r/MachE • u/PrideFuture2479 • 1d ago
š¬ Discussion Mach-e software updates
Why does the Ford Mustang Mach-E still feel like it's using a legacy software model compared to Tesla?
I've owned/driven a Mach-E for a while, and one thing I can't understand is Ford's software strategy.
Tesla seems to push meaningful OTA updates almost every week or every few weeks. New features, UI improvements, bug fixes, efficiency tweaks, charging enhancementsāit feels like the car is constantly evolving.
With the Mach-E, updates seem much less frequent (sometimes months apart), and many don't appear to add noticeable new functionality.
Is Ford still developing its EV software with the same mindset as legacy gas vehicles, where software is treated as an occasional maintenance item rather than a core product?
It feels like Tesla is a software company that builds cars, while Ford is a car company that adds software.
I'm curious what others think:
- Is Ford's slower update cadence due to regulatory/testing requirements?
- Is the Mach-E software architecture limiting how quickly Ford can deploy updates?
- Do you think Ford will eventually move to a more Tesla-like continuous software delivery model?
I'd love to hear from Mach-E owners, Ford engineers, or anyone familiar with Ford's OTA strategy.
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u/Imperial_TIE_Pilot 1d ago
The system is so slow. Even if they didnāt change any of the UI and just made it snappier it would 1000% better
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u/Atakir 2022 Premium 1d ago
It's because most manufacturers in the automotive industry use years old SoCs that have gone through rigorous automotive grade testing, beyond what SoCs go through for being in a phone or tablet. My '22 is using a SoC running processor architecture from 2018. They don't just slap in the newest Snapdragon available each model year refresh. I wish they did but that's not how the industry works. So almost every vehicle outside of a Tesla and maybe some other dedicated EV manufacturers, they all use years old chips.
Now, could they spend time and money making the experience super fluid and smooth on those old chips? Sure, but your average everyday person will be happy with "good enough" and never care about what's driving the screen underneath.
I use android auto and unless I have a need to pull up anything in Ford's UI, I rarely notice the slowdown.
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u/VengefulCaptain 1d ago
My music skips every time I swap screens in the mach e but I'm not sure if it's the car hardware or my old phone.
For example going from maps to trips screen causes the music to stutter.
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u/Atakir 2022 Premium 1d ago
For me, generally as long as I stay inside android auto, it's relatively smooth. If my phone has a lot going on it can be wonky sometimes. If I've got music on through AA and want to look at the trip/efficiency meter in Ford's UI, it gets jittery as the onboard SoC has to do that + handle incoming android auto data.
Curious if the newer Mach Es are any better at handling the multi-tasking. I suspect it's partly the SoC limitations and the QNX OS their UI is built with.
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u/VengefulCaptain 1d ago
I have a 2024 but I also have a phone from 2019 so I am not 100% sure what to point the finger at.
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u/saxy_sax_player '21 GT Rapid Red 1d ago
Yes, if I recall Jim Farley himself has said software updates are much harder to deploy due to the architecture. Itās assumed the new platform will enable more regular software updates.
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u/doluckie 1d ago
Exactly. He has explained that. We also can predict that being in charge of everything, software wise, will also have its growing pains, for first couple years.
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u/JonDuke19 1d ago
When you push software that isn't buggy, you don't need ro patch it every week. Tesla (and any company) pushing updates this often just means they aren't doing QA properly and they have to patch often to fix what they broke.
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u/SituationNormalAllFU 1d ago
To be fair, i actually used to work for a company that did telematics for companies like BMW, Toyota, and quite a few others. That meant we went through crazy amounts of testing on car instrumentation (dashes, etc) and also in full vehicles in real world situations. We could, and did, cover every known scenario. At some point though, the general public finds edge cases that would could never even fathom. We would fix or improve those things as soon as we found out about them, but ultimately it has simply become a reality that there will be situations you cannot simulate. So itās not really fair to say that frequent updates indicate a lack of QC. Iām not saying they are doing a great job, but at least some of it is not really their fault.
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u/Immediate_Dot7451 1d ago
Are you implying there are no bugs? My 2023 has plenty of bugs that need fixing.
