Mirak
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2020
- Threads
- 110
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- Location
- Kansas
- Vehicles
- "Sonic" 2021 MME Grabber Blue First Edition
I had my Webex with Ford today. It was a great opportunity to share my feedback with management. I’m not going to name names, but there were at least ten people on the Webex who are directly involved with the Mach E and FordPass, some of whom were directors and team leaders. The person in charge of “Connectivity,” “OTA Deployment,” etc. These are the people who can actually drive change, so this was an exciting opportunity.
This meeting was devoted almost exclusively to FordPass and charging, but I’m told they plan to set up a subsequent meeting to discuss other aspects of the Mach E, such as Sync.
I started off by briefly telling them all the stuff I love about the Mach E, and thanking them for the opportunity to meet.
I was asked whether FordPass factored into my decision to buy the Mach E. I explained that the Mach E was the first EV to satisfy all four of my criteria: good looks, good range, good size, good price. For me, FordPass or something like it was just expected because you really need an app to manage charging.
I was then asked about my expectations for FordPass. I said “charging.” Then I dove into the specifics of charge management, and my corresponding frustrations with the app.
I was asked about PAAK. I said I’ve tested it for a week and it works pretty well. Not as good as the fob. I gave them a few specific little hiccups.
I was asked about my public charging experiences. I explained that it has gotten better and that Plug&Charge seems to be working now. I explained that the Mach E is not compatible with 50kW Efacec chargers which is a major inconvenience for me because that’s all that is available in the KC area.
I was asked on a scale of 1-10 how likely I would be to recommend the Mach E to a friend. I said it depends on the friend. If my friend was tech savvy, I’d say an 8-9. If my parents, no way, because the public charging just isn’t built out or user friendly enough yet.
Without divulging specifics, I was told something is in the works re public charging that I think this board is going to be happy about. To be clear, I don’t consider this a major enhancement so don’t get too excited, but it will be nice enhancement. I was also told that an OTA update that will fix the settings/sticking issue is coming very soon. This is not new new information but it was nice to have to confirmed again.
Bonus: I’ve now been invited to the EAP! Now I’ve got to find a new dress.
This meeting was devoted almost exclusively to FordPass and charging, but I’m told they plan to set up a subsequent meeting to discuss other aspects of the Mach E, such as Sync.
I started off by briefly telling them all the stuff I love about the Mach E, and thanking them for the opportunity to meet.
I was asked whether FordPass factored into my decision to buy the Mach E. I explained that the Mach E was the first EV to satisfy all four of my criteria: good looks, good range, good size, good price. For me, FordPass or something like it was just expected because you really need an app to manage charging.
I was then asked about my expectations for FordPass. I said “charging.” Then I dove into the specifics of charge management, and my corresponding frustrations with the app.
- Car doesn’t tell me when I’m plugged in, or give me any active charging status, or allow me to push changes to the charging schedule from app to car. I gave them my open case number. They’re going to look into it. I explained that only a few people seem to have this problem.
- I used my phone for the Webex, so I shared my screen in order to walk through the app page by page.
- I showed them the recall notice that isn’t really a recall, and that Ford service centers don’t seem to want to handle right now.
- I demonstrated that my SOC and location was an hour out of date, and it took three swipe-down forced refreshes to get it updated.
- I showed the “Manage Charging” and “Charge Times” sections nested under “Manage EV” are confusingly redundant.
- I showed that the separate lock and unlock icons on the home screen aren’t necessary and it would be better for a single icon that is either locked or unlocked depending upon the car’s status.
- I showed them that it takes a lot of taps in the app to get to a charger, and once you do, FordPass sometimes fails to distinguish between chargers so you can’t tell which to initiate.
I was asked about PAAK. I said I’ve tested it for a week and it works pretty well. Not as good as the fob. I gave them a few specific little hiccups.
I was asked about my public charging experiences. I explained that it has gotten better and that Plug&Charge seems to be working now. I explained that the Mach E is not compatible with 50kW Efacec chargers which is a major inconvenience for me because that’s all that is available in the KC area.
I was asked on a scale of 1-10 how likely I would be to recommend the Mach E to a friend. I said it depends on the friend. If my friend was tech savvy, I’d say an 8-9. If my parents, no way, because the public charging just isn’t built out or user friendly enough yet.
Without divulging specifics, I was told something is in the works re public charging that I think this board is going to be happy about. To be clear, I don’t consider this a major enhancement so don’t get too excited, but it will be nice enhancement. I was also told that an OTA update that will fix the settings/sticking issue is coming very soon. This is not new new information but it was nice to have to confirmed again.
Bonus: I’ve now been invited to the EAP! Now I’ve got to find a new dress.
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