Mustang Mach-E DC Fast Charge Test

After completing my 70-mph highway range test with a 2021 Mustang Mach-E, with the state of charge at 0%, I plug into a 150 kW DC Fast charger on the Electrify America network and record how long it takes to charge.
I then review the peak charging rate & discuss the charging curve all the way up to 100%.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro
1:52 Plug&Charge test
3:07 0% to 80% charging recording
4:00 Added 150 miles of range in 30 minutes
5:05 What happens when the state of charge reaches 80%
6:23 Still charging after two hours
8:00 Wrap up - what was learned

More DC Fast charge tests:

[StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney]

Note- READ THIS regarding the cost: In New Jersey, Electrify America bills by the kWh and as a Pass+ member, I pay $0.31 per kWh. Since the Ford Pass currently cannot be linked to an Electrify America Pass+ account, users pay the guest rate of $0.43 per kWh. The Mach-E took in 92 kWh during my DC fast charge test and the cost was significantly more than it should have been. Instead of paying $28.52 to fully charge the Mach-E, it cost $39.56. So don't use the cost of $39.56 as you see in the video. It should have cost $28.52.

The problem is currently you cannot link your Ford Pass account to your Electrify America account to get the discounted rate, so I would have just used my EA account and saved $11. But then you can't access Plug&Charge, which I wanted to demonstrate. Hopefully, Ford will get this straightened out and Mach-E owners will be able to link their EA accounts to their Ford Pass, allowing both the discounted rate and the use of Plug&Charge.

[DaveCronberger]

Great video and it confirms what is in the manual; don't charge past 80% and don't fast charge a lot. At home my L2 EVSE gets me to 90% charge (as recommended in the manual stop at 90% if plugged in every day) and at 9.23 cents per kWh (NC Duke Energy) it is cheap to drive. When I did a Plug and Charge at an Electrify America station it was a nightmare. Hopefully the software issues will get fixed so the rest of us can experience the joy of a seamless plug and fast charge. As for charging at home I use a 30 amp Clipper Creek device (longer story there) and there is some interesting messaging in the FordPass app you may want to look at. Again another very helpful video, thank you.

[tamerlone]

Software updates appear to have improved the 80-100 rate of charge. Looking like 35kw between 80-95.

[esso]

Love Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Mustang name too, living in 2021.

[timco]

There is one backhanded plus to the 80% cliff... easier to avoid idle fees. For one road trip stop, we went across the street and ate at Chili's for over an hour. Car was at 95% when we walked back. Perfect.

[lenm]

I think they did an update on the Plug and Charge a couple of weeks ago, which improved things.

[Lynyrd_Evnyrd]

Incredible patience to wait for the Mach-E to make it to 100%. Ford has probably seen universal opposition to this crazy slow down. Hopefully they update the charge curve over the air soon.

[fieldlab]

Mach-e needs a "charge to" option that optimizes the charge rate and curve depending on your needs.

[goonable]

Excellent video and companion article. Nice job!

[johnsmerdon]

Even in Gt Britain your YouTube posts are great to watch very informative. My wife drives an MG ZS EV. had it two months. I'm changing my Kia Sportage GT S line MHB next year so looking at the Mustang Mach E X as a contender. Again keep up the YouTube info🖖

[AMan-hesz]

Thank you for making this video. Very good job, per usual. Interesting that the fastest charging speed lasted only a couple minutes, literally. I wonder how the SR battery Mach-E performs in this regard. Thanks for having the dedication to wait until 100% charge, but looks like that part of the charge is just moot until something changes.

[cesartrujillo]

Another TOM video! It’s going to be a great day.

[dansanger]

Tom loves the grabber blue (it does look very nice). I hope the two minute max at 150 kW restriction isn't due to derating the wires leading to the battery for continuous use. That might make it harder to improve that aspect of the charging curve in a future update. The max 12kW after 80% thing really should be fixed. That restriction could be very painful if the next charger is 250 miles away.

[Miata]

Pretty good trouble free charging. Could be faster in the first third, but not bad at all.
You seldom want to charge to even 20% when on a road trip. Plan to arrive at chargers with 10% or less and only charge enough to get to your next charging stop. Plan it right and you'll always be charging at 100kW or better and spend the least total time charging even if it adds an extra stop. Using the _A Better Route Planner_ app makes travelling like this easy.

[eddiegardner]

If you look at the charging characteristics of a single Li-ion cell, the cell should be charged via a constant current method until it reaches a certain voltage, and then via a constant voltage method until it reaches the fully charged voltage. The constant voltage charge current is considerably less than during the constant current phase, slowing down the charge. These characteristics are reflected in the charge rate for the whole pack, with exceptions programmed in for extreme low pack temperatures and extreme high pack temperatures. There may also be some voltage drooping of the charger as it’s internals heat up, line voltage input varies, or other chargers kick in their loads on the transformer supplying the charging stations. It will be interesting, if solid state batteries ever become available for practically priced cars, whether these Li-ion characteristics are eliminated, or simply get replaced by other charge curve limitations that have to be built into their own battery management systems.

[commanderroddi]

280 mph is pretty good range on AWD version! Saw similar test (Kyle at OUt of Spec) that got about 285, so pretty consistent results? Charges well, though the cliff is HUGE when it drops off (This is a car you want to not let go below 10% and may want to pull in closer to 20% then? 2024 moels will do 10%-80% in about 36 min (seen as quick as 35 with a V3 supercharger) and THAT is what kind leading me to swap an Ioniq5 (2022) which I do love because I do believe Hyundai though it looks smaller, it has more interior room) and IONIQ 5 has CRAZY 230+ charge speeds, (however, I rarely get tthat, and was forced once or twice on a road trip to stop in a hotel with a destination charger to charge all night because the ONLY CCS charger in the region was out of commission (no charger working) and ... Well, Almost picked up a Model Y, I think I like the looks of the Mach-E, so, Yeah. May be getting a Mustang with the slightly larger range & higher charge curve.

[updlate]

The only time anyone should really be charging over 80% is when they're charging at home before making a long trip that requires the extra power where charging time in one's garage isn't affected by this slowdown. Slowing charging above 80% at fast chargers not only reduces degradation to the battery pack, but also makes it pointless to keep your car on the charger beyond 80%, thereby freeing up DC fast chargers sooner. Even some cars with faster charging rates can take 20-30 minutes to charge from 80% to 100%. It's really bad for road trip time optimization. This may be something we want all OEMs to start doing to ensure charger availability.

[petegalindez]

Excellently review Tom. Thanks for doing all these. Having owned a Tesla Model 3 and Y and now looking for my next EV experience, this is priceless information.

[brinkxmusic]

I actually don’t mind that it tapers at 80% because it keeps people from charging to 100 which you shouldn’t

[dbz]

The way I look at is if I leave with a 100% charge and can charge at my destination, after about 3 hours of driving, I only need to stop for around 5-10 mins every hour thereafter, which seems perfectly reasonable to me in terms of normal breaks. I just wish there were a few more DC fast chargers in the south to give more options on where to stop.

If I couldn't level 2 charge overnight at my destination, then yes I would need at least one longer DC fast charge session. However, if I knew I was going somewhere remote without good charging options, I would probably use/rent a gas vehicle for that specific trip. If you really like getting lost in the woods away from civilization, a powerboost f150 with 700 miles of range and a built in generator might be a better choice.