Mirak

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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.
  • 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    • I demonstrated that my SOC and location was an hour out of date, and it took three swipe-down forced refreshes to get it updated.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.
We then discussed what I prefer about proprietary apps like EA and ChargePoint and what I’d like to see in FordPass. I explained that these apps (1) are a bit simpler to use, (2) show real-time charge curves which is very important to be able to monitor during public charging, and (3) are necessary to get the EA member discount.

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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benk016

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Man, I would love to do one of these with Ford! If they are watching **Hint Hint**
 

Mirak

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Today I had my second meeting with the Ford team. I signed an NDA so I won’t share any details of any information I received from Ford. What I can tell you is the group was well represented with some very bright, engaged, and impactful people.

I had an opportunity to mention a great many issues I’ve posted about frequently, including screen issues, SYNC bugs, PAAK bugs, OTA release notes and rollout, enhancements that have been released, and enhancements I’d most like to see (making volume knob more versatile, easier rear hatch access, easier access to front and 360 cams, entertainment options, etc.)

I will not share any details of what Ford told me. But I will tell you - skeptic that I am - I was very impressed and I think we should all be very excited about some things coming in the near term. Take heart Mach E owners - stuff is in the works, ranging from little fixes to big enhancements!
 

HuntingPudel

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Thanks for the update @Mirak !
 

IMDIDOC

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Today I had my second meeting with the Ford team. I signed an NDA so I won’t share any details of any information I received from Ford. What I can tell you is the group was well represented with some very bright, engaged, and impactful people.

I had an opportunity to mention a great many issues I’ve posted about frequently, including screen issues, SYNC bugs, PAAK bugs, OTA release notes and rollout, enhancements that have been released, and enhancements I’d most like to see (making volume knob more versatile, easier rear hatch access, easier access to front and 360 cams, entertainment options, etc.)

I will not share any details of what Ford told me. But I will tell you - skeptic that I am - I was very impressed and I think we should all be very excited about some things coming in the near term. Take heart Mach E owners - stuff is in the works, ranging from little fixes to big enhancements!
Sounds hopeful. One easy software change I would like to see is the tolerance for the intelligent cruise control. Currently it's MPH. I would like to see an option of MPH or percentage. I believe this is what the Tesla has. Nine miles over in a 30 MPH speed zone is different than at 75 MPH.
 


fayt349

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Today I had my second meeting with the Ford team. I signed an NDA so I won’t share any details of any information I received from Ford. What I can tell you is the group was well represented with some very bright, engaged, and impactful people.

I had an opportunity to mention a great many issues I’ve posted about frequently, including screen issues, SYNC bugs, PAAK bugs, OTA release notes and rollout, enhancements that have been released, and enhancements I’d most like to see (making volume knob more versatile, easier rear hatch access, easier access to front and 360 cams, entertainment options, etc.)

I will not share any details of what Ford told me. But I will tell you - skeptic that I am - I was very impressed and I think we should all be very excited about some things coming in the near term. Take heart Mach E owners - stuff is in the works, ranging from little fixes to big enhancements!
This gives me hope because it's a disaster so far. I know for some people it's not but for me it is. Hopefully they just focus on making Sync less buggy and quicker to respond to
 

HuntingPudel

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Sounds hopeful. One easy software change I would like to see is the tolerance for the intelligent cruise control. Currently it's MPH. I would like to see an option of MPH or percentage. I believe this is what the Tesla has. Nine miles over in a 30 MPH speed zone is different than at 75 MPH.
Yeah, I generally travel somewhere between 7% and 12% over the limit. I would love to be able to set it to 10% and just let it go.
 

FordMachEGo

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I find my experiences with PAAK to be kind amusing and sometimes ridiculous, like those crazy long CVS receipts. Don't get me wrong: I use PAAK 100% of the time, and it's never left me stranded. But it's hard to understand how it can let me in the car, but give me a key not detected, if I push start too quickly. Then, once it lets me start, I'll often get a key not detected, after putting it into drive and pulling away. I've even gotten a key not detected after sitting in the car in park for a few minutes after starting it, while making a phone call.

Sometime, you've just got to enjoy the randomness of life (or PAAK)!
Are you keeping your phone is your pocket? I‘ve found that once inside, the car sometimes does not recognize the phone when it’s in my left pocket, but it works fine from my right pocket.
 

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Are you keeping your phone is your pocket? I‘ve found that once inside, the car sometimes does not recognize the phone when it’s in my left pocket, but it works fine from my right pocket.
yes, I'm finding right pocket is better than left. Even better to set it on the tray under the touchscreen, either on the wireless charger pad or adjacent to it. Also, I've learned to be patient and wait a number of seconds after setting my phone in the tray, before hitting the vehicle start button.
 

IMDIDOC

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yes, I'm finding right pocket is better than left. Even better to set it on the tray under the touchscreen, either on the wireless charger pad or adjacent to it. Also, I've learned to be patient and wait a number of seconds after setting my phone in the tray, before hitting the vehicle start button.
It would be nice to have a reminder to take your phone appear on the screen when turning off the vehicle. (My wife's VW does that)
 

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Mirak

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Kamuelaflyer

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I see no reference in that TSB to fixing the Efacec compatibility issue. Have you tested this? What is your basis?
6 of the 7 DCFC stations on island are EFACEC 50 kW machines. While that particular TSB is on my list of items to consider when the car goes in for the windshield and sunroof recalls. I’m not hopeful though that it would actually resolve the issue as it seems to be a CCS issue on their 50 kW chargers. And an issue that neither HELCO, Greenlots or EFACE seem to want to resolve.

As an aside, Greenlots has actually posted that these chargers are not compatible with modern ev’s. Then again they’ve also told me that the Mach-e and the Jag iPace cannot fast charge at all. So …
 

Art

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I notice that all of these are in June.

I saw an interview on this forum with a ford exec. Does someone have a link to it?
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