nanohead
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #1
Thank you for building and delivering my 2023 F150 Lightning Lariat. Its a really nice truck, and the effort put into getting it to market shows. We love driving it, and as expected, the hardware is fantastic. The software and control systems though, well, we need to talk.
For the record, I am a many time Ford customer, also own a Mach E, traded a 2021 Ranger for the Lightning, also own a 15 F150XL and have owned another 10 or so Ford cars over the years.
Now, as this is the first winter where there are F150 Lightnings in the field being used by actual human beings for work, play and just living their lives, there are some very important details that are causing many of us significant grief, which borders on massive frustration for lots of otherwise generally satisfied customers.
We all know that winter temperatures are not kind to battery based vehicles. But the details as outlined by Darren Palmer in his recent SOC video that most of us are trying to use to navigate the winter simply don't work.... at all for many of us.
First and foremost, the concept of "Preconditioning" does not work 99.9% of the time. The scheduling mechanism is basically useless to anyone who cannot plan the exact time they need their truck and its batteries heated up. And even if I for example, actually know when I'll be leaving, the schedule won't work. Either because what it says on the barely functional Fordpass app is wrong, or it cannot communicate with the truck, or its hung spinning its wheel trying to poll the truck, or it gets back incorrect data, or Forpass gives some nonsensical error message with a red notation. And why in the world can't I simply kick off a Precondition on an ad hoc basis when I need to, you know, use the truck in the next 45 minutes or so. This whole affair is not well thought through.
So the actual range improvement I would hope to get with heated batteries, well, that's not working. And of course, no one can give us a straight answer as to whether the Remote Start via Fordpass, actually heats the battery as well. This seems to be a very important corporate secret that we owners are not allowed to know.
Of course, even if I wanted to Remote Start the Lightning because its like, 20 degrees outside, I'll probably have to go outside in the snow in the dark, open the Frunk, expose the 12 Volt battery, disconnect it, wait a couple of seconds, then reconnect it, and then pray that I can then close the Frunk, and hope that I can then Remote Start after force closing Fordpass, restarting it and praying it will connect. Seems pretty convenient on a $90K truck. And thankfully, if I can remote start it, its anyones guess if the cabin heat or heated seats will also turn on.
Of course, as you deleted my Heated Steering Wheel, that will be ice cold. And the clarity around whether the Heated Steering Wheel will be rectified in the field by the large dealer body is stellar. No 2 dealers have the same information and customer service has no idea. Again, yet another deep corporate secret that we owners are not allowed to know. While I get that it was easier to delete a key feature in order to get the truck built in a timely fashion, providing zero guidance on what the future of the Heated Steering Wheel may be, is shabby, again, on a $90K vehicle.
Much of this is moot through, as Fordpass much of the time, is almost completely useless. While its never been great, it gets slower, with more disconnects, and more hangs than ever. I cannot rely on it at all anymore for the Lightning (nor the Mach E for that matter). Its constantly refreshing, spinning, and returning incorrect data. Yes yes, I've cleared cache, cleared storage, deleted, resinstalled, etc. But it never really changes anything. The software simply sucks. And thats even if I don't have to open the Frunk and disconnect the 12 Volt battery. And don't get me started on Phone as a Key. If you expect us to rely on mobile software and devices to manage our vehicles, well, that software should be stable and reliable, which of course, it is neither.
There are other kinks to be worked out as well. One of my current favorites now that winter and road salt season is upon us is how the truck screams at me that Adaptive Cruise Control is disabled due to the sensor, even after I disable Adaptive Cruise Control! Now that's not distracting at all, with the truck throwing error messages and warnings while I'm minding my own business moving down the highway with cruise control trying to preserve battery to get to my destination because Preconditioning didn't work yet again.
To be fair, I do generally love the Lightning (as well the Mach E). They are what I basically had hoped, which are electric cars made by a real car maker, not a silicon valley hobbyist club. But as someone who's been in the software and technology business for decades, you could up your game in the software and control space.
In conclusion, might I suggest that you actually start fixing some of these things so we can all get through the winter with the tools you provided, but that don't actually work.
