Power-Up OTA 6.2.0 - Small Adjustments

[Grease Lightning]

We're excited about this update, Richard! We hope everyone likes it!

Any idea when this will be coming to all Lightnings? I have owned my ‘23 XLT for over two months and still have not seen a single update even though it is is out of date on most of the software .

While I love the truck, the OTA update process sucks and hampers my joy to have spent so much money on the truck.

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[Grease Lightning]

I've never even gotten a prompt for an update, so you're better off than I am...

Same. I hate this part of the truck. Ford crippled a great truck with their software update process.

Love a DM from @FordMotorCompany on how to get an actual update

 

[rugedraw]

Same. I hate this part of the truck. Ford crippled a great truck with their software update process.

Love a DM from @FordMotorCompany on how to get an actual update

Don't hold your breathe. The 19 year old kid from Ford's marketing team that's running their social media account doesn't know how to properly wipe his or her butt yet.......let alone when you're getting an update sent to you.

 

[chl]

@Ford Motor Company. If Ford really wanted "to help your vehicle prepare for future updates...," they'd change the software so that when the truck gets notified of a pending update, the truck proceeds to charge the 12-volt AGM battery to the point the update will actually get downloaded and installed.

Ford apparently assumed that the average owner drives a lot and didn't allow for older retired folks like me who aren't putting a lot of miles on their truck and may only drive several times a week with only the occasional (~once a month) 200-mile trip. Ford could make it easier to use a battery tender, and trickle charge the LVB battery without having to remove a panel cover (really annoying) - and maybe even provide instructions in the manual on the proper way (if there is one) to trickle charge the LVB. Perhaps a bigger capacity LVB battery could be made available, and maybe, at least with a bigger LVB, the SOC of the battery need not be so demanding for most updates. Whenever I've checked my LVB SOC with the vehicle just sitting around in my garage, the battery is NEVER above 80% SOC, and it never gets there from my usual periodic 10- to 15-mile trips. The HVB may be maintaining the LVB SOC, but it always drops quickly below 80% SOC. Being a paranoid ex-New Yorker(NYC), I always lock my truck even when it's locked up in my garage. Perhaps the alarm system being armed is helping to drain the SOC of the LVB(?).

Agreed!

I had similar issues with my 2012 Leaf when I first got it - went on a long trip away from home, came back to a dead Leaf - now it's on a trickle charger all the time not in use.

The Leaf has a solar cell on the roof that trickle charges the 12v, but I park in a garage so doesn't help.

I and many other Leaf owners was/were shocked to learn the Li battery is not used to keep the 12v charged except when the vehicle is on. Apparently Ford has the same issue.

Like software coders, some of the geniuses who design these vehicles probably have never left their office and actually used what they design/code in the real world, otherwise you'd think they would have thunk about all the electronics that drain the 12v battery when the vehicle is off.

Turning off the charge timer on the Leaf greatly reduced the drain on the 12v but I still keep on the trickler - 12v lead acid batteries are happiest and last longest when kept at 100% charge - unlike Li batteries which want to be at 40-60% for optimum life expectancy.

I keep my 2001 Ranger on a dashboard solar charger that connets via the cigarette lighter plug since it is parked on the street, the battery lasted for about 18 years that way.

With over the air software updates on the Lightning requiring a healthy 12v state of charge, active cooling and heating of the Li batteries (the Leaf only has active heating and only when the temps are extremely low so wasn't an issue), even more reason for a trickle charger.

@Ford Motor Company could implement a sleep mode for the Lightning that shuts down unnecessary 12v draining activities and/or turns on trickle charging from the Li to the 12v.

So either get a $30 trickle charger for the garage or if outdoors, a solar charger to put on the dashboard, or periodically turn on the vehicle - maybe that could be programmed somehow - once a day maybe for however long it takes to pump up the 12v.

Nothing worse than a vehicle in your garage that won't move because the 12v battery is dead - I had to buy an extra long jumper cable to get my Leaf going when it was nose-in in my garage.

There's always something.

