Mass Save EV charger rebate - Ford Charge Station Pro problem

[netpositive]

I'd just short of guarantee it's a comms issue. The Lightning initially was eligible for the Charge Smart MA program to incentivize off-peak charging. A few months later Ford decided to not share the backend charging data so the Lightning was pulled from the program.

Very poor decision IMO.

Thanks. I am trying to find one of the Mass Save wizards behind the opaque curtain to get their thoughts. I will post if I find any more information.

Many thanks to all for the comments and clarity with thoughts on the potential issues.

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[Danface]

You can get the $700 just by installing it BUT you won't be able to signup for any reduction in cost for late night charging. I got the $700 installation money for my (not FSCP) charger that doesn't have logging so not discount on electricity

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'd just short of guarantee it's a comms issue. The Lightning initially was eligible for the Charge Smart MA program to incentivize off-peak charging. A few months later Ford decided to not share the backend charging data so the Lightning was pulled from the program.

Very poor decision IMO.

Yes, I'm very familiar with that program, after getting locked out of Ford.com twice for TOS violations

 

[netpositive]

ahhh, yes, no I did not apply for it either, only got the federal credit for costs related to installing my FCSP, service upgrade and wiring, not the unit itself.

I raised the issue to someone at National Grid who communicated with the right person at Eversource and received an email that the rebate has been approved for the $700. I have asked to have someone get in touch to make sure that this was not a one-off approval but a correction that will mean that anyone with that charger who has it installed by a licensed electrician can get the rebate. It requires an invoice with their license # on it and some indication that the invoice has been paid.

I have a call set with someone in the charging group at Ford this week to address some of the helpful questions that were raised by people on the forum. I want to make sure that this charger will support Time of use as that is a requirement for the rebate and it is coming soon in the area where I live. All of Massachusetts, at least with Eversource's two load zone (east and west) are being changed to smart meters over the next three years and it is expected that they will roll out time of use pricing as soon as the west zone (being done first) is completed, then the east when it is done. V2X is coming as well.

Thanks for the help.

 

[TaxmanHog]

All of Massachusetts, at least with Eversource's two load zone (east and west) are being changed to smart meters over the next three years and it is expected that they will roll out time of use pricing as soon as the west zone (being done first) is completed, then the east when it is done. V2X is coming as well.

I hope that National Grid service areas are doing this also, I guess they are:
https://www.nationalgridus.com/ma-home/Smart-Meters/default.aspx

Still no Ford EVSE equipment listed:
https://www.nationalgridus.com/electric-vehicle-hub/Programs/Massachusetts/Off-Peak-Charging-Program

 

[netpositive]

I raised the issue to someone at National Grid who communicated with the right person at Eversource and received an email that the rebate has been approved for the $700. I have asked to have someone get in touch to make sure that this was not a one-off approval but a correction that will mean that anyone with that charger who has it installed by a licensed electrician can get the rebate. It requires an invoice with their license # on it and some indication that the invoice has been paid.

I have a call set with someone in the charging group at Ford this week to address some of the helpful questions that were raised by people on the forum. I want to make sure that this charger will support Time of use as that is a requirement for the rebate and it is coming soon in the area where I live. All of Massachusetts, at least with Eversource's two load zone (east and west) are being changed to smart meters over the next three years and it is expected that they will roll out time of use pricing as soon as the west zone (being done first) is completed, then the east when it is done. V2X is coming as well.

Thanks for the help.

I hope that National Grid service areas are doing this also, I guess they are :
https://www.nationalgridus.com/ma-home/Smart-Meters/default.aspx

Still no Ford EVSE equipment listed:
https://www.nationalgridus.com/electric-vehicle-hub/Programs/Massachusetts/Off-Peak-Charging-Program

I will ask the National Grid rep if he can check the same issue under their program and pass on the reply.

 

[JvdMaat]

All of Massachusetts, at least with Eversource's two load zone (east and west) are being changed to smart meters over the next three years and it is expected that they will roll out time of use pricing as soon as the west zone (being done first) is completed, then the east when it is done. V2X is coming as well.

Great! I am waiting on Eversource to redo their EV Charger rebate site. I signed up two weeks ago to be ahead of my March 31st deadline for a 2024 install.
Eversource has also been swinging the smart meter carrot bait. We'll be getting it this year. Looking forward to that. I would love time of use. Feed the grid with solar during the day, and charge the truck when rate is lower.
And hopefully we can integrate the smart meters with Home Assistant so we can see our usage real-time.

 

[Relámpago]

The Mass Save EV charger rebate of $700 oddly does not seem to include the Ford Charge Station Pro charger. The model number is not included on the list of chargers that are included in the program. Has anyone received the rebate and, if so, what model number did you use? I cannot imagine that I am the only Lightning owner in Massachusetts who has come up against this and that there is not some easy solution.

Any information would be appreciated.

thanks

Ford Charge Station Pro software is likely not compliant with the power companies software. I talked to the expert at Green Mountain Power in Vermont and he indicated that their software is not compatible with the Ford Charge Station Pro and hence cannot be used in their program.

 

[Danface]

Ford Charge Station Pro software is likely not compliant with the power companies software. I talked to the expert at Green Mountain Power in Vermont and he indicated that their software is not compatible with the Ford Charge Station Pro and hence cannot be used in their program.

