Little red battery icon on a '23 Mach-e Premium

[McQueen]

We just finished a grocery shopping excursion earlier today, loaded the car (lots of perishables), started it, turned the dial to Reverse to back out of the parking slot and it locked up. Wouldn't turn. Couldn't get it out of Park. And then a little red battery icon came on on the dashboard! Turned off the car and sat there thinking about what was going to start cooking in the cargo area under an afternoon South Florida sun as we wait for a tow to the more distant Ford dealership subject of my previous rants; and that it's late Friday afternoon (of course!!!).... My mind turned to all the posts here about the 12V battery dying that I ignored; virtually all of which posts I thought had to do with first editions, 2021 and 2022 MMEs. So I figured that was one problem I didn't need to worry about yet. But we were sitting inside an immobilized vehicle that was getting warmer quickly.
After a few minutes of cursing my luck, I pressed the start button again. The little red battery icon disappeared, the car went smoothly into Reverse, and we drove home with no problems (even left the a/c on blowing full blast). A species of "unplug, plug" fixes? Unsure of the next step. Not confident about using the car (our only vehicle) over the weekend. Was going to connect with the dealership about a recent "Customer Satisfaction" notice regarding the driver's seatbelt buckle needing replacement, and will let them know about the 12V battery warning light.
Our 2023 Mach-e Premium AWD (standard range) only just went over 5,000 miles yesterday, and has been kept in our garage since we bought it (June 28, 2024). We'd been blessed never to need (yet) super charging or even L2; simply plugging the 120 volts in every night to 90% (after the car has sat/cooled down for at least 2 hours), and to 100% once/month.
I've learned here that the 12V battery does not charge at L1 (120V). Do I need to go charge the car at a L2 or Super Charger in order to get juice into the 12V battery? I still have a trickle charger in my garage, and wonder (without going back into posts, so please forgive me) if I can do this myself.
And now I'm worried: "Is the love affair ending?!"

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[nfs480]

Were you by chance accidentally in “accessory” mode? I’ve made that mistake before where I didn’t hold down the brake pedal concurrently with pushing the start button. The small red battery icon will be illuminated in this mode and you can’t drive since the vehicle isn’t “running.”

 

[jpinFLX]

Were you by chance accidentally in “accessory” mode? I’ve made that mistake before where I didn’t hold down the brake pedal concurrently with pushing the start button. The small red battery icon will be illuminated in this mode and you can’t drive since the vehicle isn’t “running.”

I did the same thing a few weeks ago.

 

[Vgkfan]

I’ve done it a few times, but mine always throws up a reminder to press the brake.

 

[DeusEx]

Just echoing everyone who has replied, it's likely you're were in accessory mode and you can tell when the green light on the start button is rapidly flashing. I've done this before and I think it's a combination of me pressing start before I press the brake or if I don't fully depress the brake.

 

[McQueen]

Post-script: Took the car to the dealership in response to a "Customer Satisfaction" notice regarding the driver's seatbelt buckle, and used the occasion to have them check the 12V battery. The tech turned his monitor and showed me the 12V battery was at "92%." So, I'm feeling confident the replies/experiences here are the explanation. Thank you all! I was likely too quick in pressing start with no pressure on the brake pedal. I'll be more deliberate about this.
On the matter of the driver's seatbelt buckle "replacement:" the dealership's tech told me that if I haven't had any issues with it, then it doesn't need replacement. So, I'll need to be vigilant/wait for "problems." Love affair isn't over; but we're getting to know each other a whole lot better.

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