Infant stuck inside the car - dead 12V battery

[Snakebitten]

I've been pondering for some time where I am going to mount remote battery post access port. I still haven't decided, but I do intend to follow through.
I've also considered dedicating a small portion of the Frunk tub to a cheap Chinese LFP 12V axillary battery connected in series to the AGM. Ford equipped my F150 Powerboost with just such an auxiliary battery, although it's a little 7AH AGM. I swapped that for an LFP, which for a similar small size, it's 25AH. The results, so far, have been outstanding. (I use a Bluetooth voltmeter that logs voltage 24/7/365)

My Mach-E is almost daily a chariot for 3 little urchins in the back seat. So I prefer not to be faced with the scenario in question, if at all possible. But I can assure you that even if worst case scenario did take place, there's no window in the Mach-E that would be safe. ?

I personally LOVE the handleless doors on the car. Absolutely gorgeous to my eyes. But Ford definitely left a potential gotcha that I will be addressing myself.

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[Jimrpa]

They need to hurry up and add a warning when the battery is reaching the end of its life.

I believe this is why the battery is replaced at 36 months?

 

[Jimrpa]

When you close the door with your hand you actually push it into a mechanical lock (slamlock).

When the 12v battery dies the (electronical) open button does not work anymore and the car becomes some sort of vault.

There should be some 12v inverter on the HVB which starts providing 12v backup power (switched by a relay) when the 12v AGM finally dies. Sometimes things can be quite simple FORD !

Go read about how the HVB system works. It’s not “simple” (nor inexpensive).

 

[Jimrpa]

My understanding is that the front jumpers are not connected to the battery per se. It's just to pop the frunk.
To access the battery, you need to remove the whole frunk plastic cover, which makes an incompatible solution within the timeframe constraint (infant locked in the car in 80 degrees weather).

Actually, you don’t have to “remove the whole frunk plastic cover”. There is a “beauty cover” on the right side (with indicators that the jump point is beneath it) that must be removed. This cover just snaps in place and can be removed without tools.

 

[Wallie]

Go read about how the HVB system works. It’s not “simple” (nor inexpensive).

I know it’s not simple for Ford ?

 

[BoberMod]

Follow-up post:

TL;DR:
Ford attempted to shift all the costs ($2000 for the broken glass, battery repair, and rental car they provided) onto the author. After he raised an uproar on Threads, Ford representatives contacted him and said they would cover all the expenses.
Ford did nothing until the situation was publicized.

The author will consider a car with the option for physical unlocking from the outside and will file a complaint with the NTSB.

 

[leehinde]

In theory the car can still open the door with a dead 12v battery if the doors are not locked.

So my general question is why is the vehicle being locked before the child is removed?

I'm not sure what happened here, but I will say I've had the doors lock when I've gotten out of the front seat, closed the door (doors lock) and wanted to open the back doors to get groceries or the dogs out.

 

[eponey]

What a completely asinine thing to post...

Easy there Francis

 

[HuntingPudel]

I'm not sure what happened here, but I will say I've had the doors lock when I've gotten out of the front seat, closed the door (doors lock) and wanted to open the back doors to get groceries or the dogs out.

I have had the same thing happen with walk-away lock turned off. ??

 

[4wheeldog]

Yeah, that and the fact that the frunk by couldn’t be popped via jumping by roadside concerned me.

I wish Ford had just stuck with conventional door handles, it’s about my only major mechanical design disagreement on the MME. At least it’s better implemented here than the Lincoln version with a button inside too, and doesn’t require some silly hidden emergency handle like some Teslas, but it feels like needless complexity. There should at least have been a manual, no electricity method for opening one ingress point.

I think the frunk jumper wires often don’t work because people don’t realize that you are not jumping a battery and the jump pack doesn’t work because it won’t work if it doesn’t sense a battery. If the jump pack doesn’t have a button to force it to connect it won’t work.

 

[MegaHz]

I understand this is an important topic, and tragic (or at least panic inducing) if it happend. However, this came from Reddit with no fact checking. Trolls live everywhere, it is always safest to look under any bridge you cross.

This is probably somewhere on a long list of things that Ford needs to "fix." No company has infinate resources, time, or headcount to fix everything all at once and there are priority lists; safety first typically. If we added up all the things in this forum we say Ford needs to "fix", my guess is it would be longer that Santa's "naughty/nice" list.

Until this ripples up to the top of their list, take ownership. Have a way to jump your car, pay attention to your maintenance schedule, and keep your roadside assistance up to date.

 

[Only1bemp]

I was looking over this topic. Although I do not own a Mach E yet. I do own a Jaguar I-pace and the 12v battery can let you down unexpectedly. Fortunately my car has a spot for a manual key to open the door. Owning dozens of cars, 12v batteries can fail without warning. That being said, a manual way to open the drivers door like the Continental did or the newer Lincolns, only makes sense. The C5 corvettes have a manual trunk key hole and a pull cable for the drivers door. I’m assuming from everyone’s responses, the Mach E has now manual entry into the passenger compartment?

 

[rcechinel]

I was looking over this topic. Although I do not own a Mach E yet. I do own a Jaguar I-pace and the 12v battery can let you down unexpectedly. Fortunately my car has a spot for a manual key to open the door. Owning dozens of cars, 12v batteries can fail without warning. That being said, a manual way to open the drivers door like the Continental did or the newer Lincolns, only makes sense. The C5 corvettes have a manual trunk key hole and a pull cable for the drivers door. I’m assuming from everyone’s responses, the Mach E has now manual entry into the passenger compartment?

None.

 

[rcechinel]

this came from Reddit with no fact checking.

Did you read the reddit post? It didn't feel like trolling. I knew it was a dead 12V battery the moment I read it, and the car being a 2021 checked out. The OP was interacting and being very reasonable. There is no way to fact check this, unless you have inside information. Besides, this is a problem that anyone who has been on this forum for a while knows it's completely possible to happen.

Trolls live everywhere, it is always safest to look under any bridge you cross.

True. So do fan boys who don't like to have the issues of their favorite toys/sons/brands pointed out...

 

[silverelan]

The classic Princess Bride 12V battery. Turns out the battery was only MOSTLY dead and and not all dead.

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