Infant stuck inside the car - dead 12V battery

[AKgrampy]

All I know is that if I had a toddler or Infant in my Mach I have now learned not to close the front door until I open the back door.

Sponsored

 

[Jimrpa]

the proper procedure is to pop the frunk with that tiny cable. Then jump the 12v to pop the door. The owner just does not know and are panicking. Smashing the window is not necessary. It is kind of stupid of ford to follow tesla design. A traditional keyhole and physical key would be better. Cost cutting being the reason as always.

I don't think it is Ford's fault or should cover it. Unfortunately for Ford, the optic is bad especially with baiting title like infant stuck in car. Better to just pay and shut the customer up.

I believe it was reported that there was “just enough” power left in the 12V battery, that the system wouldn’t let the frunk be opened via the cables, but not enough to actually do anything useful. Hence the handy brick/rock solution was used.

 

[Snakebitten]

There is a whole post on us modding for easy access

External Access?
I've only seen access from inside the Frunk.

 

[Sikkun]

External Access?
I've only seen access from inside the Frunk.

There is a thread somewhere about an “Indiana jones” pull cord to behind your charge port door to manually open the frunk.

 

[superdave80]

I wonder how difficult it would be to add some 12V jump points inside the charge port area. Since the charge port door doesn't lock, you would always be able to apply power to the car.

 

[4wheeldog]

If people have no knowledge regarding the health of their LVB and replace them based on age instead of their health, Ford can make more money replacing good healthy batteries.
Is Ford testing the batteries that they replace or do they just replace batteries that are good without testing them?

You can test a battery several different ways and it could pass them all, yet fail utterly tomorrow.

 

[Jimrpa]

I just remembered - way back in the “before time”, some people had jury-rigged a piece of string or something in the charge port that could be pulled and would somehow mechanically pull the frunk opener mechanism That may be an alternate solution for people concerned about infants, pets, or other life forms being stuck in the vehicle?

 

[Sikkun]

I just remembered - way back in the “before time”, some people had jury-rigged a piece of string or something in the charge port that could be pulled and would somehow mechanically pull the frunk opener mechanism That may be an alternate solution for people concerned about infants, pets, or other life forms being stuck in the vehicle?

There is that, or the even more unsafe version of rigging a string to open the front door.

 

[Anton]

Read the entire thread. Still not clear about what I can do to prepare for this event. Seems like the only solution is to actively replace the 12v every 3 years or use the brick in an emergency. Also have a toddler and an infant.

 

[Sikkun]

Read the entire thread. Still not clear about what I can do to prepare for this event. Seems like the only solution is to actively replace the 12v every 3 years or use the brick in an emergency. Also have a toddler and an infant.

Without going into modification.

You could also, leave the front door open/window down while you take the child out of the vehicle.

 

[bbulkow]

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

What bothers me about this story is not that it happened - but the statement that neither AAA nor Ford Service could open the car, given all the safeguards around being able to open it.

A random owner --- they might be forgiven for not knowing. AAA - I would expect them to have a help line for drivers, if not actual training. Ford service? !!!! they should know.

Unless, of course, the car was afflicted with the software bug that there's a particular state of 12v charge that disables the external frunk-popping, but isn't enough to run the car. That was a nasty bug.... but the software updates per pushed out like months ago, right? One wonders why something like that bug didn't get resolved OTA, or with a firm notice in the app if OTAs were disabled / not able to be applied?

In my opinion, the car has sufficient safeguards .

Ford made a point of designing interior latches that work without battery power, unlike tesla. This means AAA should have been able to slim-jim the car. Or, with the front window smashed, certainly should have been able to just reach in. But the post says even with the window smashed, Ford support couldn't get the car open? I don't get it.

The external 12v should have popped the frunk. According to the post, it seems like AAA couldn't do that, but doesn't say *why*. Did AAA not know, or not have the equipment? Or was the car afflicted with the 12v no entry bug? If the latter, the question is why didn't the car get updated, is that ford's fault?

Enough cars have 12v access ports in this location that it's pretty standard. It's also pretty standard for a tow truck driver to need to learn something about the weird bits of a car. Jumping my Porsche, for example, required opening the cabin (with a key) then finding a little jumper cable in the cabin to pop the hood, then you could jump start the car.