Sincerely, a frustrated Lightning owner that waited a year to get my truck but is starting to doubt my own judgement.
For the record, I am a many time Ford customer, also own a Mach E, traded a 2021 Ranger for the Lightning, also own a 15 F150XL and have owned another 10 or so Ford cars over the years.
Now, as this is the first winter where there are F150 Lightnings in the field being used by actual human beings for work, play and just living their lives, there are some very important details that are causing many of us significant grief, which borders on massive frustration for lots of otherwise generally satisfied customers.
We all know that winter temperatures are not kind to battery based vehicles. But the details as outlined by Darren Palmer in his recent SOC video that most of us are trying to use to navigate the winter simply don't work.... at all for many of us.
First and foremost, the concept of "Preconditioning" does not work 99.9% of the time. The scheduling mechanism is basically useless to anyone who cannot plan the exact time they need their truck and its batteries heated up. And even if I for example, actually know when I'll be leaving, the schedule won't work. Either because what it says on the barely functional Fordpass app is wrong, or it cannot communicate with the truck, or its hung spinning its wheel trying to poll the truck, or it gets back incorrect data, or Forpass gives some nonsensical error message with a red notation. And why in the world can't I simply kick off a Precondition on an ad hoc basis when I need to, you know, use the truck in the next 45 minutes or so. This whole affair is not well thought through.
So the actual range improvement I would hope to get with heated batteries, well, that's not working. And of course, no one can give us a straight answer as to whether the Remote Start via Fordpass, actually heats the battery as well. This seems to be a very important corporate secret that we owners are not allowed to know.
Of course, even if I wanted to Remote Start the Lightning because its like, 20 degrees outside, I'll probably have to go outside in the snow in the dark, open the Frunk, expose the 12 Volt battery, disconnect it, wait a couple of seconds, then reconnect it, and then pray that I can then close the Frunk, and hope that I can then Remote Start after force closing Fordpass, restarting it and praying it will connect. Seems pretty convenient on a $90K truck. And thankfully, if I can remote start it, its anyones guess if the cabin heat or heated seats will also turn on.
Of course, as you deleted my Heated Steering Wheel, that will be ice cold. And the clarity around whether the Heated Steering Wheel will be rectified in the field by the large dealer body is stellar. No 2 dealers have the same information and customer service has no idea. Again, yet another deep corporate secret that we owners are not allowed to know. While I get that it was easier to delete a key feature in order to get the truck built in a timely fashion, providing zero guidance on what the future of the Heated Steering Wheel may be, is shabby, again, on a $90K vehicle.
Much of this is moot through, as Fordpass much of the time, is almost completely useless. While its never been great, it gets slower, with more disconnects, and more hangs than ever. I cannot rely on it at all anymore for the Lightning (nor the Mach E for that matter). Its constantly refreshing, spinning, and returning incorrect data. Yes yes, I've cleared cache, cleared storage, deleted, resinstalled, etc. But it never really changes anything. The software simply sucks. And thats even if I don't have to open the Frunk and disconnect the 12 Volt battery. And don't get me started on Phone as a Key. If you expect us to rely on mobile software and devices to manage our vehicles, well, that software should be stable and reliable, which of course, it is neither.
There are other kinks to be worked out as well. One of my current favorites now that winter and road salt season is upon us is how the truck screams at me that Adaptive Cruise Control is disabled due to the sensor, even after I disable Adaptive Cruise Control! Now that's not distracting at all, with the truck throwing error messages and warnings while I'm minding my own business moving down the highway with cruise control trying to preserve battery to get to my destination because Preconditioning didn't work yet again.
To be fair, I do generally love the Lightning (as well the Mach E). They are what I basically had hoped, which are electric cars made by a real car maker, not a silicon valley hobbyist club. But as someone who's been in the software and technology business for decades, you could up your game in the software and control space.
In conclusion, might I suggest that you actually start fixing some of these things so we can all get through the winter with the tools you provided, but that don't actually work.
Sincerely, a frustrated Lightning owner that waited a year to get my truck but is starting to doubt my own judgement.
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