What features do YOU hope get added in a future S/W update?

[Pioneer74]

Battery percentage on all IP screens.

Detailed charging information displayed on center screen while charging.

"Generator Mode" that turns off all lights and display screens.

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[BennyTheBeaver]

Since our '22 and '23 trucks won't get Dashcam/Sentry support, mine would be:

- A better generator mode
- Pet Mode
- not having to reselect drive mode everytime we turn the truck on
- Battery Percentage on cluster outside of calm screen
- more features/interactivity with the app (more Pro Power control, Frunk Button, 1 time charge settings, 1 time preconditioning settings, remote climate control...etc)

 

[MickeyAO]

While it is great to have an easy button at the top of the screen to pull up the front camera, it should automatically shift between the front and back as my Sierra Denali did. Also, increase the coverage area of the 360 camera. And why don't I have guidelines on the front camera? I know this can be done because my last truck had it.

And don't get me started on all the different types of views I had on that Sierra!

 

[Lucky Larry]

How about adding an overdrive feature, either by software or mechanical means, to reduce power usage at highway speeds. This would in turn extend the range of the truck with out adding a larger battery and additional weight.

 

[detansinn]

Er... I don't really get where you're going with this passion, but Tesla is not the only EV maker with these features.

 

[LightningCanuckNB]

Since our '22 and '23 trucks won't get Dashcam/Sentry support, mine would be:

What's stopping it?

As a software engineer - I can tell you, it would be pretty trivial to do if they would just prioritize it. The hardware is already obviously capable, seeing how you can live-stream all the cameras simultaneously while driving. All that has to be done is grab those frames and write them to a USB storage plugged into any of the ports.

 

[detansinn]

How about adding an overdrive feature, either by software or mechanical means, to reduce power usage at highway speeds. This would in turn extend the range of the truck with out adding a larger battery and additional weight.

The Taycan has a 2 speed transmission that also allows the motor to be completely disconnected. There is something to be said for transmissions, even with BEVs. In addition to efficiency advantages, it also gave the Taycan a kick at high speeds -- lots of top end. Unfortunately, other automakers haven't adopted multi-speed transmissions for their EVs (Audi Etron GT uses the Taycan powertrain).

 

[02Reaper]

Instead of battery percentage, How about what kwh the battery is currently at. That's what were all calculating anyways so just kill the battery percentage meter and tell me where I'm at in KWH's in the pack.

 

[bellyer]

I would love to get Walkaway Lock, like my Mach-E has. I would also like to get a fix for the Prompt Volume always defaulting back to 6, which is much louder than I like the prompts to be. Allow me to set a universal prompt volume level, so that I do not have to turn it down every single time a prompt comes through for navigation. I also would not mind if a button magically appeared to bring me a heated steering wheel (yes, I know that is hardware that is limiting that presently) and it is no longer a big deal now that winter is pretty much over, but it would be great to have it before next winter.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

What's stopping it?

As a software engineer - I can tell you, it would be pretty trivial to do if they would just prioritize it. The hardware is already obviously capable, seeing how you can live-stream all the cameras simultaneously while driving. All that has to be done is grab those frames and write them to a USB storage plugged into any of the ports.

TLDR: SYNC doesn't currently support writing video files to a consumer's external storage device. The cost, security implications, support, and time/effort to add this feature to an end of life software product seems like a pretty bad business decision.

I have managed a team of software engineers and code myself. I'll tackle this from a design/management perspective instead of whether or not the code can be implemented.

Obviously, anything I state here can be argued with. I get that, and I respect everyone's right to an opinion.

1. Not worth Ford's investment or priority. MY23 is not having issues selling trucks. Ford has already said they are moving off SYNC to an Android environment next year. Minor additions/fixes will absolutely get added to our trucks. Changing architecture (security, codecs, compression, write/read access...etc) to support external file storage will not.

2. Security issues. By allowing consumer accessible external file storage (something not currently supported in SYNC's closed environment) Ford would be opening up a new tunnel for security issues. While doable, this is a big no no for an end of cycle software product.

3. Compatibility issues. USB sticks/drives have various speeds for both read and write. SYNC natively doesn't have persistent storage capable of saving large files. Offloading all the storage to a USB drive would require a significant speed throughput that all USB sticks wouldn't support (USB 2.0 would be too slow). Ford could sell a supported USB drive with compatible speeds, but again we circle back to my first point...it's not worth their time. Also think of the headache this is going to cause Ford service centers.

4. Additional code development/maintanence. We are at the endcycle of SYNC, it seems, as Ford is moving towards an Android based system. Investing money into additional code, which will need to be maintained, debugged, tested...etc is a big no-no from a cost/value standpoint when you've already acknowledged/announced the new architecture. Adding some of these other features (like the ones I posted) involve manipulating current code vs designed new code. Writing to a USB drive, implementing video codecs, compression, and designing new security parameters would be a waste of time for Ford software engineers that are already into the Android environment development or currently fixing bugs/issues/simple enhancements with SYNC. Any new features Ford adds to SYNC (which again is at the end of its life cycle it seems) would have to be supported into the future.

Could I be wrong? Absolutely, and I would be ecstatic if I was. I would be surprised if I am wrong though.

 

[Amps]

In addition to a lot of these other great suggestions in this thread:

• PIN to drive
• Settings search at top of settings column similar to iPhone
• One pedal drive button in top tray of 15" screen.
• Further separate e-loc from the one pedal drive toggle on the 15" screen or require "OK" confirmation when activating e-Loc
• Dog Mode
• % Battery Remaining option instead of Range on GOM
• kWh available to driver
• Consumption in kWh/mi to two decimal places and: Current/-10 minute/-30 minute consumption
• Fix bugs in consumption reporting in Ford Pass
• Tell me how many L2 kW's went into the battery instead of % (when not using FCSP)
• Much more detailed nerd data like Tesla Service screen

 

[queuewho]

I thought I'd miss a lot more from my Model 3 than I ended up missing in the end.

Dog mode would be nice, so that I can be confident that I set it correctly when I leave them and that the alarm won't start going off immediately.

Dark mode in the app is something small they could add.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

I thought I'd miss a lot more from my Model 3 than I ended up missing in the end.

Dog mode would be nice, so that I can be confident that I set it correctly when I leave them and that the alarm won't start going off immediately.

Dark mode in the app is something small they could add.

Yes, Dark mode! Good call!

 

[Heliian]

re-confirm Sport

This is really not needed and better to default to normal. Sport mode will reduce range too.

 

[LightningCanuckNB]

This is really not needed and better to default to normal. Sport mode will reduce range too.

Er... how about letting the driver choose what they want to prioritize?

Geo-located sounds. When I pull in the driveway, I want the truck to say "Wilma! I'm home!"

You could do this pretty easily with Android Auto and Tasker or Automate on your phone. Or if you have a Samsung it is built in.

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