So many issues with Mach-E? A bit disappointed!

[DBC]

Given the responses from current owners that have had no issues and owners with problems and assuming that many forum members are not chiming in, it would be interesting to see how many owners are having problems vs owners with no problems. I can't tell if it's a few or most with some kind of problem.

The one solid data point I have from the release of the Chevy Volt is that based on forum discussions the estimated prevalence of a problem is likely 100X more than the actual prevalence. This came from a survey of forum members who estimated the incidence and then from GM which released the actual incidence.

Just a few quality and design issues:

This is rather misleading since you're citing multiple threads for the same issue.

Generally speaking the issues are:

1. 12v battery
2. PHAAK connectivity
3. Other connectivity
4. Powertrain (?) -- in question because we've seen one intermittent incident so hard to know what to make of it

Reports of things like panoramic roof noise and whine noises are just a confluence of people not being familiar with BEV noise (noises are more pronounced) and a hyper vigilant state which comes with owning a new vehicle.

At this point none of these are a big deal and in six months will be completely forgotten. Just part of the product cycle, which goes: Best Product Ever --> So Many Issues --> Great/Good/Mediocre Product.

The first two steps are just human nature. The final judgement just depends on how good the product is. After a few days and a few hundred miles I'm confident the MME will fall into the "Great" category. Best driving vehicle I've ever had, and I've had more expensive vehicles.

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[jhalkias]

You mean Ford is starting from scratch? You mean they were totally non-interested in other companies cars and technologies all these 12 years? You mean they didn't produce any other EV and PHEVs?

It would be similar to if some other company started making cars and its first model would be something similar to Ford Model T and they would call it ground-braking and bleeding edge only because they just started making cars and its their first !

So many people are cheering up but I wonder if any of those people had their Mach E stuck in the cold ice rainy night, not moving - would their optimism shifted a little bit? Yes, I know, I hope I will be one of those whose new MME will not have any problems, but I also cannot exclude me being stuck with non-moving brand new vehicle in the darkness of icy cold rain. And that's mostly why I sound nervous

I think somewhere between utter cheerfulness and the sky is falling is probably a good spot.

 

[DBC]

So many people are cheering up but I wonder if any of those people had their Mach E stuck in the cold ice rainy night, not moving - would their optimism shifted a little bit? Yes, I know, I hope I will be one of those whose new MME will not have any problems, but I also cannot exclude me being stuck with non-moving brand new vehicle in the darkness of icy cold rain. And that's mostly why I sound nervous

Does it matter if it's not a new vehicle? I'm not seeing the point on this one.

FWIW I've had the "Service Vehicle Soon" message, PAAK issues, other connectivity issues, and found the Park Assist to be a total fail. ? Combined they haven't amounted to a hill of beans. Vehicle is phenomenal.

Do I think some bad decisions were made? Yup. The two I'd identify is forcing people to use PAAK out of the gate (before getting some real world feedback on issues) and not having easier access to the 12v (both the frunk panels and the inability to mechanically access the frunk).

 

[tomking29]

Just a few quality and design issues:

MME Strands me in a blizzard

'Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power' followed by 'Service Vehicle Soon' alert displayed

High pitched "Electrical Whine"

Phone as a Key Problems

FSA Field Service Action No. 21B02 (Recall?) -- "Software Calibration Update"

Panoramic Roof Noise

Drivers Door Misalignment / Rubbing

80% charging cliff is real

Help! Touch Screen went black!

12V Battery Drained - Jump started

So many issues with MME. Disappointed

Problems with DC Charging

I see. You’re one of the people that spend time on a board meant to inform buyers and enthusiasts only to dog the product.

Just a few quality and design issues:

MME Strands me in a blizzard

'Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power' followed by 'Service Vehicle Soon' alert displayed

High pitched "Electrical Whine"

Phone as a Key Problems

FSA Field Service Action No. 21B02 (Recall?) -- "Software Calibration Update"

Panoramic Roof Noise

Drivers Door Misalignment / Rubbing

80% charging cliff is real

Help! Touch Screen went black!

12V Battery Drained - Jump started

So many issues with MME. Disappointed

Problems with DC Charging

You should go into politics.

 

[supertramp]

Does it matter if it's not a new vehicle? I'm not seeing the point on this one.

Disagree - being stuck in a vehicle after you drove it previously for 86K miles is totally different from being stuck with a vehicle you drove for merely 136 miles. At least it would be different for me.

Though, on a positive side I might say - 136 miles vehicle is still under warranty and nobody will help me with my 86K one

 

[DBC]

The DC-DC inverter is supposed to operate at up to about 1.9kW. That would be a HUGE vampire drain. It's more likely the DC-DC inverter isn't kicking in.

I think you're on point. Even running I doubt the MME would use that much energy.

It's a little bit of a chicken and egg thing. If the 12v dies then the DC-DC converter won't work, and if the DC-DC converter doesn't work the 12v will die. Which is coming first? And why?

