Potential interest in Mach-E, inquiring about your software experiences

[ArthurH]

Good day Mach-E Enthusiasts.

I'm currently reviewing options for EVs and would like to hear owner input on the current software in the Mach-E.

I'm not trying to do a 1 to 1 comparison to Tesla... in fact I'm pretty anti Tesla and anti Musk, so I'm all for the competition. But what I'm more interested is hearing about how the software and UI responds and how it holds up. I saw a much older review a while back, and there was occasionally quite a bit of response lag with the UI, and some options just not working right. Obviously software gets updated, so at current, how do you guys rate your experience with Mach-E's software/interface?

Interface reaction/input lag?
Software freezing/crashes?
Do you find the need to reboot system often?
How easy is it to do software updates?
Are the cameras on the vehicle accessible? could they be used as dash cams in future?
Any other opinions are highly welcomed and considered.

Thanks very much for your time!

Sponsored

 

[Chuck]

I guess the question is how often will you interact with the software while driving. I almost never touch the big screen while driving because almost everything I need to do is available on steering wheel buttons. So, while I sometimes see lag on the big screen, it doesn't have much effect on the driving experience.

 

[RickMachE]

Never froze.
Never rebooted.
Ford updates, not you.
No.

 

[RockwallRick]

Never froze.
Never rebooted.
Ford updates, not you.

Same for me but the OTA’s have been slow to come, only received 1 so far.

 

[AZBill]

No reboots for me, no software freezes, I have seen lags or missed touches on the screen but not really that bad.

I have received 3 OTAs since getting my car in June, my first one actually occured while I was on a trip at the Grand Canyon, so did not even use wifi.

The existing cameras will not work as dashcam, at least from what I can tell.

The PAAK does not work reliably, but I got 2 fobs and use those most of the time. The Ford Pass app on the phone has issues, in particular I have found the trip planner sometimes does not find the right chargers and plans a poor route.

 

[connoisseurr]

I’d pick Ford over Tesla any day of the week.

The Mach-e is a new release, so expect some bugs here and there. OTAs are frequent enough to fix some of the nuisances experienced. Also, a lot of the early on software issues that you may read about are patched and updated on the most recent vehicles being produced and delivered to customers.

Additionally, if you’re a tech savvy person, a few elite forum members here have provided detailed information on how you can update your Mach-E at home using official Ford software, getting access to the most latest refinements in patches that may come in an OTA down the road.

 

[buzznwood]

Haven't yet needed to reboot the software yet, compared to fords sync2 it is a lot better but that is really damming with faint praise lol.

The overall interface is generally responsive when you get to the screen you want but switching between menus is slow and clunky and I have had numerous situations where it takes seconds for the menu to even appear, the hardware is probably capable of performing better but the software is average at best and lacks polish. A cheap throw away mid range smartphone is far more responsive.

However how much this impacts your use case is hard to judge, the HVAC controls are unfortunately not physical so require you to stab away at the screen in general they respond well but suffer from all the problems of screen based controls, if you you rarely have need to use the screen then sluggishness may not be an issue.

One thing to consider is that starting in 2023 Ford will be switching to using the android OS, so it is pretty much a giant unknown if the will be made available to any existing mach-e made prior to the switch so if software is important to you there is the danger that you are pretty much going to be jumping into an orphaned software system that may well get very little future upgrades beyond house keeping

 

[Luke]

Good day Mach-E Enthusiasts.

I'm currently reviewing options for EVs and would like to hear owner input on the current software in the Mach-E.

I'm not trying to do a 1 to 1 comparison to Tesla... in fact I'm pretty anti Tesla and anti Musk, so I'm all for the competition. But what I'm more interested is hearing about how the software and UI responds and how it holds up. I saw a much older review a while back, and there was occasionally quite a bit of response lag with the UI, and some options just not working right. Obviously software gets updated, so at current, how do you guys rate your experience with Mach-E's software/interface?

Interface reaction/input lag?
Software freezing/crashes?
Do you find the need to reboot system often?
How easy is it to do software updates?
Are the cameras on the vehicle accessible? could they be used as dash cams in future?
Any other opinions are highly welcomed and considered.

Thanks very much for your time!

This is my experience with the car after 8 months:
* screen is not iPhone like but very close. You will experience some lag from time to time.
* Never got it to crash (yet), but I get some connectivity issues with CarPlay. It works 80% of the time. The CarPlay connects to audio but no image.
* I have to reset the screen maybe twice a month.
* updates are easy to install. But Ford release schedule is very slooow. When the first person reports getting an update here in the forum, I know mine will be available in a month.
* Maybe in the distant future, not now. The manual it says something about data that can be retrieved by law enforcement in case of accident. Ford is also selling an aftermarket dash cam in their MME accessories page, they would be eliminating a revenue there if they enable that option. Only the front and back cameras are good dash cams. The side ones are positioned for the 360 view and would not be very helpful.

