vinny2487

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This is a quick and dirty list of pros/cons that I experienced with BlueCruise in a 300 mile trip with a GTPE.

First of all, I would like to preface this with the fact that I am someone who came from using similar technology in Audi and VW for years. Although neither of those brands have a hands free version, the combination of lane assist with adaptive cruise is very very similar (a single finger keeps it happy). The Audi's have sign recognition and will slow on corners etc. Many of the reviews that I've seen are based on never driving with any type of assisted driving features in the past. Being that I'm used to driving with them and drive about 20k miles a year, I feel this review is based on a lot of previous experiences. Lastly, I'm in technology for a living and have many years of AI/ML/DL experience. I'm someone who embraces technology.

The pros:
  • The overall keeping into the lane works as anticipated
  • It keeps a good distance and similar to the distances that I've experienced with other brands (configurable).
  • Braking and acceleration are on par with other brands
  • Eye tracking works well
  • Manual control over the speed works well without disengaging the entire system
  • Love the auto-resume for stop and go traffic.
The cons:
  • The disengagement of the system is very poor. In detail here's the issue ... The eye's on the road system prevents you from looking at the drivers display. If you look at the display for too long the system triggers an eye warning. So in other words, don't look at the display. But, and it's a big BUT, when the system wants to disengage for a corner or other reason it alerts you in the very display the car doesn't want you to look at. There's no audible alert or other notification that you need to resume control. If this was a hands on system like Audi/VW and other brands it wouldn't matter because your hands are still on the wheel. But that's just not the case here.
  • My biggest compaint - The BlueCruise system automatically changes the speed limit regardless of how you have your cruise control settings. In other words you'll be moving along at 70 and if the system reads a sign for a different limit it will then lower AND BRAKE to get to +1 the posted limit. Even if you have your cruise control to +5, it doesn't matter. If you have adaptive on it doesn't honor that either. For comparison Audi does this on drive, but not when in sport. When in drive, it will lower it but in proportion to how much it was over originally. So 10 over 70 would result in 10 over 25, 10 over 45, etc.
  • My second biggest complaint - There's an 80mph cap on BlueCruise. At 81mph it disengages. You are able to set your speed above that limit, so anything above 80 and you're on your own.
  • To piggy-back on the first issue, the disengagement for an emergency situation needs to be louder. The calm and quiet "bing bing" should be much more attention grabbing. The first issue was more in regards to corners. For this item I'm referring to the complete disengagement (red), which I had happen a couple times on bumpy bridge expansion joints. When my Audi disengages the alert sound is almost like a jump scare. After years of using it, it still makes me jump out of my seat.
  • One time the collision avoidance alert triggered while in BC, which was kinda strange. It was on a closing vehicle, but I'm not sure why the system triggered. It was probably a 20 mph difference so nothing it couldn't handle and in fact, it did handle it. I never took over from BC.
  • Some of the disengagements for corners, it should have been able to handle. The radius that it disengages for should not be that low.
-- Observation about range and conditions *unrelated to BC* --

Today's journey was to pick up a few nieces and a nephew, all teens. On the way to get them two of us averaged 2.7 mi/kwh. After we picked up the kids we averaged only 2.1 mi/kwh on the way back.

We left at 100% charge and hit a DCFC a block away from them at 55% - A 45% change
We left the charger at 80% and got home at 18% - A 62% change

All 3 kids are about 120lbs (360 total). To list all the variables the temp difference was 6 deg lower on the return trip (70 vs 64). The return was at night vs day when we went down. It was in the central valley of California so there's no elevation changes. No prevailing winds either way, same speed cross winds both directions. Going there I had the vehicle on Unbridled and coming home on whisper.

If anyone is curious DCFC @ EA with plug and charge worked flawlessly. Stopped, plugged in, walked away. It was literally that easy.

I see no way that this car will get the estimated 250 miles and even at full it only advises 220.

In conclusion:

Will I continue to use BC - Absolutely
My experience with Plug and Change - Amazing
My experience with range - Abysmal
Thank you for your insight. One observation on your range: try going 70-75mph on at least one part of your trip to gauge any increase in efficiency. I probably don't have to tell you this, but going faster creates more drag. The hit in efficiency is more pronounced in EVs.
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That can be really dangerous if it misreads a sign. That‘s why I don’t use Intelligent Cruise on the highway.
This was my thought. About 3 miles from my house we actually have a 25mph school zone on a highway. It's obviously only active "when lights are flashing". That highway doesn't have BC available so this scenario can't be tested, but the idea that it could slow me to 25 when I have someone behind me, during non-school hours, is not okay.

