beckermanex
Active Member
- First Name
- Erich
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2021
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 56
- Location
- Gilbert, AZ
- Vehicles
- '21 MME Prem RWD
- Occupation
- Information Management
- Thread starter
- #1
After 400 miles and about three weeks driving the Mach-E, I wanted to get some of my opinions out there, because everyone is doing it!
I’m coming from a 2018 Kia Soul ! trim with a turbo, so it’s a bit of a different hot-hatch that I’m used to. I have a love affair with hatches, except for a misguided few years with a Lancer in 2008, and an Audi TT in 2011, it’s been hatch after hatch, so the Mach-E fit right in with me as far as looks go. The car is hot, I get a lot of comments on how it looks, not just because of the pony on the front and back, but because of the lines, especially the eye trick with the roof (and then the true roof line).
I went with the Premium RWD Standard battery as it is more of a daily driver than a road trip car (my wife and I have a 2021 Kia Niro Hybrid for that). The Mach-E is excellent, even without Level 2 charging at home (and only using trickle charging for now) I’m able to drive and charge each night back up to 80% without any issues.
Likes
The technology cluster takes some getting used to, but it generally is very well done, having the owner’s manual built in is nice.
PaaK has worked flawless after getting it setup, I never bring my keys with me now and am never worried about it. (see below on an issue getting it actually setup).
I’m now addicted to torque, the car is fast off the line and there when you need it, lots of fun to drive, I don’t notice too much bounce in my step on the stock wheels and rims, but I’m on very developed and maintained roads here in Gilbert, AZ.
Audio system was one feature I was looking forward to and it doesn’t disappoint, the system in my Kia was great, very loud and punchy without rattling too much, while the Ford doesn’t appear to be at that level, it is great to listen to.
Space internally is great, I don’t use the Frunk for much, but the back is spacious for my lifestyle, my kids (10,8) fit in the back great and have plenty of room, plus they love looking out the roof.
I’ve only tried Blue Cruise once so far on the US60, but it was great, easy to use, and I can see how it would work well on a longer trip, but for a shorter drive, you want to stay engaged to such a fun car to drive so I won’t use it as much. (Kids thought it was amazing though).
Quirks
I can’t get the welcome lights and puddle lights to work to save my life. I’ve done everything I possibly can in all the settings, using PaaK, not using PaaK, using the fob, checking settings, checking my profile. Making it pitch dark outside, walking in from the left, right, back, front, nothing triggers it no matter what I do. I’m at a loss, but also frustrated.
While PaaK works great now, getting it to work was an instrument of torture. I made the mistake (I think) of setting up Bluetooth on the car at the dealer before leaving, once that’s done, you’re dead as far as Paak goes. I had to remove the phone from BT, remove the car from FordPass, remove the app from my phone (iOS) with all data, then set back up again from scratch by adding the car to FordPass, then PaaK, then BT for audio, then it seemed to do everything it should with setting codes and passwords. Seems simple now but wasn’t a great process.
Getting in the car it’s a roll-the-dice moment on what the screen will do. Sometimes CarPlay loads and waits for me to start a Spotify Playlist, sometimes SiriusXM/FM starts and pauses itself, having me hit Resume to go back to it, sometimes SiriusXM/FM just does what you think I should and plays what you were last listening to. I wish there was an option to say “when turning on, go here and do this”
Wireless charger for an iPhone 13 Pro with an Apple silicon case that make the camera bump not flat is not great. More times than not it will not charge, even repositioning keeps it on the charger for 5-10 seconds, but it will fall off. It may be better with a different case, but not lying flat seems to keep it from making the proper connection.
I have yet to get HomeLink to work with my garage door opener. I even cleared all the codes, reset all the remotes in the household and followed the exact instructions in the owner’s manual and it still won’t connect, it’s not a big deal, I carry the opener with me anyway, but frustrating when I can’t get something to work.
Oddities
I’ve had the pre-collision warning go off a few times, once when there wasn’t a car around, which was odd, maybe a shadow? The second was a car turning into the right-hand turn lane (I was in the lane next to it and was going straight) and it lit up like a Christmas Tree on the instrument cluster screen. Scared the bejebus out of me, but there was nothing to see or do.
TLDR
The car is amazing (as we all know, being part of this forum), its fun, engaging to drive, shows off nice, a conversation starter and a head-turner, but once the novelty from everyone else has worn off, it is a great vehicle to drive, practical (especially with $4/gallon gas) and just plan fits into my lifestyle. In planning a road trip for early Spring I’ve had some range anxiety, to the point I thought I might just take the hybrid instead, but that will pass, as all new things do.
