Ford BlueCruise OTA rollout delayed until Q1 2022

[SOLIDAge]

Remember kids… never buy a technology product or software based on the promise of what it CAN do in the future or you’ll end up raging at a community manager.

In all honestly that is kind of a F you from ford motor company. How about some real information on why there is a delay?
What about getting the damn thing out close to when it was promised. You already are late and now I think every losing hope of Ford motor company even getting it out by the end of Q1 2022 which would put it over 6 months late......

Ford motor company needs to remember that most Mach E buyers are from other brands. At this rate the Mach E might be the only Ford and the LAST ford I ever buy unless things change. Love the car but the promise support has been lacking and now there is no trust.

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[CeramicShark]

I have no doubt that if you ran a company whose ability to produce a product was cut in half - along with the corresponding profits - you would absolutely start cutting checks for 4 to 8 hour's labor to the dealers to install updates and minor bug fixes. After all you managed to just meet the revised expectations of half the sales you originally projected and budgeted for, but hey if those folks can't play tic-tac-toe their lives are in danger. And of course you would also eat the cost of 8 hours' labor to install a $600 optional software package that most of the cars which don't have it didn't prepay for anyway.

Yep, that's the right way to run a company for sure.

Ford is attempting to grow share with the Mach-E and take customers away from Tesla at the moment. That's the way you grow a business. You don't just talk to the fan boys and fan girls, you grow share.

This decision, and your argument, is short sighted on two fronts. First early adaptors can be your most vocal supporters and evangelist. When you are entering a new category you don't want these folks complaining about your product to folks that ask "Who do you like your Mach-E?". You want them singing your praises. There is a limited number of Mach-E owners so the voice of each is amplified as it's the only Mach-E owner some people will ever talk to.

Second, when you are growing share and bringing in new customers you need to deliver on the promises that brought these customers in. Ford has made many of them, and while you might not personally see value in them Ford clearly did which is why they announced them.

BlueCruise for many is a key feature. Delaying it from from Sumer, to September, to October, to Q1 2021 is major set of slips. It was just a few weeks ago that a Ford executive talked publicly about this update coming in September/October.

It's not a safety issue or problem with the software or Ford would be pulling from new cars. The software is done, it's on cars coming later off the factory floor, this is a problem with their OTA system. There is a short term solution, let dealers install the updates to customers that request them, that keeps happy customers and good will.

Ford announced Alexa integration is May of this year. While you might not be personally interested some folks are. They have failed to meet those dates at present and have not given any update.

Look at the PowerUp updates. You mock them as "playing tik-tack toe" but there are plenty of other useful features in there. For me personally I use Waze and would love the feature to have the next term in the dash screen like the Ford nav app. Some people want the security features in 1.4 that they haven't received. Some people just want bug fixes to problems they have that they have yet to receive.

Ford promised that the Mach-E would get better with these updates. It was a core promise of the car that Ford executives often make in public. Look at the rollout of these updates. Some people are still waiting for months for older ones. Most people don't have the latest, yet they are installed on new cars for months already with no way for existing customers to get them.

We all paid $50K based on promises of improvement. We all know there be some bumps but the bumps keep coming. The way to run a business is to have a plan B to help smooth the road if you can't deliver repeatedly.

Failing to meet promises you have made to customers is not a way to run a company for long term success.

Building a software platform that takes 4 to 8 hours of a tech's time to update is not the way to run a business either. It's 2021, if you need a tech to spend 4 to 8 hours to update minor bug fixes how can you defend that as a good way to run a company? If it is as labor intensive as you say the entire software team should be fired.

The way to run a company is to keep your promises. If you can't ship an OTA successfully at least have another solution to keep your promises. Yes it will cost in the short term but the long term good will and word of month in a new product area is critical to success. Ford beat expectations by close to a billion dollars. Paying dealers to install BC and other updates for Mach-E owners that requested them would be a rounding error in this extra billion and would pay for it's self over time with positive word of mouth leading to increased sales.


What I say when folks ask me my thoughts on my Mach-E. It's a A hardware platform, with C- software currently, and sadly an F ability to upgrade that software.

 

[BMT1071]

Aside from the cost of having dealers load BC or any other update there is the issue of availability. Multiple users have posted about having to wait weeks for an appointment to get into their dealer. Adding a large but unknown number of customers wanting updates would only make that timeline longer. I do not see that as a viable path to customer satisfaction.

