Ford human interface vs others

I know the Ford touch screen interface gets a lot of complaints, but I have two Volts, and my friends just got a RAV 4 EV, and I think the Ford setup is much more intuitive than either of these (can't comment on Leaf)

In addition, even though there is a lot of deep EV information (battery temperature, voltage, etc) that isn't displayed and should be, the Ford interface as it exists is more comprehensive than the other two. Only Ford provides a direct link between miles remaining in the battery and GPS computed miles to destination (although in the case of Volt, who cares?) Only Ford provides the "cup of energy" display, and their entertainment is much easier to use.

The Toyota battery level display is idiotic....it shows "full" at 80% charge (i.e., normal charge). If you give it a "range charge" (100%) there is no indication and you cannot know how much over 80% you are. The Toyota guess-o-meter applies fixed changes to the estimated range based on the setting of the climate control (on/off/eco) rather than by how hard it is actually working.

Yes, Ford's definitely could be better, but to me it's the best of the three.

And incidentally, the iphone app is much more capable than either of the others, and I believe only Ford provided the web app. Toyota only allows the setting of the next go-time, not presetting them by the day. Apparently their app "entune" is so unreliable that there is a third party app (Ravcharge) that competes.

And by the way, Ford's backup camera with the moving lanes is the most capable. Toyota doesn't even provide backup obstacle detectors. I showed the Toyota salesman how the Focus works and he freaked.

The primary, but important, place where the Focus falls short is range. Volt, of course, is essentially unlimited and Rav looks good for 120-130 miles quite easily.

michael said:

I know the Ford touch screen interface gets a lot of complaints, but I have two Volts, and my friends just got a RAV 4 EV, and I think the Ford setup is much more intuitive than either of these (can't comment on Leaf)

In addition, even though there is a lot of deep EV information (battery temperature, voltage, etc) that isn't displayed and should be, the Ford interface as it exists is more comprehensive than the other two. Only Ford provides a direct link between miles remaining in the battery and GPS computed miles to destination (although in the case of Volt, who cares?) Only Ford provides the "cup of energy" display, and their entertainment is much easier to use.

The Toyota battery level display is idiotic....it shows "full" at 80% charge (i.e., normal charge). If you give it a "range charge" (100%) there is no indication and you cannot know how much over 80% you are. The Toyota guess-o-meter applies fixed changes to the estimated range based on the setting of the climate control (on/off/eco) rather than by how hard it is actually working.

Yes, Ford's definitely could be better, but to me it's the best of the three.

And incidentally, the iphone app is much more capable than either of the others, and I believe only Ford provided the web app. Toyota only allows the setting of the next go-time, not presetting them by the day. Apparently their app "entune" is so unreliable that there is a third party app (Ravcharge) that competes.

And by the way, Ford's backup camera with the moving lanes is the most capable. Toyota doesn't even provide backup obstacle detectors. I showed the Toyota salesman how the Focus works and he freaked.

The primary, but important, place where the Focus falls short is range. Volt, of course, is essentially unlimited and Rav looks good for 120-130 miles quite easily.

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I agree completely. I've found MFT to be better than options offered by other car makers. I don't understand all the fuss about it. It can be a bit slow for some commands, but so are all my other devices. My Windows 7 work computer has its slow moments, so does my iPhone and our iMac at home. No computer is lightning fast all the time and I don't think that MFM is any worse than any other system. I've found it to be incredibly intuitive with the four screen quadrants, better than trying to use a menu to navigate between HVAC, audio, navigation, etc.

The combination of a back-up camera and sensors is fantastic. When we had the Prius I almost hit things so many times because I just had the camera and no beeps. I also had to quite often jockey back and forth when doing 90 degree backing because of not having the guide lines. The Ford camera is much better quality as well.

When MFT first came out I had read a review in a local paper and was communicating with the reviewer through the comments. He had many of the same complaints of most reviews: The touch screen takes your eyes off the road, is slow, etc. (This would have been 2011.)

