Ford is teaming up with PlugShare, an aggregator of public EV charging stations, to bring the latter’s EV charging maps to a version of the MyFord Mobile app that’s designed for the Ford’s all-new plug-in hybrid vehicles – C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi.
PlugShare brings a powerful new component to MyFord® Mobile with its live database of charging stations across North America. In addition to aggregating publicly available lists of stations from a variety of sources, PlugShare incorporates crowd-sourced information from users to provide the most comprehensive dataset available.
Owners of the first-ever Ford plug-in hybrid vehicles can now use their smartphones from almost anywhere to monitor and manage the battery charging process, find charging stations, check energy efficiency and earn achievements for efficient driving.
The station finder component of the MyFord Mobile app now blends point-of-interest search with charging station information from PlugShare.com to let drivers take advantage of opportunistic charging wherever their destination might be. Users can search for terms such as “pizza” or “Mexican food” near a location and MyFord Mobile will display the results along with the nearest available charge for each entry. Drivers can select a destination based on proximity to a plug.
MyFord Mobile’s trip and charge log has also been updated to provide drivers with information about how efficiently they are using their plug-in hybrid vehicle in both electric and hybrid mode. By taking advantage of available data on electricity use, hybrid gas mileage and regenerative braking, the app coaches drivers to adjust their driving style to be more efficient.
MyFord Mobile still lets plug-in hybrid owners check the state of charge of the battery, get alerts if they forgot to plug the car in or if charging stops, and take advantage of value charging for the lowest electricity rates during off-peak hours. Drivers can also precondition the cabin temperature while the car is plugged in to reduce the load on the drivetrain for enhanced efficiency.
MyFord Mobile is available in the Apple iOS App Store for iPhones and the Google Play Store for Android phones.