 

[newtruckinfl]

Aside from the cost of having dealers load BC or any other update there is the issue of availability. Multiple users have posted about having to wait weeks for an appointment to get into their dealer. Adding a large but unknown number of customers wanting updates would only make that timeline longer. I do not see that as a viable path to customer satisfaction.

I would love someone who has knowledge of how Ford installs this software at the factory explain why the same software can't be installed on a thumb drive and installed on existing vehicles. I sort of understand the difference between a fresh software install and overwriting existing software, but I can't believe we need to wait another 3-6 months (which might be best case) to get existing software installed. If it is so hard, the next concern is what if it is too hard to do?

 

[sockmeister]

It's obvious that Ford is still ramping up their OTA and software development.
But on the merit of promises made, I think, at this rate, BlueCruise should be offered free-of-charge for three years, when it DOES finally get pushed, to those of us early adopters who still don't have it. (Those of us who got the $100 up-front refund).

 

[timbop]

What I say when folks ask me my thoughts on my Mach-E. It's a A hardware platform, with C- software currently, and sadly an F ability to upgrade that software.

I'll grant that currently all of that is absolutely true. I will also say that so far having dealers maintain the cars is poorly implemented and haphazard at best. However, as someone with almost 40 years in the software business I can neither say that I am surprised that the OTA process has been a fiasco, nor will I stipulate that it is as big a disaster as is being implied. For TSB's and other issues you can get updates at the dealer, which leaves those of you who somehow NEED a feature that as has been pointed out is not overly different then what you already have, and those who stubbornly allow PaaK to frustrate themselves until they hate the car. Use the FOB, use the current auto lane centering, and get on with life - there are far bigger problems to tackle than either of those things.

Of course there are some who've had serious issues making the car undriveable, but the hyperbole over some gimmick features is just ludicrous. The car is fully capable of long drives and frankly after driving to florida and back I don't think I will bother with blue cruise at all.

 

[timbop]

But on the merit of promises made

Ford never PROMISED any delivery date - they gave a good faith estimate. Again, this position of "but you promised" just.. well.. sounds like a little kid stomping their feet in the grocery store

 

[BMT1071]

I would love someone who has knowledge of how Ford installs this software at the factory explain why the same software can't be installed on a thumb drive and installed on existing vehicles. I sort of understand the difference between a fresh software install and overwriting existing software, but I can't believe we need to wait another 3-6 months (which might be best case) to get existing software installed. If it is so hard, the next concern is what if it is too hard to do?

I think it would be a cumbersome, if not impossible, process to install from a flash drive. AFAIK the USB ports in our cars only have a data connection to the Sync system. If you need to update any other module it would have to be passed through Sync and onto the CAN bus. I have no idea if the circuitry to make that possible is even in place.
At the factory I would bet most of the modules are programmed prior to installation in the car. Either onsite or at the module manufacturer.
At the dealer all updates are done through the J2534 OBD connector using FDRS. The only module I'm aware of that also uses a flash drive is the APIM (Sync). The update process for that is still initiated via laptop connected to the OBD connector.
As far as why the OTA update process is so difficult, you'd have to ask someone in the software industry to address that.

 

[sockmeister]

Ford never PROMISED any delivery date - they gave a good faith estimate. Again, this position of "but you promised" just.. well.. sounds like a little kid stomping their feet in the grocery store

I'm not interested in buying BlueCruise, but to make it more legal - on the merit of "expectations set".

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Remember kids… never buy a technology product or software based on the promise of what it CAN do in the future or you’ll end up raging at a community manager.

Wait, is that referring to the "CAN-BUS"? ?

 

[newtruckinfl]

Not having a highly marketed feature like bluecruise simply because it can't be delivered remotely is disappointing. BlueCruise and OTA's were strongly marketed by Ford and a major decision in my purchase. It also seems like Ford is taking steps with recent hires to get this problem solved. Hearing about it on an earnings call and still not receiving any official word from the manufacturer to the customer is odd. I have faith in Farley that these issues will get cleaned up. The MME and F150 are both awesome vehicles, a little better communication and meeting or exceeding communicated deadlines would go a long way.

