TFL's Love and Hate list of Mach-E after a week of driving

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

I think they used the trunk/tailgate switch spot to give Max Defrost a hard button near the external lighting controls. (stole a pic from elsewhere on the forum)

I've said on here before that space to the right of the instrumentation light makes me sad. it's clearly large enough to put another button in there and it would be a good place for (for example) a hatch button... I really wonder what got it to that design.

 

[TheSteelRider]

Hi @TFLtommy , thanks for the videos! I think I have watched all your videos on Mach-e.
You did rate the Mach-e better for ride quality vs. Model Y. What exactly did you compare?

I am most interested in road noise and vibration aspects. I remember, in the early days of Model 3, someone was doing vibration tests with a glass full of some liquid and some other very pseudo-scientific methods to show that Model 3 had a very bumpy ride. Tesla had to do some adjustments to improve the ride in later cars.

I also know that one reason why Tesla cars (at least in EPA claims) go farther is that they are pretty bare bone and lack noise insulating material like foam to lower road noise. I know some Model S owners claim the interior is as noisy as the outside. As Model S owners are usually rich and likely came from luxury cars, some of them spent thousands of dollars to de-noise their cars. Probably that means adding some noise insulating foams to the underside and body panels.

Incidentally, I am driving a car now that is super quiet inside. When I first got the car, my wife would complain that the horn is not loud and is weak. I then used the horn with open windows while parked on the driveway. She realized the horn is as loud as any we had! On the underside, there is a layer of foam that pretty much cuts down most of the road noise. Though I haven't used any decibel meter yet, it is significantly quieter than other average cars.

So, my question is if Mach-e road noise is better than Model Y? I don't remember if you made a video to measure road noise with some sound meter. If you or anyone else has done a test, can you post the link? I'm very interested in this. Though I guess once the cars are in dealer lots, I can go for a test drive. That may be few months.

In Kyle's (Out of Spec Reviews) review, he talks about the cabin noise relative to competitors ... at about 2:08 in this video

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

In Kyle's (Out of Spec Reviews) review, he talks about the cabin noise relative to competitors ... at about 2:08 in this video

looks like in that video we have now learned that a Starbucks cup will fit in the cupholders as well. ?

 

[buzznwood]

A laggy touchscreen will break the deal for me. Had to deal w that pain with my 13 Escape MFT and do NOT want to go there again.

I am assuming that your 2013 escape has sync2, my focus ST has sync2 and it is utterly woeful at responding, it is faster to drive to a point than try and pinch zoom the nav map there lol. My focus RS has sync3 which in comparison is usable.

The mach-e I sat in at the road show events had a similar clunky response as has been seen in various videos, I was given the normal pre-production warning so have to take fords word for it that it will improve. From my experience using it at the road show the largest delays came from switching between various screens and selecting some options. once you get to where you need in a sub menu the response to toggling options or moving around the map was fine I would call it sync3+ so not as snappy as the fastest smartphones.

I am giving ford the benefit of the doubt that once further software development has been carried out that the general lag between screens and clunky response of some options will be improved as for the price point of a premium what I got to play with at the road show needs that improvement.

Another overall concern I do have is with the removal of physical HVAC controls if the nav or music selection gets a bit laggy over time it is irritating where as an unresponsive temperature control is unacceptable

 

[generaltso]

looks like in that video we have now learned that a Starbucks cup will fit in the cupholders as well. ?

And not just any Starbucks cup. A trenta!

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

And not just any Starbucks cup. A trenta!

31oz of EV driving fun

 

[Louv]

It also doesn't make sense to me. With the update capabilities in place, why couldn't a pre-production car be updated to more production ready SW by now?

It could. But this isn’t the iPhone app store. You probably don’t work in the software or automotive industries. Car companies like Ford, GM, Porsche, BMW don’t do weekly releases. They do quarterly releases. And even that is “rushing things” in their experience.

(we shall ignore Tesla, as they are a software company that happens to have some employees who throw cars together, not an old-school car company)

 

[macchiaz-o]

It could. But this isn’t the iPhone app store. You probably don’t work in the software or automotive industries. Car companies like Ford, GM, Porsche, BMW don’t do weekly releases. They do quarterly releases. And even that is “rushing things” in their experience.

