Mobile Charger Lifespan

[Rthol21]

Never bothered paying thousands for an electrician to install the FCSP that came with my lightning (back in 2022 before they offered the install incentive) since we could just use the 240v outlet in the garage with the mobile charger. Have now had two mobile chargers get the red light of death for internal faults. The first one lasted about 2 years and the second one lasted about a year.

It’s worth noting me and my lady use the mobile charger for both her Mach E and my Lightning. We don’t drive a ton though, ~300mi/week combined.

Am trying out an emporia level 2 charger next instead of ford.

What has everyone else seen for a lifespan from their ford mobile charger or other brands?

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[Heliian]

Various.

For more info, web search "webasto go", that's the actual brand.

 

[elizarrj]

I keep my mobile charger in my frunk and use it when I travel., so I rarely use it. I use the Emporia charger as my main charger and I love it. I have never had an issue with it.

 

[Maquis]

The more you use it, the quicker it fails. Mine is almost 6 years old and still works fine. I’ve used it maybe 20 times.

 

[chriserx]

mine is exposed outdoors magnetically mounted to my cargo container using a RV extension cord on 50A circuit from the house. I noticed when i switched from L1 to L2 (changing the cord) water ingress was fairly obvious, could be the cause of early failures. If it does fail I intend to get an OpenEVSE.

 

[jefrank]

I used my Ford mobile charger as my primary charger for 2 1/2 years before deciding to sell my FCSP and getting an Autel charger installed under my utility's rebate program. Still working fine as far as I know. It was outdoors for the 18 months or so until we moved.

 

[irunalot]

Never bothered paying thousands for an electrician to install the FCSP that came with my lightning (back in 2022 before they offered the install incentive) since we could just use the 240v outlet in the garage with the mobile charger. Have now had two mobile chargers get the red light of death for internal faults. The first one lasted about 2 years and the second one lasted about a year.

It’s worth noting me and my lady use the mobile charger for both her Mach E and my Lightning. We don’t drive a ton though, ~300mi/week combined.

Am trying out an emporia level 2 charger next instead of ford.

What has everyone else seen for a lifespan from their ford mobile charger or other brands?

I can offer anecdotal evidence only.

My daughter drives a Mach-E and she has used the Ford Mobile Charger exclusively when home with no issues for the past 2 years. My son drives a Mach-E (his second one) and he had a "buggy" experience with the Ford Travel Charger at home so he bought an Emporia Level 2 charger after exhaustive research. No issues with the Emporia.

For my Lightning, I use the Ford Mobile Charger at home with no issues. I only had one yellow alert and it went away with a reboot (unplug). At my vaca house, I have the FCSP. I consider it "buggy" as well, but it works. Glad the FCSP was "free."

 

[kf59]

I used mine the same as you do. It lasted 16 months. Dealer replaced it at no charge.

 

[snowy_91]

I have a clipper creek 220v 16a that we have used every day for 10 years. Now it's charging her Blazer EV.

 

[htobin]

My Ford supplied charger started giving out after about two years

 

[techsan97]

Mine lives outside and is my primary charger. It was anyway, but it has died twice now in about an 8 month period so I bought an aftermarket charger. It is garbage and and made worse by the fact that it was forced on us by making it an option on every vehicle on the lot. Anyone have any luck getting Ford to refund the cost of the charger after repeated failures?

 

[Mike G]

As with others, I've had them last about two years before they start going into the constant 'overheat>cooldown>charge for a few minutes>overheat' cycle loop that means it's nearing it's end of life...I've gone through at least three of these portable chargers.

Truthfully, mine was going out probably long before I realized it...because it would overheat/cooldown/charge and repeat....but since I would go out in the morning and the car was charged up, I didn't realize for a long time that it was taking a lot longer to charge up because of the overheating issue....but I just never knew it.

I still have two of them now that are still in the packaging and never used, since I installed a Amazon 'open box' Wallbox plus (about $150 discount from retail) a couple of years ago. I seriously doubt I'll ever use either one of those portable chargers and should probably sell them I guess. You can't open them up to figure out why they are constantly overheating, since they clearly were designed with your safety in mind (and apparently to prevent repair ). And there's no reason on earth they should be charging roughly $500 for these things anyway. The FCSP I got with my Lightning I gave back to my dealership to install in one of their bays. I wasn't going to go through the nutroll of having that installed to power the house from the truck since I already have a Generac backup. I'm actually glad I didn't get that thing installed from all the issues I've seen on the forum from users who did.

 

[Lightning Rod]

I use mine to charge the Lightning when we go camping several times e year. I leave it in a 20 gallon storage bin in the back of the truck, under the tonneau, all year round for almost 3 years now. No issues so far.

 

[Joe Dablock]

The portable chargers for both my MME and my Lightning have died when plugged into 220v but both do work when plugged into 110v.
Big disappointment! I thought Ford could do better.

 

[K6CCC]

I used the mobile charger once on 120V and seven times on 240V before installing my FCSP. Since then the mobile charger has sat in the frunk in case I needed it. I have used it once on the road on 208V, and once at home on 120V when I was running my generator to give it some exercise. Working fine so far, but not a regular use.

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