My feelings on the stalk have gone from "confusing" to "dangerous"

[HuntingPudel]

I'll admit that I complained about the rotary shifter in saying that I hated it. It's a terrible execution that doesn't belong in a performance car. It has no lockouts for accidental shifting into Reverse or Park. I also said that the car should have a traditional linear stick for a shifter with lockouts. I'm guessing that the new column shifter (while I don't like it aesthetically since the car has bucket seats) is probably a little better in that each gear is a different direction. I guess I should get off of my fuzzy butt and test drive one.

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[E90alex]

OK, call it speculation on my part. There were people that complained about it, and even called it a safety issue, and even threatened to sue, before Ford changed it. But no, I have never seen an explanation from Ford that says why they changed it.

They are still actively using the dial in other cars, so that theory doesn’t really hold true. Even the new Expedition which had a heavily redesigned interior still has the dial.

 

[StevenC56]

I think the departure from the rotary shifter was due to limited space in the center console area of the Mach E.

 

[Jimrpa]

I think the departure from the rotary shifter was due to limited space in the center console area of the Mach E.

There was not limited space for the first 5 model years. Or did the heat pump take up space previously used by the rotary shifter?

 

[StevenC56]

There was not limited space for the first 5 model years. Or did the heat pump take up space previously used by the rotary shifter?

Trying to declutter the smaller area that has been small since the first year model. As some people said they are still using the rotary dial, but it's all the larger vehicles that are still using it.

 

[ChrisO]

I suppose it could something that we have no insight to like, lack of parts or the cost.

Without Ford actually saying why they did it, it is definitely just speculation on our part.

My actual viewpoint on it is that whereas I like the dial shifter, I can certainly live with either but do feel that this falls into the category like "Don't make everything a touch screen button!". Just because you can make something "non mechanical" doesn't mean that is the best approach.

 

[dearbornjim]

My last two suv's, high-end European models not Fords,, worked just the same.

 

[dgilles428]

Since getting my 25 Premium my chief complaint/grumble has been that I don't find the gear stalk "intuitive." I have to intentionally think about whether I'm putting it in Drive or Reverse because the order just doesn't play well in my brain. Up for Reverse and Down for Drive just feels backwards to me, and I can't shake it. It's inconvenient, but I'm getting used to the beat I have to take to make sure I do what I intended to do.

But then last week something else happened that moved it into the "dangerous" category for me .. I made a left turn under a highway underpass onto the entrance ramp and turned directly into the bright Florida morning sun - it was blinding. Made more so because my windshield was dusty/dirty. So instinct and years of muscle memory kicked in, and I reached up with my right hand to tap the wiper fluid to clean the windshield. Only it wasn't the wiper fluid function anymore. It's now the gear stalk, and I took the car out of gear. Now I realize it a slightly different action, button vs stalk tap but still my brain just expected it to be on the right side.

Because I was going slow in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I didn't even realize what had happened at first. It wasn't until I realized I had no "gas" when I pressed the pedal that I realized I was coasting in what I guess is Neutral. Fortunately, I was able to quickly decide to coast to the shoulder of the ramp without getting hit by the cars behind me and stop and figure out what to do. Which, by the way, wasn't just putting it back in drive - that didn't work. I had to turn the car off and on again to get it set back into drive.

Maybe this is just a "me" thing and others are adjusting to the gear stalk better than I am. But even still, it doesn't feel like you should be able to accidentally put the car in neutral while driving it by accidentally tapping the end of the stalk. In higher-speed traffic, that would have been a deadly mistake. Doing that same thing with the dial would have highly intentional. Putting that function in the same space that your fingers are used to playing with lower stakes features like wipers, turn signals, and high beams seems questionable to me.


Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

edit to add for those of you mentioning it’s what you’re used to, for 10 years before my 21 MachE I drove a Ford Edge where the right stalk was the wipers with the end button being the fluid. And in my opinion the stalk would make more sense if it followed the classic PRND of a regular shifter like the dial did

I really like the dial shifter on the console .. used by many other Ford vehicles and very intuitive. I hadn't thought about them moving the wiper stalk .. that is stupid and dangerous. It might be my age, and I hate regulations, but after driving Tesla's and some other vehicles, I wish there would be regulations requiring standard placement for critical controls .. maybe start with cars in airport rental fleets.