 

[Mirak]

I have not heard anyone from Ford suggest any type of improvement of the system prior to the eventual OTA roll out. While hopeful there will be continued BC updates in the future, the delay appears solely their inability to "simply" send out the software to hardware equipped vehicles. If it is just a matter of installing an established and proven software update to our vehicles, why can't the manufacturer develop a workaround (thumb drive or service visit) until the OTA delivery process is figured out?

What is the basis for your understanding that BC is in any way a learning or evolving product? I don’t think we have seen anything to suggest that BC is anything other than standard ACC/LC with an eye nanny swapped for the hand nanny on geofenced section of highway.

 

[Mirak]

Ford never PROMISED any delivery date - they gave a good faith estimate. Again, this position of "but you promised" just.. well.. sounds like a little kid stomping their feet in the grocery store

The problem with “discussions” over the internet is that it encourages folks to stake out patently extreme positions. Like what you just said above. It comes across as patronizing. We bought a 50k+ vehicle that turns out is saddled with software problems - both bugs in the current software and bugs in updating that software. Complaining about that is not, in any way shape or form, like a child’s tantrum.

 

[Mirak]

Ford is attempting to grow share with the Mach-E and take customers away from Tesla at the moment. That's the way you grow a business. You don't just talk to the fan boys and fan girls, you grow share.

This decision, and your argument, is short sighted on two fronts. First early adaptors can be your most vocal supporters and evangelist. When you are entering a new category you don't want these folks complaining about your product to folks that ask "Who do you like your Mach-E?". You want them singing your praises. There is a limited number of Mach-E owners so the voice of each is amplified as it's the only Mach-E owner some people will ever talk to.

Second, when you are growing share and bringing in new customers you need to deliver on the promises that brought these customers in. Ford has made many of them, and while you might not personally see value in them Ford clearly did which is why they announced them.

BlueCruise for many is a key feature. Delaying it from from Sumer, to September, to October, to Q1 2021 is major set of slips. It was just a few weeks ago that a Ford executive talked publicly about this update coming in September/October.

It's not a safety issue or problem with the software or Ford would be pulling from new cars. The software is done, it's on cars coming later off the factory floor, this is a problem with their OTA system. There is a short term solution, let dealers install the updates to customers that request them, that keeps happy customers and good will.

Ford announced Alexa integration is May of this year. While you might not be personally interested some folks are. They have failed to meet those dates at present and have not given any update.

Look at the PowerUp updates. You mock them as "playing tik-tack toe" but there are plenty of other useful features in there. For me personally I use Waze and would love the feature to have the next term in the dash screen like the Ford nav app. Some people want the security features in 1.4 that they haven't received. Some people just want bug fixes to problems they have that they have yet to receive.

Ford promised that the Mach-E would get better with these updates. It was a core promise of the car that Ford executives often make in public. Look at the rollout of these updates. Some people are still waiting for months for older ones. Most people don't have the latest, yet they are installed on new cars for months already with no way for existing customers to get them.

We all paid $50K based on promises of improvement. We all know there be some bumps but the bumps keep coming. The way to run a business is to have a plan B to help smooth the road if you can't deliver repeatedly.

Failing to meet promises you have made to customers is not a way to run a company for long term success.

Building a software platform that takes 4 to 8 hours of a tech's time to update is not the way to run a business either. It's 2021, if you need a tech to spend 4 to 8 hours to update minor bug fixes how can you defend that as a good way to run a company? If it is as labor intensive as you say the entire software team should be fired.

The way to run a company is to keep your promises. If you can't ship an OTA successfully at least have another solution to keep your promises. Yes it will cost in the short term but the long term good will and word of month in a new product area is critical to success. Ford beat expectations by close to a billion dollars. Paying dealers to install BC and other updates for Mach-E owners that requested them would be a rounding error in this extra billion and would pay for it's self over time with positive word of mouth leading to increased sales.


What I say when folks ask me my thoughts on my Mach-E. It's a A hardware platform, with C- software currently, and sadly an F ability to upgrade that software.

I agree with everything you said with one caveat. PowerUp 1.7 really is pretty useless aside from the on-screen tbt directions. You ain’t missing much.

 

[Billyk24]

At least they didn’t wait until December to make this announcement. Ford’s software team is light years behind Tesla. That much is clear now.

Yet we have had several Tesla owners state "Tesla pushes OTA beta fixes for beta software". Remember the CEO of Tesla stated in 2018 "soon a Model S will be self driving itself across the country". Doesn't appear Tesla has master the software either.

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