Automatic Lane Changes introduced with BlueCruise 1.5

[SonicBlue]

I hate to ask, but is 1.5 using the original 1.0 hardware? If so, does that mean @Ford Motor Company has the intention of rolling it out to '21-'22 model years?

Does what Ford intends even matter at this point?

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[steriomike]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out. They are not trying to get you to buy a 2025, they are just a very old legacy carmaker and your car is/will soon be no longer under warranty....so what is ford supposed to do with that? Break your car with an update and cover it? There is such a warped perception of reality on this forum its almost toxic.

The crotchety I'll take my money elsewhere posts always get me.

I'm sorry my post triggered you. My step brother is a GM for a Ford dealership and I can assure you they are very successful at getting many people to purchase new cars every year. You'd be surprised. If Ford has repeatedly told me that I will be getting an update in software, I expect that they should follow through. That doesn't seem warped or toxic to me but I could be wrong. Taking one's money elsewhere is 100% American Capitalism at its finest. It is a freedom I enjoy and one day I hope they will in your country too.

 

[steriomike]

1) You felt it was worth that much when you bought it or you wouldn't have.

2) Tesla owners also experienced depreciation hell. Price cuts from Tesla have impacted the entire market, including your Mach-E.

3) A vehicle is not an investment.

1) I agree
2) I agree, but the Mach E does depreciate faster, most likely because it was Fords first electric.
3) I agree

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[Sikkun]

Either way, I'm really curious if they need additional sensors to make 1.5 possible, not so much from the point of "will my 2023 get it", but more from "will it be safe to use it in most real life situations".

2023 can already do a lane change automatically and notify you when a lane change is possible. So it is reasonable to assume the logic of those two can be combined to automatically start the lane change.

Granted, by the time the car recommends you do a lane change most people will have already done one…so fully automatic lane changes may not be happening that often.

 

[Aubury]

I wonder if they are using a faster CPU/compute platform for the infotainment. I notice some changes to the interface drive display that appears to be showing charging rate? Hopefully that comes to all previous models

It looks like it's still Sync 4, which means it will still have the same hardware. MY26 should be the NACS and Android Automotive transition, which also means new infotainment hardware. The Phoenix system will have a newer SOC that will be faster, the question is will it be fast enough? From what I've heard new GM vehicles with Android Automotive are having performance issues, and Ford does love to undersize the SOC compute power with the software they have run on it.

 

[SonicBlue]

I used to get excited about these things but over the past 3 years of owning my 2021 I have noticed myself starting to ignore any information about updates. I don't believe anything that Ford says anymore in regards to rolling out updates in the future to older vehicles

Yeah… @Ford Motor Company announcements Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This forum is probably still interesting/helpful for newish owners, but for us 2021 vets it’s more frustrating than anything at this point.

 

[Snakebitten]

There has got to be some 2021 Mach-E owners that chose FDRS over continuous frustration.

 

[Mathington]

It looks like it's still Sync 4, which means it will still have the same hardware. MY26 should be the NACS and Android Automotive transition, which also means new infotainment hardware. The Phoenix system will have a newer SOC that will be faster, the question is will it be fast enough? From what I've heard new GM vehicles with Android Automotive are having performance issues, and Ford does love to undersize the SOC compute power with the software they have run on it.

Do we know what SoC is in the GM systems and does Ford use the same in their Android Automotive based vehicles?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Ford strategy- just do the odd numbers.

I subscribe to the prime number theory of OTA updates.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

If Ford has repeatedly told me that I will be getting an update in software, I expect that they should follow through.

In the 44 months of ownership, Ford has for the most part done exactly that with my car. The current downtime from updates is the single longest gap (literal end of May through now) of update free time. While some of the valid reasons for the 1.3 update delay have been bandied about and are quite legitimate, I do nonetheless understand the frustration many folks have over this.

One observation I can make is that Ford has had fewer botched updates since 2021 on my premium than a friend’s 2018 Model S has had. He’s about to dump the thing entirely because of the number of times he’s had to get on the phone and schedule a fix or even worse tow it to a service center.

