No more OTA performance or battery improvements?

[kltye]

Relevant article that came out today: https://electrek.co/2022/10/14/porsche-taycan-owners-range-bumps-through-software-updates

"On top of the increase in efficiency, the software changes are also going to enable a faster-charging curve for Taycan electric vehicles. "
To their credit, the Taycans are ~2x the price of our cars, and was on sale for the 2020 model year. But Porsche is also a legacy automaker, with the Taycan as its first EV. If Ford decides to fix anything next year, I'll be the first to come back here and eat my words

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[silverelan]

So I presume everyone realizes that there is no way to increase power output via software. That is a mechanical function built into the drive train. There is no hp being added to the Teslas.....it was always there. They denied full power and then later gave the appearance of a magical OTA that somehow made the car faster.

They did the same thing with rear heated seats. It was added via an OTA.

I would prefer that Ford just make the best car possible and deliver it fully functional vs insulting us by magically unlocking functions that already exist from the factory.

There's room to improve things, especially for the 4X. When I've test driven it, there was an appreciable torque softness in the initial acceleration off the line before the power really came on. A tweak could probably get a few tenths of a second improvement in the 4X's 0-60 time.

The GT is a hobbled horse for performance but man, i wish Ford could do something more for us like they said they would.

 

[silverelan]

You keep using the word "orphaned", probably because you're trying to get responses. Totally unfounded.

No, I do not think that Ford has remotely considered "orphaning" the 2021 or 2022 Mach-Es. I expect to see future performance enhancements including charging curve updates.

Hope that helps.

I'd love to see charging curve/time improvements. The MME ER pack just sits at ~210A for up to 30 minutes all the way to 80%. Surely the high-voltage electrical components can sustain more juice than that so that we can all get back on the road faster.

I use the word "orphaned" because it perfectly describes the situation if Ford has moved on from devoting any development drivetrain resources for the 21-23 MMEs to improve our vehicles performance characteristics.

If you are optimistic that we'll see performance improvements for the MME both in terms of how it can drive and how it charges, then I'm envious of you.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Well, yes. The 5 second limit is what the GT requires. At the risk of starting a flame war.....EVs aren't performance machines. The performance comes as a consequence of large battery packs. I think the actual goal of building an MME GT was to sell cars and not necessarily build an actual performance oriented machine.

As far as Tesla goes.....they must think their customers are suckers and built that into their product. They know their customers expect frequent updates so deliver an less featured product initially and then artificially add in features later just to trick the customer into thinking they are getting more for their money. It is actually genius business model provided you have a gullible customer base.

With the exception of Tesla FSD (which they have not delivered yet), Tesla has always made it known that you're getting the most up to date product at time of purchase. Nothing else was promised.

Having said that, they have implemented multiple useful updates, especially on the performance side. on the Model 3, they added track mode which allows the driver to torque between the front wheel and rear wheel. That's a huge upgrade. I don't see Ford doing anything like that after the sale of the vehicle.

To say that Tesla buyers are suckers reeks of Jealously. Perhaps Their customer base expects upgrades, is because tesla has a history of always giving their customers free upgrades on a regular basis. maybe that's why their base is so loyal. Ford can learn a thing or two about customer service and keeping your base in the loop.

 

[silverelan]

I think it's way too early to say anything is orphaned. They are releasing OTA updates and while that isn't always as rapid and smooth as we like, it is improving.

Comparing it to Tesla is pointless. We know nothing about Tesla's behind the scenes for those updates. What if Tesla always knew the cars were capable of that extra .5 second 0-60 improvement, and just waited for some number of sold cars and refinement before releasing it, and Ford is confident they released the MME where it needed to be? It's why you should buy the car you want at time of purchase, not the car you hope it might become in the future based on some non-specific earlier press releases that may or may not come.

In another five years we will know if Ford is orphaning early users. Anything else is just speculation and FUD.

Perhaps it's too early for desiring OTA performance updates but we're pushing nearly 2 years since the first MMEs were delivered.

Insofar as comparisons for these enhancements, it's not just Tesla. Both Polestar and Porsche have launched performance updates to their cars, for things such as additional HP, range, and faster charging.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Perhaps it's too early for desiring OTA performance updates but we're pushing nearly 2 years since the first MMEs were delivered.

Insofar as comparisons for these enhancements, it's not just Tesla. Both Polestar and Porsche have launched performance updates to their cars, for things such as additional HP, range, and faster charging.

Audi as well.

 

[Vulnox]

Perhaps it's too early for desiring OTA performance updates but we're pushing nearly 2 years since the first MMEs were delivered.

