Infant stuck inside the car - dead 12V battery

[ipca204]

My biggest concern is if they take the unpaid intern off the fast charging adapter replacement program and reassign them to fix this problem it's going to take even longer to get my replacement, the 2021 blucruise rollout intern is probably sweating too.

What a completely asinine thing to post...

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[Maquis]

My car just did exactly this. With absolutely no sign of impending doom, I shut the car off in my garage and it was instantly dead.
Fortunately, I always roll down my windows before powering down in the garage. I got out of the car and the exterior buttons did nothing. If I couldn’t reach through the window, I’d be breaking out the jump pack so I could pop the frunk.

 

[DeusEx]

Except if the door isn’t locked you’re supposed to be able to double press the button and the super capacitors still open the door.

But I’m guessing someone who doesn’t know about the 12v leads to pop the frunk and is actively freaking out may not know that.

Ford road side service and AAA couldn't get into the car and these are supposed to be the ones that know how. The fact remains that if there was a mechanical way to get into the car, this wouldn't have been an issue.

 

[Tomatoboy]

Ford road side service and AAA couldn't get into the car and these are supposed to be the ones that know how. The fact remains that if there was a mechanical way to get into the car, this wouldn't have been an issue.

Yeah, that and the fact that the frunk by couldn’t be popped via jumping by roadside concerned me.

I wish Ford had just stuck with conventional door handles, it’s about my only major mechanical design disagreement on the MME. At least it’s better implemented here than the Lincoln version with a button inside too, and doesn’t require some silly hidden emergency handle like some Teslas, but it feels like needless complexity. There should at least have been a manual, no electricity method for opening one ingress point.

 

[Dysan911]

Tesla figured it out. My previous 18 m3 had an issue with the 12v battery. Why Ford can't do something similar?

 

[Donna216]

That was not those people fault but it may be a good idea if you have a baby, roll the front window down before putting them in. For safety. That's crazy. I hope Ford step up to remedy this.

 

[Maui]

Why did the EVs all decide that the door handles were a problem? Out of everything that needed to be designed why spend energy here first thing?

 

[Wallie]

The story is possible, even plausible, but...
What does this mean?

The car was "completely disabled" (nothing worked!), but "the car locked"? Huh? How?
It locked but then it wouldn't unlock?
Color me skeptical until more information than a Reddit post shows up.

When you close the door with your hand you actually push it into a mechanical lock (slamlock).

When the 12v battery dies the (electronical) open button does not work anymore and the car becomes some sort of vault.

There should be some 12v inverter on the HVB which starts providing 12v backup power (switched by a relay) when the 12v AGM finally dies. Sometimes things can be quite simple FORD !

 

[rcechinel]

That was not those people fault but it may be a good idea if you have a baby, roll the front window down before putting them in. For safety. That's crazy. I hope Ford step up to remedy this.

I have an infant daughter, hence why I started this thread. I think I will do what you just said, or open her door before I close mine. ?

 

[Sikkun]

Ford road side service and AAA couldn't get into the car and these are supposed to be the ones that know how. The fact remains that if there was a mechanical way to get into the car, this wouldn't have been an issue.

I am not saying it shouldn’t. But it doesn’t. And I’m guessing we are not going to retroactively get a mechanical lock. So people do at least need to be aware of the systems like the 12v leads before an emergency.

 

[4wheeldog]

A simple: “You accessory power battery (12V) is reaching end of its life. Ford recommends changing it soon to prevent potential unwanted behavior. Order service appointment here (link)”.

That way the user is informed and Ford can earn some extra bucks from those that do not want to change the battery themselves.

I could see Ford designating the 12v battery as a wear item and scheduling replacement every 36 months.

 

[IMDIDOC]

The doors have back up power. it's the fact the button to the BCM doesn't talk when the 12v craps out.

Would connecting a 12V supply to the front access to the battery wire work? Ground it somewhere on some metal area?

 

[rcechinel]

The story is possible, even plausible, but...
What does this mean?

The car was "completely disabled" (nothing worked!), but "the car locked"? Huh? How?
It locked but then it wouldn't unlock?
Color me skeptical until more information than a Reddit post shows up.

You are not only skeptical...

 

[rcechinel]

Would connecting a 12V supply to the front access to the battery wire work? Ground it somewhere on some metal area?

My understanding is that the front jumpers are not connected to the battery per se. It's just to pop the frunk.
To access the battery, you need to remove the whole frunk plastic cover, which makes an incompatible solution within the timeframe constraint (infant locked in the car in 80 degrees weather).

 

[HuntingPudel]

Would connecting a 12V supply to the front access to the battery wire work? Ground it somewhere on some metal area?

A supply would pop the frunk if the 12V battery were gonzo dead, but not if it still held voltage (there is a no-man’s land of voltage where the emergency leads won’t pop the frunk). A charger will not pop the frunk unless it’s an old school unit without any sort of safeties built into it. If you had a supply, you could then connect it to the 12V system and operate the doors (again, a charger would fail miserably since chargers cannot supply the power needed to power up all modules - you would need to disconnect the battery, try to charge it, then reconnect and try to open the doors). ??

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