First Chevy, but now Ford is giving money away!

[DonTom]

As some of you probably remember, I got a $1,400.00 Visa gift card because of my 2022 Chevy Bolt recall. I received that money online right on Xmas Day!

Today, I get an unexpected letter from Ford WRT my "2021 Motorhome Chassis".

It starts with that they incorrectly overstated the 7.3L power ratings by 15 HP and 150 RPM (I never even looked at either of these claims).

(I will quote this part exact as written in the letter):

"What will Ford and your dealer do?

Ford is providing a $100.00 credit to the original purchaser or lessee. This offer will be in effect until August 31, 20124, regardless of mileage."

And:

"This program is only applicable to the original purchaser or lessee of the vehicle, regardless of whether they still own the vehicle".

I already went to their website with a PIN number they gave me in the above letter, and they are sending me a $100.00 check that should be here in around five weeks.

So, a total of $1,500.00 in the last month for doing nothing, between Ford and the Chevy recall!

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Ray-IN]

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Cashing those checks likely absolves the companies of all present and future responsibly.

 

[DonTom]

Cashing those checks likely absolves the companies of all present and future responsibly.

Which is fine with me. For me to not accept, it would have to at least be something I care about.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Ray-IN]

That's all that matters in the long run.

 

[Skookum]

That’s a nice little boost.

Long time back we owned a diesel Audi that ended up being part of the VW Dieselgate settlement. Between 2 or 3 settlements (two from VW/Audi and one from Bosch). It was a great car, never gave us trouble, and we didn’t care about Dieselgate but ended up getting almost $10k in addition to keeping the car and driving it.

 

[DonTom]

$10k in addition to keeping the car and driving it.

That really sounds like a great deal. Nice to get unexpected money for things like that especially when they were non-issues to us. I cannot charge my Bolt to 100% for the next 6K miles, but I never have done that since I owned it. Less than a 50% charge will get me to Auburn in it, with some charge left over.

It's exactly 99.0 miles to my Auburn house form here, driveway to driveway.

Part of this deal was to limit my charge to 80% SOC for the next 6K miles. After 6K miles, it will automatically let me charge to 100% from then on after if the FW detects no battery problems. If it does, then I get a new $20,000.00 battery anyway, at no cost to me.

BTW, now that you have owned an EV for a while, IYO, how does it compare to the best ICE vehicle you have ever owned?

I hope I am allowed to highjack my own threads here .

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Skookum]

BTW, now that you have owned an EV for a while, IYO, how does it compare to the best ICE vehicle you have ever owned?

I hope I am allowed to highjack my own threads here .

-Don- Reno, NV

I should probably do a writeup for those interested, but in short, it's wonderful. Every car we've owned has been our best car and this one has earned the title so far, too. All for different and subjective reasons. The BMW iX excels on two fronts, the first is the overall "EV experience" and the second is on luxury/quality, it's a very nice car. Actually owning/driving an EV makes so many negative claims and tall-tales about EVs sound like complete horsefeathers.

We have the iX with us here in California on our winter travels. Even after a week of in-town driving and a few trips up to Palm Springs it still doesn't need charged. There's a Walmart nearby where we can fast-charge, and many places in town. Or, we have a 50a adapter which can plug into the pedestal at the RV site (instead of the RV) if needed. SO far, so good...it's been a great gentlemanly cruiser.

 

[DonTom]

Actually owning/driving an EV makes so many negative claims and tall-tales about EVs sound like complete horsefeathers.

Yep, I find nothing except for advantages over ICE for myself as well. But the BS is still so common it scares a lot of people away from them. IMO, the only legitimate complaint these days is for those who cannot charge at home with 240 VAC, and some issues in extremely cold areas. But then even ICE cars have issues.

BTW, I just ordered one of these, but for use on my motorcycles in locations of Telsa V3 and V4 fast chargers (those which can charge at 250 KW or more). But if Telsa speeds up their Magic Docks, I won't need it. And they are making some progress, but not in CA or NV where I need such. Now there are 41 Magic Docks in the USA and three in Canada. Total of 44. Slow, but at least some improvement.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Skookum]

Yep, I find nothing except for advantages over ICE for myself as well. But the BS is still so common it scares a lot of people away from them. IMO, the only legitimate complaint these days is for those who cannot charge at home with 240 VAC, and some issues in extremely cold areas. But then even ICE cars have issues.

BTW, I just ordered one of these, but for use on my motorcycles in locations of Telsa V3 and V4 fast chargers (those which can charge at 250 KW or more). But if Telsa speeds up their Magic Docks, I won't need it. And they are making some progress, but not in CA or NV where I need such. Now there are 41 Magic Docks in the USA and three in Canada. Total of 44. Slow, but at least some improvement.

-Don- Reno, NV

We stopped at a Tesla charging station on our way home (Quincy, WA). The gas station it was next to was a total dump and it was freezing cold out, so we just stayed in the car. For those unfamiliar, most EV's, and our car runs the heat and everything else while it's parked and charging, so we just stayed inside and kept warm.

