The future for Ford is electric
Jim Farley promises that ‘Detroit swagger’ will transport Ford from Model T to Mach-E.
Detroit Free Press
Early models of the 2021 Mustang Mach-E, which is fully electric, have a battery issue that could make owners struggle to power their vehicles even though they are fully charged, according to a technical service bulletin Ford sent to federal regulators.
“Bad software makes Mustang Mach-Es ‘electric bricks’,” said a headline in TheVerge.com, a technology website, which first reported on the Mach-E battery issue on Thursday. The brick term was created by members of the Mach-E forum seeking online advice from each other.
The March 25 Technical Service Bulletin filed with the National Road Safety Administration describes the situation in more technical terms: “12-volt battery is discharged while the vehicle is plugged in during the high-voltage charging process.”
Discharge, or drainage, describes the process by which a battery loses energy.
If this happens, Mach-E customers will be notified through their FordPass app that the Mach-E is in ‘deep sleep’ mode, TheVerge noted.
The issue affects vehicles built on or before February 3, Ford said. Although the company has pointed out the potential for over-the-air updates, this solution should make a dealer visit.
According to the Ford Bulletin, the problem may be related to the drive module control module. The company told Reuters the situation was a “software error, causing the small battery to discharge while a larger high-voltage battery was charging.”
The Dearborn carmaker declined to say how many Mach-E owners are affected. The company sold three vehicles in December, 238 in January and 3,739 in February.
“We are aware that a small number of Mustang Mach-E owners have brought their 12-volt battery into a low voltage state. We have been proactively working with early owners who have experienced the problem to identify the cause and solution. “Ford spokesman said. Emma Bergg. “In the rare cases where it still occurs, customers can now contact their local EV-certified Ford dealer to have the matter resolved.”
Michelle Phillips, 52, a research field manager from Ontario, California, experienced first-hand a dead battery in her garage in March. She owned the car for one month.
She drove on a Friday and had her car parked over the weekend and plugged into a charger.
‘The doors slammed open, which was strange. “I thought I forgot to close them,” she told the Free Press on Friday. “When I went in, the power was completely dead. I thought, “Now what?” ”
Phillips called her Ford dealer and said they had no idea what to do. They suggested sending a tow vehicle. She had a battery charger, but could not find the battery, which was hidden in the front trunk, called a ‘frunk’, where the internal combustion engine would be. When Ford roadside assistance arrived, the operator was unfamiliar with the Mach-E and was afraid he would break something. They finally found out everything and jumped her battery.
“It was a miracle”
“Suddenly everything came to life. It was a miracle. It was a full cost, “Phillips said. I wanted to know what happened. So I took it to the dealer. They held it the next weekend and said basically everything is fine. ”
After taking her Mach-E home, the dealer called and asked her to bring it back for software update. This is what she thinks they initially needed. The dealer consulted Ford Engineering. She takes a lender Mach-E. Since then, everything has been fine.
But she has expressed greater concern about Ford customer communications.
Phillips, who ordered her vehicle in November 2019, went to pick it up on February 8th. For a period of time, she or the dealer could not locate the vehicle online.
“I called Ford Company to find out what was going on,” she said. ‘They said it needed QC (quality controls). I got the car with 28 miles on it. These are serious quality controls. Why can they not say what’s going on? I spent almost $ 60,000 on a car I had never seen before, I have never driven and I trust 100% in Ford. I need them to be more transparent and from scratch. This is what they promised. ”
As early adoption of a new product with new technology, she said, there are few problems with people, but they do not want to guess and beg for information.
“But do not tell me it is nothing if I know it is nothing,” she said. “I have a car that was sent to California and then sent to Kansas, for what?”
People stopped to ask her questions and take the beautiful car, and Phillips is glad she made the purchase.
On January 17, the Free Press reported that Ford held the Mach-E for additional quality review. Bergg estimated that the hold would last up to eight weeks for several hundred vehicles after they were built at the factory in Cuautitlán, Izcalli, Mexico.
On March 2, Ford notified thousands of Mach-E customers that they would be compensated for their patience as the company continued its quality control.
By March, some customers in Norway had delays in delivery.
“We have, as planned, started deliveries in the US at the end of 2020 and are on track to start deliveries in the spring in Europe,” Bergg said at the time. “Ford is committed to delivering a high quality vehicle, so delivery times per market will vary.”
The Mach-E is a very valuable vehicle for Ford as its debut vehicle is designed to challenge Tesla, the dominant player in the electrical market.
The Mach-E won 2021 North American utility of the year, and an Morgan Stanley analyst said sales in the first quarter illustrated a horse race with Tesla. Ford said it sells 6,614 Mach-E SUVs. Meanwhile, Tesla reported that 184,800 vehicles were sold during the first three months of the year, twice as many as a year ago, with strong demand in China.
F-150 battery misery
This Mach-E situation is the second battery-related issue Ford raised in 2021 over new products. Some customers and dealers have seen dead 12-volt batteries on the brand new 2021 Ford F-150 pickups due to phantom battery, first reported on February 15 by the Free Press.
More: Jim Hackett retained $ 16.7 million pay package in 2020, stepping down as Ford CEO
“A population of vehicles built before we shipped to dealers needed a software update to prevent batteries from losing their charge,” Ford spokesman Said Deep said at the time.
He said Friday that the battery issues have nothing to do with each other because he understands the situation.
Ford did not want to explain why the 12 volt batteries lost juice or how many vehicles may have a problem.
“My truck went into deep sleep mode once and the only way to bring it back to life was a jump,” one F-150 owner wrote on a forum. “Had to use the physical key in the phone to open the door.”
The situation also required a visit to the retailer for a software update.
The F-150 was also kept for additional quality updates.
Mach-E repair instructions
Repairing the Mach-E battery cannot be done at home as it requires specific software programs. Ford explicitly writes in the service bulletin: ‘The procedures should not be performed by’ do-it-yourself ‘. “
This is the protocol for professional technicians:
- Connect a battery charger to the 12 volt battery.
- Verify that the negative cable of the charger is installed on a chassis or engine ground, and not on the negative terminal of the 12 volt battery, to prevent the battery saving mode on the vehicle from activating. Do not plug the vehicle into the high voltage charger during programming. This can cause modules to not program properly. Leave the 12-volt battery charger installed only.
- Reprogram the drive control module using the latest software level of the appropriate Ford diagnostic scan tool.
- Check the secondary diagnostic control module on board only one module at a time; the battery energy control module; the secondary diagnostic control module B on board; the secondary diagnostic control module C on board; and the anti-lock brake system.
Software problems have consistently caused headaches for automakers worldwide and often occur in surveys and reports of consumer satisfaction to federal safety regulators.
More: Ford pushes Mach-E from behind as industry enters new era
More: Tesla owner spends $ 160 on land drives in the 2021 all-electric Mustang Mach-E
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-222-6512 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more about Ford and sign up for us car newsletter.