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

[Kamuelaflyer]

The OP was in a fast moving traffic situation and had impaired view. Reached in the obvious place for and found what felt and moved like the wiper control. Could have been a disaster.

I'm not the only one who's made the mistake with the never-stop-spinning shifter control

Problems with the stalk shifter are going to be more common than with the rotary shifter as there’s nothing else in the same area to grab which looks and feels similar to our much maligned dial.

The proper solution to the I spun the knob like I was on the Wheel of Fortune problems would be to make the dial not turn past D. Four positions only.

I think the change was made to free up real estate so they could add another dust collector hole and to show the 25s had an updated interior.

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[NorthlandPhil]

Problems with the stalk shifter are going to be more common than with the rotary shifter as there’s nothing else in the same area to grab which looks and feels similar to our much maligned dial.

The proper solution to the I spun the knob like I was on the Wheel of Fortune problems would be to make the dial not turn past D. Four positions only.

I think the change was made to free up real estate so they could add another dust collector hole and to show the 25s had an updated interior.

Probably it would help if I don't clap my hands and shout "C'mon big money!"

 

[amaranth]

I like the stalk shifter. Bunch of other cars have it too and people seem to be fine with it. The new space freed could be used better, but as it is a place to stick the phone in isn't bad. I do wish the implementation of the stalk shifter was better though, I like the way GM does it on their EVs(among many other things I hate GM about) where you pull the stalk towards you before initiating a shift. I think most ICE stalk shifters work the same way too.

 

[StevenC56]

I like the stalk shifter. Bunch of other cars have it too and people seem to be fine with it. The new space freed could be used better, but as it is a place to stick the phone in isn't bad. I do wish the implementation of the stalk shifter was better though, I like the way GM does it on their EVs(among many other things I hate GM about) where you pull the stalk towards you before initiating a shift. I think most ICE stalk shifters work the same way too.

Get ready to get bashed for saying anything positive about the 2025 shifter design.

 

[E90alex]

Problems with the stalk shifter are going to be more common than with the rotary shifter as there’s nothing else in the same area to grab which looks and feels similar to our much maligned dial.

The proper solution to the I spun the knob like I was on the Wheel of Fortune problems would be to make the dial not turn past D. Four positions only.

I think the change was made to free up real estate so they could add another dust collector hole and to show the 25s had an updated interior.

It’s like that so they don’t have to have a mechanism for it to rotate the knob back to Park when the car puts itself back into Park automatically.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

After thinking about this for a bit, I think I’ve come up with a solution that eliminates ever reaching for the wrong stalk.

I present the “UniStalk™.” A single, all purpose stalk that has the added advantage of not needing mirror images for those driving on the other side of the road. No more mistakenly wiping the windows when you wanted to shift to reverse. No more shifting into reverse when you wanted to select high beams!

Select Trim line version

Premium and above version.

Make it so @Ford Motor Company!

 

[NorthlandPhil]

It’s like that so they don’t have to have a mechanism for it to rotate the knob back to Park when the car puts itself back into Park automatically.

I'm gonna go ahead and call BS on that. I don't know this for fact, but I suspect the knob is simply a rotary encoder, probably an incremental rotary encoder. It never needs to move to automatically change gears. So, I suppose that's what you mean. It doesn't need to move.

But that does not preclude it from preventing turning. Or building other mechanisms into it to control how it is allowed to move. It's not rocket science.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

After thinking about this for a bit, I think I’ve come up with a solution that eliminates ever reaching for the wrong stalk.

I present the “UniStalk™.” A single, all purpose stalk that has the added advantage of not needing mirror images for those driving on the other side of the road. No more mistakenly wiping the windows when you wanted to shift to reverse. No more shifting into reverse when you wanted to select high beams!

Select Trim line version

Premium and above version.

Make it so @Ford Motor Company!

I'll send this suggestion to design and engineering.

 

[E90alex]

I'm gonna go ahead and call BS on that. I don't know this for fact, but I suspect the knob is simply a rotary encoder, probably an incremental rotary encoder. It never needs to move to automatically change gears. So, I suppose that's what you mean. It doesn't need to move.

But that does not preclude it from preventing turning. Or building other mechanisms into it to control how it is allowed to move. It's not rocket science.

So let’s say the knob stops rotating to the right in D instead of continuously rotating.

The driver turns the car off or opens the driver door before turning it back to Park. The car automatically shifts to Park electronically. The knob is still in the right most D position and cannot rotate any further to the right.

How is the driver supposed to shift back to D?

 

[NorthlandPhil]

So let’s say the knob stops rotating to the right in D instead of continuously rotating.

The driver turns the car off or opens the driver door before turning it back to Park. The car automatically shifts to Park electronically. The knob is still in the right most D position and cannot rotate any further to the right.

How is the driver supposed to shift back to D?

There is no "rightmost position". The knob is merely prevented from turning to the right once it gets to 'D'. Yes, I agree, it is more complicated to prevent it from turning one way but allow it to turn in the other than it is to simply prevent it from turning at all (like it does when charger cable is plugged in, for example).

Or, Ford engineers figure out another solution. If Ford would like to hire me, I'm available. But I gotta be able to work remotely.

 

[devmach-e]

So, you're suggesting I find that little letter (where is it again?) and keep my eye on it as I rotate the shifter?

A little letter? Hardly. It's highlighted on the DIC on the right. In the daytime it's a black box against a white background, and uses an orange colored letter, with the rest of the letters being black. Pretty hard to miss it. Absolutely no reason you have to look down to see what gear you are in.

 

[CoyoteMach]

I actually like the stalk shifter. I had a Tesla Model S years ago, and it works exactly the same way.

 

[NorthlandPhil]

A little letter? Hardly. It's highlighted on the DIC on the right. In the daytime it's a black box against a white background, and uses an orange colored letter, with the rest of the letters being black. Pretty hard to miss it. Absolutely no reason you have to look down to see what gear you are in.

I still find I gotta look for it. It just doesn't jump out at me. Regardless, I shouldn't have to look at all. And when I'm trying to act quickly, I don't have time.

 

[devmach-e]

I still find I gotta look for it. It just doesn't jump out at me. Regardless, I shouldn't have to look at all. And when I'm trying to act quickly, I don't have time.

It doesn't jump out at you because you haven't learned to look for it. Just a matter of retraining yourself, like developing any new habit.

Ford is hardly unique in using a different type of shifter, including a dial one. The Prius had a shifter that auto-returned to a default position, so you had no way of knowing what gear you were in. It was, just like the Mach-E dial-shifter, just setting a software value. Had to look at the screen if you were confused about which gear you were in. I've used vehicles that have a column shifter where it's easy to go past R into N, or when shifting from D to R ending up going to far and in up in Park.

 

[NorthlandPhil]

I'm not averse to training myself and I do appreciate the advice. The problem is bigger than that, though. DMV allows me (and every other idiot on the road) to drive any vehicle we can climb into and drive away with exactly 0 hours of training in that particular vehicle.

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