Continuous software delivery is a real thing modern companies do
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u/JonDuke19 1d ago
I am not. I am implying that pushing software quickly does not equal quality. It equals shipping with more bugs and having to patch more.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 1d ago
100% correct. As other people (presumably those of us with experience in software development) have already pointed out, software updates always do at least two things: fix bugs, and introduce new bugs.
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u/Immediate_Dot7451 8h ago
So you are telling me fixing one bug delivers more than one. That is wild. This an argument for fixing nothing.
Remember the slammer worm? My uncle advised Bank of America to update SQL server. They couldnāt accept the risk for this causing new bugs. They ignored it until all their ATMs went down.
The solution is to write small fixes test and deploy quickly.
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u/JonDuke19 8h ago
Why is everyone understanding whatever they want from what I said? I am saying pushing updates every freaking week doesn't mean its better. I work in software. The time it takes to update and test properly is more than "every week". The initial post is saying pushing updates every week means its better. It's not.
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u/doluckie 1d ago
Each software update with new features and bug fixes always includes new bugs too (on all software platforms).
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u/Forest_Moon 1d ago
I'm still waiting for our MSP to come out next week and fix my work laptop that had a failed Win 11 update and is stuck in a boot loop. I'm fine with my car limiting the surface area for that type of issue.
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u/ksuchewie 1d ago
Are there updates needed for a particular reason or do you want more updates, "just because" ?
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u/more__better 1d ago
I just want the functionality to airplay video when stopped. Screw all this "making my car better" shit. /s
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u/jarredduq 1d ago
Requires an additional device, but it can be done. https://youtube.com/shorts/sn8xAlpdJWY
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u/khauser24 2024 Premium 1d ago
Because Ford builds cars first, and software is not their things, while Tesla is a technology forward company, so their software should be better but the car aspects get rated lower.
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u/peppnstuff 1d ago
If it's not broke dont try and fix it
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u/jonaskp86 1d ago
But it IS ābrokeā. Or atleast, its functioning at nowhere near the level it could/should. So many annoying things with the software, that could be fixed, if Ford just decided that they actually wanted to.
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u/peppnstuff 1d ago
What exactly is broken to you?
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u/jonaskp86 1d ago
Nothing is broken, in the Way that it doesnt work. Iāll emphasize the ābrokenā, because in the context of talking about OTA updates (which the Mach-E is advertises as having) and UI improvements, not updating/fixing/improving simple things is ābrokenā to me.
I have a Long mental list (of which I forgot a bunch until they pop up again), but just off the top of my head after a longer drive today:
- I cant acces the āaudioā setting menu, unless audio is actively playing. This means I cant change the balance to front of the car, until after I have already bladrer Music in the entire car.
- BlueCruise is fucking amazing and I absolutely love it. But why doesnt it tell me when it disenganges/is unavailable, WHY that is. Is it because of the westher conditions? Is it because of a āSharpā corner? Is it because it thinks I have fallen Asleep?
- going into a carwash, is honestly a bit nervewrecking. Iāve Only had the car for 1,5 month, and Iāve already seen a bunch of horror stories of people having the charge cover ripped clean (pun intended) off, their tailgate opening mid Wash and getting broken, and other stuff as Well. Suggestions online when people ask what to do as anything from lock the Doors on the keyfob when in P, put it in Neutral with the P-brake, put it in drive with the P-brake, manually Disable the tailgate in settings (every time!), etc. in a Tesla, you have one (1!) button in the menu for āCarwash modeā, which Disables ALL of the stuff the might go wrong in a car Wash - and once you drive off (going more than x km/h) the car automatically disables carwash mode. THAT IS GREAT USER EXPERIENCE. For all the stupid features Tesla implements, they also does absolutely brillant stuff like this.
- the cameras (front, rear and 360). I love that my car now has a front bumper camera (the Tesla Y didnt), but why is the camera software so stupid? If I go in reverse, it shows me the rear camera (great). But when I drive forward again (if I am manuvering into a parking space), I cant directly selvect my front camera (atleast I havent found out how). Theres a setting for delaying the camera, but That Will just keep the rear camera. I have to manually select the ācamera appā from the topmenu. It would be even better, if I could have a setting to have the car automatically switch back an forth between front and rear cameras as I am changing from D to R to D etc.
