Optional Product Improvement Program 21G01 - BlueCruise Programming

[Gullwingdmc]

Remember that some modules can be programmed via ethernet through the USB ports.

that’s good to know. It would be great if in FDRS you could just connect directly to the GWM via USB or Ethernet and push the updates simlar to how they are pushed OTA. Then updates would at least be faster for the modules that can be updated OTA.

And I suspect not a single vehicle had any updates completed yesterday

I believe 1 did, @Mirak

Sponsored

 

[Blue highway]

Actually, Ford announced a couple of months ago that this would be an option by the end of Q1. They made that deadline at least.

Announced? To who? I saw a note in this form which appeared to be an internal note to dealers but have never received anything from Ford, electronic or any other way regarding their OTA or BC rollout plans. Have you?

 

[ChasingCoral]

Announced? To who? I saw a note in this form which appeared to be an internal note to dealers but have never received anything from Ford, electronic or any other way regarding their OTA or BC rollout plans. Have you?

21G01 -- as in the first post in this thread?
? ? ? ?

 

[Blue highway]

21G01 -- as in the first post in this thread?
? ? ? ?

Yep, shared by an insider in a forum... that is not communication from Ford. come on.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Now now everyone, let’s keep things in perspective … there’s still no Frunk update ?

 

[BMT1071]

Yep, shared by an insider in a forum... that is not communication from Ford. come on.

So you expect notification to be sent to the public the same day as internal communication?!?!? Is that how your company works?? Mine doesn't. Another thread states that customer letters are scheduled to go out on 4/11.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Announced? To who? I saw a note in this form which appeared to be an internal note to dealers but have never received anything from Ford, electronic or any other way regarding their OTA or BC rollout plans. Have you?

Yep, shared by an insider in a forum... that is not communication from Ford. come on.

It's from Ford isn't it? I received it, didn't I?

 

[RickMachE]

What was Ford's actual claim (in their words, not your recollection)?

Back on 1/28, Ford sent the dealers a bulletin saying, among other things, "Owners... will start receiving their BlueCruise... in the first quarter of 2022". We've beaten to death a debate over whether a handful of early access participants qualifies as meeting that goal. IMO, it doesn't.

It then said "It is anticipated that the complete dealer bulletin announcing this upcoming action (i.e. 21G01) will be provided to dealers in the first quarter of 2022, once the Ford Power-Up software update is available in the Ford Diagnosis and Repair System (FDRS)." As we know, the software has been in FDRS for some period, and the letter was sent on the last day of the quarter. Since maybe a person or two could have gotten an update yesterday, that's not in the spirit of meeting any deadline. So that was missed.

Last, it said "It is anticipated that customer letters will begin in the first quarter of 2022". That's now mid-April. Sure, it said "anticipated". Got it.


I get that things aren't happening the way they planned them, and that even the reforecasting of completion dates is being missed because they didn't realize that their revised projections couldn't be met. I get that it's new technology, and that it's more complex than they imagined. And that they restructured and are short-staffed and this is all new. Yup.

But to say they met any commitment to customers to get BlueCruise installed in Q1 is absurd. Great, a handful of early adopters got it. That doesn't qualify in any way, shape or form. I'm sure no one in management, or for that matter in the ranks, is happy that they missed Q1 after re-guessing that they'd make it. I get that too.

As has been stated, communication to customers has been non-existent. None. A financial discussion on CNBC and reading in a forum don't count.

I've already contacted my dealer for an install in mid-April. If the OTA updates complete by then, great. If not, I'm tired of waiting, and at this point have no confidence in any promises / predictions / speculations, etc.

Hopefully they'll figure this out in the next months, and the rollout of the Lightning won't have these types of issues. It simply can't - because the customer base has no where near the technogeek affinity that the Mach-E has. Pickup truck owners will roast them alive if it goes like this.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ting-q1-q2-2022-for-21my-job-1-mach-es.13872/

 

[RickMachE]

that’s good to know. It would be great if in FDRS you could just connect directly to the GWM via USB or Ethernet and push the updates simlar to how they are pushed OTA. Then updates would at least be faster for the modules that can be updated OTA.


I believe 1 did, @Mirak

 

[JCHLi]

It's so odd, hearing all the resistance to dealers doing software updates. I think over the past 6 years I've taken the Fiesta and Focus on at least a dozen times for clutch issues, each time (until the last) they happily flashed the software "fix".

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Actually, Ford announced a couple of months ago that this would be an option by the end of Q1. They made that deadline at least.

yet again on this site I find myself referring to this quote:

?

 

[RickMachE]

It's so odd, hearing all the resistance to dealers doing software updates. I think over the past 6 years I've taken the Fiesta and Focus on at least a dozen times for clutch issues, each time (until the last) they happily flashed the software "fix".

I think that the reality is that SOME dealers aren't really on top of EVs. Some have multiple techs that are trained, smaller dealerships may have 1 tech (a reason, among others, I switched dealers). Even at my dealer they didn't complete one update successfully, generating an error code shortly after I departed.

Most auto techs aren't software experts.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

It's so odd, hearing all the resistance to dealers doing software updates. I think over the past 6 years I've taken the Fiesta and Focus on at least a dozen times for clutch issues, each time (until the last) they happily flashed the software "fix".

I think the issue is the updates are becoming longer and more complex. They really need more training for their techs. The one I spoke to about 21P22 insisted they couldn’t just select an update and run it even when I showed him the instructions from for that specifically said to do that.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Most auto techs are software experts.

Are?

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

I think the issue is the updates are becoming longer and more complex. They really need more training for their techs. The one I spoke to about 21P22 insisted they couldn’t just select an update and run it even when I showed him the instructions from for that specifically said to do that.

elsewhere on this site @RonTCat - who is an authoritative source - stated that the difficulty of updates on the Mach-E is the same as on a "current F-Series". So the "this is harder" argument doesn't seem to be true.

Now, that said, what could be true is that service techs are "scared" by this "new fangled" EV stuff. That's supposed to be handled by the "certified dealer" thing. But, that's a different discussion.

Sponsored