Explained: The Thermal Problem with Mach-E

[monolith10101]

Correct. As a former ID.4 owner... you can't compare it to the Select RWD (which is the same price as the base Pro) because the ID.4 RWD is a 270+ mile range for $39K MSRP (plus $1.1K destination) which actually gets 300 miles in mixed driving from my experience.

ID.4 is a family SUV with a family friendly price for the range. The RT1 RWD with the same range is $10K more than the ID.4 Pro RWD.

The CA Rt 1 RWD’s range is better than the EPA rating. We’ve owned ours since April and driven over 7K miles, a mix of city and highway. Over that time we have averaged 4.1 miles/kWh, or 360 miles of range.

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[buzznwood]

Regarding the thermals, he says it goes into "Turtle Mode" after 5 minutes. Do you all concur on this? Has anyone done a hill climb or long twisty run in simply 'unbridled' and been totally let down? If so, i haven't read it on this forum or seen vid about it. It hasn't happened to me. But then again, I live outside Houston, and we don't have any hills to climb, or any twisty roads. Damn. =

I thought the comments on turtle mode where aimed more at the standard mach-e, I took my GTPE for a couple of quick blast down my local twisty canyon roads which have a fair amount of elevation changes and never had any turtle mode activate however it was very easy to lock a portion of the power bar with gray that took a while to clear

So while you probably wont get turtle mode until the battery is at a very low state of charge I could see people encountering situations where they are unable to use maximum power for a while until the grey bars clear. Of course I suspect it will very much be a YMMV as to how enjoyable you will find it through the twistys as after those couple of runs I have little desire to do it again.

 

[Riotous]

So while you probably wont get turtle mode until the battery is at a very low state of charge I could see people encountering situations where they are unable to use maximum power for a while until the grey bars clear. Of course I suspect it will very much be a YMMV as to how enjoyable you will find it through the twistys as after those couple of runs I have little desire to do it again.

Tks for the input - I guess I'd like to see a real world driving comparison of the GTPE, the Y Perf, and the Polestar 2 w/ Perf in a situations like twisties and hill climbs and see how it plays out. Maybe someone will make this someday.

 

[Neilthepilot]

I suppose I've always been fans of products that suffer from terrible marketing (Microsoft/Windows Phone, anyone?) I think the problem with the MME is its very middle-of-the-road nature. It's more comfortable than the Polestar 2 (in terms of size) or MY (in terms of ride), but the ID.4 seems a bit more cushy. It's more performance-oriented than the ID.4, but isn't as good as the MY. It's cheaper than the MY and Polestar 2, but the ID.4 is cheaper.

I like balance - I like something I can DD, not pay a ton of money for, but is a bit more fun than the average car.

I still have a Nokia Windows Phone as a back up phone!

 

[MailGuy]

Regarding the thermals, he says it goes into "Turtle Mode" after 5 minutes. Do you all concur on this? Has anyone done a hill climb or long twisty run in simply 'unbridled' and been totally let down? If so, i haven't read it on this forum or seen vid about it. It hasn't happened to me. But then again, I live outside Houston, and we don't have any hills to climb, or any twisty roads. Damn. =

Not once have i seen turtle mode in 8,000 miles. Even after hard driving/passing on the interstate hills around me.

 

[BadgerGreg]

Keep in mind that Kyle's reviews generally focus on his two loves: performance cars and practical/affordable daily drivers; he doesn't seem to have much love for everything in between. This is why he loves the Porsche Taycan (performance) and the ID.3 / ID.4 (practical/affordable). The MME is stuck firmly between the two, and it just doesn't fit into Kyle's schema of what a great car is.

I still love his videos, and his perspective is usually spot on. I also think his rightful bashing of the MME's charging curve helped to push Ford to address that in an upcoming OTA.

 

[MailGuy]

They also got it right about the Cooper SE. That car is a blast to drive. Feels faster than the MachE (but isn’t) and handles like a dream.

 

[Larry Paul]

When "The smoking tire" drove the car hard in a long canyon drive...not once did they mention the "thermal limits" or the "turtle". This looks like a real world example of spirited driving.



Although I am (sadly) still waiting for my GTPE that I have had on order since August (now production delayed to week of January 10), based on all of the reviews I think that this is going to be an ideal car for me and my wife for how we will use the car almost every day of the year.