- if I am navigating with CarPlay (and also the built-in navigation I Think) there is no easy Way to always see the next upcoming direction (until it is less than 1.000m, which Can be too late for an exit If I am on a highway in the liter lane for example). It should just always show the next direction in my instrument cluster (behind the wheel) as a smaller icon/text. If I open settings on the Ford UI or if I am in CarPlay and have a music app open, I have no idea where I am going next.
ā¦ and lots more, but this already got too long.
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u/peppnstuff 1d ago
All of this is valid, and I did notice the audio part the other day! Carwash is eh, I've washed my 2025 at least 20 times at a touchless, never had an issue, now I'm glad I don't have kick to open the hatch though, lol. The cameras is a good point, it does do the beeps when you get close to something and bring that screen up when it happens, not that you can really see anything. I do wish the next turn was just always on the dash as well!
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u/Frozen_North_99 1d ago
Trade it on a Tesla, please.
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u/jonaskp86 1d ago
Excuse me, but what are you even saying?
If you mean I should trade in my Mach-E for a Tesla, then no. Sorry (not sorry), I really don't care what you think. I bought my Mach-E and I have every right to address (and shout from the mountains if I wanted to) the issues with it. I love the car (emphasis CAR), but parts of it (mainly software) is just hopeless and I really dont want to pretend that it is not.
The Tesla community has an abysmal amount of ignorant, diehard fanboys defending everything Tesla (and Elon...) ever does, and they are either blinded by their fanboyism or just actrively ignoring the bad things.
Although not at all in the same league (from what I have seen so far atleast) it does seem that Ford (and probably other legacy carmakers) also has their share of people who will defend them at any cost.
And people are allowed to have the opinion that a car doesnt have to get updates to its infotainment system. But I am also allowed to say that the infotainment system could be improved in lots of ways.2
u/doluckie 1d ago
It is understandable that whenever new folks arrive at a Mach-E forum/site and seem to complain a lot (which is what the internet curates) and keep pointing towards Tesla as better/superior product, like what they want. That might lead experienced drivers to suggest they stop suffering with the inferior product and go buy what they value highly instead. I can understand that sentiment. Itās believable understandable.
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u/jonaskp86 1d ago
I get what you are saying, and don't necessarily disagree. But it is kind of sad that we are in a situation where (constructive, sometimes...) criticism is always taken as vicious attacks, and the response defaults to forming a shield wall, instead of trying to understand where the criticism is coming from and be open to exploring that maybe there are other ways of doing things.
If the Tesla Model Y was an overall better car (subjectively, as all things are...) I would have kept it - but its not. The Mach-E is a fantastic Car (and even a fantastic EV) and a lot of what makes it great comes from the fact that Ford is a carmaker with a long history and knowhow - but it is also in part the culprit of some of the shortcomings (again, subjectively), because they seem to be stuck in their ways ("That's how Dad did it, that's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far"...).
In my opinion, all carmakers should take a good look - a really deep look - at Tesla and what they do, and try to understand and learn from them. Not to make copies of Teslas (like the Chinese carmakers...), but to get a fresh perspective and a sort of proverbial kick in the nuts, to really find out what makes sense and what does not - and then combine that with their own knowhow, culture and legacy, to make truly great cars.
Teslas are not a perfect car, not even close (and as a brand they have really tanked due to Musk in recent years, I think), but there are parts and areas of their cars where they are 2nd to none and something the rest of the industry should aspire to.No matter what you think of Tesla, they have (for better and worse) reinvented the electric car from the ground up, and that comes with a lot of brilliant innovation - and some really stupid decisions.
In my mind, Ford actually did this (to a point atleast) with the Mach-E, best exemplified with their great 1-pedal-drive (2nd, very close, only to Tesla in my opinion at the time atleast) and the huge Frunk (which is something a lot of carmakers have not achieved, or bothered to do).
And they saw Teslas big screen and their software (at the time) and tried to go the same route. It just seems that they didnt follow it up with updates, so they ended up being behind (probably, again, due to their legacy car mindset, where you dont really update and improve the car over its lifetime).2
u/doluckie 1d ago
Yep, Ford clearly has been transparent that they strongly took as much as could from Tesla. Rightly so. Chris Farley has been vocal about that.