They weren't V4 chargers, but still charged quickly (I think the negotiated rate was ~120kWh) and it provided us with the NACS adapter for our car. Nice.

 

[jadebox]

I just received a $300 check for the same issue with my 2022 E350 (Thor Chateau). When we first bought the RV, I joked about it having more horsepower than our 2005 Mustang GT. Now I know that wasn't really true.

Edit: And that $300 will probably cover about half the cost of electricity to power our Ioniq 5 for a year!*

*Or two fill-ups for the RV.

 

[DonTom]

They weren't V4 chargers, but still charged quickly (I think the negotiated rate was ~120kWh) and it provided us with the NACS adapter for our car. Nice.

IOW, they were V3 Tesla Superchargers with Magic Dock. You should have checked in here.

If you have not yet joined Plugshare, do so. It's free.

I see that was a Shell Gas station you were at. Located at:
16010 Rd 1 NW,
Quincy, WA 98848

Here I am charging my 2023 Energica Experia motorcycle with a Tesla Supercharger in Placerville, CA (only two in the entire state of CA with Magic Dock so far, 3 there in WA state and one in OR right on the WA border):




-Don- Reno, NV

 

[DonTom]

I just received a $300 check for the same issue with my 2022 E350 (Thor Chateau). When we first bought the RV, I joked about it having more horsepower than our 2005 Mustang GT. Now I know that wasn't really true.

Edit: And that $300 will probably cover about half the cost of electricity to power our Ioniq 5 for a year!*

*Or two fill-ups for the RV.

Ford? How come you got $300.00 and I only got $100.00?

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[jadebox]

Ford? How come you got $300.00 and I only got $100.00?

-Don- Reno, NV

Not sure. It may be that they exaggerated more for the 2022 model year than in 2021.

Edit: I just found a press release. It says the numbers Ford used to market the E series trucks was off by more than the ones for the Super Duty (F series) trucks. So the E series owners are getting $300 while the Super Duty owners get $100.

 

[jadebox]

They weren't V4 chargers, but still charged quickly (I think the negotiated rate was ~120kWh) and it provided us with the NACS adapter for our car. Nice.

Funny how we went from talking about ICE trucks to EVs ... And it is a shame about the battery problems with the Bolt. For the price it seems to be a really nice BEV.

Just to brag a little, the only time I used a DC fast charger (so far) the rate was about 230kW for my Ioniq 5.

 

[Ray-IN]

Yep, I find nothing except for advantages over ICE for myself as well. But the BS is still so common it scares a lot of people away from them. IMO, the only legitimate complaint these days is for those who cannot charge at home with 240 VAC, and some issues in extremely cold areas. But then even ICE cars have issues.

BTW, I just ordered one of these, but for use on my motorcycles in locations of Telsa V3 and V4 fast chargers (those which can charge at 250 KW or more). But if Telsa speeds up their Magic Docks, I won't need it. And they are making some progress, but not in CA or NV where I need such. Now there are 41 Magic Docks in the USA and three in Canada. Total of 44. Slow, but at least some improvement.

-Don- Reno, NV

Not bad progress; look up the history of installing gasoline pumps nationwide for comparison. In 1920 if someone wanted to drive a long distance they had to haul enough gas(in addition to a full tank) to reach the next filling station; that is if there was a road to there...

 

[Skookum]

Funny how we went from talking about ICE trucks to EVs ... And it is a shame about the battery problems with the Bolt. For the price it seems to be a really nice BEV.

Just to brag a little, the only time I used a DC fast charger (so far) the rate was about 230kW for my Ioniq 5.

Happens in every thread it seems. Usually someone throwing food at EV’s. In this case Don asked so I was happy to share.

The Ionic 5 is a nice car and very impressive that Hyundai can charge at such high capacity.

 

[DonTom]

The Ionic 5 is a nice car and very impressive that Hyundai can charge at such high capacity.

There are many variables with DC fast charging that will change the speed of the DC Fast Charge.

The three main ones are:

1. Battery SOC (slows down a lot above 80% SOC and even slower as it goes up to 100%).

2. Temperature of the battery.

3. Other users charging (many locations cannot handle the load of all being used at the same time at full power, so it must be shared).

BTW, does your BMW condition the battery for fast charging?

For an example:

With Tesla, always use the navigation system even for well-known supercharger locations. Just before getting there the screen will say "conditioning battery" to but it at the best temperature for the fastest possible charge in advance before the charge starts. Not all EVs can do this.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Skookum]

BTW, does your BMW condition the battery for fast charging?

Yes it does. But the maximum charging rate per BMW is 195kW. We’ve gotten very close to that on an Electrify America charger.

 

[DonTom]

But the maximum charging rate per BMW is 195kW.

How many KWH is your battery?

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Skookum]

How many KWH is your battery?

-Don- Reno, NV

111.5