 

[16cards]

This update hubbub happens every few weeks:

1. An announcement here on the forums that there is some type of update (there seems to be several types? PowerUp vs. Sync vs. blah blah blah).
2. People respond saying they see it.
3. Others say they don't see it.
4. And then there is never a status update from those that don't see it initially whether they eventually receive it.
5. And I never receive an update.

I am nearing month 5 of ownership and have no update of any kind or any type of confirmation in the vehicle or app of a version or versions. It just simply exists as I rolled off the lot. I am in the dark and have to resort to asking another forum user to help figure out update status. (Thank you BTW.)

Are the Ford OTA product managers sitting back in their chairs thinking?... "Yep, nailed it. OTA just works!" How are they not working their asses off, apologizing for screwing up, and outlining how they are going to fix the process? Clearly the average Lightning owner skews towards being an enthusiast that wants to know these types of details about their vehicle's software status. They want a button to know definitively that they are up-to-date. They want a VERY obvious version number somewhere. They want release notes.

 

[chl]

This update hubbub happens every few weeks:

1. An announcement here on the forums that there is some type of update (there seems to be several types? PowerUp vs. Sync vs. blah blah blah).
2. People respond saying they see it.
3. Others say they don't see it.
4. And then there is never a status update from those that don't see it initially whether they eventually receive it.
5. And I never receive an update.

I am nearing month 5 of ownership and have no update of any kind or any type of confirmation in the vehicle or app of a version or versions. It just simply exists as I rolled off the lot. I am in the dark and have to resort to asking another forum user to help figure out update status. (Thank you BTW.)

Are the Ford OTA product managers sitting back in their chairs thinking?... "Yep, nailed it. OTA just works!" How are they not working their asses off, apologizing for screwing up, and outlining how they are going to fix the process? Clearly the average Lightning owner skews towards being an enthusiast that wants to know these types of details about their vehicle's software status. They want a button to know definitively that they are up-to-date. They want a VERY obvious version number somewhere. They want release notes.

No updates? Are you in a 'dead zone' for signal reception?

When I park my 2012 Leaf inside my garage I have reception issues - that is, no reception at all.
But I only needed 2 software updates and Nissan did those with a visit to the dealership - they sent me a snail mail notice that there was an update to be had, and it showed up on the forums as well. TGF forums!

Who started this over-the-air update process anyway? Probably Tesla imitating MicroSoft Windows...no wonder!

It would be nice if @Ford Motor Company et al. would rigorously test updates BEFORE they distribute them. Having worked in the 1980's at Bell Labs in the Systems Software dept. documenting new releases of software products, I can attest that months were spent testing and tweaking the code until it was nearly perfect before sending it out to the baby bells.

The good ole days when code was written compactly, efficiently, tersely and a million lines of code was a pipe dream.

Even better if they'd get it right the first time and the need for so many software updates would go away.

 

[Gaalpwrd]

I'm now three updates behind . The digital owners manual failed update (incorrect manifest is the error) has put me into update purgatory. I've never been this many updates back before. First World Problems for me, but I'll give my first born for Blue Cruise 1.3 .

Also, I love @Ford Motor Company for clearly trolling all of us above. Well played faceless social media account!

I FINALLY got this update yesterday. Took a 50ish mile trip and as I'm walking across the street my phone let's me know I've got a sweet update... and finally got the manual (all my hopes and dreams)

As an aside, this most recent update feels like the equivalent of a meeting before the meeting.

 

[Warp Asylum]

6.2.0 installed when I got to work this morning.

 

[ackatack]

I and many other Leaf owners was/were shocked to learn the Li battery is not used to keep the 12v charged except when the vehicle is on. Apparently Ford has the same issue.

This isn’t an issue. This is deliberately done as a safety precaution. I don’t know of a single EV which charges the low voltage battery from the high voltage battery while the vehicle is off.

 

[rugedraw]

Having a high SOC is important for OTA's to install, but it does nothing in terms of you getting an actual OTA sent to you. The way the algorithm determines whether the update is "safe" to install or not is dependent on more than just SOC.