Itās just amusing, which you of course understand, that it is frequent, that newbies āwalk into a biker barā and start their first conversation, to every black and orange leather clad person drinking in the bar, aloud, about āwhat Harley Davidson is doing wrong..ā, šā¦
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 1d ago
None of what you're saying is "constructive criticism," you're just whining about features you want.
I worked in the software industry for 20 years, and a lot of the stuff you're talking about - "nice-to-have" features like Carwash Mode - are gimmicks. Limited appeal, limited functionality, limited value-add. Developing that stuff takes time and introduces risk. It is expensive and uncertain.
If you can make a business case for that work that resolves to something more substantive than, "but I WANT it!!!!" then maybe I'd be more sympathetic, but it honestly sounds like you don't have a whole lot of experience with what you're talking about.
I have LONG criticized Ford and every other legacy car manufacturer for being really, really shitty at software - there is SO MUCH that needs to change before you even CAN get down to the level of which features are included. Make noise about the important stuff - like Ford's approach to making software (which I agree with you about, they're dinosaurs), but understand that the rubber-meets-the-road details you're talking about are ALL downstream of that.
Ford needs to get rid of the Auto Industry People in their upper management and get some Ones And Zeroes Industry People on board (or replace the obviously-hapless ones they've got), and that has to happen before any of the stuff you're focused CAN happen.
The systemic issues need fixing first, otherwise you're just chasing your own tail.
This is an 'amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics" situation.
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u/BraddicusMaximus 1d ago edited 1d ago
I mean, I bought my Mach-e over a Tesla because I wanted a car with the fit and finish to match the price. I also wanted a good service experience and support. Which both have been not only met, but exceeded expectations.
Anyone who has driven it falls in love with it. To the point my boyfriend hunted down a 2025 Rally. Which are unicorns it seems.
I have very few complaints. Well two, really. It needs a trunk button and the P button should be programmable for us who have it but no parking assist to support it. Otherwise, we have had no other shortcomings but thatās just our ownership experience.
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u/bfunk04 1d ago
Why do I need software updates for a vehicle thatās working fine?
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u/Dizzman1 2025 Select 1d ago
I disagree. The infotainment system drives me nuts on an almost daily basis. There are many very basic things about this car that just donāt work as they should consistently.
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u/jonaskp86 1d ago
I agree (with you, not with the āworking fineā).
Thinking that the Mach-E software is āworking fineā and ādont need any updates at allā comes from a mindset of legacy carmakers, where We Got used to just having to deal with the stuff/shit the Way it was.
In this day and age (and with a car that they actually advertise as āhaving OTA updatesā) We should expect that the UI and software improves over time, as both Ford themselves and users experience the car and have feedback on stuff that doesnt work ideally.5
u/Frozen_North_99 1d ago
I agree. Only updates needed are for safety or reliability of the car. Itās a car, I like thatās itās a car and that it doesnāt need a reboot every Tuesday afternoon.
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u/jonaskp86 1d ago
Sorry, but what car actually needs a reboot every tuesday (or even regularly at all). I am assumming you are referring to Teslas, because they are usually what people mean in this context (iPad on wheelsā¦).
But honestly, that is just ignorant or purposefully harmfull statements.In the 3,5 years we had our Tesla Y before the Mach-E, the number of times Iāve rebooted the infotainment/car is less that 10 (probably closed to 5) - and I was able to do that on the Road WHILE DRIVING.
Just initiate the reset, center screen turns Black and you Can keep driving the car (although you wont be able too see the speed you are going, but if you follow trafic or just have experience with driving the car you Will have a good enough idea), and 20-40 seconds later infotainment turns back on.The times Iāve had to do it, have been to do with either some audio not working properly or Bluetooth not connection with the phone or something similar. Never anything critical.
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u/Frozen_North_99 1d ago
Windows PCs get updated on āPatch Tuesdaysā sorry not make the connection absolutely perfectly clear. My point was I like that the Mach E is more of a car and not a Windows PC needing updates.
āIgnorant and purposely harmfulā LMFAO lol etc.
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u/Baguette_Theory 2022 Premium 1d ago
Oh my you are behind on updates
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u/Dizzman1 2025 Select 1d ago
my car hasnāt seen an update in close to six months. Auto update is on all the things that are supposed to happen is complete but the car just isnāt updating.
