Let's remember that Ford is a publicly traded company, and that there are regulatory controls on the information they can release. They have to balance regulatory, market, customer relations, and safety considerations; I'm sure it's not an easy job.
Also, we are all early adopters of Ford's electric car technology, and I think it is unrealistic to expect perfection just yet. With only a little over 2,000 FFEs in service, it's not at all surprising to me that there are software issues coming up, and I won't be surprised by more over the next year or so. There are only so many scenarios that can be tested, and the only way you find out how any product really behaves is when large numbers are in daily use. I agree that the SSN situation is a major safety issue, and I think that Ford addressed it as such. It just takes a bit of time to diagnose, design and test a fix.
Yes, I would like for Ford to be more transparent as the FFE goes through its teething process, but I also understand the constraints they have to operate under. Although one may think that telling an owner something in an email is not like issuing a press release, the reality of our instant communications process is that the contents of that email can be in the press and all over the internet in a matter of minutes. So it's not surprising that their communications were vague until they were ready to announce the recall.
Let's also remember that our dealer service departments are caught between a rock and a hard place. They can only do what the Ford engineers tell them to - the FFE is a complicated beast and new tech to them as well. My dealer was a great advocate for me, especially when one considers that there are no error codes for them to work with, only our descriptions of what happened when we had SSN events. I worked with my dealer as a partner in the process, not an adversary. I persuaded them to look at the TSBs I read about here and gave them copies of the news stories on the issue as it developed. As they say, you get more flies with honey than with vinegar. My dealer's service department actually called me the day after the recall was issued to make an appointment for the fix. That's great customer service in my book.
I want to thank those on the forum who did so much work early on to investigate the issue and get the NHTSA ball rolling. That work got me to realize that my problem wasn't mine alone and got me to report my occurrences to NHTSA. I think the NHTSA reporting was a major force behind getting Ford to act as quickly as they could to fix the issue.
My hope is that no one ever has another SSN incident. Frankly, I was ready to start down the buyback path. If the problem isn't truly fixed, I still may. But I really do love my FFE, and I enjoy it immensely. If other glitches develop, I hope Ford continues to be responsive.
Also, we are all early adopters of Ford's electric car technology, and I think it is unrealistic to expect perfection just yet. With only a little over 2,000 FFEs in service, it's not at all surprising to me that there are software issues coming up, and I won't be surprised by more over the next year or so. There are only so many scenarios that can be tested, and the only way you find out how any product really behaves is when large numbers are in daily use. I agree that the SSN situation is a major safety issue, and I think that Ford addressed it as such. It just takes a bit of time to diagnose, design and test a fix.
Yes, I would like for Ford to be more transparent as the FFE goes through its teething process, but I also understand the constraints they have to operate under. Although one may think that telling an owner something in an email is not like issuing a press release, the reality of our instant communications process is that the contents of that email can be in the press and all over the internet in a matter of minutes. So it's not surprising that their communications were vague until they were ready to announce the recall.
Let's also remember that our dealer service departments are caught between a rock and a hard place. They can only do what the Ford engineers tell them to - the FFE is a complicated beast and new tech to them as well. My dealer was a great advocate for me, especially when one considers that there are no error codes for them to work with, only our descriptions of what happened when we had SSN events. I worked with my dealer as a partner in the process, not an adversary. I persuaded them to look at the TSBs I read about here and gave them copies of the news stories on the issue as it developed. As they say, you get more flies with honey than with vinegar. My dealer's service department actually called me the day after the recall was issued to make an appointment for the fix. That's great customer service in my book.
I want to thank those on the forum who did so much work early on to investigate the issue and get the NHTSA ball rolling. That work got me to realize that my problem wasn't mine alone and got me to report my occurrences to NHTSA. I think the NHTSA reporting was a major force behind getting Ford to act as quickly as they could to fix the issue.
My hope is that no one ever has another SSN incident. Frankly, I was ready to start down the buyback path. If the problem isn't truly fixed, I still may. But I really do love my FFE, and I enjoy it immensely. If other glitches develop, I hope Ford continues to be responsive.