My points to him:

• Much like other interfaces the driver will memorize the locations--like the quadrants: you can feel for the corners without taking your eyes off the road
  The whole point of having sync is to use your voice to navigate it and thus keep your eyes on the road

Also keep in mind that, in 2011, it was one of the most advanced voice activated/touch screen displays on the road (about the only other manufacturer I can think of at the time with a system as close as Ford's was Cadillac's CUE system). Now here we are 3 years later and it still remains one of the more advanced systems out there and Ford has continuously updated it with user and dealer updates..

(Yeah I'm a fan as well )

I'm mostly satisfied with the UI. It's decent, but not great. When my lease is up in 2017, I'm looking forward to a better experience through iOS CarPlay or Android Auto.

Funny Michael I go back and forth about the interface.

I really hated it at first - it took too long to learn how to use (the fact that they schedule a technology specialist 1 hour to teach you how to use only that screen, says something about how intuitive it is). Nothing seemed be where I thought it should be. I wanted to do something and couldn't remember where to find it. Then all of a sudden the thing I wanted to do was sitting there.

Then I kind of got used to it. And figured out, must of the junk that frustrated me, wasn't stuff I really needed anyway. I still can't tell you how to change that left instrument panel to show how much energy is used by the heating system.

Then I got the Tesla. Now that is an example of totally intuitive interface. Everything is simple and easy to use. They really thought out the user experience and nailed it big time. And it isn't just the large screen - they understand how people use cars - it works.

Except - not everything is all that wonderful. There is way more information in the Ford. That brake coach is the best thing in the universe - I wish Tesla had that. The cup to be sure you are using the right amount of energy - simply genius. The connection between GPS and how much range you have - brilliant. The guess - o - meter, at least I know what it is based on, and can almost always count on it.

The way Tesla handles energy use - there is a big old rated range number under the car speed. A person would think, that's how much range I have left. Well not so fast Skippy. It is "rated range" meaning it is range if you drive at exactly a certain number of wh/mi (I think it is 300 or something near that). Use the heater, drive faster, or anything to use more energy per mile than rated, and that number is useless. I've started trips with 110 miles of buffer and ended them with 50 miles of buffer. Yeah - that's not even close.

The GPS is completely independent from energy use. So you have to select a route, look at the miles to go and compare that to the rated range. I do the math in my head a lot - how much buffer do I have? Ford makes it easy, you have the + and - value for a given trip.

The GPS is also kind of simple or stupid. Distances to superchargers are all as the crow flies. You don't know how far they are until you actually set it as a destination, then you get the real distance to the supercharger. You only get one destination - no way points, no stop overs. Point A, where you are right now, to where you want to go Point B. And the navigation uses old Garmin maps, not the Google Maps on the big screen. Frequently there are roads Garmin doesn't know about, but are on the map screen. There's nothing you can do about the old maps.

I find energy use too weird to be very useful. There is a big beautiful energy graph. One flat line is the rated range and the other line is your projected average range. That average can be based on 5, 15, or 30 miles (you can select the value). And it can be based on instant or average use. That's just too many parameters, too many combinations, and way too complicated for my taste.

In the end, I put the Nav screen on the top half, and the media screen bottom half. Energy plots just don't interest me anymore.

All that to say - I like the functions on the Ford, I hate the interface and how to use it. I love the interface on the Tesla, I hate the functions. Even though that 17 inch screen is gorgeous, that's the not the love hate part of the equation. That smaller screen could be made way better on the Ford.

If you want to see something awful, try a RAV 4 EV. The damn thing doesn't even have a volume control for the radio, only the button on the steering wheel. The passenger can't change the volume. And it's not lighted so even the driver has to fumble at night. Neither is there a channel change control on the dash...need to go to touchscreen or steering wheel. So the passenger can't change the station without losing the GPS display.

GPS totally disconnected from range calculation, and the displays of energy use are very vague.

And there is no lighting for the charging port, so you need to bring a flashlight or fumble.