I know most people with ICE cars don't carry jumper cables, but if you found one, you could use those jumper cables and an ICE car to pop the frunk. I do carry jumper cables. My GF has an older car and has one of those 12v jumper batteries. I generally find people helpful if you ask for a jump... just in this case, you're asking for a jump to pop the hood.

On the MachE, the frunk access is also mechanical from in the cabin, so once you get into the cabin you can pop the frunk, and it's only a moment to get the little plastic panel off to get access to the 12v. As an owner, I did that in the first week to make sure I knew how.

I have modest sympathy for the owner. The post I read on Threads was more bombastic, saying "MY BABY COULD HAVE DIED", which isn't really true - the glass will be broken before that - this post says they broke the glass but the threads post didn't. Sympathy decreased.

The owner also seems mostly concerned with getting reimbursement from Ford, compared to fixing design flaws. They are claiming design flaws, instead of bad luck, because that's how to get money out of Ford. Sympathy decreased.

As an example, my Honda has a key, but there's only one on the driver side. The day my ICE car's 12v battery died, I found out someone took a screwdriver to that lock and busted it. Should I claim that Honda had misdesigned the car by not having two locks? I did not, I considered it a corner case. On the other hand, AAA got my car open with one of those puffer bags and a wire without any big difficulty.

I just struggle with the statement that AAA didn't know anything, and Ford service didn't know anything. That's when the story gets fishy. COULD BE TRUE but.... really?

My sympathy is with the owner because the "12v in the bumper" thing is pretty new (mache is not the only one by a long shot), and Ford had their bug (which we don't know whether was in play or not) so that may not have worked.

My sympathy for the OP is also increased because Ford hasn't done a great job telling us users when the 12v is marginal and need replacement (they're fixing this?), and there's no real override for a bad 12v, which is also a little weird (I mean you have a big battery, the 12v battery is really being used as a capacitor on the 12v bus, and capacitors last nearly forever, there's a better design lurking). The 12v in my ICE has a "2018" date at the moment, so it's 6 years and going strong(ish), and what I read here is that's not going to be true of my Mache.

An interesting feature (maybe not hardware possible?) would be some kind of mode where HVB continually powers the 12v buss. This would literally allow you to jump the car and then run without a 12v battery. You'd then drive directly to a car parts store, get a new battery, and be on your way. Just like an ICE car (except Ford made it hard to replace the 12v due to bad location, but that's an *actual* design flaw). You wouldn't want to do this long-term because the HVB drain of being parked would be high, but as a safety precaution? Sound nice. I look forward to "jumpable" (or 12v less, replace with capacitor?) EVs in the next refresh.

 

[Mosworthy]

I believe it was reported that there was “just enough” power left in the 12V battery, that the system wouldn’t let the frunk be opened via the cables, but not enough to actually do anything useful. Hence the handy brick/rock solution was used.

No...
The report stated Ford tried charging the 12v using the front bumper cords but was unsuccessful. As expected, because that's not how it works. Nothing about this just enough in the battery rumour

 

[Mosworthy]

Read the entire thread. Still not clear about what I can do to prepare for this event. Seems like the only solution is to actively replace the 12v every 3 years or use the brick in an emergency. Also have a toddler and an infant.

Or know how to get into the frunk and jump the 12v

 

[PhuhQ]

Same thing happened to me with this car in June almost killing both my kids. My car has been in the shop since June 8th and Ford has ghosted me all this time. I've made more payments on this car in while it’s been in the shop in the last year than my own garage.

As others have noted, since this incident I always keep a door open or window down until the kids are removed from the vehicle.

Here is my post on mache forums:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/mach-e-dead-in-garage-next-step.37221/#post-822360

 

[Mosworthy]

What bothers me about this story is not that it happened - but the statement that neither AAA nor Ford Service could open the car, given all the safeguards around being able to open it.

A random owner --- they might be forgiven for not knowing. AAA - I would expect them to have a help line for drivers, if not actual training. Ford service? !!!! they should know.

