Met the Ford team today + charging tips from Donna Dickson (Mach-E Chief Engineer)

[TheVirtualTim]

How does the OP get this kind of access?

Bribery, of course! ?

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It was completely unexpected. I was contacted by someone on behalf of Ford (this person does not work directly for Ford) if I might be willing to be interviewed regarding the car and I agreed.

I thought I would be meeting the person interviewing me and the camera crew. I was NOT expecting to meet so many people on the Ford team. That was a pleasant surprise.

Super super nice people!

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[RonTCat]

How does the OP get this kind of access?

Complete lack of shitposting/drama-queening.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Complete lack of shitposting/drama-queening.

 

[mdolan92869]

BlueCruise is being enhanced to auto-retaliate against drivers who cut you off. Additionally, it will simultaneously activate the rear-facing camera to record footage of the reaction on the driver's face and download it to your phone so you can enjoy it later! ?

 

[JCHLi]

Complete lack of shitposting/drama-queening.

Aww man, that means I'm out!

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Complete lack of shitposting/drama-queening.

Oh, that's why I don't have it yet!

 

[timbop]

For most software ... if you screw it up, peoples' safety is usually not in jeopardy. But this is a car... so understandably, they do need to proceed with some of these updates a bit more carefully.

THIS is the crucial point that many on this forum can't grasp. If your phone locks up while you're playing candy crush in a zoom meeting the consequences are pretty low. If your car has issues at 80mph on a crowded highway the stakes are a lot higher.

Ford doesn't want to be on the 6:00 news and I don't blame them one bit. Better to have whiners on the internet than people killed.

Other than Tesla, of course.

True. However, Musk also seems to take a cavalier attitude with people's lives.

 

[hls811]

One of the reasons to avoid charging above 90% (unless you need the range) has to do with the car's ability to leverage regenerative braking. When the battery is at (or near) 100%, it is harder to push electrons into it. As a result, the regenerative braking is less efficient with a full battery and you'll see a lower miles/kWh rating (particularly in stop & go driving when regen is really useful.)If you limit charging to 90%, you've left some room to make regenerative braking more efficient. (I cap mine at 80%)Also, it will tend to be more efficient (better rating) on longer drives rather than short trips.

So, this is where I get confused on the whole charging to 100% thing... when the battery is at (or close to) 100% on shorter trips, you don't get the same effect with regen - but on shorter trips, do you need the regen to do as much? If you're doing a 15-20 mile commute, whats the actual benefit of the regen when going so short?

And how's it more effective on longer trips - wouldn't the extra range of charging to 100% negate the benefit of the regen on even a 50+ mile trip? It seems like its counter-productive both ways..

And, based on that conversation, is it essentially putting to rest the discussion that theres a buffer already built into the capacity and 100% is really 100% - if there's no extra capacity for regen then that seems to be the case.

 

[Mach1E]

So, this is where I get confused on the whole charging to 100% thing... when the battery is at (or close to) 100% on shorter trips, you don't get the same effect with regen - but on shorter trips, do you need the regen to do as much? If you're doing a 15-20 mile commute, whats the actual benefit of the regen when going so short?

And how's it more effective on longer trips - wouldn't the extra range of charging to 100% negate the benefit of the regen on even a 50+ mile trip? It seems like its counter-productive both ways..

And, based on that conversation, is it essentially putting to rest the discussion that theres a buffer already built into the capacity and 100% is really 100% - if there's no extra capacity for regen then that seems to be the case.

The benefit of more efficient regen is you will get more miles per KWh.

Bottom line? If you use less electricity to get where you are going, you save money.

I would also venture to guess that charging is less efficient as well (more losses) when charging to 100%. So another potential cost savings there.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Ford doesn't want to be on the 6:00 news and I don't blame them one bit. Better to have whiners on the internet than people killed.

A perfect example of why to not bleep things up in the software department: the 737 Max’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System and its software. Don’t be like Boeing.

 

[The Black Horse]

The OP works in tech, as do my wife and I so I'm certain he's heard of the term vaporware. That term is essentially Ford's whole strategy right now to drum up excitement by any means necessary, sell cars, then screw over paying customers and blame everyone but themselves. Sorry but it's just true, I'm not a Ford fanboy so it's extremely obvious to me what's going on...


Vaporware

noun
INFORMAL•COMPUTING

software or hardware that has been advertised but is not yet available, either because it is only a concept or because it is still being written or designed.


( FYI I love my match-e, I just have no faith in Ford motor company to deliver and do the things they say they will do because they literally are not delivering and doing the things they say they will do )

 

[Mach1E]

The OP works in tech, as do my wife and I so I'm certain he's heard of the term vaporware. That term is essentially Ford's whole strategy right now to drum up excitement by any means necessary, sell cars, then screw over paying customers and blame everyone but themselves. Sorry but it's just true, I'm not a Ford fanboy so it's extremely obvious to me what's going on...


Vaporware

noun
INFORMAL•COMPUTING

software or hardware that has been advertised but is not yet available, either because it is only a concept or because it is still being written or designed.


( FYI I love my match-e, I just have no faith in Ford motor company to deliver and do the things they say they will do because they literally are not delivering and doing the things they say they will do )

If anything, Ford seems to be doing the opposite.

They’re completely silent on any upcoming updates. We don’t know that we are getting anything until it shows up.

Hell, they’ve even tried convincing us we AREN’T getting something (91 kWh) when we probably are.

 

[Logal727]

The OP works in tech, as do my wife and I so I'm certain he's heard of the term vaporware. That term is essentially Ford's whole strategy right now to drum up excitement by any means necessary, sell cars, then screw over paying customers and blame everyone but themselves. Sorry but it's just true, I'm not a Ford fanboy so it's extremely obvious to me what's going on...


Vaporware

noun
INFORMAL•COMPUTING

software or hardware that has been advertised but is not yet available, either because it is only a concept or because it is still being written or designed.


( FYI I love my match-e, I just have no faith in Ford motor company to deliver and do the things they say they will do because they literally are not delivering and doing the things they say they will do )

Lol ok

 

[Maquis]

The OP works in tech, as do my wife and I so I'm certain he's heard of the term vaporware. That term is essentially Ford's whole strategy right now to drum up excitement by any means necessary, sell cars, then screw over paying customers and blame everyone but themselves. Sorry but it's just true, I'm not a Ford fanboy so it's extremely obvious to me what's going on...


Vaporware

noun
INFORMAL•COMPUTING

software or hardware that has been advertised but is not yet available, either because it is only a concept or because it is still being written or designed.


( FYI I love my match-e, I just have no faith in Ford motor company to deliver and do the things they say they will do because they literally are not delivering and doing the things they say they will do )

It’s really nice that you know exactly what Ford‘s strategy is just because you happen to work in tech. ??

 

[Jimrpa]

How does the OP get this kind of access?

Read between the lines ? I have no knowledge whatsoever, but I think I might be able to make an educated guess ?

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