I want to get hold of a Leaf for a day, see how it stacks up. Of the three cars I know, the Ford still looks best.

cwstnsko said:

in general I've been pleased with the way MFT works.

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Don't you mean MyFoTo?

Actually myview can have more than two displays. I have a whole bunch.


I didn't really you could turn off the autoplay. I've been putting up with that for a year! Thanks for the heads up

michael said:

I want to get hold of a Leaf for a day, see how it stacks up. Of the three cars I know, the Ford still looks best.

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+1 on every point you've made above, michael. I've always liked MFT's interface, but after living with the Volt and RAV4 EV, I absolutely love MFT, even with its occasional reboots and slow response. Ford got it right, I think all it needs is a faster processor behind it.

Totally impressed at the accuracy of your assessment of the RAV4 EV interface! One of its kookiest aspects is its speedometer... 7-segment LED style digits? I'm a total fan of the eighties when it comes to music and movies, but those first generation digital dashboards kind of sucked.

Just going to throw some my thoughts in on the leaf.

First, yes, bring a flash light with you if you want to go hunting in the dark. The leaf could use better lighting around the lower part of the dash especially around the steering wheel. Part of that issue is the black interior that mine has. Very little contrast between button bezels and the dash. The most annoying for me is the multifunction headlight switch. its not illuminated along with various other buttons.

The leaf SL has 4 cameras. One on each side, front and rear.
Can select the forward or rear camera. can see all around you in a parking spot. Easy to tell if your lined up or not.
No pesky noisy sensors though that I've noticed. . Simply put, I like the cameras. Decent resolution and clear. Only thing I would add is some sort of bloom control for when the car is sitting in the garage and its very bright outside.
It has the bars which move with the steering, front and rear view.

Meters include battery temperature, range remaining and battery capacity. I haven't done much to determine accuracy but I haven't been left in the lurch for power yet so I guess they are reasonably accurate for simple commuting. The bubble arc as I like to call it shows power consumption and Regeneration. Green bubbles for regen and white for when you are accelerating and using power. Nothing fancy and easy to read at a glance.
There is an info screen that gives motor, accessories and climate control power usage as real time gages. No digital numbers though.
There's also an average efficiency number which can be read as a number and or as a bar graph.

Charging is an interesting beast. It ranges between 147ish and 156ish km's when supposedly fully charged.
if the car is charged while the battery is cool it will charge less. If the car is charged when the battery is warm after a drive then it will charge higher. The SL is rigged for level 1, 2, and level 3 charging.
In my opinion, the charging door on the leaf is much, much, better than the Focus. Its much more robust, handles two charging sockets and has been easy to open and close with no surprises. It can be opened electronically from inside or from the key fob gizmo. Location in the front middle of the hood seems to be ok too. if I recall correctly, it also tells you if its been left open.

Number one grumble, the drivers seat is less than ideal where I'm concerned. It sits too high, and consequently there are blind spots while backing up and the rear view mirror is difficult to see around. The seat itself is not very comfortable and no electric option.
I posted the details to that growl, on the leaf site.
When I tried sitting in the focus it was much more comfortable. I didn't get to try the electric seat though nor have I tried sitting in an electric focus. One of these days, if one ever magically appears, I will.


Zurc.

Zurc said:

Location in the front middle of the hood seems to be ok too.

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Probably great for aligning with charging stations. Probably not so good if you get into any kind of moderate front-end fender-bender, can still drive the car, but can no longer charge it because the charging door has been wedged unopenable with the front-end damage.

Sure, accidents are hopefully rare, but this sort of "can't charge because the door is damaged" situation seems less likely to happen with the FFE, with its door located high on the left-front fender. The last thing I'd want after a fender-bender is an artificial inability to charge the car.

Probably not so good if you get into any kind of moderate front-end fender-bender, can still drive the car, but can no longer charge it because the charging door has been wedged unopenable with the front-end damage.

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If it gets into a bender that messes up the charge door I'd be inclined to send it via flatbed for a thorough inspection and repair before driving it anyways.