In any event, leaving folks with zero clue about 1.3 and their car’s status is far less than ideal.

 

[Aubury]

Do we know what SoC is in the GM systems and does Ford use the same in their Android Automotive based vehicles?

According to this, it's an Intel Atom A3960 which is the same as what the Polestar 2 uses (also Android Automotive), so I imagine Ford will use a similar SOC. I don't think we know what CPU the Phoenix system uses, there was leaked pictures of the PDU including disassembly but it left thermal past on the CPU heat spreader so we couldn't see what the SOC is. The article indicates CPU performance is pretty similar to a Raspberry Pi 4. It's not great, but theoretically should be able to handle anything required of an infotainment system so long as software that can use GPU acceleration actually uses it.

 

[azerik]

1) I agree
2) I agree, but the Mach E does depreciate faster, most likely because it was Fords first electric.
3) I agree

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#2
My Ford Focus Electric’s from 2012 (68,000 miles) and 2013 (103,000 miles) beg to differ who was first in this tortoise race. ?
The MME appears to depreciate faster because it’s just not a Tesla. The oddity that Tesla’s hold value longer is something that I still can’t figure out. I think most of it is sellers think they’re holding something made of gold with a 4 year old 90,000 mile model 3. Like it’s special and should sell for $10k less than a new one. My Foci’s crashed value about the same as all other EV’s except for Tesla. 3 yr old Focus was less than $10k (stickered at $42k. Fourty Two thousand for. A. Focus. With a 70 mile range). Lease, or buy used. All but a very select handful of cars will be worth a pile of copper in ~5 years. Heck I thought I was getting a killer deal on a Taycan, turns out Taycan owners feel exactly like we do. Software was garbage and lots of dealer trips. Thankfully I spent a couple more hours on those forums than I did this one. Saved me from being pissed at Porsche.

Those holding out for BC 1.5 in a 2021? Forget it. 1.2 is hardly even getting to the 21’s 2 years after it was coming ‘soon (summer)’. 1.5 is soon x 5. If it manages to get to a 21 it’d have been an accident and they’ll fire the guy that let that OTA ‘slip out the cracks’.

 

[drjones32]

Totally agree with this! Im not excited about my car anymore, im not looking forward to updates either. My wife and I decided we have to keep my current car until December 2025 at which point ill sell it for a Rivian R1s. I have no hopes of getting any updates until then.

Same here. At the moment, I'm considering selling my 2021 Premium AWD early next year and going for a Rivian. I haven't gotten any updates since June. And did you see the cool Halloween update Rivian owners just got? The BlueCruise updates seems like something they should prioritize.

There are only so many promises a company can make and then not deliver on before their user base is completely alienated. I love the car, but it is not living up to the promise of continuous improvement through software updates. If Ford cannot keep up with the competition I think they will lose out on repeat buyers. And I was a first time Ford buyer when I got my Mach-E. Why should I risk buying a 2025 model when, from my experience, I probably would stop getting updates in 2 or 3 years? (BlueCruise 2.0, perhaps?)

The 2025 model looks like an awesome edition and I hope they keep iterating on the Mach-E. Let's just hope they can turn things around on the software end. For me, I worry it would be too little too late.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I don’t drive much and think my 2022 Mach-e in its current configuration is adequate for my needs. But, ford has not gotten the ota game right yet. And I’m highly skeptical that it will on gen 2 vehicles. That will have its own learning curve and I speculate that it will be steep.

The fact that each model year has had slight updates over the previous one further deteriorates resale value of our vehicles. And that is not good.

So, will I sell? Fuck no. As long as the car meets my needs, I’m keeping it. But I will not buy another ford with the premise that the car will improve over time or it will have a reasonable depreciation curve. Which effectively means that I will not buy another ford.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I hate to ask, but is 1.5 using the original 1.0 hardware? If so, does that mean @Ford Motor Company has the intention of rolling it out to '21-'22 model years?

Ford has made no announcement about plans for BC 1.5 coming to prior years.

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