(we shall ignore Tesla, as they are a software company that happens to have some employees who throw cars together, not an old-school car company)

I've observed that MANY of the forum members are in either the software or automotive industries, or both. There are quite a few computer scientists and software engineers active here.

You may be right about the release cadence. Or not. We shall soon find out.

 

[Woeo]

I don't think there's any evidence that Ford's OTA infrastructure is up and running yet - no journalist has recorded getting an update anyway.

It's possible those media cars *are* out of date, and that the OTA infrastructure isn't ready/activated, or that the "fixed" software just isn't ready yet but will be in the coming days.

It's also possible that it's just a lot of us wishfully thinking that things will be different by the time we buy our own cars.

I took the opportunity to record the Sync 4 information from one of the roadshow vehicles in November. Looking forward to comparing the version(s) in a production MME.

This version could not accept voice entry of navigation address request.

 

[zhackwyatt]

It could. But this isn’t the iPhone app store. You probably don’t work in the software or automotive industries. Car companies like Ford, GM, Porsche, BMW don’t do weekly releases. They do quarterly releases. And even that is “rushing things” in their experience.

(we shall ignore Tesla, as they are a software company that happens to have some employees who throw cars together, not an old-school car company)

I am a SW Engineer. Now days, CI/CD is taking over in almost all industries. Yes, I don't expect Ford to release updates weekly. But this is a special case of having your product reviewed not months ahead of delivery, but weeks. So I think it's worth the question.

In the end it doesn't matter and there could be some very good reasons as to why. What matters is keeping their promises which so far they seem to be doing.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

I am a SW Engineer. Now days, CI/CD is taking over in almost all industries. Yes, I don't expect Ford to release updates weekly. But this is a special case of having your product reviewed not months ahead of delivery, but weeks. So I think it's worth the question.

In the end it doesn't matter and there could be some very good reasons as to why. What matters is keeping their promises which so far they seem to be doing.

Legacy manufacturing in general - not just automotive - tends to be slower on these things for cultural reasons. I'm sure you see that as a software engineer.

That said, I work with ISVs (independent software vendors), and you'd be surprised what fraction of them don't have CI/CD even in 2021.

 

[dbsb3233]

Ha thank you sir! Just this movie for the first time a couple weeks ago. Chris Farley was a true genius per usual, but couldn’t get over that poor Plymouth GTX

You probably know this, but he was Ford CEO Jim Farley's cousin.

 

[DaveRuns]

Yep, I echo your thoughts. Pretty fair overall and you can't blame him when he has experienced charging issues and a laggy screen. I'm hoping those are easily correctable.

As for the handling comments. We know they have a Tesla Model Y Performance. I'm ok if the Premium Mach-E isn't quite as sporty as that -- if that is the comparison. I wouldn't expect it to be. And I'm encourage by others that really liked the handling. In the end, we all need to do our own test drives to make that judgement for ourselves.

You didn't mention the charging issue that @TFLtommy pointed out. Other reviewers have also talked about the DCFC issues. I know it's not a big concern if you don't plan on fast-charging, but Ford must realize that if people plop down $50K on a vehicle, they may wish to drive it on a road trip. If word gets out that this will be a major challenge, they can kiss sales goodbye.

 

[timbop]

You didn't mention the charging issue that @TFLtommy pointed out. Other reviewers have also talked about the DCFC issues. I know it's not a big concern if you don't plan on fast-charging, but Ford must realize that if people plop down $50K on a vehicle, they may wish to drive it on a road trip. If word gets out that this will be a major challenge, they can kiss sales goodbye.

Which is why Ford is taking it seriously and trying to figure out what happened - per @TFLtommy.

It's possible that the experts who've put their heart and soul into making this car are smart enough not to ignore the issue.

 

[DaveRuns]

I think a good, non-distracting UI is important when you're directing two tons of metal across the ground at 80 mph.

Curious...as a mechanical engineer, what are your thoughts on the MME holding up over the long-term (body and tires), when the car weighing over 2 tons? Seems that is a lot of wear and tear placed on a small chassis. I'm not an engineer though.

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