12v battery problem can have serious consequences

[Braric]

here in Quebec we have been experiencing a wave of polar cold for a few days. We reached temperatures of less than 30 Celsius. Several Mustang Mach-E owners have had issues with the 12v battery. One of the people who had this problem was put in a situation that would have serious consequences as she described in her post on the FB site « propriétaires Mustang Mach-E Quebec ».
''A really worrying situation happened to me with my MME premium AWD this morning: I had 115km of autonomy and after a few stops during my shopping my car did not start and I heard a noise in the speakers . I called roadside assistance and there was a 1:30-2:30 wait so someone came to pick me up because I was with my 10 month old baby in the car. After 20 minutes when I got out of the car the door closed behind me and the doors wouldn't open anymore and my baby was stuck in the car for another 30 minutes while the police and the the tug arrives. The tug wasn't able to open the door as it's all electric and there is no emergency way to open the doors if the battery is dead...had to have my dealer move on place and he opens the hood with an intrumejt and dismantles plastic parts to access the battery so that the doors open and I can get my baby out. Words fail me to tell you how my mom's heart suffered during this episode and that I really don't want it to happen again…. After reflection I want to know if this happened to another of you? And here are my solutions and I especially want to hear yours. My car is at the dealership for diagnostics. I would like to be able to have confidence in my vehicle and I will need them to be very convincing for me to agree to take it back…
- change of battery for a more powerful one?
- added smart charger?
- display the level of the 12 volt battery and an alert if it drops below a critical threshold
- Make a reminder for doors that do not have an emergency opening system

Thanks for helping me think through all this….’’
I hope Ford will fix this problem once and for all….
Ps Sorry for m’y english

Sponsored

 

[YFD_233]

What is 30 Celsius. ?

 

[generaltso]

What is 30 Celsius. ?

Warm.

 

[Motomax]

That’s a very unfortunate situation and unfortunately there’s no real solution. Atleast we still have mechanical releases on the inside unlike other cars.
For future reference, there’s a port on the front bumper with two leads. The tow truck driver can hook 12v up to those leads to pop open the frunk, then Hook 12v up to the battery to open the doors.
if that fails the tow guy should be able to pop the door open with just the inside handle like they do on every other car. Might want to test that method out beforehand though.

 

[Braric]

What is 30 Celsius. ?

 

[Braric]

-22 F

 

[Astraea]

What is 30 Celsius. ?

As I am not very far from where this woman is I can tell you that she for sure meant -30C. Which is around -22F. It has been getting this cold off and on the last few days and even colder. Last night hit -29F and 2 nights before I saw -27F. Not the type of weather you want your vehicle not working in when not long before it was working fine.

 

[DevSecOps]

Unfortunately this isn't just an MME issue. Almost all modern cars have no key hole anymore to manually open a door and obviously you can't open the hood if your 12v dies on any other vehicle either without being able to access the cabin and hood release.

IF there's an immediate need to get someone out when it's -30 then that's why God invented big rocks!

Otherwise you just wait for a tow to air-wedge the door open or if the 12v is dead use the hood release in the front bumper.

 

[YFD_233]

As I am not very far from where this woman is I can tell you that she for sure meant -30C. Which is around -22F. It has been getting this cold off and on the last few days and even colder. Last night hit -29F and 2 nights before I saw -27F. Not the type of weather you want your vehicle not working in when not long before it was working fine.

I’m joking. Lol. I always make fun when I hear Celsius, meters or Canadian dollars here in the US. That is way too cold

 

[chrisGT]

Unfortunately not every roadside assistant guy knows how to jump start a Mach-E or other EVs. But it is also Ford's fault that made it so hard.

They should have added a mechanical lock at one door and a key you pull out of the fob. Then you could open the frunk. Oh and the jump terminals should have been under pull-up covers, not trims...

Btw Hyundai Kona EV has both a mechanical key and a 12v jump button that sends power from the HVB to the LVB so you don’t need external power or to find the terminals.

 

[phil]

What is 30 Celsius. ?

Quebec has been seeing temperatures around -30 Celsius, which is 22 below zero in Fahrenheit.

Chilly. Glad the baby is ok.

 

[sotek2345]

Unfortunately this isn't just an MME issue. Almost all modern cars have no key hole anymore to manually open a door and obviously you can't open the hood if your 12v dies on any other vehicle either without being able to access the cabin and hood release.

IF there's an immediate need to get someone out when it's -30 then that's why God invented big rocks!

Otherwise you just wait for a tow to air-wedge the door open or if the 12v is dead use the hood release in the front bumper.

Rock or other implement was my first thought. As a parent, if I was in that situation, that window would have lasted 5 minutes, tops!

 

[Logal727]

Unfortunately not every roadside assistant guy knows how to jump start a Mach-E or other EVs. But it is also Ford's fault that made it so hard.

They should have added a mechanical lock at one door and a key you pull out of the fob. Then you could open the frunk. Oh and the jump terminals should have been under pull-up covers, not trims...

Btw Hyundai Kona EV has both a mechanical key and a 12v jump button that sends power from the HVB to the LVB so you don’t need external power or to find the terminals.

Yes I was very surprised the MME didn’t have the same jump button as my 2019 Ioniq

 

[SnBGC]

Unfortunately this isn't just an MME issue. Almost all modern cars have no key hole anymore to manually open a door and obviously you can't open the hood if your 12v dies on any other vehicle either without being able to access the cabin and hood release.

IF there's an immediate need to get someone out when it's -30 then that's why God invented big rocks!

Otherwise you just wait for a tow to air-wedge the door open or if the 12v is dead use the hood release in the front bumper.

The Lightning has a key.

 

[Accord07]

I’m joking. Lol. I always make fun when I hear Celsius, meters or Canadian dollars here in the US. That is way too cold

All temperature sensors in the MME read Celsius natively, they are converted to Fahrenheit only for a select group of people. Still laughing?

Sponsored