Insofar as comparisons for these enhancements, it's not just Tesla. Both Polestar and Porsche have launched performance updates to their cars, for things such as additional HP, range, and faster charging.

Okay, and Ford released performance improvements for range and faster charging for the 2021 MY. Which we already covered. If you want to compare to other cars you have to acknowledge that Ford has done that.

So I don't know what we are going for here. Ford has released performance improvements, and within the last 6 months or so in terms of actual deployment times.

I don't want this to come off as me giving Ford a pass or vouching that they will have more, but there is more evidence for them doing these things than against, and it's too early to say they never will again.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Okay, and Ford released performance improvements for range and faster charging for the 2021 MY. Which we already covered. If you want to compare to other cars you have to acknowledge that Ford has done that.

So I don't know what we are going for here. Ford has released performance improvements, and within the last 6 months or so in terms of actual deployment times.

I don't want this to come off as me giving Ford a pass or vouching that they will have more, but there is more evidence for them doing these things than against, and it's too early to say they never will again.

The thing is, not everyone got the OTA. OTA updates are pretty erratic. No rhyme or reason why some cars are getting OTAs and others are not, or are stuck. etc. Ford really needs to get the software sorted out.

 

[AllenXS]

Call the GM. Call the owner.

I sometimes try the physical interaction thing- I go in person. Seems to work good for the non techie car guys.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

I sometimes try the physical interaction thing- I go in person. Seems to work good for the non techie car guys.

Yeah, but if I can't even get them to answer the phone to make an appointment, how responsive will they be while fixing the car or if they run into problems updating the car.

Seems like everyone is understaffed now.

 

[silverelan]

Okay, and Ford released performance improvements for range and faster charging for the 2021 MY. Which we already covered. If you want to compare to other cars you have to acknowledge that Ford has done that.

So I don't know what we are going for here. Ford has released performance improvements, and within the last 6 months or so in terms of actual deployment times.

I don't want this to come off as me giving Ford a pass or vouching that they will have more, but there is more evidence for them doing these things than against, and it's too early to say they never will again.

AFAIK, 21P22 was a dealer update not OTA. Not to disparage the welcome improvement to charge at more than 12kW when over 80%, it wasn’t difficult to make a meaningful difference. Additionally, the 3kWh buffer appears to be below the 0% line which means it’s de facto unavailable. Nice to have in an emergency but it’s invisible by design.

we’ll see if Ford does anything in the future I guess but Magic 8 Ball says, “Reply hazy, try again”.

 

[Vulnox]

AFAIK, 21P22 was a dealer update not OTA. Not to disparage the welcome improvement to charge at more than 12kW when over 80%, it wasn’t difficult to make a meaningful difference. Additionally, the 3kWh buffer appears to be below the 0% line which means it’s de facto unavailable. Nice to have in an emergency but it’s invisible by design.

we’ll see if Ford does anything in the future I guess but Magic 8 Ball says, “Reply hazy, try again”.

Oh yeah, like I mentioned earlier I am not making any guarantees that Ford will do more. They are a pretty conservative company when it comes to that kind of thing. Far more than Tesla or even the often more stuffy Porsche. They do some really cool stuff and push the segment forward, but always with a level of safety net that Tesla rarely seems to be concerned with. I do have my doubts that we will see more with the HVJB issues. They may have already scrapped any further plans to push these cars harder because they don't want to stack the deck in favor of more of them failing within the initial almost two model years.

Guess we will just have to wait and see. I am cautiously optimistic, but still riding for a little more optimistic.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

For me, I can't even get the service manager on the phone to make an appointment. Left on hold for >30 mins a few times. Gave up. They occurred at multiple dealership.

Service managers rarely make service appointments; the dealer has staff for that. Just call them and ask to schedule an appointment. If they refuse, talk to Ford Corporate.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Service managers rarely make service appointments; the dealer has staff for that. Just call them and ask to schedule an appointment. If they refuse, talk to Ford Corporate.

They reason I wanted to talk to the service manager/advisor was to see if they had an EV tech and whether they have any experience of HVBJB replacement or even equipment to do them as I wanted to establish a relationship there.

 

[Jtbuster]

At this point, I expect no performance improvements on my 2021’s.
Not to beat a dead horse ?, but if I can’t even get a frunk button, how can expect better performance.
I’m sure I’ll get some GUI “improvements” and the ability to watch Netflix at crappy resolution… but as far as anything meaningful… just call me Oliver Twist.

Are you really born into poverty and misfortune or have you read Oliver Twist?

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