How Ford is helping EV owners with charging stations

SAN FRANCISCO — Ford Motor Co. appreciates its customers’ electric powered automobile charging encounter is much less than excellent, and it’s deploying an military of “angels” to take care of it.

The automaker gives customers some 63,000 plugs throughout the region in what it calls a “network of networks,” built up of stations from Electrify The united states, ChargePoint and other individuals. That patchwork selection of third-social gathering chargers has at times been problematic for Mustang Mach-E owners looking to energy up on the highway.

“There are a great deal of plugs out there, but some of them are outdated and they never have the top quality or dependability we want,” Darren Palmer, Ford’s typical manager of battery electric powered vehicles, advised Automotive Information in the course of a media travel application in San Francisco. “In excess of ninety nine.5 p.c of customers go into a charger and get a charge. We’re happy about that. But a variety much less than that get a charge the initially time they charge.”

Enter the Charge Angels.

Workforce in specially instrumented Mach-Es will travel around and check out person chargers in regions the place linked automobile info — or angry social media posts — say customers are possessing challenges.

“All they will do all working day lengthy is go and test them to see the place they are unsuccessful and why,” Palmer mentioned.

Details of the application are nonetheless currently being worked out, but officers say it’s expected to launch ahead of the conclusion of the 12 months with an undetermined variety of Ford employees.