Unless, of course, the car was afflicted with the software bug that there's a particular state of 12v charge that disables the external frunk-popping, but isn't enough to run the car. That was a nasty bug.... but the software updates per pushed out like months ago, right? One wonders why something like that bug didn't get resolved OTA, or with a firm notice in the app if OTAs were disabled / not able to be applied?

In my opinion, the car has sufficient safeguards .

Ford made a point of designing interior latches that work without battery power, unlike tesla. This means AAA should have been able to slim-jim the car. Or, with the front window smashed, certainly should have been able to just reach in. But the post says even with the window smashed, Ford support couldn't get the car open? I don't get it.

The external 12v should have popped the frunk. According to the post, it seems like AAA couldn't do that, but doesn't say *why*. Did AAA not know, or not have the equipment? Or was the car afflicted with the 12v no entry bug? If the latter, the question is why didn't the car get updated, is that ford's fault?

Enough cars have 12v access ports in this location that it's pretty standard. It's also pretty standard for a tow truck driver to need to learn something about the weird bits of a car. Jumping my Porsche, for example, required opening the cabin (with a key) then finding a little jumper cable in the cabin to pop the hood, then you could jump start the car.

I know most people with ICE cars don't carry jumper cables, but if you found one, you could use those jumper cables and an ICE car to pop the frunk. I do carry jumper cables. My GF has an older car and has one of those 12v jumper batteries. I generally find people helpful if you ask for a jump... just in this case, you're asking for a jump to pop the hood.

On the MachE, the frunk access is also mechanical from in the cabin, so once you get into the cabin you can pop the frunk, and it's only a moment to get the little plastic panel off to get access to the 12v. As an owner, I did that in the first week to make sure I knew how.

I have modest sympathy for the owner. The post I read on Threads was more bombastic, saying "MY BABY COULD HAVE DIED", which isn't really true - the glass will be broken before that - this post says they broke the glass but the threads post didn't. Sympathy decreased.

The owner also seems mostly concerned with getting reimbursement from Ford, compared to fixing design flaws. They are claiming design flaws, instead of bad luck, because that's how to get money out of Ford. Sympathy decreased.

As an example, my Honda has a key, but there's only one on the driver side. The day my ICE car's 12v battery died, I found out someone took a screwdriver to that lock and busted it. Should I claim that Honda had misdesigned the car by not having two locks? I did not, I considered it a corner case. On the other hand, AAA got my car open with one of those puffer bags and a wire without any big difficulty.

I just struggle with the statement that AAA didn't know anything, and Ford service didn't know anything. That's when the story gets fishy. COULD BE TRUE but.... really?

My sympathy is with the owner because the "12v in the bumper" thing is pretty new (mache is not the only one by a long shot), and Ford had their bug (which we don't know whether was in play or not) so that may not have worked.

My sympathy for the OP is also increased because Ford hasn't done a great job telling us users when the 12v is marginal and need replacement (they're fixing this?), and there's no real override for a bad 12v, which is also a little weird (I mean you have a big battery, the 12v battery is really being used as a capacitor on the 12v bus, and capacitors last nearly forever, there's a better design lurking). The 12v in my ICE has a "2018" date at the moment, so it's 6 years and going strong(ish), and what I read here is that's not going to be true of my Mache.

An interesting feature (maybe not hardware possible?) would be some kind of mode where HVB continually powers the 12v buss. This would literally allow you to jump the car and then run without a 12v battery. You'd then drive directly to a car parts store, get a new battery, and be on your way. Just like an ICE car (except Ford made it hard to replace the 12v due to bad location, but that's an *actual* design flaw). You wouldn't want to do this long-term because the HVB drain of being parked would be high, but as a safety precaution? Sound nice. I look forward to "jumpable" (or 12v less, replace with capacitor?) EVs in the next refresh.

This is the most reasonable reaction to have, and one I share.
There are jump packs that won't work on the front hatch points because they are too smart and are looking for voltage to help out, but that is not how the frunk latch works. It needs to be forced.
Also, my expectation of Ford knowledge is less assuming than yours, because I have always found it lacking.

Sponsored