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Car & Driver: The Mach E is simply better than the Model Y

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"Description of the Cause : The design and part-to-part variation of the high voltage battery main contactor is not robust to the heat generated during DC fast charging and multiple wide open pedal events."
How the heck the software update is a fix to an electrical design problem? I don't see it being a fix other than they just reduce the charging power/speed and performance of the car.
Also note that they already had 280+ warranty claims out of about 50000 cars sold, which is more than 0.5%. This is a huge failure rate for a major problem like that.
It fixes it just as you said. If they charge slower and don't pull power as fast, it is problem solved! The side effect is the car does not perform as it once did.

But, let's not assume Tesla does not have these limits. They just have enough experience to know what they are, what causes them, and how to design hardware and software to operate optimal within the limits. That is, Telsa is just a more mature EV maker.
 
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You were still able to drive your Model S weren't you? Ford's problem leaves the owner stranded and can happen at any time. And correct me if I'm wrong, the Model S battery issue took years to develop. Ford had to have known there was an issue from early on as owners reported it for at least a year.

I agree that this is Ford's first performance EV that they designed with competing in mind, however, they had other EVs to use as reference. Tesla had to pretty much start from scratch.
Two different topics. The post you responded to was in response to thermal management comments by another member.

On the issue you raise, yep, my contactor gave me the straight to service your car may not restart message which is at least a little better than being left stranded.
 
Remember that Tesla spent its 1st 2 years studying and working out battery issues. They only came out of stealth mode after they had figured it out. They burned a whole lot in the process.
The other numbskulls arrogantly think they can just outsource the problem to a bunch of Korean toymakers and the problem will be solved by someone else.
The sad thing is that Tesla told everyone (who would listen), exactly how to do it. To date, AFAIK, nobody else is using cylindrical cells and doing thermal management the same way Tesla does.
Exactly. Still baffles me why no one is just copying them.

I know the reason though: "what can I source right now and ship next quarter or next year?"

That's all that matters.
 
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Also note that they already had 280+ warranty claims out of about 50000 cars sold, which is more than 0.5%. This is a huge failure rate for a major problem like that.
That, is if it just 280, which I am not entirely confident about. And even it is, that is just 280 for now. The flaw seems inherent to the part they used and many more will be affected unless the software is really good at preventing this, which I also have doubts about. I hope that they fix the hardware. I think that MME buyers would be happier with that.
 
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I know if I had a Mach-E I would do a lot of WOT accelerations until the SoC was low and then fast charge it to 80% until it finally failed before the installing the software update so I could start with fresh contactors. (And that is assuming that the software update alone will be enough to prevent them from failing without taking away too much performance or charging speed.)
 
It fixes it just as you said. If they charge slower and don't pull power as fast, it is problem solved! The side effect is the car does not perform as it once did.

But, let's not assume Tesla does not have these limits. They just have enough experience to know what they are, what causes them, and how to design hardware and software to operate optimal within the limits. That is, Telsa is just a more mature EV maker.
As people have been saying, seems more like a bandaid than an actual fix. And what about those cars where there's already some damage to the contactors but not enough yet to trigger the issue?
 
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Contractor issues can be really hard to solve.

Previous company I worked for had issues with a Siemens 480V AC contactor welding shut under high temps and high current, but still within rated parameters.

Took Siemens R & D 2 years to figure out the root cause. I left before the actual final fix was worked out, but the interim fix was to swap out a different mfg's contactor and eat the cost difference.

It won't might not be easy.
 
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As people have been saying, seems more like a bandaid than an actual fix. And what about those cars where there's already some damage to the contactors but not enough yet to trigger the issue?
No doubt it is a band-aid, but what other alternative is there? Eventually, they will have to design and manufacture a contactor system that does not suffer from these issues. That is going to take time. Meanwhile the software patch gives customers use of their vehicle with decreased acceleration and charging. And that patch should take into account a decent safety margin to handle those potentially damaged contactors.
 
I know if I had a Mach-E I would do a lot of WOT accelerations until the SoC was low and then fast charge it to 80% until it finally failed before the installing the software update so I could start with fresh contactors. (And that is assuming that the software update alone will be enough to prevent them from failing without taking away too much performance or charging speed.)
Just sell it...
 
Drove a Mach E GT w/ Perf Pack for about a week and I thought it was average at best. The UI is horrendously slow and unintuitive. The drive is ok, but there is a sharp power cut that comes around 80mph that literally almost jolts the car to a stop. I could go on, but I to say it is better than the MY or M3 is laughable.
How about we try this.
The Mach E is better at generating ad revenue than the MY and thus is worthy of more positive media coverage.
 
I don't see so many MME owners dissing Tesla when Tesla recalls come out, and there are quite a few.

My Tesla MYP costed $25k more than my MME. Yes it's way faster, but that's about it. Both my daughter and I prefer driving MME more. Couple of features MME has while Tesla is missing: 360 camera display, especially forward camera for tight parking spot, rear cross traffic warning, blind spot warning on mirror, easy correction/adjustment in blue cruise mode and won't disengage it. Also, the headlights are way better than MYP's, even MYP has the so-called matrix headlights.

PS Ford has clarified it will be OTA software fix only.
I don’t disbelieve you, but may I ask ? Why do you prefer driving it ?
 
Drove a Mach E GT w/ Perf Pack for about a week and I thought it was average at best. The UI is horrendously slow and unintuitive. The drive is ok, but there is a sharp power cut that comes around 80mph that literally almost jolts the car to a stop. I could go on, but I to say it is better than the MY or M3 is laughable.

I drove a GTPE for 6 months and 8,000 miles. Agree about the UI and the power curve is just absolute trash I think Ford should be embarrassed they called it a Mustang GT. It's pretty quick to 50, mediocre from 50-70, and an absolute turd 70+.

I now have an M3P.
 
I drove a GTPE for 6 months and 8,000 miles. Agree about the UI and the power curve is just absolute trash I think Ford should be embarrassed they called it a Mustang GT. It's pretty quick to 50, mediocre from 50-70, and an absolute turd 70+.

I now have an M3P.
In some ways it's borderline fraudulent what Ford did with the GT. Perfect time to cue the GT vs Skoda diesel flat out roll race! :D