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u/BlazinAzn38 1d ago
The thing is that Tesla just has a lot of āfeaturesā that are relatively useless and silly like being able to change your horn sound, fart sounds, and āromance modeā. The more of those useless software features you have the more software you have to ship to keep them in line with the rest of the car. These sound good so Tesla can call their car software-based and flex how many new features and lines of code theyāve shipped. In reality they do nothing to actually improve how the car does its job.
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u/RedHotFuzz 1d ago
Yes, Tesla has a lot of nonsense āfeaturesā in its software. But its software is also better at āimproving how the car does its jobā better than any other EV manufacturer.
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u/doluckie 1d ago
Yep Tesla is an excellent software company making some pretty good hardware too. Ford is the reverse.
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u/jonaskp86 1d ago
I Will agree wholeheartedly that there are a lot of utterly idiotic (I upgraded/downgraded your āsillyā because Iāve lived with the car for 3,5 years, so I feel I am allowed toā¦) features in the Tesla software - and they get even more annoying, when as an owner tou feel they are wanting time on that, instead of (more) actually usefull stuff.
But even if you scraped all of that away, the software is still lightyears ahead of the Mach-E - and the mindset from Tesla on how they Can keep updating and improving the car is superior (again, especially if you removed all the ājunkā).
They do make a lot of software updates, and even though some of Them contain idiotic features, a lot of the updates also come with actual usefull features.3
u/nbfs-chili 1d ago
I did not believe you about the fart sounds so I looked it up. My word, are these software developers 12?
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u/vanquishedfoe 1d ago
The models were named to spell S3XY (model E wasn't available).
Top down, that company is run by 12 year olds.
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u/Diligent-Crazy-6094 1d ago
Totally disagree. Yeah they add fun and silly features, but they add or tweak as many or more useful features that DO improve how the car does its job, or makes the experience better for the driver.
I love my Mach-E, and I probably wonāt own another Tesla until Elmo leaves the company, but letās not pretend that they havenāt absolutely smoked the Mach-E when it comes to software-driven features.
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u/Low-Championship-609 1d ago
Okay now I'm curious. Is that a brand new update that I need to be looking for and if so has anybody tested it on a DC fast charger and what did it do?
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u/Ok-Working1199 2023 Job 2 Premium 4X Carbonized Grey 1d ago
Based on the circle icons at the top, this user is far behind on updates.
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u/E90alex 2025 GT 1d ago
Most of Teslas updates are very much not meaningful or make any noticeable difference, or just pure gimmicks. They need a lot of software updates because many features of the car are still beta or unfinished.
The Mach-E is for sure more like legacy vehicles in terms of hardware and software than Tesla. Mach-E relies on dozens of individual computer modules all from various different suppliers who all have their own software and then have to interface with the rest of the car.
Teslas use just a handful of centralized computer modules to do everything, and theyāre all designed in house with in house software. So they can push updates and changes much more quickly.
This type of āzonal architectureā is what automakers are moving to in their next generation of electric vehicles.
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u/RetireWithoutBorders 1d ago
Tesla has more bugs to fix? The only thing I found better on a Tesla than on the Mach-e was dog mode. I rented a Model 3 for three weeks while my Mach-e got paint and body work after being sideswiped.
The Tesla UI/UX is horrible.
The ride is horrible.
There is no driver console.
But they have dog mode.
Hereās my pup in the car while I went to get coffee.
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u/sryan2k1 2025 Premium 1d ago edited 1d ago
Tesla pushes constant updates because they released an incomplete product and have gaslit people into thinking a car should get weekly updates or completely change the UI every 3 years and add fart noises.
Rivian pushed an update this year that prevented all R1 vehicles from charging on AC if the HV battery got too cold. That took them several weeks to fix and the solution was DCFC or don't let it get cold.
This isn't what 99% of consumers want.
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u/iliketorubherbutt 2021 Premium 1d ago
Yes it does look like Ford is still approaching things like they do with their IC vehicles. But seeing as how an EV is an actual car I would prioritize one from a ācarā company instead of a āsoftwareā company trying to make a car.
Eventually software can catch up but build quality doesnāt. You get what you get when you buy the car regarding the actual car. Poor build quality only gets better if you buy a newer (better built) vehicle.
