Ford EV Software and Customer Service Woes

[Randall Stephens]

I purchased a new 2023 F-150 Lariat at the end of February and love my truck. However, I’m also frustrated with the inconsistencies in software delivery and my lack of customer service knowledge.

I’ve been following the this forum, F150Lightning subreddit, Facebook groups, and Mach-E forums, and I see many owners running various software versions for their vehicles. Some have newer features, and many don’t. When people ask questions or share pictures, there are questions about why something looks different than what they are used to.

The software updates could be dragging because of Lightning's battery module issue, but I’m not sure, as I see evidence of Mach-E owners having similar problems.

The problem
I noticed my truck did not have the “Charge Assist” application. I was confused about why this was missing, so I researched and found a user suggesting it was a server-side setting unrelated to OTA updates. I then decided to call Ford and started asking questions; this is where everything went wrong.

Customer service experience
My first call resulted in a conversation with a rep who wanted to be helpful and put me on hold to find answers, only to have me disconnected. I called back and got someone else. I explained I was missing the Charge Assist function, and they reached out to others and told me it would come in a software update. I argued this. They put me on hold again and returned to tell me the Charge Assist application was for Fleet customers only. We went back and forth, trying to show each other evidence of what we understood. I asked for an escalation to someone who would know more, and they wanted to convince me they had been on the EV team since Ford’s release of EVs. I eventually gave up and called back later in the day.

Just my luck. When I called back, I got the same rep I went back and forth with earlier in the day. I figured I would try again, and she called someone only to come back to say, “Oh, you mean Public Charging!” I then pointed out that Ford announced Charge Assist on YouTube and various EV forums in October. She put me on hold again and came back to tell me I needed to wait for a software update, which could take days, weeks, or months. I have pretty much given up at this point after losing 2 hours of my life feeling like they just wanted to get me an 'answer' and get me off the phone.

Why is this an issue for me?
I received the Tesla update today and cannot find Tesla chargers requiring the NACS adapter or pre-conditioning my battery based on their location without this app. Ford’s site tells me to use Charge Assist or my Ford Pass app on my phone, which only points me to Apple Maps or Google Maps and does not precondition my battery.

You might reply, “Big deal,” and that’s fine. My truck is still functional, but it’s a sign of more significant issues for Ford because their ‘experts’ cannot correctly convey facts. I want more from Ford for its customers.

Ford’s software rollout plan is so inconsistent that it confuses customers and hurts its brand. On top of this, any engagement with EV customer service leads to a very confusing call because they do not have terminology matching customer experience, and you can tell they have not driven Ford EVs. They need to get to a place of a steady software rollout, have their “experts” experience their EVs much like Jim did with his Lightning trip, and fix up their knowledge base so they can talk with customers.

My questions for @Ford Motor Company if you are listening:

1. What is your software update strategy? Should all customers expect current updates within days, weeks, or months?
2. What are you doing to uplift the knowledge of your customer service staff and close the loop on so many prompts to hold while they reach out to another department?
3. Is there a hotline for those who cannot find answers through normal channels?

Thanks for listening.

the software rollout strategy leaves a lot to be desired. I’m in the slow lane as well. That said, you bought a truck fully functional at release unlike some others *cough* cybertruck *cough*

Sponsored

 

[pullinggs]

1. What are you doing to uplift the knowledge of your customer service staff and close the loop on so many prompts to hold while they reach out to another department?
2. Is there a hotline for those who cannot find answers through normal channels?

An interesting thread; thanks for posting.

My experience is similar. I'd only had the truck for maybe 2 weeks when I ended up 100 miles from home with something like 15% SOC. It was midnight and I just wanted to charge one more time so I could get home and get to bed.

The charge station I found faulted immediately and the plug was stuck in the charging port. I called the Ford service line for advice on how to manually release the plug; they sent a tow truck as that was literally the only thing they knew how to do.

Love the truck, it's better than I'd ever dreamed. But Ford software is marginally terrible and their service line is really useless (n=1).

 

[cal]

Sometimes folks just don’t do enough research before buying. As an old Tesla owner I knew Ford would not be anywhere near what I’m used to. They are not a software company and outsource that aspect of the business. Software integrated with hardware design and development is just not a part of the Ford’s (or GM,Volkswagen, etc) current business model. Are they trying to get better yes. Are they even close, no. All charging networks outside of Tesla have been complained about for years. That‘s why I just shook my head when so many suggested/rationalized going for a std range battery pack. You could just see the 2x4 headed somewhere bad. I get that another $10k pushed the price out of reach but the headache of not enough range is something so many just downplayed And don’t get until it’s too late.

But I don’t focus on the misses. I just enjoy the hits like …. wait for it…. THE BIGGEST FRUNK KNOWN TO MANKND! Ride is very nice also!

 

[TaxmanHog]

We should all be on 6.8 by now. It’s been out for what? 5-6 months?

3 months, 2 weeks 2 days

 

[Keanen]

OP here chiming in after reading the responses.

I do not accept the current way the software releases work or the lack of information customer service has. The tech/software is a big part of these vehicles.

