It's not just Ford's software...

[Albern]

I have severe allergies to pollens during certain times of the year. I require the re-circulation to be on and stay JUST LIKE I WANT IT after pressing the button that I DECIDED TO TURN ON. I managed to be smart enough to survive all these years in regards to C02 build up. I don't want Ford telling me, no you don't really want that on, and shut it off for me. This is an exact example of what is wrong with Ford software. If C02 is an issue, there are better ways of dealing with it, other than over riding the users choices. They can add a simple cheap C02 censor and flash an alert on the screen with a suggestion to turn off re-circ.

This also goes for drive modes. Overriding the users choice when I am in Tow/haul and sport is outright dangerous. I am expecting certain characteristics of my vehicle (ie, regen drag) and get jolted when all of a sudden I'm coasting. All because I missed a prompt where the Truck decided to change the drive mode that I SELECTED. Again, good software design leaves things how the user left them because the user believes they already chose those things. If they want or need to add a prompt, the default should be the opposite. (ie. Your vehicle is currently in SPORT mode, Press OK to revert back to Normal).

Imagine if you had to go through all your settings every time you start your truck because Ford decided you don't want auto lights, you need to re select your radio station, You need to re pick your climate settings, etc.... The two examples I listed above are no different. There may be valid reasons for why they did it but THEIR solutions are lazy and against normal UI conventions of leaving stuff as the user left them. This leads to frustration and again people saying I hate the software.

Ford implemented User profiles, some things stick, others don't. In other words...They don't know what they are doing. When my wife drives my truck and changes everything while in her profile, I expect every single setting including radio station, volume level, drive mode, instrument cluster, temps, etc... to return exactly how I left them when I return to my profile. Ford has a long way to go on software before they even get these absolute basics done right.

It must be emphasized that the temporary or timed recirculation function is not a software bug; rather it was intentional (thus could not be a bug to begin with). What we're observing is common across all or most modern vehicles.

I did some research and SAE J902 is the technical specification from the interpretation of FMVSS. Interestingly J902 had a revision in 2019 to account for BEVs- which correlates to my observation as to why recirculate cannot be kept in an ON state.

I was driving a 2021 Tesla Model Y yesterday and for the first time I noticed that recirculate is timed. This was contrary to driving older Teslas from my experience but it's now my assumption that the whole fleet has been updated to account for 2019 J902 with the possible exception of the Gen 1 Roadster.

Sponsored

 

[davehu]

You are not alone in that Bluetooth connectivity problem, not just with phones, I switched my mp3 player to using an FM transmitter to broadcast it to a free FM channel in the truck, and I use an SSD formatted in xfat through the USB data port for playing music as well.

But Bluetooth is troublesome in my wife's 2015 Prius and our kids Subaru's as well.

never had a problem with bluetooth. 23kmiles and my Galaxy 24 connects every time. What phone are you using? what version of Android/IOS?

 

[chl]

It must be emphasized that the temporary or timed recirculation function is not a software bug; rather it was intentional (thus could not be a bug to begin with). What we're observing is common across all or most modern vehicles.

I did some research and SAE J902 is the technical specification from the interpretation of FMVSS. Interestingly J902 had a revision in 2019 to account for BEVs- which correlates to my observation as to why recirculate cannot be kept in an ON state.

I was driving a 2021 Tesla Model Y yesterday and for the first time I noticed that recirculate is timed. This was contrary to driving older Teslas from my experience but it's now my assumption that the whole fleet has been updated to account for 2019 J902 with the possible exception of the Gen 1 Roadster.

Sad but true - our 2015 Prius has the same issue - have to keep pushing the recirculate button to avoid inhaling some VWs diesel fumes sitting at a light...

 

[chl]

never had a problem with bluetooth. 23kmiles and my Galaxy 24 connects every time. What phone are you using? what version of Android/IOS?

Good for you, others have not be so lucky though...

Using mp3 players, iPod, Zune, to stream music is the issue I had - drops outs, disconnects, there are lots of forum posts about this issue if you search, YouTube videos, etc. as well.

Some folks have issues with phone calls as well as I recall.

Do you stream music with your Galaxy 24 without issues?

 

[Albern]

Sad but true - our 2015 Prius has the same issue - have to keep pushing the recirculate button to avoid inhaling some VWs diesel fumes sitting at a light...

Suck. I guess each OEM implemented the change at different times. My 2015 Volt maintains recirculation in its ON state whenever I press the button for the full duration of a ride.

 

[chl]

Suck. I guess each OEM implemented the change at different times. My 2015 Volt maintains recirculation in its ON state whenever I press the button for the full duration of a ride.

Lucky.

Does it allow you to use recirc air for defrost too? Another pet peeve of mine having to use outside (usually moist air) for defrosting...

 

[Albern]

Lucky.

Does it allow you to use recirc air for defrost too? Another pet peeve of mine having to use outside (usually moist air) for defrosting...

Yes it does. If I remember correctly it might switch to auto recirculation if I press the defrost button but all I have to do is to press the recirculation button and it will remain ON, even during the defrost cycle.

 

[Altivec]

It must be emphasized that the temporary or timed recirculation function is not a software bug; rather it was intentional (thus could not be a bug to begin with). What we're observing is common across all or most modern vehicles.

I did some research and SAE J902 is the technical specification from the interpretation of FMVSS. Interestingly J902 had a revision in 2019 to account for BEVs- which correlates to my observation as to why recirculate cannot be kept in an ON state.

I was driving a 2021 Tesla Model Y yesterday and for the first time I noticed that recirculate is timed. This was contrary to driving older Teslas from my experience but it's now my assumption that the whole fleet has been updated to account for 2019 J902 with the possible exception of the Gen 1 Roadster.

At no time did I say it was a bug. It is definitely a conscious decision to have it operate the way it does. What I am saying is that from a UI standpoint, the decision to program it this way is a bad one. When a user turns such a function on, they are doing so for a reason and they expect it stay on until they shut it off. Having a computer silently decide to change that setting is poor software design.

I don't have time to read the SAE 902 specs to fully understand the problem it's trying to solve or its recommendations or mandatory approach to resolve it. Perhaps Ford and others are forced to fallow bad software implementations but that doesn't change the fact that it's poor software design. As I said, there are different ways to tackle problems. if it's to control CO2, a cheap sensor can be installed to warn the driver of such conditions. From a UI perspective that would allow the user to feel they are actually in control rather than be frustrated with these damn computers not doing what they were told to do. Although it's just one function, the user is left feeling, what other settings is the computer changing on its own.

Sponsored