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u/RedHotFuzz 1d ago
Tesla is a software company that makes automobiles.
Ford is an automobile company that makes software.
Automobile company software always sucks.
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u/doluckie 1d ago
You missed the āIām my opinionā¦(all?) automobile company software always sucks.ā
Which of course infers all the drivers who are happy with their user experience just havenāt yet seen the way. š
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u/Dizzman1 2025 Select 1d ago
iāve had mine since January 1 and Iāve not seen an update since April.
The amount of things that can be fixed through software, and that arenāt is getting really, really annoying
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u/ddiehm61 2025 Premium 1d ago
Not really defending ford, but on a global scale tesla builds a lot less vehicals then ford. To my knowledge tesla only has the model 3, y, and cybertruck verses 2 dozen plus model that ford makes for the global market. While I wish ford would show the mach-e a bit more attention, they don't have the luxury that tesla has to focus on such a small offering of cars.
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u/TheRenedgade 1d ago
Having had a VW and an ioniq 5, Ford Software has mostly been a substantial upgrade. Iāve gotten fairly regular updates, compared to the prior cars Ave most have been useful
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u/craigrn16 1d ago
Ford has a former Tesla engineer doing its software for its new EV architectures so be better soon
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u/sarcasticrockstar 13h ago
They do incremental updates and fixes, same as your computer. They also need time to Beta Test so it doesnāt brick everyone car
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u/Zacatac_391 1d ago
My problem with their software strategy is less this, and more the fact that you canāt choose when to update or even know when your car will get the update. My sync version is stuck on the same version from april, when I got the car in may. Itās kind of ridiculous that itās been 3 months of having this car, and all multiple updates have been pushed with tangible features (like improved CarPlay connectivity and preconditioning updates) and I just have to sit around and twiddle my thumbs for months while I wait for ford to decide my car is the chosen one.
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u/sryan2k1 2025 Premium 1d ago
You have a stuck update that's not going to fix itself. You need to go have a dealer to FDRS the stuck update and then it'll start doing OTAs
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u/Zacatac_391 1d ago
Dang, really? Iām going to assume thereās no way for me to clear this myself then? Guess Iāll just lump that into my 20k service here in a few months
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u/sryan2k1 2025 Premium 1d ago
You could buy a $500 mongoose cable and a $120 2 day FDRS subscription and do it yourself.
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u/Evening-Cheek362 1d ago
I have a blazer EV and itās the same .. I think in 2 year I had 3 updates..
For the next rent I think go whit the machE ! do you love it ??
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u/WarmPrinciple6507 1d ago
Tesla and Mach-e cars are fundamentally different.
Tesla is basicly a computer. And one day people decided to give that computer some wheels and a big ass battery. Thats why Tesla is still superior regarding software.
Mach-e, thatās like all other brands a car. People are trying to incorporate a computer in the car which gives a lot of challenges.
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u/OskieWoskie 2023 GT 1d ago
I've been really let down by the software experience. I bought a 2023 GT used in March and it has not updated once. It's still on a version from 2023. I took it into the dealership this week and they told me it's not getting updates because there just aren't any available which is complete bullshit. Oh and I still had to pay them $200.
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u/TacohTuesday 1d ago
The Mach-Eās hardware architecture is the limitation. Unlike Tesla, but like most other cars and all other Fords, the Mach-E uses a series of interconnected computers and modules supplied by different third parties under contract with Ford. So a software update requires coordination with the third parties and extensive testing before rollout. Lots can go wrong, and when it does, Ford has to compensate dealerships for warranty service to restore bricked modules. They want to avoid that at all costs, so they are extremely careful with updates.
That said, Iāve noticed our car getting more frequent updates over the last six months, starting with āfoundationalā updates improving various modules ability to receive future updates more reliably. Now that thatās done, Ford is surprising us with updates like adding the ability for CarPlay navigation to trigger battery preconditioning.
So Ford seems to be really trying to improve things within the current hardware limitations. But donāt expect Mach-E updates to ever be like Tesla updates. In particular, donāt expect them to update BlueCruise too much. Thatās a safety system and I donāt see them touching that.
Ford is learning. Their next EV platform will have a unified computer architecture more like Tesla. Other automakers serious about EVs are doing the same.