At this point I'm discounting a vampire drain. I think the Ford engineers have too much experience for that to happen. Might of course be some connectivity issue, specific to the MME, where the program gets caught in a loop and uses a lot of energy trying to connect.

Always interesting to see how wrong you were after things get sorted.

 

[Ford49]

Just a few quality and design issues:

MME Strands me in a blizzard

'Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power' followed by 'Service Vehicle Soon' alert displayed

High pitched "Electrical Whine"

Phone as a Key Problems

FSA Field Service Action No. 21B02 (Recall?) -- "Software Calibration Update"

Panoramic Roof Noise

Drivers Door Misalignment / Rubbing

80% charging cliff is real

Help! Touch Screen went black!

12V Battery Drained - Jump started

So many issues with MME. Disappointed

Problems with DC Charging

I hope all of these aren't resolved before my car arrives. (that will mean I have had a long wait).
I want in on the fun. I want to call the Help line. I want to try out roadside assistance. I want to go to the dealer. I want to read through all the posts and find the work around.
My car is in transit. It is going to be great when it arrives!

 

[DBC]

Disagree - being stuck in a vehicle after you drove it previously for 86K miles is totally different from being stuck with a vehicle you drove for merely 136 miles. At least it would be different for me.

Though, on a positive side I might say - 136 miles vehicle is still under warranty and nobody will help me with my 86K one

I think my point is you're still stuck in the same situation. I honestly don't see the difference. Reminds me of being in Syracuse in six inches of snow. My friend said: "Not a big deal, it's just lake effect snow". And I said: "Snow is snow, I don't care how it got here".

Same view on being stranded. If you're stuck you're stuck. How many miles on the vehicle doesn't change that reality.

I have to say that 12v batteries on BEVs are a bit of the "For Want Of A Nail" situation. All that modern battery technology dependent on a small battery using old technology that is susceptible to going flat. That's why I'm an advocate of making boosting as easy as possible.

 

[supertramp]

I think my point is you're still stuck in the same situation. I honestly don't see the difference. Reminds me of being in Syracuse in six inches of snow. My friend said: "Not a big deal, it's just lake effect snow". And I said: "Snow is snow, I don't care how it got here".

Same view on being stranded. If you're stuck you're stuck. How many miles on the vehicle doesn't change that reality.

I have to say that 12v batteries on BEVs are a bit of the "For Want Of A Nail" situation. All that modern battery technology dependent on a small battery using old technology that is susceptible to going flat. That's why I'm an advocate of making boosting as easy as possible.

Ok... Let me try different allegory:

If my wife tells me, after 20 years of being together, that I am not the man she thought I was - that's totally understandable. But if she tells me the same the next day after our wedding - that would be quite more "interesting" - don't you think? ?

 

[agoldman]

So what bothers me about this is not that you list all the problems. That's a good thing. But you fail to put those problems, repeatedly in multiple threads, into proper context of how many people each individual problem affects, which is a bad thing. We know there are 4-5 people the LVB seems to causing problems. What that extrapolates to statistically I couldn't tell you. BUt I doubt it reaches a critical number to be deemed a big problem. If hypothetically there are 5,000 MME on the road and say 10% are having one or more of these problems, then it's not that big a deal percentage wise. If it's say 50%, then yeah, you've got quite Q&D problems. Context matters.

All of this could be cleared up with a statement or two from Ford. At this point, that is my only real problem waiting for an answer. And as far as the forum being a small percentage, this forum has been the primary source of info on the launch this entire time. It is important and is often quoted in the car news arena. So it is important for Ford to take note of what goes on here, both for troubleshooting and for their own PR.

 

[agoldman]

Ok... Let me try different allegory:

If my wife tells me, after 20 years of being together, that I am not the man she thought I was - that's totally understandable. But if she tells me the same the next day after our wedding - that would be quite more "interesting" - don't you think? ?

or both...

 

[generaltso]

The DC-DC inverter is supposed to operate at up to about 1.9kW. That would be a HUGE vampire drain. It's more likely the DC-DC inverter isn't kicking in.

Agreed. It’s certainly not a capacity issue, but could be that it’s not kicking in often enough to charge the LVB before it dies. The owners manual says it will charge the LVB as needed, but doesn’t elaborate on what that means. Maybe it’s supposed to kick in when the LVB hits a certain voltage. Or maybe it‘s only supposed to wake up once a day to check the LVB. We just don’t know.

My Outlander PHEV charges the LVB at 2pm every day. If there was some sort of vampire drain that could kill the LVB in less than 24 hours, that would be of no help.

 

[DBC]

or both...

That's cold. Very cold. LOL

 

[generaltso]

All of this could be cleared up with a statement or two from Ford.

Expecting a statement within a few days of the first reported issues isn’t realistic. I have no doubt that there will be a statement, probably in the form of a TSB.

 

[agoldman]

Expecting a statement within a few days of the first reported issues isn’t realistic. I have no doubt that there will be a statement, probably in the form of a TSB.

Then I might just rethink the purchase. at least I can control that outcome.

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