Infant stuck inside the car - dead 12V battery

[Only1bemp]

Seems like the easiest fix for this rare situation would be a mechanical key hole to open the hatch. I would anticipate that would be easier to redesign and locate the lock under the hatch handle/bezel. I don’t know if the BMS is capable of seeing if the 12v battery health is adequate with the exception of monitoring the voltage. Since there is not “cranking voltage” to indicate the battery’s health under a load, can it detect a battery that the cell is failing? FYI my IPace 12v battery jump locations are hard to reach also. Opening the frunk without power requires removing a plug and pulling a cable under the passenger side footwell. However, it does have a key hole on the drivers door.

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[eponey]

There are so many problems with the battery, including:

1. Ford sourced a battery for this car that routinely fails within 3 years under normal driving conditions.
2. Ford sourced a battery for which the replacement is expensive and difficult to locate (typically only found at dealers or online for close to $200).
3. Replacing the battery is much more difficult than it needs to be due to location under a stabilizer bar and multiple plastic panels with easily breakable clips.
4. The battery fails without any warning whatsoever, because Ford has provided zero diagnostic tools.
5. Ford has provided no mechanical means of opening the car.
6. The Rube Goldberg method of popping the frunk, by attaching a battery to leads hidden behind a cheap plastic port on the front bumper, is stupid engineering, doesn’t always work, and even when it does work, it only gets you halfway there because you still have to jump/replace the LVB (see #3) before the doors can be opened.

The NHTSB should deem this a safety issue and mandate a “recall.” Ford should fix ALL of the issues above, but obviously it won’t, nor would the NHTSB require it. Most likely, the NHTSB will allow Ford to simply rely on a software update to fix issue #4 for existing cars.

But for future models, @Ford Motor Company should fix ALL of the above issues.

##1-3 shouldn’t be hard at all to improve with a bigger, more standardized LVB and redesign of the stupid plastic cladding.

#4 is fixed with the software update Ford is already developing.

##5-6 is the most expensive fix - Ford adding a physical key (in the fob). But even for people who choose to use PAAK and not carry the fob, we could just use a hide-a-key in a wheel well for the physical backup.

They really have addressed this quite a bit with updates and the car doesn't wake up and drain nearly as much as it used too, unfortunately the 2021's lived through the times of too many wakeups.

 

[rcechinel]

This is what's in the owner's manual. I wonder if in any of the cases of a dead 12-volt, the owner saw either of these messages.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Rivians are also having failures, but two differences:

1) failures happening as early as one year
2) $750 to replace a dead 12-v (not sure why not covered under warranty, perhaps due to mileage)

Also, Rivian owners have to figure out if their vehicles have one or two 12-v batteries. And their customer support seems to be as useless as Ford’s in answering questions.

Fun times.

 

[Jimrpa]

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.

This is why we can’t have nice things (like flush doors) ?

 

[Jimrpa]

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?

Yes, it does. The emergency backup, if the emergency frunk open cables don’t work is a brick (a large rock will also do) ?

 

[HuntingPudel]

That is really questionable design. I think connecting a jump start battery should power up the whole car

There is a safety issue related to that. The frunk opening leads carry no voltage normally. If there were leads in the front bumper that were connected to the battery, there is a high risk of a short in the event of an accident. What we need is a mechanical way to access either the frunk or the passenger compartment (passenger compartment preferred). ??

 

[Jimrpa]

I posted my question in reddit as well, maybe I get here the answer faster ...

Is there an official document that ford recommend to replace the battery every 3 years?
Here in Germany we have every 2 years an official vehicle maintenance for the mach-e.
I am driving a 2021 Mach-E, had my service in June 2023 and the battery wasn't replaced.
Now my car is 3 1/2 years old and has still the old battery and in 06/2025 is the next maintenance.

Also I started a poll in our german board.
Some voted and at the moment the majority haven't replaces the battery yet.
https://mach-e-forum.de/thread/3964-12v-batterie-schon-getauscht/?postID=123919

I know I saw the 3 year thing on here somewhere. Ford recommends a multipoint service inspection, which includes the 12V battery performance, during every maintenance:

 

[Jimrpa]

There is a safety issue related to that. The frunk opening leads carry no voltage normally. If there were leads in the front bumper that were connected to the battery, there is a high risk of a short in the event of an accident. What we need is a mechanical way to access either the frunk or the passenger compartment (passenger compartment preferred). ??

I prefer the brick/rock. I despise having to carry extraneous crap around.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I prefer the brick/rock. I despise having to carry extraneous crap around.

Doesn’t that mean that you have to carry a brick or a rock? There are a lot of places where such an item is not easily obtained. ?‍?

 

[Jimrpa]

Doesn’t that mean that you have to carry a brick or a rock? There are a lot of places where such an item is not easily obtained. ?‍?

I don’t carry one because it would be stuck in the car when I need it.

Clearly, you don’t hang out in the same classy neighborhoods of Philadelphia that I do. You can find all kinds of things lying on the sidewalks. And we have lots of rocks in the suburbs and countryside - basically, just pick up any piece of decaying roadway ?

 

[areacode413]

This is going to stink for Ford.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MachE/s/bKsYwGYPe3

F Reddit. As it is already with all the bot accounts and misinformation on social media platforms, I have a hard enough time trusting the shit posted here. And with chatGPT and other tools it just makes the trolls more prevalent.

Edit: Dude should have called a locksmith not a wrecker. The broken window is on him. And why boast about your post blowing up on another platform. Who gives a shit..

 

[rcechinel]

F Reddit. As it is already with all the bot accounts and misinformation on social media platforms, I have a hard enough time trusting the shit posted here. And with chatGPT and other tools it just makes the trolls more prevalent.

Edit: Dude should have called a locksmith not a wrecker. The broken window is on him. And why boast about your post blowing up on another platform. Who gives a shit..

OMG dude. Just have some empathy, or don't say anything.

 

[SonicBlue]

I prefer the brick/rock. I despise having to carry extraneous crap around.

Hide-a-Key

 

[Sikkun]

F Reddit. As it is already with all the bot accounts and misinformation on social media platforms, I have a hard enough time trusting the shit posted here. And with chatGPT and other tools it just makes the trolls more prevalent.

Edit: Dude should have called a locksmith not a wrecker. The broken window is on him. And why boast about your post blowing up on another platform. Who gives a shit..

While I am all on Reddit is a cesspool. You don’t call a locksmith when a child is locked in the vehicle….depending on how hot it is you don’t call anyone unless you can’t break into the vehicle yourself.

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