should do a load calculation and compute if the panel can accommodate another 60 amp circuit. They also should pull a permit and have building inspector approve it at your cost. Some have reported that Qmerit will charge you for permit cost and administration fee to create, apply and finalize the permit.

Report back with your experience.

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