Fan and Air Conditioning Controls Are Horrible (and dangerous)

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

What we found work with our MachE same screen, is to just press the voice button on the steering wheel and say set the fan on high 72°. Or you can also put on set auto 72° don't have to touch a thing or take your fingers off the wheel. But I do love my current Platinum setup which is the XLT version of the the lightning. 12-in screen is fine and I have physical knobs.

My current ride is a Mach-E, and although the 15” screen looks super high-tech, I decided to get an XLT so I can have physical buttons and cloth seats.

I’m a software developer, so I completely agree that a lot of the problems can eventually be worked out by re-arranging the software, but I’m still more comfortable with having some additional buttons and dials.

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[Regular150]

Yeah I agree I thoroughly enjoy my Platinum which is the setup of the XLT lightning in terms of the 12-in screen and the physical buttons. But there's millions of people out there with Teslas that have less buttons than even the MachE and they seem to be doing okay so we too are getting used to it.
Something I noticed that changed in the Maki is even when you're in the reverse now the temperature settings are still available at the bottom which originally March of 2021 when we got our first edition none of that was there so they're making changes and improvements.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

They work pretty well on mine. The best controls of any EV I’ve owned so far….I own a Pro

 

[bryan995]

The UI/UX is absolutely horrendous. This is a software problem - but it seems ford does not have the right software people in house to fix it. Tesla yet again is miles ahead.

 

[monsterlag]

They work pretty well on mine. The best controls of any EV I’ve owned so far….I own a Pro

Pro and XLT have the upgraded 12 inch screens though with ACTUAL buttons

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Pro and XLT have the upgraded 12 inch screens though with ACTUAL buttons

And at a discount!

 

[SmokingtheMeats]

I will give it a try. But although it says "Auto", aren't there actually 3 settings within auto (low, medium, high) which affects the fan speed? In which case there is still a setting I will need to control when I want to change the auto level (ie fan speed)? When it's hot out and I'm sweaty and get in the car, I want the fan blowing hard for the first 5 mins, then I'll turn it down. Does auto do this on its own?

It has in every Ford I’ve owned.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Yeah I agree I thoroughly enjoy my Platinum which is the setup of the XLT lightning in terms of the 12-in screen and the physical buttons. But there's millions of people out there with Teslas that have less buttons than even the MachE and they seem to be doing okay so we too are getting used to it.
Something I noticed that changed in the Maki is even when you're in the reverse now the temperature settings are still available at the bottom which originally March of 2021 when we got our first edition none of that was there so they're making changes and improvements.

The crazy thing for me is that I tend to want to make adjustments at the exact time I'm backing out of my driveway... and that's when most of the screen is covered by the backup camera.

Having knobs gives me the ability to tinker with the seat heat, HVAC, or simply interact with the radio while backing up which is super important at that exact moment.

I've learned to try to make those adjustments before backing out, but it drove me nuts.

Ditto for the lack of a button on the dash to just turn on the camera without tapping through two menu options.

And as @Yellow Buddy pointed out... XLTs and Pros get those nifty buttons at a discount, which is super strange because it costs MUCH more to have all those extra buttons and knobs.

 

[Regular150]

The crazy thing for me is that I tend to want to make adjustments at the exact time I'm backing out of my driveway... and that's when most of the screen is covered by the backup camera.

Having knobs gives me the ability to tinker with the seat heat, HVAC, or simply interact with the radio while backing up which is super important at that exact moment.

I've learned to try to make those adjustments before backing out, but it drove me nuts.

Ditto for the lack of a button on the dash to just turn on the camera without tapping through two menu options.

And as @Yellow Buddy pointed out... XLTs and Pros get those nifty buttons at a discount, which is super strange because it costs MUCH more to have all those extra buttons and knobs.

It shouldn't be long now that those controls will be available when you back up. Our MachE had that change in one of the updates recently. So you can put it in reverse and still set the fan control and temperature and heated seats.

 

[Dakovich]

Lariat ER, I have very little issue with the HVAC controls so far, but agree physical controls are best. I also think the one pedal driving is pretty smooth, where others think it’s borderline unsafe and jerky. So who knows, personal preference plays a part, but again, I agree with physical controls being better.

 

[CRAIGC540]

I plan on using the set it and forget it technique. My windows are never down so I use AC all year long on auto, hardly ever touch my buttons.

 

[cvalue13]

Lariat ER, I have very little issue with the HVAC controls so far, but agree physical controls are best.

Electronic controls are great for me, assuming the UI is good

Thankfully, a benefit of electronic controls is that Ford can fix the UI over air, and it can even provide UI optionality for different user preferences

Hopefully ford gets on that - otherwise, they may as well have used physical controls

 

[idahospud]

I hate trying to turn air conditioning on/off with the little tiny virtual button on the bottom 15" screen in my Lariat. Half the time, I miss it and then have to pay more attention to it than I should be while trying to drive in a straight line. The fan setting is even worse, as you have to hit the tiny button and then hit another virtual button on the skinny slider that pops up to choose your setting. And if you miss the slider, you will end up changing radio station or advancing to the next podcast or whatever else is showing on your screen behind the slider. This is dangerous and I'm sure over time more than a few people will get into accidents trying to adjust these 2 controls.

My suggestion to @Ford Motor Company to fix the fan control would be to do one of the following:
* Simple fix for the slider -- MAKE IT WIDER! It's only on screen for a few seconds, so make it prominent (like at least 3 inches wide).
* For the few seconds that the fan control bar is active, the physical volume control knob could be repurposed to control the fan setting.
* The volume knob has the ability to be pressed in, and currently if you just briefly press it in, it does nothing (pressing it for 2 seconds turns the screen to sleep mode). So give users an option in the settings for what a quick click of the volume button should do -- nothing, bring up fan control (with volume knob controlling it), toggle the AC, etc.

There are many downsides to not having physical knobs, but the upside is that this stuff is all programmable, so they can make usability improvements based on user feedback, and hopefully they are doing that.

Funny how we each have differing opinions (no right or wrong - just personal preferences) - I consider the quality and simplicity of the Lightning's HVAC system ("set it and forget it") a positive feature.

 

[kbuicker]

I’d add that the button locations and sensitivities are such that I’m constantly turning on the rear defroster, etc., if when I go to turn up the volume my finger happens to whatsoever drag the screen

generally agree this entire “zone” of the controls is poorly thought out at best, and distracting at worst

software-fix this area of controls, @Ford Motor Company - for starters, if the volume knob is actively being turned the software should “deaden” the touch-screen area located in the immediate vicinity of the knob

we truck owners have big, dumb, banana-hands and the fine motor skills of a St. Bernard … help computer!

Same with me. This was a suggestion I had noted too! Too easy to his defrost or turn off AC. Few times in 110-temps, I accidentally hit the defrost when rotating the volume.. not fun. Thought my AC had broken at first.

 

[bryan995]

They work pretty well on mine. The best controls of any EV I’ve owned so far….I own a Pro

Have you owned a recent Tesla ?

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