I can understand the max speed for BlueCruise.
We have roads out west with 80mph speed limits. So if you aren't going 90, you get plowed down. Audi's max is 95, which I think is more in line with what I would expect.

I am curious about the disengagement con.
To further elaborate. The first in my "con" list is in regards to corners. Here's an area of a map where the system tells you in the display to "grab the wheel" and disables BC. It tells you to do this without any audible cue and the system doesn't like it when you look at the drivers display, so alerting to the fact that the system will disengage via a display that you don't want the driver to look at seems very wrong.

Ford Mustang Mach-E My Impressions of BlueCruise after a 300 mile trip 1633789615378
 
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I probably don't have to tell you this, but going faster creates more drag. The hit in efficiency is more pronounced in EVs.
I understand and I had an EV previous to the MME so it's not new to me. I also knew that I would get a ton of comments about the 80mph limit, one of my cons, and speed in general. Since you're in California I assume you've driven I-5 from Bakers to Sac at one point in life. Anything under 80 on that 4 hour stretch is asking for trouble. Also, I didn't purchase the GTPE to go slow. I understand the consequences of speed and I'm only documenting the same set speed each way to compare. I'll be making the same trip on Sunday only the opposite and there should be less traffic so we'll see what happens then.
 
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Ok so I have a big update on the 2nd con. I'll update my original post to reflect this and test it tomorrow. @Stang68 @generaltso

Like many I had the Adaptive and Intelligent settings when I first got the car. Intelligent is now gone and it appears that adaptive has sucked in some of the items from Intelligent.

I'm not sure if this was after I enabled BC or from an update I didn't know I got. Either way I just never went back to check the drop-down because I saw that it was on adaptive. I have NOW disabled speed sign recognition and will test tomorrow.

For those that don't have BC yet, what happens when you first get on a highway that's BC capable is that you have to accept that BC will activate. You'll get a message on the driver display saying that BC is available and press "ok" to use it. As you can see, it then gets a toggle within adaptive.

Ford Mustang Mach-E My Impressions of BlueCruise after a 300 mile trip PXL_20211009_144044317
 
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Ok so I have a big update on the 2nd con. I'll update my original post to reflect this and test it tomorrow. @Stang68 @generaltso

Like many I had the Adaptive and Intelligent settings when I first got the car. Intelligent is now gone and it appears that adaptive has sucked in some of the items from Intelligent.

I'm not sure if this was after I enabled BC and if it is I just never went back to check the drop-down because I saw that it was on adaptive. I have NOW disabled speed sign recognition and will test tomorrow.

PXL_20211009_144044317.jpg
Fantastic, thanks for the update. Here's hoping it works as we'd like it to.

Edit: And honestly, this is the way it should have been from the start. Two options: Regular Cruise Control and then Adaptive with the option for speed sign recognition. "Intelligent" mode was confusing for many.
 


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Ok so I have a big update on the 2nd con. I'll update my original post to reflect this and test it tomorrow. @Stang68 @generaltso

Like many I had the Adaptive and Intelligent settings when I first got the car. Intelligent is now gone and it appears that adaptive has sucked in some of the items from Intelligent.

I'm not sure if this was after I enabled BC and if it is I just never went back to check the drop-down because I saw that it was on adaptive. I have NOW disabled speed sign recognition and will test tomorrow.

Ford Mustang Mach-E My Impressions of BlueCruise after a 300 mile trip PXL_20211009_144044317
I assume you can still bump up that tolerance?
 

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Great write-up, thanks for sharing.

You mentioned that even when fully charged, the Mach-E isn’t showing you the projected full range. That is often the case, the vehicle is making a best guess at how far you can go based on your typical driving. But even this projection is often inaccurate if you, for example, do mixed street/freeway driving on a day-to-day basis, then spend a day driving only at high highway speeds - it will think at start up that you still plan to do your mixed driving and give you an unrealistic projection for all day, fast freeway driving.

The better way to get a true sense of your range given your efficiency on a trip is to multiply the miles per kWh you are getting by total battery capacity, which is 88kWh for the GTPE.