I’m coming from a 2018 Kia Soul ! trim with a turbo, so it’s a bit of a different hot-hatch that I’m used to. I have a love affair with hatches, except for a misguided few years with a Lancer in 2008, and an Audi TT in 2011, it’s been hatch after hatch, so the Mach-E fit right in with me as far as looks go. The car is hot, I get a lot of comments on how it looks, not just because of the pony on the front and back, but because of the lines, especially the eye trick with the roof (and then the true roof line).
I went with the Premium RWD Standard battery as it is more of a daily driver than a road trip car (my wife and I have a 2021 Kia Niro Hybrid for that). The Mach-E is excellent, even without Level 2 charging at home (and only using trickle charging for now) I’m able to drive and charge each night back up to 80% without any issues.
Likes
The technology cluster takes some getting used to, but it generally is very well done, having the owner’s manual built in is nice.
PaaK has worked flawless after getting it setup, I never bring my keys with me now and am never worried about it. (see below on an issue getting it actually setup).
I’m now addicted to torque, the car is fast off the line and there when you need it, lots of fun to drive, I don’t notice too much bounce in my step on the stock wheels and rims, but I’m on very developed and maintained roads here in Gilbert, AZ.
Audio system was one feature I was looking forward to and it doesn’t disappoint, the system in my Kia was great, very loud and punchy without rattling too much, while the Ford doesn’t appear to be at that level, it is great to listen to.
Space internally is great, I don’t use the Frunk for much, but the back is spacious for my lifestyle, my kids (10,8) fit in the back great and have plenty of room, plus they love looking out the roof.
I’ve only tried Blue Cruise once so far on the US60, but it was great, easy to use, and I can see how it would work well on a longer trip, but for a shorter drive, you want to stay engaged to such a fun car to drive so I won’t use it as much. (Kids thought it was amazing though).
Quirks
I can’t get the welcome lights and puddle lights to work to save my life. I’ve done everything I possibly can in all the settings, using PaaK, not using PaaK, using the fob, checking settings, checking my profile. Making it pitch dark outside, walking in from the left, right, back, front, nothing triggers it no matter what I do. I’m at a loss, but also frustrated.
While PaaK works great now, getting it to work was an instrument of torture. I made the mistake (I think) of setting up Bluetooth on the car at the dealer before leaving, once that’s done, you’re dead as far as Paak goes. I had to remove the phone from BT, remove the car from FordPass, remove the app from my phone (iOS) with all data, then set back up again from scratch by adding the car to FordPass, then PaaK, then BT for audio, then it seemed to do everything it should with setting codes and passwords. Seems simple now but wasn’t a great process.
Getting in the car it’s a roll-the-dice moment on what the screen will do. Sometimes CarPlay loads and waits for me to start a Spotify Playlist, sometimes SiriusXM/FM starts and pauses itself, having me hit Resume to go back to it, sometimes SiriusXM/FM just does what you think I should and plays what you were last listening to. I wish there was an option to say “when turning on, go here and do this”
Wireless charger for an iPhone 13 Pro with an Apple silicon case that make the camera bump not flat is not great. More times than not it will not charge, even repositioning keeps it on the charger for 5-10 seconds, but it will fall off. It may be better with a different case, but not lying flat seems to keep it from making the proper connection.
I have yet to get HomeLink to work with my garage door opener. I even cleared all the codes, reset all the remotes in the household and followed the exact instructions in the owner’s manual and it still won’t connect, it’s not a big deal, I carry the opener with me anyway, but frustrating when I can’t get something to work.
Oddities
I’ve had the pre-collision warning go off a few times, once when there wasn’t a car around, which was odd, maybe a shadow? The second was a car turning into the right-hand turn lane (I was in the lane next to it and was going straight) and it lit up like a Christmas Tree on the instrument cluster screen. Scared the bejebus out of me, but there was nothing to see or do.
TLDR
The car is amazing (as we all know, being part of this forum), its fun, engaging to drive, shows off nice, a conversation starter and a head-turner, but once the novelty from everyone else has worn off, it is a great vehicle to drive, practical (especially with $4/gallon gas) and just plan fits into my lifestyle. In planning a road trip for early Spring I’ve had some range anxiety, to the point I thought I might just take the hybrid instead, but that will pass, as all new things do.
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