OTA bricked my car

[MellowJohnny]

There are still tons of people who say "I'll never drive one of those computers on wheels..." not realizing of course they already do. Or people who say "good luck charging during a power failure..." not realizing they can't get gas either

Glad this is an "easy" fix and happened at "convenient" time, if such a thing exists. My friend's eTron bricked right after his daughter drove it into their garage...sometimes bad things happen at "good times".

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[Snakebitten]

My 2022 Powerboost has 42 modules listed in FDRS

My 2023 GTPE has less.

Yeah, ICE/Hybrids fully dolled up are insanely loaded with potential bricking, if EV's are.

 

[spicy_taco]

It was IPC update 6.8.0. Vehicle got stuck in inhibit mode. Dealer can fix it in minutes with FDRS.

I'm sorry for the mission you're going through, but I'm just glad it wasn't the BC 1.4 update. That would mean even more delays.

Veh

Why did it start an update with 67% LV SOC? I wonder if the LV battery dropped below the accepted level during the update causing the issue.

 

[kltye]

Unfortunately, many in my work and social circles seem to take this as an opportunity to show that EVs are not ready for mass adoption. The fact that this is not caused by the electric drivetrain doesn't matter to them.

Your profile states you work with power semiconductors, which basically sounds like sci-fi space-age things to me, yet your work circle has a very rigid mindset. This somehow scares me...

 

[Mach-Lee]

Why did it start an update with 67% LV SOC? I wonder if the LV battery dropped below the accepted level during the update causing the issue.

It’s a little low, but still enough to do some OTAs. I don’t think the 12V battery was the problem here.

 

[johnfredmay]

Your profile states you work with power semiconductors, which basically sounds like sci-fi space-age things to me, yet your work circle has a very rigid mindset. This somehow scares me...

I work in hardware - mostly designing RF power products for use in semiconductor-manufacturing capital equipment. It’s a niche field and the average age of the typical engineer that wants to work with RF products is much older than the average tech worker.

I think hardware engineers are, in-general, more conservative with risk compared to software engineers. Hardware take years to develop and it’s very hard to fix issues after the product is released to the market.

Some of my products actually do go to space. The appetite for risk in those applications is essentially zero. You can’t tow a satellite to the dealer if it breaks.

 

[rugedraw]

Why did it start an update with 67% LV SOC? I wonder if the LV battery dropped below the accepted level during the update causing the issue.

The algorithm used to determine if the SoC (and the other battery metrics required) is not high enough for an inhibited ota to install is not set in stone across all updates. If the battery stats don't meet the minimal criteria for whatever update is trying to install, the install part won't happen and the vehicle will not go into inhibited mode. This had nothing to do with the state of the battery, imo.

 

[dono]

I see it's a 2021 model year. How close are you to being out of warranty? Mine is already past 3 years I wonder what Ford will do then if they cause the issue.

 

[claytionthecreation]

I assume that I did nothing wrong and that I can't do anything differently in the future to prevent this. I got unlucky and this very likely won't happen again.

Unfortunately, many in my work and social circles seem to take this as an opportunity to show that EVs are not ready for mass adoption. The fact that this is not caused by the electric drivetrain doesn't matter to them.

Sorry to hear about your car and I totally understand the frustration. I’m still trying to wrap my head around who you talked to that said you would get $60 rental reimbursement. I was told MAYBE if approved $45. CS at Ford is completely clueless.

I’ve been saying that it’s terrible PR when things like this happen. These vehicles are being judged by people all the time. An “inconvenience” hurts the public image and perception way more than it would have cost Ford to compensate owners. It’s as if the people at Ford don’t care about that or keeping their current customers happy. The focus at Ford seems to be sell as many F 150’s, make the most profit off them, and let the rest fall to the wayside.
Hang in there buddy. The worm will turn!

 

[hack-e]

No, you did nothing wrong and could not have done anything differently. This could have and has happened to ICE vehicles, as well. If you lived close to me, I could have your vehicle back on the road in minutes.

This statement just sealed the deal for me. I see FDRS in my future.

 

[AtomicInternet]

This statement just sealed the deal for me. I see FDRS in my future.

A $550 adapter + $50 weekend license is a small price to pay for software independence.

It's not that much when you compare the hours spent at a dealer as the alternative. You can argue nobody should have to pay to maintain their vehicle but I'm happy the option exists.

 

[dtbaker61]

This can only happen with updates that require the vehicle to be inhibited; regardless of whether update is major or minor. The BCM does not release the vehicle from inhibit mode once and goes into it, and this is the result. I can imagine how frustrating this is and all things considered, I think you're taking it pretty well.

so... it sounds like if you are travelling, or leaving the car parked somewhere like an airport for a while, it might be safest to turn auto-update OFF for a while until you are at home and the LVB is charged to 100%.

 

[Ciferguson37733]

This statement just sealed the deal for me. I see FDRS in my future.

Ditto

 

[rugedraw]

so... it sounds like if you are travelling, or leaving the car parked somewhere like an airport for a while, it might be safest to turn auto-update OFF for a while until you are at home and the LVB is charged to 100%.

If you want to play it ultra safe, then I guess this would be a good practice. However, with the hundred of reports of OTA's going through every week I see on multiple forums and once every couple of months one report of an OTA bricking a car is reported, you have as much of a chance of the plane falling out of the sky as you do coming back to your car and finding it bricked from an update.

 

[dtbaker61]

If you want to play it ultra safe, then I guess this would be a good practice. However, with the hundred of reports of OTA's going through every week I see on multiple forums and once every couple of months one report of an OTA bricking a car is reported, you have as much of a chance of the plane falling out of the sky as you do coming back to your car and finding it bricked from an update.

probably true... more likely the OTA would not have started if the 12v SOC was too low. However, as vehicles age we may start seeing more problems as 12v batteries age-out, lose capacity after 3yrs, and can't finish a long OTA even if they start at 80+%

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