Below is an error code from a failed OTA on a 2021 ICE truck:

"errorCode":"CooldownFailed(8)""totalLvBatteryCapacity":"83""currentLvBatterySoc":"92""availableLvBatteryCapacity":"76360"

SOC is over 90% and still failed. Total Battery Capacity 83 x Battery SOC = 7636 (available battery capacity is 76360 so that's how you get there).

So you can have your SOC at 100% and if your battery capacity is not up to par, it will still fail. There are also other battery related error codes that provide more details into the algorithm used to determine if an OTA is safe to install or not that mention things like battery data quality, projected drainage and more. Below is an example of another 2021 ICE truck with a different error code on a failure of the same OTA:

"errorCode":"InhibitRequiredHvNotQualifiedLvLow(204)""projectedLvSoc":"Insufficient12VBattery(31)""totalLvBatteryCapacity":"62""currentLvBatteryDataQuality":"OK""currentLvBatteryVoltage":"12""currentLvBatterySoc":"71""currentLvBatteryTemperature":"23""dynamicPostUpdateSocThreshold":"41""estimatedTimeToActivate":"4200""estimatedTimeIncludingRollback":"8400""currentDrainRate":"9""capacityNeededForOta":"21""adjustedAvailableLvBatteryCapacity":"39""projectedPostOtaLvCapacity":"18"

Available Battery Capacity 39 - Capacity Needed for OTA 21 = Projected Post OTA Capacity 18.

Dynamic Posy Update SOC Threshold says 41, so obviously with a projected threshold of 18, the update install attempt never happened.

@16cards You're welcome.

 

[chl]

Out today…

This just in fromChevy:

"GM is reportedly going to be changing their procedures for handling OTA updates for their vehicles.

This comes after certain models being incapacitated after an update during the summer. ..."

https://www.silveradoevforum.com/th...over-the-air-update-procedures.645/#post-5493

 

[chl]

This isn’t an issue. This is deliberately done as a safety precaution. I don’t know of a single EV which charges the low voltage battery from the high voltage battery while the vehicle is off.

What safety issue, if you know?

All kinds of things are running off the 12v battery when the vehicle is 'off' some of them rquired for the SAFETY of the Li batteries, like cooling/heating.

 

[starrtech2000]

This is why Tesla and Rivian are so adamant about owning the entire software stack in their vehicles. For Ford to do an update, they have to deal with the dozens of different pieces of software running the different modules in the vehicle and then the different setups in each trim and customized vehicle.

I feel like they are actually trying a bit to make OTAs work, unlike Hyundai is with my Ioniq 5, but the design of the Lightning and the rush to get it made without redesigning from the ground up for modern software hamstringed them.

 

[Jim Lewis]

Having a high SOC is important for OTA's to install, but it does nothing in terms of you getting an actual OTA sent to you. The way the algorithm determines whether the update is "safe" to install or not is dependent on more than just SOC.

Great post, but if the OTA update software finds a reason not to push the update through, it should let an owner know what to do about failed updates. And relative to that, I've requested monthly vehicle health reports. They always say my truck is in peachy-keen condition. If there is a problem preventing me from getting updates, it ought to show up in the monthly health report even though my truck is otherwise doing great. Can't find it now, but there used to be a section in my online account that would tell me something about my update status, and it always says that I have the latest updates issued for my particular truck. If updates are deliberately strung out and done in waves, Ford should at least let us know where we stand in the distribution process. I own a DJI drone. It gets frequent OTA updates. Perhaps it's not as complex as a Ford Lightning, but DJI really has its act together to make the update process for the drone and its tablet controller dependable, painless, and smooth. Maybe Ford needs to get some advice from DJI on how to do it...

 

[WRSNH]

I'm in the camp of no OTA updates since July. Last month my dealer checked the OTA dashboard and there were no pending or failed OTA updates, although at the same time FDRS showed about a dozen modules with updates available.

It seems like those of us with the no updates since summer have mostly (all?) MY23 trucks, although most if not all of the OTA updates since summer seem to be something all trucks should get.

Is my unscientific observation correct? Are we all MY23? Mine is a 23 Lariat ER.

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