And while I haven't had an opportunity to have a good look at the FFE yet, I'd be inclined to think that in a similar accident, a similar precaution would be in order for that car as well since there's certainly more than just the charge door to be concerned about.

And on that note, Drive safe everyone.

Zurc.

Tesla's location in the rear is the worst. Unless you have a really long cord, it's often necessary to back into charging locations.

I agree with WattsUp - that charge door in the front just seems more likely to get pinched closed. I think his point wasn't a major front end collision, just a fender bender - hoods get crinkled in that kind of accident. It also creates more wind resistance, even though that isn't a huge deal.

I like both the Tesla and Ford approach. They both work for me with no problems.

What you have to remember about the Tesla location, you have to back into almost every supercharger. They are all very similar. I've now backed into about 50 of them and can do it almost in my sleep now. It isn't that hard once you get the hang of it. The only other time you aren't charging at a supercharger is at home - the cable that comes with the car is more than long enough to reach around the car, pretty much no matter where you mounted the electrical outlet.

I've used outdoor 110V outlets at hotels. Backing into the parking spot was no more difficult than any other car and the cord always reached. And every J1772 charging station I've run into has a really long cable that can reach to every corner of the car. Let's see, chargepoint, BMW dealer, Nissan dealer, and a hotel with a Clipper Creek, no problems hooking up.

That location in the rear is about where gas tank fillers are - so it is somewhat familiar.

EVA said:

What you have to remember about the Tesla location, you have to back into almost every supercharger. They are all very similar. I've now backed into about 50 of them and can do it almost in my sleep now. It isn't that hard once you get the hang of it.

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Does the Tesla have a back-up camera and back-up sensors? That's one thing I love about the Ford, it has both. Most companies only offer the camera and no sensors (Toyota, Honda, Nissan AFAIK).

hybridbear said:

Does the Tesla have a back-up camera and back-up sensors?

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Yes, but I don't believe the sensors are standard.

WattsUp said:

hybridbear said:

Does the Tesla have a back-up camera and back-up sensors?

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Yes, but I don't believe the sensors are standard.

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I think the camera is part of the tech package (I'm not positive - there's very little reason to buy a Tesla without the tech package it includes all the cool stuff you really need) and the parking sensors are a separate option. The sensors are front and rear. They read out distance to the obstacle along with sounds.

The camera does not have trajectory lines in it. You can turn on the camera any time - the car doesn't have to be in reverse to use it.

How does always backing up to charge work in states where backing into a stall is illegal? (Found this was a law in a few places just recently, not here though). Not saying I see anyone who lives there, just curious. Take the ticket or don't charge?

Moolelo said:

How does always backing up to charge work in states where backing into a stall is illegal? (Found this was a law in a few places just recently, not here though). Not saying I see anyone who lives there, just curious. Take the ticket or don't charge?

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While backing into a stall is more difficult, it's generally safer, especially with a backup camera or beeper. Backing out of a parking space blind into traffic is the bigger hazard in my opinion.

I've seen various rationale for some areas prohibiting this. They range from the fact that many cars have longer rear overhang, to risk to pedestrians, to taking more time than pulling in forward. All these arguments ignore the fact that when parallel parking, it is normal to back in, so how dangerous can it be?

Apparently Fullerton, CA has this as a rule so they can check to see if your registration has expired and give you a ticket

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/parking-125159-way-fullerton.html

michael said:

Moolelo said:

How does always backing up to charge work in states where backing into a stall is illegal? (Found this was a law in a few places just recently, not here though). Not saying I see anyone who lives there, just curious. Take the ticket or don't charge?

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Apparently Fullerton, CA has this as a rule so they can check to see if your registration has expired and give you a ticket

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/parking-125159-way-fullerton.html

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Except that today's automatic license plate reading systems will tell an officer much faster than looking at the tag whether your registration is valid. In fact, the California DMV will suspend registration if you let your insurance lapse, so even if you have a valid reg sticker, you may still have an unregistered vehicle.

Keith