So when you were getting 2.7 miles per kWh on your way out, that implies max range of 237.6 miles (2.7 miles per kWh * 88 kWh battery). On your way back, with 2.1 miles per kWh efficiency, assuming full charge, that gives you total range of 184.8 miles (2.1 miles per kWh * 88 kWh battery).

If we divide the 250 miles estimated range (wasn’t it 260 for the GTPE?) by the 88 kWh capacity of the battery, you can see that you will need about 2.84 miles per kWh efficiency to get 250 miles out of a full charge (250 miles / 88 kWh battery capacity).
 

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Fantastic, thanks for the update. Here's hoping it works as we'd like it to.

Edit: And honestly, this is the way it should have been from the start. Two options: Regular Cruise Control and then Adaptive with the option for speed sign recognition. "Intelligent" mode was confusing for many.
But what if you want to see the speed limit on the dash but don’t want the car to act on it?
 

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But what if you want to see the speed limit on the dash but don’t want the car to act on it?
I don't use Ford's nav system, so I don't know about that. In Google Maps on Carplay it shows speed limits.
 
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I assume you can still bump up that tolerance?
Up to +20mph

But what if you want to see the speed limit on the dash but don’t want the car to act on it?
I will let you know later today if it still shows the speed on the driver display.

@Stang68 I think he's referring to the driver display with the speed on the right side.

So when you were getting 2.7 miles per kWh on your way out, that implies max range of 237.6 miles (2.7 miles per kWh * 88 kWh battery). On your way back, with 2.1 miles per kWh efficiency, assuming full charge, that gives you total range of 184.8 miles (2.1 miles per kWh * 88 kWh battery).
And 233 is what the car showed at 100%. I'll take a picture of 100% tomorrow and post it here. After watching *seemingly* hundreds of YT videos on the range most people said that Ford was being conservative. I guess I feel that it's the opposite for the GTPE.
 

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And 233 is what the car showed at 100%. I'll take a picture of 100% tomorrow and post it here. After watching *seemingly* hundreds of YT videos on the range most people said that Ford was being conservative. I guess I feel that it's the opposite for the GTPE.
That is the case for the non-GTs but perhaps not for the GTs. My sense was that if the AWD ER has it at 270 miles, the GT and GTPE should be a bit lower in projected range than Ford gave them.

That being said, at 80mph+, no EV is going to be in the ballpark of estimated EPA figures. Not that it’s a criticism of your driving, I think you are driving a GTPE exactly as it should be driven, but even an ICE would have trouble meeting highway efficiency at 80mph+ and, unlike ICEs, EVs get their best efficiency at city speeds. So your efficiency is really falling off a cliff at 80mph+ in an EV.
 
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That being said, at 80mph+, no EV is going to be in the ballpark of estimated EPA figures.
On the way down I was actually hitting the 233, or close to it, based on 2.7mi/kwh so it looked really accurate for having BC set at 80 mph.

I get it though... all of these range estimates are driving at 45mph, regenerative breaking, perfect weather, a 85 lbs driver using no accessories, no daytime driving lights and everything as dim as possible.

I had a 2019 e-Golf SEL prior to this (couldn't pass up 14k for a new car with 39k sticker) and it always got way more than the estimated range, so I was hoping for a little of that.
 
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You can't do 80mph and expect good range. I cannot do that in my ICE either. My MPG from 65 to 80 is something like 5mpg less which would equate to around 80 miles less of range.
 

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I have had numerous instances of the vehicle reading the speed limit sign in the truck weigh station as I pass by on the highway at 75 and slowing to 45. I still like the feature, but wish it would notify me but not adjust.

As to speed, I've listened to F-150 owners complain for years about MPG, and I tell everyone the same thing:

Reset the GOM, and drive a measured mile at 75. Repeat at 70, then 65, then 60, then 55.

It's very eye opening.
 
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I have had numerous instances of the vehicle reading the speed limit sign in the truck weigh station as I pass by on the highway at 75 and slowing to 45
From experience Ford isn't the only company that has this issue. I have it happen on the Audi as well. So it's just something to be aware of. We have a lot of frontage roads that parallel the highways with 25mph limits and those often get picked up by the car.

As I said previously, I know the speed issue is going to be a hot topic, it's the political equivalent in the driving realm. The weekend after my 16th birthday (my birthday gift) was a 3 day formula Ford training corse at Laguna Seca in the Skip Barber racing school. I'll never be able to drive like a normal human.
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