Home Charging Fail: EV Success Requires Manufacturers Target Happiness

By Phil Royle – Jan. 19, 2022

While recently evaluating a Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition, I came across a rather peculiar omission in the vehicle’s charging software controls that has me scratching my head. My forthcoming full vehicle review will cover the Mach-E as a whole; the topic I want to discuss right now, however, is both incredibly important and a dive into the minutia. And while I’m hopeful that Ford will eventually fix this obvious charging oversight, to me, it raises a larger concern that manufacturers seemingly choosing profit over consumer happiness will ultimately hinder EV adoption.

The Mach-E is a delight in that it comes equipped with the Ford Mobile Charger, which has a swappable head that allows for either 120v or 240v charging. Ford lists the charger’s 120v application as pulling 12 amps, with 240v being set for 30 amps via a NEMA 14-50 plug.

For $799, Ford offers its Ford Connected Charge Station that’s capable of 16 to 48 amps, but most anyone purchasing a Mach-E who doesn’t have a dedicated home charger already installed will likely attempt to make do with the Ford Mobile Charger. After all, a 30 amp, 240v outlet is perfectly capable of charging almost any EV.

Except when it’s not.

My house is not equipped with a NEMA 14-50 plug, but I do have two L14-30 outlets. With that, I ran an L14-30 extension cord with an L14-30-to-NEMA 14-50 adapter to the Ford Mobile Charger with its NEMA 14-50 end, clicked the J1772 plug into the Mach-E’s charging port, and viola, charging. The FordPass App showed everything was up and running, so I went inside.

Five minutes later, the app notified me of a failed charging session.

Admittedly, it was a bit of a hodgepodge of adapters to get the Ford Mobile Charger to connect to my L14-30 wall outlet, but it should have worked.

Closer inspection showed that my house’s 30-amp breaker had popped, so I reset the breaker, only to suffer the same fate. Then I recalled the specs of the Ford Mobile Charger and realized that I was trying to pull 30 amps from a 30-amp breaker, and that I likely needed to dial down the amperage draw to 24 amps either through the Mach-E’s center display or the FordPass App.

Enter the sad trombone, because neither allow that tweak.

An online search discovered I wasn’t the only one trying to charge a Mach-E via a 30-amp plug and the Ford Mobile Charger – and I certainly wasn’t the only one frustrated with the lack of adjustability. In fact, it seems the answer from Ford is to purchase its Ford Connected Charge Station for $799 (which, Ford notes, requires professional installation). That Level 2 charger can charge at rates from 16 to 48 amps, which essentially means Ford has a $799 solution to slow the rate of charge to their EV should your house only have a 30-amp breaker.

On top of this, there is a high likelihood that the electrician installing the Ford Connected Charge Station will try to upsell the consumer to a home panel that can accept 32, or even 48, amp charging. That $799 charger just got very expensive.

Convinced I knew better then the internet, I thought I’d hit the jackpot when I stumbled upon the Mach-E’s “Max Charge Level” setting. However, that actually refers to how full the car will charge its battery, not the rate at which the battery will charge.

I’m sure there’s a reason someone would want to charge their EV’s battery to any number from 0% to 100%, as that’s what Ford allows, but I think far more people would benefit from being able to dial the supplied charger down to 16 or 24 amps instead of it being permanently set to 30. And, while I’m no software or hardware engineer, this problem has already been solved by other manufacturers.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E charging screen offers many options, but setting the amperage rate is not one of them.

Tesla owners are undoubtedly rolling their collective eyes right now, as reducing the charging rate is something Teslas can do, and while the charging rate control isn’t as granular as it is on a Tesla, Hyundai EVs also allow drivers to select between “Maximum,” “Reduced,” and “Minimum” charging amp rates, with this feature being showcased in various YouTube videos in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kona EV. Undoubtedly, this feature is available in other Hyundai Group EVs that exist as well as those set to be released.

I’m unsure whether this is a software or hardware issue with the Mach-E, but it doesn’t matter – Ford shipping the Mach-E with a charger that won’t work in many instances is starting new EV owners off on the wrong foot. In my particular case, I identified the issue and instantly swapped to Level 1 charging for the duration of the vehicle’s review which, doubled with DC fast charging for a range test, offered more than ample juice for my needs. Had this Mach-E been my personal purchase, I would likely have bought something affordable like the Grizzl-E Classic, connected it to my L14-30-to-NEMA 14-50 extension cord, and been ready to rip.

But how many new – and happy – Mustang Mach-E owners got home only to spend the day on the phone with their Ford dealer, getting more and more frustrated along the way?

Truly, this problem falls under the “minutia” category, but it’s important minutia for EV adoption.

Had Ford equipped the Mach-E with a simple power toggle on the center display or mobile app to allow for a variable draw from its included Ford Mobile Charger, every new Mach-E owner would never stop raving about their new EV sports SUV – the Mach-E is truly that good. But instead, many of these new owners are forced to take to the internet in frustration over what could be perceived as Ford making a profit-driven decision to go for the post-sale upsell rather than opting for instantaneous consumer happiness.

(Main image by Phil Royle)

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