My Travels With Marlin (GB FE)

[ChasingCoral]

Day 3
Life got in the way of much driving. I spent most of the day doing work on the computer with intermittent trips out to the Mach E to try something new. I also detected the PAAKs and reinstalled them (see PAAK discussion). However, in the late afternoon, I took June out for her first lesson driving Marlin.

Take aways:

• She likes OPD but it will take some getting used to
• She really likes the way Adaptive Cruise Control works
• She was quite impressed with the sudden acceleration but thinks it's more than she needs
• She found out some good information about Lane Centering and Lane Assist (see below)
• She like the Auto-Copilot 360 but found it a bit creepy to have the car steer for her (she did say she'd need more time to get used to it)

Lane Centering and Lane Keeping
Never having had this, I really like it. Setting it to Alert and Aid Mode is great. You get both the visual indicators and the gentle nudge back if you drift out of your lane. I see this as a great training tool for those who tend to change lanes without signaling, as the system does not operate when you signal. No signal and nanny assists you to stay in your lane or chides you for changing lanes without signaling. If you signal, nanny stays quiet.

Sponsored

 

[ChasingCoral]

Day 4
I had big plans for driving to Northern Virginia (Rocket Frog Brewery) and back, then testing DC Fast Charge. As the freezing rain forecasts moved earlier in the day, I abbreviated the plans. When the freezing rain started an hour before my planned departure this morning it killed my plans. Trip to NoVA delayed to tomorrow when the ice is supposed to be thawed.

Good news: PAAK is still working today after the re-install. Caught up on posting what I've learned the last few days as well as some other threads. Tried several things out. Installed the dash cam.

BTW: When it is cold out your Mach E will ask you to plug it in so it can treat the battery nicely.

 

[methorian]

Day 4
I had big plans for driving to Northern Virginia (Rocket Frog Brewery) and back, then testing DC Fast Charge. As the freezing rain forecasts moved earlier in the day, I abbreviated the plans. When the freezing rain started an hour before my planned departure this morning it killed my plans. Trip to NoVA delayed to tomorrow when the ice is supposed to be thawed.

Good news: PAAK is still working today after the re-install. Caught up on posting what I've learned the last few days as well as some other threads. Tried several things out. Installed the dash cam.

BTW: When it is cold out your Mach E will ask you to plug it in so it can treat the battery nicely.

How'd the dash cam install go? I remember you mentioned that you received one as a present I believe, but don't remember if you said which one.

I'm looking into getting one that Ford sells through parts/accessories if I can use my FordPass Reward points on it.

 

[1pt21Gigawatts]

Day 4
I had big plans for driving to Northern Virginia (Rocket Frog Brewery) and back, then testing DC Fast Charge. As the freezing rain forecasts moved earlier in the day, I abbreviated the plans. When the freezing rain started an hour before my planned departure this morning it killed my plans. Trip to NoVA delayed to tomorrow when the ice is supposed to be thawed.

Good news: PAAK is still working today after the re-install. Caught up on posting what I've learned the last few days as well as some other threads. Tried several things out. Installed the dash cam.

BTW: When it is cold out your Mach E will ask you to plug it in so it can treat the battery nicely.

Looking forward to that cold weather range test! Take lots of measurements!

 

[JamieGeek]

Looking forward to that cold weather range test! Take lots of measurements!

My California Route 1 is getting about 2.4 miles/kWh in 15-20 degree F weather.

 

[1pt21Gigawatts]

My California Route 1 is getting about 2.4 miles/kWh in 15-20 degree F weather.

Ouch. That’s just 190mi for an AWD premium. Not even super cold yet, -30F windchill at my parents house

Maybe all these pictures of people seeing 140 miles aren’t wrong after all.

Have you tested the meter? Like how long have you actually driven

 

[JamieGeek]

Ouch. That’s just 190mi for an AWD premium. Not even super cold yet, -30F windchill at my parents house

Maybe all these pictures of people seeing 140 miles aren’t wrong after all.

Have you tested the meter? Like how long have you actually driven

About 100+ miles yesterday.

 

[JellyBelly]

Day 3
Life got in the way of much driving. I spent most of the day doing work on the computer with intermittent trips out to the Mach E to try something new. I also detected the PAAKs and reinstalled them (see PAAK discussion). However, in the late afternoon, I took June out for her first lesson driving Marlin.

Take aways:

• She likes OPD but it will take some getting used to
• She really likes the way Adaptive Cruise Control works
• She was quite impressed with the sudden acceleration but thinks it's more than she needs
• She found out some good information about Lane Centering and Lane Assist (see below)
• She like the Auto-Copilot 360 but found it a bit creepy to have the car steer for her (she did say she'd need more time to get used to it)

Lane Centering and Lane Keeping
Never having had this, I really like it. Setting it to Alert and Aid Mode is great. You get both the visual indicators and the gentle nudge back if you drift out of your lane. I see this as a great training tool for those who tend to change lanes without signaling, as the system does not operate when you signal. No signal and nanny assists you to stay in your lane or chides you for changing lanes without signaling. If you signal, nanny stays quiet.

