Last month we reviewed the portable charging cords OEMs provide with their North American electric vehicles, and the results were wild. We gave Tesla’s Gen2 UMC an A+, Audi an A, Nissan a B, Hyundai a D, GM a D-, BMW an F, and Jaguar an F-. Now we have our first look and some exclusive details about what Ford is calling simply the “Ford Mobile Charger”. Based on what we know so far, we can confidently predict an A rating, but probably an A+, and we may have to level down all the other OEMs besides Tesla. And Ford is including a couple of extras that Tesla doesn’t.
Ford Mobile Charger key details:
- Supports everything from 120V-8A to 240V-32A and in between, just like Tesla’s UMC. It’s smart enough to detect whatever the outlet is offering.
- It will come standard with both 5-15 and 14-50 swap-able adapter plugs, just like Tesla used to do before Tesla only included the 5-15. (Mind you, Tesla only charges $35 for their adapters).
- 20′ long, same as Tesla’s.
- Update with Temperature range: has an operating temperature of +60C to -40C, better than Tesla’s rated range (+50C to -30C). And according to what we heard last night, it will even allow charging up to 85C while slowly drawing down the current. This may beat Tesla’s Gen2 UMC, we’ll need more details.
- Update with Lighting info: the unit has sleek lighting which displays whether it’s charging, not charging, or charging at a slower rate due to extreme temperature ranges. Very cool.
- With the Mustang Mach-E, you can control all aspects of charging from the phone app or the car itself, just like a Tesla. So the unit itself has no buttons or state of charge (SoC) readout, same as Tesla, which I think is good for both durability and privacy. This differentiates it from the Audi / Porsche one, which we also liked.
- We lauded Tesla and Audi for offering an optional wall mount, as it helps drive home to consumers that EVs don’t need hardwired charging boxes. Well, Ford is including it standard with every Mustang Mach-E, bravo!
Behold, your first look at Ford’s Mobile Charger, shown with the included free wall mount:
Ford Mobile Charger with swappable 14-50 plug, offers RWD Mustang Mach-E 22 miles of charge per hour.
First, if you don’t understand our enthusiasm, you haven’t read our OEM portable charger review, which you really should. It gives the necessary context and terminology to understand how badly most car makers screwed this up.
The Ford Mobile Charger with its 14-50 plug, on a dedicated 40/50amp circuit (so, an electric-oven outlet), will pull 32 amps, giving the Ford Mach-E Mustang RWD 22 miles of range per hour. That’s 264 miles of range over a 12 hour period, surely enough for 99%+ of drivers. BUT, if you really need more, Ford is also offering a hardwired, 48 amp wall box, which will get you 32 miles of range per hour.
The remaining key question for us is what adapters will be available for purchase beyond the included 14-50 and 5-15. This will determine if Ford has fully matched Tesla. Hopefully, at a minimum they will offer a 5-20 and 14-30 (the Tesla 14-30 was featured by YouTuber Kim in a recent LikeTesla video).
Which adapters do you want most? Let us know in the comments. And if you don’t know what any of these numbers mean, read our OEM charging guide & review.
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