I really do appreciate Kyle's perspective, but in addition to muscle cars, race cars and daily driver cars that I have owned over many years, I/we have also owned/driven factory electric vehicles for almost 23 years and over 325,K+ miles in real world daily driving on battery power.

I expect the overall driving and user experience of the MME GT to be far better match for our expectations based on reviews and more importantly from our experience we had on our test drive of a Model Y. I am sure that I could certainly live happily with a Model Y...but I think Doug DeMuro (who is a self described Tesla fan) has the right perspective of the Mach E GT video (non PE), I strongly recommend watching his conclusions of the MME GT (and comparing it to the Model Y) starting at 13:17 in the video. I think for everything that he says both pro and con about both vehicles, I am confident we are making the right call by getting the MME GT PE as our next daily driver.



My conclusion: The Model Y performance and the MME GT PE are VERY similar in so many ways...So if you really care about a couple of tenths of seconds and/or routine long distance road tripping is the primary need for the car (and you need/want/trust) the Tesla FSD that is (currently) more mature...get a Tesla Model Y performance (or I would add get a Plaid if you have the money).

However, from my perspective having watched/read probably hundreds of videos and reviews, driven both (GT, not PE and a Premium) and at all times trying to understand the perspective of the person driving it - we feel that the overall ownership and driving experience for a daily driven performance/practical car the GT PE will be a far better match for how we live and use the car at least 359+ days of any given year. I am confident that it will fill our occasional spirited driving of a car that can turn do an occasional 0-60 sprint in the mid 3 second range and 1/4 mile times of 12.5 seconds...and long distance driving needs just fine and give us a superior overall ownership experience for the 98.6% of our use of the car.

 

[Mach1E]

Not once have i seen turtle mode in 8,000 miles. Even after hard driving/passing on the interstate hills around me.

I think the “turtle mode” they reference is simply the “grey bars of power loss.”

They are really easy to find if you go looking for them.

Just floor it from a stop for more than 5 seconds.***

Or floor it a few times in a row, without waiting 10 seconds in between.

Or floor it on the highway for more than 2 seconds.

***Turtle mode for the GT or GTPE. All other models are in permanent turtle mode.

 

[MailGuy]

My opinion…

Gray Bars != Turtle Mode

Turtle Mode is a specific state in most EV’s where you are speed limited to conserve battery on a severely depleted HVB or drivetrain malfunction. Generally associated with a warning to the driver via message or specific indicator light.

At least that’s been my experience.

 

[Larry Paul]

They are really easy to find if you go looking for them.

I am sure you are correct, that it is there. Perhaps Ford can improve that over time just as they are speeding up DC fast charge. However, my point of my perspective that I sent this morning is to say for my uses and expectations, I doubt this is going to be a problem for us in the way we will actually use our car in our life just as "MailGuy" commented with his 8K real world driving.

All cars have a compromise...and for me for where I live and how I will use this car, this is likely not going to be a problem. I don't think will ever drive the car the way that you describe what you have to do to make the turtle appear.

I understand the frustration, but it all depends on expectations.

 

[Riotous]

They are really easy to find if you go looking for them.

Yes, I get that, it's easy to make it hit the gray bars if that's what your after. What I am asking about is in spirited driving on an interesting public road, the twisties, do you notice it a lot and does it drive you totally crazy, or does it not much come into play in this driving use case.

 

[Mach1E]

Yes, I get that, it's easy to make it hit the gray bars if that's what your after. What I am asking about is in spirited driving on an interesting public road, the twisties, do you notice it a lot and does it drive you totally crazy, or does it not much come into play in this driving use case.

You definitely notice it if you push the car.

It goes from “holy $h!t” acceleration to “hmm meh” acceleration.

Pretty much any time you want full acceleration and don’t get it…… you won’t like it.

Now how often that happens depends on you.

That said, I love my GTPE, zero plans on selling or trading. I just want it to go fast every time I want it to go fast.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Jumped around the video a little bit. Either that Kyle guy is insufferable or I'm just getting old.

not mutually exclusive tbf

 

[Plutoman15]

So when the GTPE goes into grey bars (avoiding the turtle mode term since I think it is inaccurate), is then just as fast as a premium (or FE) or is it then slower than a premium?

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