Good to see positive comments on the LC.
My CRV has lane centering assist and I just came back from a long trip on the highways and I used it with automatic cruise control with three car gap. Worked well for most part but lane centering concerned me the most on mountain roads with winding turns... I preferred my own input than the cars in that situation as it’s more jittery and tried to correct more than I wanted. I was thinking of the MME and hoping it’s not as jittery on curving roads at high speed limits.

 

[agoldman]

Ouch. That’s just 190mi for an AWD premium. Not even super cold yet, -30F windchill at my parents house

Maybe all these pictures of people seeing 140 miles aren’t wrong after all.

Have you tested the meter? Like how long have you actually driven

Super cold is going to get super low range in any EV. Tesla forum full of similar eye popping reports. Goes with the territory. I'd say for extra cold States, we really need range approaching a normal conditions rating of 400-500 minimum, to see wide spread adoption of EV's. The southern states probably 300 is going to be the new minimum there. People who just stay around big cities won't care as much, but the range confidence (and plentiful quick charge stations) needs to be better. Neither one by itself will be enough to convert the masses.

 

[timbop]

My California Route 1 is getting about 2.4 miles/kWh in 15-20 degree F weather.

211 miles, or 70% of base range in 15 degrees with no seat heaters sounds pretty good; that seems a little better than the model Y's we've seen, so the AWD with heated seats is probably on par with the Y. It's just a fact of life with the current gel battery chemistries.

Super cold is going to get super low range in any EV. Tesla forum full of similar eye popping reports. Goes with the territory. I'd say for extra cold States, we really need range approaching a normal conditions rating of 400-500 minimum, to see wide spread adoption of EV's. The southern states probably 300 is going to be the new minimum there. People who just stay around big cities won't care as much, but the range confidence (and plentiful quick charge stations) needs to be better. Neither one by itself will be enough to convert the masses.

Yep, or if solid state or some other format can keep its efficiency up with 300-350 mile range.

 

[ChasingCoral]

How'd the dash cam install go? I remember you mentioned that you received one as a present I believe, but don't remember if you said which one.

I'm looking into getting one that Ford sells through parts/accessories if I can use my FordPass Reward points on it.

It's an Apeman brand. Install was easy. While I would have rather used a USB cable, the USB cable was very short and the USB on the camera is one of those odd ones (either mini-A or mini-B). However, the cigarette lighter adapter has a really long cable. Plugged it into the 12v under the armrest, snaked the cabe under the floor mat, tucked in easily under the edge of the A-pillar plastic cover and headliner, then down to the camera mounted with a suction cup mount. Later I'll replace the suction cup with a scotch-lock mount that also came with it but I want to make sure I have the right place first.

 

[ChasingCoral]

It's an Apeman brand. Install was easy. While I would have rather used a USB cable, the USB cable was very short and the USB on the camera is one of those odd ones (either mini-A or mini-B). However, the cigarette lighter adapter has a really long cable. Plugged it into the 12v under the armrest, snaked the cabe under the floor mat, tucked in easily under the edge of the A-pillar plastic cover and headliner, then down to the camera mounted with a suction cup mount. Later I'll replace the suction cup with a scotch-lock mount that also came with it but I want to make sure I have the right place first.

Adendum: apeman C450 1080P Full HD

 

[horsiedad]

It's an Apeman brand. Install was easy. While I would have rather used a USB cable, the USB cable was very short and the USB on the camera is one of those odd ones (either mini-A or mini-B). However, the cigarette lighter adapter has a really long cable. Plugged it into the 12v under the armrest, snaked the cabe under the floor mat, tucked in easily under the edge of the A-pillar plastic cover and headliner, then down to the camera mounted with a suction cup mount. Later I'll replace the suction cup with a scotch-lock mount that also came with it but I want to make sure I have the right place first.

Could you please post a picture of your camera install?

 

[MerryBrown]

1. Hoodie, mask and Grabber Blue Mach E iPhone case all from our own @Mach-E VLOG and @Liv in their Redbubble store:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/zealology/shop

Awesome color matching with the GB by the way!

2. 0-60 was on an entrance ramp to a limited access highway here. Nice and straight but a little downhill. I now have a couple of apps to try to see if they are more accurate (Race Stats, RaceBuddy, and Race Timer on iPhone). As I said, mine was hand timed by me as I drove. I don't guarantee that the Mach is is faster than advertised, only that it is in the same ballpark.

Congratulations Mark! Thank you for all the feedback. Do you feel like you worked out the issues with the PAAK and keyfob for good?

 

[ChasingCoral]

Could you please post a picture of your camera install?

Will do once I get Marlin back from the shop. If you don't see this in the next week, please remind me.

Sponsored