The car is definitely not mature on software yet. Ford is not there yetut it has great potential, and all in all it is a great software for a first model release.
I wish it had all the nice software features a Tesla has, but they are doing that for over 10 years.

 

[SnBGC]

Good day Mach-E Enthusiasts.

I'm currently reviewing options for EVs and would like to hear owner input on the current software in the Mach-E.

I'm not trying to do a 1 to 1 comparison to Tesla... in fact I'm pretty anti Tesla and anti Musk, so I'm all for the competition. But what I'm more interested is hearing about how the software and UI responds and how it holds up. I saw a much older review a while back, and there was occasionally quite a bit of response lag with the UI, and some options just not working right. Obviously software gets updated, so at current, how do you guys rate your experience with Mach-E's software/interface?

Interface reaction/input lag?
Software freezing/crashes?
Do you find the need to reboot system often?
How easy is it to do software updates?
Are the cameras on the vehicle accessible? could they be used as dash cams in future?
Any other opinions are highly welcomed and considered.

Thanks very much for your time!

I've had my car for over 8 months and just over 21,000 miles. (given for point of reference...)

• About once or twice a month I have a situation where I start the car and the SYNC screen isn't ready to accept input by the time I back out of my driveway. Most every other time it's ready to go so I would say boot up is fairly quick.
• I have had the screen freeze up one time. A force reboot corrected the issue.
• There have been 2 or 3 other times where I had to force reboot because a glitch was present. Sometimes it's the radio station changed but still showed the previous channel as active and wouldn't update or sometimes it was because I would hang up from a phone call but the call wouldn't complete on the screen and audio would not resume. Again, I think that has been 2 or 3 times in total so far. Not ideal but a force reboot solved the issue.
• Software updates are easy. I don't think I've had but one or two and on one occasion it reset my charge schedule so I had to go back and re-program that. Kinda frustrating but didn't ruin my day either.
• I don't know how accessible the cameras might be. I would get your own dash cam and avoid the headache of trying to due with the car's hardware.

The MME has the best infotainment system that I've ever had in a car but my experience is limited. Prior to this I had a Focus Electric with Sync3 which I thought was great. Prior to that I had a '99 Super Duty with a cassette/CD combo. No screen of any kind so I am living the dream now with this big ole screen.

 

[bp99]

The in car software works and does what it needs to do. There are some annoyances and bugs, but nothing that really gets in the way. Phone As A Key is the one feature that's really wonky and inconsistent.

Having both a Tesla and MME, I think that the Tesla software is more polished. There are things that each car's system does better than the other. Other aspects are just different. Tesla's mobile app and access to APIs from third party apps is much, much better. Ford's mobile app is minimal and there are no third party phone/watch apps. You get what Ford gives you and at least 50% of it stinks of being driven by marketing rather than product development.

The only time I experience lag is in the first 10-30 seconds after starting the car. If you're trying to quickly change something before driving off, it can be a hindrance until everything is up and running. After that, it's snappy enough.

Updates thus far have been sparse. That said, I wouldn't buy anything based on potential future updates. It either meets my needs now, or it doesn't. Promised future features may prove difficult to implement, budgets could be slashed, a new platform could be adopted and development of the current halted, etc. If it doesn't exist and there is no contractual agreement that it should, don't expect it.

 

[opus]

I have had to reboot my system more than a few of times over the last couple of weeks, as the screen was super dim when the car started and the only way to fix it was a reboot. I'm sure it's a bug that will be fixed by an OTahahahahaha

The screen isn't super laggy, but it's definitely not as smooth or responsive as Tesla's screen. I prefer the Mach-E cameras (and the 360 camera) over Tesla's implementation, though some kind of sentry mode or dash cam would be welcome.

Bottom line, as others have said, Ford has a long way to go on its software. There are lots of annoying little papercuts in the experience-nothing world shattering, but just annoying enough to irritate you.

For me, I got the Mach-E because I trusted Ford to make a car with a computer more than I trusted Tesla to make a computer that happens to be a car. And for the most part, that's been proven true, for good and bad.

You get what Ford gives you and at least 50% of it stinks of being driven by marketing rather than product development.

Oh man, this irritates me so much. I can't use Ford Pass to find out how fast my car is charging, but you know what I can use it to find? My Local Trusted Ford Dealer!

 

[ArthurH]

Thanks for everyone's reply! I have a better understanding of what to expect when I take a look at the dealership!

Sponsored