No, I received the $700 From Mass for a different charger BUT I was unable to enroll in the program that saves you $.05/KWH because of the inablity of the charger to provide logs. The program for the rebate is not linked to the reduction of cost for charging

 

[JvdMaat]

No, I received the $700 From Mass for a different charger BUT I was unable to enroll in the program that saves you $.05/KWH because of the inablity of the charger to provide logs. The program for the rebate is not linked to the reduction of cost for charging

I played dumb and submitted the $700 rebate request. (About a week or two ago when the website opened back up). I picked the Ford 80A charger from the list. We'll see what happens.
What $0.05/kWh discount is there? Is that a MA one, or Eversource/NationalGrid specific? (We're on Eversource. And currently on their R3 rate for residential electric heating (inherited from the previous owners, despite them having propane furnaces. Which we replaced with geothermal, so now we do heat electric (But I think the R3 rate may be meant for resistive electric heating)) (The R3 rate has slightly lower delivery charges compared to R1)

 

[Danface]

I played dumb and submitted the $700 rebate request. (About a week or two ago when the website opened back up). I picked the Ford 80A charger from the list. We'll see what happens.
What $0.05/kWh discount is there? Is that a MA one, or Eversource/NationalGrid specific? (We're on Eversource. And currently on their R3 rate for residential electric heating (inherited from the previous owners, despite them having propane furnaces. Which we replaced with geothermal, so now we do heat electric (But I think the R3 rate may be meant for resistive electric heating)) (The R3 rate has slightly lower delivery charges compared to R1)

This page is a really good source of what's available in MA for EV support:

https://goclean.masscec.com/ev-rebates-and-incentives/

 

[Danface]

I was wrong, it looks like it has changed recently. I did the install over a year ago so "oooops"

Off-Peak Charging Rebate Program


Customers living in single-family homes are required to enroll in the Off-Peak Charging Program to receive a rebate from the Residential EV Charging Infrastructure Program for a 240-volt wiring upgrade or, for R-2 customers only, the purchase of a charging station.

 

[Danface]

I played dumb and submitted the $700 rebate request. (About a week or two ago when the website opened back up). I picked the Ford 80A charger from the list. We'll see what happens.
What $0.05/kWh discount is there? Is that a MA one, or Eversource/NationalGrid specific? (We're on Eversource. And currently on their R3 rate for residential electric heating (inherited from the previous owners, despite them having propane furnaces. Which we replaced with geothermal, so now we do heat electric (But I think the R3 rate may be meant for resistive electric heating)) (The R3 rate has slightly lower delivery charges compared to R1)

See my response. It looks like the program has changed, I got the rebate withouth having to enroll in the off peak program but that was over a year ago


Off-Peak Charging Rebate Program


Customers living in single-family homes are required to enroll in the Off-Peak Charging Program to receive a rebate from the Residential EV Charging Infrastructure Program for a 240-volt wiring upgrade or, for R-2 customers only, the purchase of a charging station.

 

[broncoaz]

You guys can afford to charge these trucks without full home solar? Eversource on Cape Cod is about 36 cents per kWh, I did their $700 rebate with a Tesla gen 3 wall connector but I’ve never heard of any rate discount with the charger logging the overnight usage. After my 2022 Lightning Pro SR experiment I swore off an EV unless I had solar and enough surplus to feed the EV. We moved in 2023 and installed solar in Jan 2024. We went 195% of our estimated usage, so 36 panels making a 14.58 kW system, it made 17 MWh in the first 12 months. We purchased a Tesla Y in March 2024 and still had enough surplus power to support the Lightning. We might go over by 1 MWh for the year with the second EV.

I’m very curious to see if and how the smart meters and TOU will work. I can’t see Eversource allowing us plebs to net meter back into the grid at peak rates then draw at a cheaper rate overnight. Either the overall net metering credits will be significantly reduced or some other negative outcome. I would much rather see a system like Oregon uses where you are trading the utility 1kW for 1kW rather than a dollar value for net metering.

 

[JvdMaat]

You guys can afford to charge these trucks without full home solar? Eversource on Cape Cod is about 36 cents per kWh, I did their $700 rebate with a Tesla gen 3 wall connector but I’ve never heard of any rate discount with the charger logging the overnight usage.
I’m very curious to see if and how the smart meters and TOU will work. I can’t see Eversource allowing us plebs to net meter back into the grid at peak rates then draw at a cheaper rate overnight. Either the overall net metering credits will be significantly reduced or some other negative outcome. I would much rather see a system like Oregon uses where you are trading the utility 1kW for 1kW rather than a dollar value for net metering.

I think the V2X demo will go in the direction of us selling electricity at a higher rate (during peak hours) and buying it at a lower rate during off hours.
I have solar (12kW), but that gives us about 10MW per year. Which is just our regular house usage. Geothermal and Lightning charging come on top of that, so the electric bill in this winter was steep. Very steep (We bought 2.3MWh in Jan, and 2.5MWh in Feb. At 35 cents ($900)). Our current net metering with Eversource is on a kW for kW basis on a per billing cycle basis. (ie, during the 30 day billing cycle, they figure out if we were net positive or negative, and then either pay us for the surplus, or charge us for the usage at that month's rate). Doing it on a per kWh basis would work for us since winter electric is generally more expensive. Which is probably why they do not do it here
I would very much like ToU billing. There is demand for it. We're next to Northfield Mountain, which is a big water battery. (They pump the river up to a reservoir overnight, and when needed release it to power the grid. And make good money in the process. I'm sure Eversource can get a better deal with residential users (pay us a lot less than those rates). So while we won't make as much profit as a large industrial battery, we still make some profit, and everyone is happy. (As happy as one can be with 35cent electric rates)

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