Successful businesses adapt to survive. Continuous improvement is a mindset Ford must embrace in their culture. It will be Ford's doom if they believe they are only a car manufacturer rather than a technology company. I worked for an airline for many years, and we went from technology as a second thought to technology being a top focus as a differentiator for our business.

It is a responsible practice to batch vehicle updates. That being said, there is no reason, other than when there are issues (aka a rollback), to have more than a month between your first and last vehicle update within Ford’s control. I am hopeful that as Ford ‘snaps’ everyone forward to support the Super Chargers, they will keep the momentum and keep us all more current. There is no reason to let any of us fall behind.

Imagine when Blue Cruise 1.4 is released. It’s a paid feature, and we all paid for three years of it with the purchase of our trucks. Each of us who enjoys using Blue Cruise today will want this update. I do expect people to be upset if their neighbor has the update and they do not get the update for months.

Regarding the hotline, many companies are engaged in social media. Perhaps Ford could do better here by being represented on Twitter, these forums, etc., to help find answers and educate the user base. A team functioning in this space, documenting openly on the Internet, would be a great investment. It would save them time as they provide searchable content for customers and reduce frustration for their customers.

For the folks who say to enjoy my truck for what it is, I will. That doesn’t mean I don’t want better from Ford. I like all the features that exist today and want the features coming out tomorrow. The days of buying a vehicle and only getting new features in the next model year are over. Multiple responses in this thread prove that customer expectations have changed.

Thank you all for the dialog and feedback.

 

[Newton]

The charge station I found faulted immediately and the plug was stuck in the charging port. I called the Ford service line for advice on how to manually release the plug; they sent a tow truck as that was literally the only thing they knew how to do.

Love the truck, it's better than I'd ever dreamed. But Ford software is marginally terrible and their service line is really useless (n=1).

That is incredible. Fortunately when this happened to me (thanks EA!) I had read the forum and knew about the cable in the frunk near the washer fluid bottle. I'm very glad I knew this because my wife and my 90-year old mother were in the car and we were showing off how well it all worked. That is the only time fast charging has failed for us, of course.

Does anybody know how to get the cable to re-attach to the washer fluid bottle, or is it just supposed to dangle there.

 

[mrau]

Believe it is the Coolant bottle that is near charge port door that has release cable.
Not washer fluid bottle

 

[Keanen]

Believe it is the Coolant bottle that is near charge port door that has release cable.
Not washer fluid bottle

maybe I’m not searching the right words, but I have not been able to find a video or pictures of this manual release cable. Can somebody please provide a link? Thank you!

 

[mrau]

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...secret-releasing-a-stuck-charger-cable.18921/

Photo was just posted here.

 

[Keanen]

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...secret-releasing-a-stuck-charger-cable.18921/

Photo was just posted here.

Thanks!!

 

[jwb02]

After countless overnight trips to the dealer, I’ve finally given up on my ‘23 Platinum’s ability to get updates. The last (and only) one it received was 4.2.2.1 in May of last year. For the first year of ownership, the fact that I was missing out on feature-laden updates (like the “newer” SYNC GUI that everyone received in early 2023) really bothered me. But after run-arounds galore from Ford and dealer since, I’ve finally accepted that my $100k top-of-the-line truck is simply incapable of getting them.

While I sure love the hardware, the buggy software will sure weigh heavily on my next vehicle purchase decision @Ford Motor Company

 

[Henry Ford]

After countless overnight trips to the dealer, I’ve finally given up on my ‘23 Platinum’s ability to get updates. The last (and only) one it received was 4.2.2.1 in May of last year. For the first year of ownership, the fact that I was missing out on feature-laden updates (like the “newer” SYNC GUI that everyone received in early 2023) really bothered me. But after run-arounds galore from Ford and dealer since, I’ve finally accepted that my $100k top-of-the-line truck is simply incapable of getting them.

While I sure love the hardware, the buggy software will sure weigh heavily on my next vehicle purchase decision @Ford Motor Company

What is the dealer doing for you? They have the ability to manually update every module on the truck. The tricky part is figuring out which modules correspond with which updates. In my experience, dealers know nothing about specific updates.

 

[Dinozero]

I had a 2021 F150 before this Lightning. So I'm very familiar with how sparse the updates are and can be.

I almost purchased a $500 mongoose cable to update my old truck manually, but thankfully if I waited long enough I usually got all the updates. Just slowly.

The biggest improvement over the years was changes to the bed camera, other than that, they were useless updates really.


Yeah, I wish my vehicle updated better like a phone.. But who are we comparing it too?

Tesla? The company that sells a 120k truck missing half its features that says they'll come later??? That's not good either.

 

[Henry Ford]

Yeah, I wish my vehicle updated better like a phone.. But who are we comparing it too?

Apple and Samsung. We all carry around $1,000 pocket super computers so we know what's possible. That's just reality.

 

[Dinozero]

Apple and Samsung. We all carry around $1,000 pocket super computers so we know what's possible. That's just reality.

I hear you but Apple and Samsung don't make cars. So my point is there isn't really a single vehicle money can buy that does exactly what the consumer expectation on this is right now.

Tesla would be closest but they have a lot of issues in different areas.

Sponsored