OnBoard Charging Station??

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almont48003_Focus

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Joined
Sep 4, 2014
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Has anyone installed a charging station onboard their FFE? Here's my situation, I spend the week in Dearborn and the weekends 50 miles away. The place in Dearborn doesn't have a garage and I don't want the expense of installing a charger outside in the weather. Also I don't want to buy two chargers or have to monkey around with hauling the charger in and out of the car for each site (and worrying the charger could go missing in Dearborn).

So my thought is to install the charger under the Focus hood (is there room there?) and have the connections from the J1772 wired directly to where the charging port wires comes in. I would have the plug hang down so I could easily connect it to a 240 extension cord. That way I can easily connect at either site or at a relatives house. If I did ever need to use a public charging station, I could use the default charging port. Not sure if this connecting would void any warranty.

I'm thinking of using the basic edition Juicebox since it would let me charge the FFE at the maximum rate, it's much less costly and I can order just the attachments I need.

What's your thoughts? I'm picking up my new FFE on Monday.
 
almont48003_Focus said:
Has anyone installed a charging station onboard their FFE? Here's my situation, I spend the week in Dearborn and the weekends 50 miles away. The place in Dearborn doesn't have a garage and I don't want the expense of installing a charger outside in the weather. Also I don't want to buy two chargers or have to monkey around with hauling the charger in and out of the car for each site (and worrying the charger could go missing in Dearborn).

So my thought is to install the charger under the Focus hood (is there room there?) and have the connections from the J1772 wired directly to where the charging port wires comes in. I would have the plug hang down so I could easily connect it to a 240 extension cord. That way I can easily connect at either site or at a relatives house. If I did ever need to use a public charging station, I could use the default charging port. Not sure if this connecting would void any warranty.

I'm thinking of using the basic edition Juicebox since it would let me charge the FFE at the maximum rate, it's much less costly and I can order just the attachments I need.

What's your thoughts? I'm picking up my new FFE on Monday.
Depending on how long you have to charge in Dearborn you could use the 120V charger. It will fit under the hood. You can use an extension cord and run the J1772 connector out by the windshield to connect to the charging port. That keeps the EVSE unit secure. I'm not sure about a 240V EVSE under the hood though, I'd be concerned about things getting too hot.

I wouldn't want to mess with the wiring, but I would just look at storing your EVSE under the hood and running the cable out by the windshield wipers to plug in to the charging port.
 
Is this "Dearborn", Dearborn Michigan? as in the home of Ford Motor Company? (Who has charge stations at every building now?)

I'm thinking "No" simply because if it was you wouldn't be posting the question.
 
almont48003_Focus said:
So my thought is to install the charger under the Focus hood (is there room there?) and have the connections from the J1772 wired directly to where the charging port wires comes in. I would have the plug hang down so I could easily connect it to a 240 extension cord. That way I can easily connect at either site or at a relatives house. If I did ever need to use a public charging station, I could use the default charging port. Not sure if this connecting would void any warranty.

Why would you want to put it under your hood? Just throw your JuiceBox in the back and leave the 120V ford cord at home. If you wanted it under your hood for security reasons, somewhere on here I've seen a picture where someone put a handle on their JuiceBox and then used a bike lock to secure the Juicebox handle to the spoke of a wheel. I suppose you might be able to find a place under the hood to stash the JuiceBox and then run the cords out underneath the car, but I wouldn't want to leave it there when the car is in motion.

I'm fairly sure splicing into the factory wires would void the warranty. Not worth saving the money on the J1772 connector not to mention the hassle.
 
almont48003_Focus said:
Has anyone installed a charging station onboard their FFE? Here's my situation, I spend the week in Dearborn and the weekends 50 miles away. The place in Dearborn doesn't have a garage and I don't want the expense of installing a charger outside in the weather. Also I don't want to buy two chargers or have to monkey around with hauling the charger in and out of the car for each site (and worrying the charger could go missing in Dearborn).
Even without "installing" the EVSE under the hood, you can still just lock it under the hood when you're using it unattended in a "seedy" part of town.

Most portable-sized EVSE's are small enough to simply lay on top of the rubber engine cover, run the cables out the front of the hood (which will still close completely due the space left for the weather seal), close it up, and the go on with your day. The worst somebody could do is unplug you, but they won't be able to steal your EVSE. (Well, they could cut up your cables or slash you tires, I suppose.) Sure, you'll still need to "monkey around" with the EVSE whenever you stop for a charge (probably having stored it in the trunk for the drive), but that's a two-minute job, tops. Are you in that much of a rush? ;)

I wouldn't re-wire any of the actual EV-related connections under the hood.
 
Picked up my 2014 Blue Candy FFE today at Dean Sellers Ford. It is a beauty and drives great.

Jamie (I've been reading your blog the last six months), yes I'm talking about the city of Dearborn, Michigan. I work at Ford in the IT department. As far as chargers at all the Ford building, I saw that email last September that it was suppose to happen, but it sure hasn't happened at my building. And Ford Land doesn't have any information on when it will happen.

I was hoping that Ford would add the Electric Focus soon to the A plan but then the flood of August 11th in Detroit happened and my old Taurus sucked up some water and got totaled by the insurance company.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I figured doing a rewiring would probably cause me warranty problems. I'm not in that much of a hurry but it seems a waste that every time I want to charge, I need to open the trunk, get out the charger, plug one end into an extension code, plug the other end into the Focus and then hang the charger. Thus my idea of installing it under the hood and sticking a plug out the bottom. (I figured the city couldn't bitch at me if I had it installed in the car).

I need to eye things up in the car(where there is room to put wires in and out of the hood), before I try anything.
 
almont48003_Focus said:
Picked up my 2014 Blue Candy FFE today at Dean Sellers Ford. It is a beauty and drives great.
Hey congratulations! Another Blue Candy FFE in Southeastern Michigan! (That makes like 5 or 6 by my count! LOL).

My wife's building has a charger but I don't think its for employee use (although I don't think its used that much since they only have 1 FFE in their test car fleet--and yes its Blue Candy. At least it was there a few months ago when I had lunch with her).
 
jmueller065 said:
My wife's building has a charger but I don't think its for employee use (although I don't think its used that much since they only have 1 FFE in their test car fleet--and yes its Blue Candy. At least it was there a few months ago when I had lunch with her).
Where does she work that they have a test fleet with an FFE?
 
Looking at a manual, Page 5 (http://www.freebookezz.com/pdf/8844781805/) for emergency responders working on electric car, there is a high voltage interlock circuit that is around all the high voltage cables that if interrupted will turn off the current (so one definitely can not just splice into the line).

"High-Voltage Interlock Circuit — Whenever a high-voltage connector
is disconnected, the high-voltage interlock circuit opens and isolates
the high-voltage system. The circuit will also open if a high-voltage cable is
cut, broken, or severed. This circuit is wrapped around high-voltage cables."
 
If I plug in to a 120 outlet while out and about, I use an extension cord ( no less than 12 g ). I put the cord through the window, plug it into the factory charger, then run the
J1772 connector back out to the port and roll the window back up. I usually leave a note on the dash stating that I am inside spending money at their establishment. I leave
my phone number on the note. Have never had a problem.
 
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