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

[RickMachE]

Actually no. They promised it would be begin rolling out in Q1. It has, people have received it. They never said every single car will get it Q1. I'm glad they are trying to make sure it's right and not dumping it on everyone.

Where is the word "begin"?

Totally agree with it being right. Issue is with CEO making promises he can't deliver on.

Jim Farley

Great. Thank you. We're shipping with marquee F-Series now BlueCruise as they leave the factory and we're going to be OTA in BlueCruise in the first quarter. We wanted to improve the customer experience, so we've pushed it back in terms of an OTA because we wanted to be much simpler for the customer than was originally planned and that takes a little planning to consolidate. Often these level 2 systems require multiple updates in the car.

We wanted to be very simple that took a little bit more work on our team's part, and so it's available. as we ship products now and as in OTA, it'll be in the first quarter and it will be a lot simpler to use. And get that OTA and update for the customer than it was originally planned. Does that answer your question?

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[zhackwyatt]

Where is the word "begin"?

Totally agree with it being right. Issue is with CEO making promises he can't deliver on.

He never says begin, some or partial. Very clear words. Not conducting a mass rollout to Job 1 vehicles completed by end of Q1 is a failure, plain and simple.

Jim Farley

Great. Thank you. We're shipping with marquee F-Series now BlueCruise as they leave the factory and we're going to be OTA in BlueCruise in the first quarter. We wanted to improve the customer experience, so we've pushed it back in terms of an OTA because we wanted to be much simpler for the customer than was originally planned and that takes a little planning to consolidate. Often these level 2 systems require multiple updates in the car.

We wanted to be very simple that took a little bit more work on our team's part, and so it's available. as we ship products now and as in OTA, it'll be in the first quarter and it will be a lot simpler to use. And get that OTA and update for the customer than it was originally planned. Does that answer your question?

You are extremely cynical. The CEO of a company talking in a quarterly earnings meeting is allowed to be human and not always use very specific legalese to appease your pedanticism.

The dealer communiqué reaffirmed

 

[RickMachE]

You are extremely cynical. The CEO of a company talking in a quarterly earnings meeting is allowed to be human and not always use very specific legalese to appease your pedanticism.

The dealer communiqué reaffirmed

Cynical? How many times can a company miss a self-imposed deadline before you call bullshit?

Were you given a $100 discount as an apology with a new promised deadline that they again missed and then gave a year free, and now with the possibility of missing another promise? Realist.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Cynical? How many times can a company miss a self-imposed deadline before you call bullshit?

Were you given a $100 discount as an apology with a new promised deadline that they again missed and then gave a year free, and now with the possibility of missing another promise? Realist.

Yeah I am a realist. I know software can be hard. I know software on a new vehicle platform can be hard. I know there is a pandemic that has greatly affected supply chains. I know there is a worker shortage. I know deadlines get missed in all industries all the time.

And I know that Ford broke the promise once and offering extra year of blue cruise as compensation.

 

[RickMachE]

 

[zhackwyatt]

Whatever man. You act like you're the only one with clarity and not drinking your own kool-aid. You have no interest in considering other's point of view. Have a good night.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

So, at “some point” in the future, Ford will roll out the Frunk button for job 1 cars. It’ll finally be fully added and functional on FordPass as well in all likelihood. Time rolls on and the analytics roll in. Ford looks at the data and finds that the amount of use the sync screen Frunk button gets is almost nonexistent. The use of the FordPass frunk button is slightly higher at “next to nonexistent.” Are we sure we want this as our next “Job 1 cars are the red headed step children of electric mustangs” rallying cry?

All that effort and expense for the ability to use something that a serious majority of us are not going to use? Time that might be better directed at other enhancements or improvements? I’m going to get my popcorn ready and sell tickets to watch @RonTCat post when that happens.

 

[Mach1E]

So, at “some point” in the future, Ford will roll out the Frunk button for job 1 cars. It’ll finally be fully added and functional on FordPass as well in all likelihood. Time rolls on and the analytics roll in. Ford looks at the data and finds that the amount of use the sync screen Frunk button gets is almost nonexistent. The use of the FordPass frunk button is slightly higher at “next to nonexistent.” Are we sure we want this as our next “Job 1 cars are the red headed step children of electric mustangs” rallying cry?

All that effort and expense for the ability to use something that a serious majority of us are not going to use? Time that might be better directed at other enhancements or improvements? I’m going to get my popcorn ready and sell tickets to watch @RonTCat post when that happens.

Being first isn’t always best. Sometimes being 2nd sucks too.

 

[AZBill]

Ugh. MCAS. The acronym Boeing didn’t even specifically call out in training docs because they were hiding the fact that the new engines they were using were placed such that flight characteristics were compromised. Way to go guys. 2 totally avoidable 737 write offs and tragically, hundreds dead.

Yeah Ford, take your time, don’t pull a Boeing.

The MCAS issue had nothing to do with software, it was a system design issue with relying on a single sensor. With ADAS, we see Tesla making the design relying solely on cameras and not wanting to use LiDAR. Back to the single point sensor failure. With AI systems it is better to use multiple dissimilar sensors and algorithms to cross check each other.

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

The MCAS issue had nothing to do with software, it was a system design issue with relying on a single sensor. With ADAS, we see Tesla making the design relying solely on cameras and not wanting to use LiDAR. Back to the single point sensor failure. With AI systems it is better to use multiple dissimilar sensors and algorithms to cross check each other.

I disagree about MCAS. MCAS mimics flight characteristics of the earlier NG 737, gives full authority to the automated system to go nose down, then, didn’t disconnect with Pilot resistance on the yoke. So, regardless of bad AoA sensor inputs, MCAS functioned in a way contrary to Pilot training for the Type.

And, yes, eschewing multiple sensor redundancy to save a few bucks usually turns out bad.

 

[mdolan92869]

I disagree about MCAS. MCAS mimics flight characteristics of the earlier NG 737, gives full authority to the automated system to go nose down, then, didn’t disconnect with Pilot resistance on the yoke. So, regardless of bad AoA sensor inputs, MCAS functioned in a way contrary to Pilot training for the Type.

And, yes, eschewing multiple sensor redundancy to save a few bucks usually turns out bad.

And that's what happens when MBAs take over from the engineers.

 

[RickMachE]

While a way to open the frunk from outside the vehicle (fob, keypad, app) would be nice, I would rather the trunk screen button move to the home screen.

And BlueCruise needs to come before everything.

 

[generaltso]

With ADAS, we see Tesla making the design relying solely on cameras and not wanting to use LiDAR.

Are there any cars that use LiDAR?

 

[Jimrpa]

This whole post is pretty much it. You will see a frunk button this year only because there were public statements about it. It would not make the cut in the Agile world.

And this is one of the (many) major flaws of “agile” ?

 

[Jimrpa]

You are extremely cynical. The CEO of a company talking in a quarterly earnings meeting is allowed to be human and not always use very specific legalese to appease your pedanticism.

The dealer communiqué reaffirmed

Actually, CEOs have to be VERY careful about word choices on Earnings Calls. Both for regulatory reasons, and for investor reasons (saying the wrong thing, or the right thing the wrong way) could cause a bad market reaction. CEOs of major companies rarely wander too far off script (one notable exception being the “CEO” of a major conglomerate with interests in aerospace, medical devices, earthworks machinery, alternative energy production, and alternative fuel vehicles ?)

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