 

[fmtexmme]

I would probably have done the same thing. All of the cars my wife and I have the stalk on the right controls the wipers. I feel moving the gear shift to the right stalk is a case where Ford "fixed" something that didn't need to be fixed.

 

[melissphillips]

Lots of comments on this one .. just circling back after a week or so to consider what I think after a little time.
1. Yes change is inevitable and moving from the gear to the stalk is just retraining the brain. Location is just something to get used to

2. Ford still has an issue because of the way they did it, they moved the function into area where mistakes are more likely to happen and they didn't change the engineering of the stalk enough to adjust for the higher stakes function.
It should take intentional effort to "change a gear". Just like other gear stalks I've used, it's a two motion pattern to get it to change. The feel of the movement now still requires the same amount of force or resistance qs a windshield wiper and the neutral button needs just a light tap like washer fluid did.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I'll admit that I complained about the rotary shifter in saying that I hated it. It's a terrible execution that doesn't belong in a performance car. It has no lockouts for accidental shifting into Reverse or Park. I also said that the car should have a traditional linear stick for a shifter with lockouts. I'm guessing that the new column shifter (while I don't like it aesthetically since the car has bucket seats) is probably a little better in that each gear is a different direction. I guess I should get off of my fuzzy butt and test drive one.

Stalk shifter is easier to swat at and bopping the lever has the added benefit of making the human say funny words and get all excited. Fun game.

 

[jav_eee]

Could be worse for you all:

https://www.theverge.com/tesla/761325/tesla-turn-sginal-stalk-model-3-retrofit-price-china

 

[StevenC56]

Seems a lot of people prefer to complain instead of adapting to change.

 

[Mustangor]

Since getting my 25 Premium my chief complaint/grumble has been that I don't find the gear stalk "intuitive." I have to intentionally think about whether I'm putting it in Drive or Reverse because the order just doesn't play well in my brain. Up for Reverse and Down for Drive just feels backwards to me, and I can't shake it. It's inconvenient, but I'm getting used to the beat I have to take to make sure I do what I intended to do.

But then last week something else happened that moved it into the "dangerous" category for me .. I made a left turn under a highway underpass onto the entrance ramp and turned directly into the bright Florida morning sun - it was blinding. Made more so because my windshield was dusty/dirty. So instinct and years of muscle memory kicked in, and I reached up with my right hand to tap the wiper fluid to clean the windshield. Only it wasn't the wiper fluid function anymore. It's now the gear stalk, and I took the car out of gear. Now I realize it a slightly different action, button vs stalk tap but still my brain just expected it to be on the right side.

Because I was going slow in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I didn't even realize what had happened at first. It wasn't until I realized I had no "gas" when I pressed the pedal that I realized I was coasting in what I guess is Neutral. Fortunately, I was able to quickly decide to coast to the shoulder of the ramp without getting hit by the cars behind me and stop and figure out what to do. Which, by the way, wasn't just putting it back in drive - that didn't work. I had to turn the car off and on again to get it set back into drive.

Maybe this is just a "me" thing and others are adjusting to the gear stalk better than I am. But even still, it doesn't feel like you should be able to accidentally put the car in neutral while driving it by accidentally tapping the end of the stalk. In higher-speed traffic, that would have been a deadly mistake. Doing that same thing with the dial would have highly intentional. Putting that function in the same space that your fingers are used to playing with lower stakes features like wipers, turn signals, and high beams seems questionable to me.


Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

edit to add for those of you mentioning it’s what you’re used to, for 10 years before my 21 MachE I drove a Ford Edge where the right stalk was the wipers with the end button being the fluid. And in my opinion the stalk would make more sense if it followed the classic PRND of a regular shifter like the dial did

Yet another sensible decision from Ford. Replacing a perfectly user-friendly and functional switch with an unusable protrusion. All this to eliminate the rotary knob that everyone loved to make room for 3 coins ! Ergonomically speaking, this is on par with the turn signal buttons on Tesla steering wheels...

 

[StevenC56]

Yet another sensible decision from Ford. Replacing a perfectly user-friendly and functional switch with an unusable protrusion. All this to eliminate the rotary knob that everyone loved to make room for 3 coins ! Ergonomically speaking, this is on par with the turn signal buttons on Tesla steering wheels...

Again, it works perfectly fine for us, and I don't think we're the only people who are good with the change. So you own a 2025?

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