Stop Safely Now - my 22 Mach E GT Performance

[Bodyshopguy]

I thought I'd share my story... a few real important things to know about your Mach-E.
1.) How to move the car into neutral for towing
2.) How to "tow" the vehicle without damaging the battery
3.) How long it should take to fix your car when the "contactor is stuck open"

I was driving back from Newport Beach... When, I accelerated to pass another vehicle and "immediately lost power".
All the warning lights came on... the car went down to about 15 miles per hour... I got off the freeway safely and drove into the nearest parking lot.
The "Stop Safely Now" was the last warning message as I parked the car... I could not move the vehicle into "neutral"... it was stuck in "park".

The tow truck driver arrived... and had "no idea" how to tow the car... I looked all over the forum trying to find how to get the car in neutral. Pressing the "L" button did not work or any other combination.
The car does not have a printed "owners manual" and the 12 volt battery died. I had to use the "tow truck drivers" jumper battery for the 12 volt battery in the frunk.

***important note***
There is an "emergency tow" in the "settings"... on the main screen, you have to "hold it down" and it finally allows you to move the dial to "neutral".

***important note***
There are only 2 points up front to tow from (see photos below). If you tow from anywhere else, you will damage a $ 28,000 battery.

The tow truck driver and I had to move this 5,000 lb. electric SUV... without any power... I showed him photos on my phone where to place the hooks. (see attached).

Since the 12 Volt battery was dead, the doors would not close... without using the jumper battery.

AAA Roadside assistance towed the vehicle 60 plus miles to the dealer near me (Ford Roadside assistance said it could be up to 4 hours to arrive... and no idea on how to get the car into neutral). Advantage Ford was unfortunately closed Sunday evening by the time I arrived.

Dropped it off at Advantage Ford in Duarte, Ca... after the Mach E was moved off the tow truck... I had to jump the 12 volt battery again to close the doors and secure the car... then, I closed the hood.

Monday morning, I spoke to service... explained the 12 volt battery was dead, to bring a jumper... and it took 4 guys to move the Mach E into service.
They immediately gave me a loaner, not bad either... 2020 Ford Explorer XLT in this Candy Apple Red... but, it was great... thankful, they gave me a nice vehicle to drive. Advantage Ford has a Technician specifically trained for the Mach E... They ordered a new "junction block" and "12 Volt battery". I attached photos of what the junction block looks like... and you can see the part number has been superseded from "A" to "B".

Some of the photos are from this site and other found while I was waiting for AAA Roadside assistance to arrive.

This was not a bad experience... In fact, I knew that Ford would correct the issues. Advantage Ford fixed the car in 10 days... I thought that was remarkable for removing the battery, draining the cooling system, installing the new junction block (with the new contactors) and putting everything back together so quickly.

This is a new avenue for Ford... and they're all in... I expect, one day, that Explorer I drove as a loaner will be electric one day and won't be a underpowered turbo 4 cylinder.

I think everyone needs to know where the "tow points" are and everyone should know how to get the car in "neutral".

Otherwise, it's an amazing car... it's sleek, super fast and beautiful... everything was thought out in detail.

The body shop guy

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[AKgrampy]

It kind of surprises me that as you appear to have been on the forum that you were not previously aware of much of this information. There is a long thread concerning the failures of the HVBJB and what to do to be prepared (tow information in glove box for instance.) That being said you seem to have done well and it looks promising for a quick turnaround which is better than most have experienced in this situation. It did surprise me you got the stop safely now versus service vehicle soon. I wonder if your car did not receive the safety recall?

 

[scoopman]

Two questions for @Bodyshopguy:

1. What's your build date for the car? Did you get your 2022 before June last year? If so you have the old junction box that failed.

2. Do you charge to very high SOC regularly? Why did you have 97% charge when your car failed? Charging this high regularly isn't good for the car's battery.

 

[Bodyshopguy]

Two questions for @Bodyshopguy:

1. What's your build date for the car? Did you get your 2022 before June last year? If so you have the old junction box that failed. (yes, 04/20/22)

2. Do you charge to very high SOC regularly? Why did you have 97% charge when your car failed? Charging this high regularly isn't good for the car's battery. (rarely, do I charge over 90%)

I knew this would eventually happen... question was not "if" it was "when".

Order date was 10/04/21 and delivery date was 04/20/22...

I'll have to check the vin for the prod date... guessing February...

This is not my daily driver... if fact, I use it to put miles on it... offset, the mileage on my daily driver.

You're allowed to charge higher percentage when you're going on a long trip... it was charging while I was having lunch...

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