Newer Mach-E Owner, a “what if” question about power loss while driving

[wintrmte]

Hi everyone!

I recently received my MME about a month ago and love it! I am curious though, reading through these posts where cars are simply stopping because of battery overheating issues, what happens if your are driving on the freeway and the car has sudden battery loss?

Does the car literally stop in the middle of the road? Or does it go into a safety mode that lets you control, coast or somehow get over to the shoulders so you don’t end up causing a mass pileup / accident?

Thanks!

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[Mach-Lee]

I don't think it's a battery issue, I think it's a motor/electronics overheating issue.

Some people report grinding or binding which would be a metal-to-metal clearance issue likely due to thermal expansion in the motor. I don't think you're going to stop dead, more like you'll hear grinding noises, lose power and have to coast and pull over. After you stop it might lock up and you can't move until it cools down.

As with any car trouble, best to find a place to pull over as soon as possible, and make sure you are over far enough to be completely out of the lane of travel in case you are broken down to avoid blocking traffic for safety.

For now it's been recommended (by other forum members) to descend steep hills in neutral* and use the brake pedal.

*At your own risk, follow all safety precautions.

 

[Frankie]

For now it's been recommend to descent steep hills in neutral and use the brake pedal.

Recommended by whom? Ford?

 

[Mach-Lee]

Recommended by whom? Ford?

The forum consensus. Ford just says fixed in a future software update.

 

[Frankie]

For now it's been recommend to descent steep hills in neutral and use the brake pedal.

This is horribly unsafe advice. Descending a steep and prolonged hill with ZERO engine braking/regen, using only the brake pads, is going to literally light brake pads on fire and result in vehicle damage if not injury if not death.

If people are actually recommending this on this site they should be given a talking to by moderation and if they continue to do it they should be banned.

 

[Mach-Lee]

This is horribly unsafe advice. Descending a steep and prolonged hill with ZERO engine braking/regen, using only the brake pads, is going to literally light brake pads on fire and result in vehicle damage if not injury if not death.

If people are actually recommending this on this site they should be given a talking to by moderation and if they continue to do it they should be banned.

We're talking about a passenger vehicle here, not a fully-loaded semi truck. How is only using brakes any different than regular gas vehicle braking? Most people don't know how to downshift their cars and just use the brakes going downhill, and they are fine. If you are uncomfortable using neutral, then don't use it.

The brakes are sized to pass the FMVSS requirements without using any regen or engine braking, just like every other passenger vehicle. The Mach-E is not especially crippled if regen isn't operating.

 

[dliunatic]

Hi everyone!

I recently received my MME about a month ago and love it! I am curious though, reading through these posts where cars are simply stopping because of battery overheating issues, what happens if your are driving on the freeway and the car has sudden battery loss?

Does the car literally stop in the middle of the road? Or does it go into a safety mode that lets you control, coast or somehow get over to the shoulders so you don’t end up causing a mass pileup / accident?

Thanks!

I can't say about what happens if you get the notification while driving, as my "service vehicle soon" high voltage battery experience was from park mode. That being said, if you get the turtle mode it'll let you still have a little motor power to move at slow speeds so I imagine you'd be able to coast and pull to the side of the road. Just avoid any inclines or dips in the road.

 

[breeves002]

This is horribly unsafe advice. Descending a steep and prolonged hill with ZERO engine braking/regen, using only the brake pads, is going to literally light brake pads on fire and result in vehicle damage if not injury if not death.

If people are actually recommending this on this site they should be given a talking to by moderation and if they continue to do it they should be banned.

The Mach E is designed to have working brakes. Most people don't use downshifting or other methods on ICE cars to slow down a hill...they ride the brakes. They're designed for that. We're talking about a sub 5000lb car not a 30,000lb+ trailer. The brakes are already way oversized on the MME.

The advise for putting it in neutral and using the brakes is sound advice in my opinion.

 

[Frankie]

We're talking about a passenger vehicle here, not a fully-loaded semi truck. How is only using brakes any different than regular gas vehicle braking? Most people don't know how to downshift their cars and just use the brakes going downhill, and they are fine. If you are uncomfortable using neutral, then don't use it.

The brakes are sized to pass the FMVSS requirements without using any regen or engine braking, just like every other passenger vehicle. The Mach-E is not especially crippled if regen isn't operating.

I see you live in Wisconsin, have you never driven a real mountain road? The types of roads that are causing these problems are not your typical mountain highway pass (though it's still incredibly stupid to do this driving into, say, Denver from the west) they are the kinds of roads that literally set brakes on fire when the drivers are too ignorant (as you appear to be) to use engine braking, and yes, on passenger cars.

 

[Frankie]

The advise for putting it in neutral and using the brakes is sound advice in my opinion.

Tell you what, flatlander, get a car with a manual transmission, put it in neutral, and then ride the brakes all the way down Mt Evans. See what happens.

 

[Frankie]

The forum consensus. Ford just says fixed in a future software update.

It isn't the forums consensus, it's a handful of people that don't know any better.

 

[Frankie]

*At your own risk, follow all safety precautions.

Why the edit?

 

[AZBill]

I see you live in Wisconsin, have you never driven a real mountain road? The types of roads that are causing these problems are not your typical mountain highway pass (though it's still incredibly stupid to do this driving into, say, Denver from the west) they are the kinds of roads that literally set brakes on fire when the drivers are too ignorant (as you appear to be) to use engine braking, and yes, on passenger cars.

FYI, this weekend I took my Mach E on its first road trip, Phoenix to Grand Canyon. On the way home I decided to test it on Mt. Humphreys north of Flagstaff. For those not familiar with it, it is the highest peak in Arizona, at 12,633 feet. The road goes up to 9500 feet, starting from 7500 feet. While there, we road the gondola up to 11,500 feet, very beautiful. This is a ski area in the winter, Arizona Snowbowl.

I drove up and down in Whisper mode with one pedal on, never used the brake pedal. Everything worked fine on the Mach E. It is a twisty road with 30mph speed limits, just for reference. I noticed it added about 3% charge coming down the hill with regen.

Here is a nice link with the details about this road:

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/4025-arizona-snowbowl.html

 

[Chuck]

For now it's been recommend to descent steep hills in neutral and use the brake pedal.

In California driving in neutral is illegal.

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