You know how new innovations sometimes seem fine until a flaw exposes that maybe we should have just stuck with the old ways? This is one of those times. Ford has recalled its popular Mustang Mach-E because, if the 12-volt battery in this popular electric crossover dies, occupants might not be able to re-open the front doors after getting out.
The interior door handles on the Mach-E are mechanical; pull them all the way back, and you’ll feel a cable being tugged to release the door latches. The exterior “handles,” though, are electric. In fact, they’re buttons.
The issue, according to Ford, is software-related. As the automaker stated in a communique to owners, the Mach-E’s front door locks may “retain their last lock/unlock status” if the 12-volt battery goes flat, which can make regaining access to a vehicle with a dead battery tricky if you’ve already exited and closed the door.
While NHTSA hasn’t posted the full defect report yet (although it has been assigned recall number 25V404), here’s the full description of the problem from Ford’s recall notice to owners:
On your vehicle, in the event of unexpected 12V battery discharge, the front door electronic latches retain their last lock/unlock status. If the driver or front passenger exit the front doors using the mechanical inside release handles, the doors may remain locked when they are closed. This may result in an unexpected lock-out condition for the driver and front passenger without the ability to immediately re-enter the vehicle.
So basically, if the 12-volt battery dies, the door doesn’t unlock itself automatically once you open it. And so you can easily lock yourself out, which is a problem, especially if there’s a baby in the back (for example).
Due to the failure mode of the Mach-E’s locks, it seems that Ford’s software has created a lockout scenario, at least for the front doors. Since there are no door lock cylinders and the approved method of gaining entry is to hook up 12 volts to a point behind an access panel in the front bumper, some Mach-E owners say they have ended up breaking windows to free people stuck in their cars, such as this Reddit user who wrote that “AAA and Ford roadside assistance both came to try to unlock it, but I ultimately had to break the window to get our son out of the car.”
The user stated that “I had to open the door using the inside latch after breaking the window, but once opened, the door did not close.” This unlatched position should be the default for all doors if a mechanical door release is pulled with no 12-volt power to the car, but as the recall states, a software issue can prevent the front doors from entering that state. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported due to this door lock problem, although it’s astounding that it took five model years to track down.
Yes, this issue affects 196,911 2021-2025 Mach-Es in America and another 120,000 or so beyond the 50 states, so Ford’s issued a recall and pulled the Mach-E from sale until it’s sorted. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem like a simple over-the-air update, as a technician will need to flash the updated software through the diagnostic port.
It’s worth noting that, to a degree, this door lock issue could’ve been mitigated with something Ford’s Lincoln luxury division has been doing on cars with electronic door latches for years: Including a key hole in the driver’s door. The Continental had it, the Nautilus has it, the list goes on. That way, even if the locks malfunction for whatever reason, owners can still unlock at least one door of their vehicles without having a source of 12-volt electricity on their persons if they need to get a passenger out who can’t open the rear doors on their own, like a child strapped in a car seat.
Mustang Mach-E owners looking for a fix could be waiting a while, too. Ford’s stated that instructions for a fix won’t be rolling out until the third quarter. Until then, if you own a Mach-E, maybe buy one of those cheap portable jump starters and keep it in your bag that you carry around, just in case. If an external source of electricity is the only way to get in if the battery’s dead, a little jump-starter is a whole lot cheaper than smashing out a window.
Top graphic image: Ford
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I get that electric door handles are stupid but would this not be an issue with any vehicle that has electric door handles once the 12v is dead?
what’s wrong with door handles
My Tesla Model 3 is the same way…if the 12V battery goes dead while the doors are locked, I don’t think I can unlock or open the door. The solution is to hook up a 12V source to a plug that’s behind a removable panel in the front bumper (looks like a tow hook cover), and then you can open the frunk with the app and get to the 12V battery and replace it / hook up a jumper to it. Then, the doors can be unlocked. Isn’t that the same for the Mach-E? Or, should Tesla be recalling all of it’s cars for the same reason?
Knowing my luck, I’d drive one of these, lose the fob, and then the battery will die. This time, it would probably include running around an active runway at JFK at night, or something.
Fix Or Recall Daily
I get that the lack of handles is supposedly more aerodynamic (improves Cd by 0.000001%), but there’s no reason they couldn’t add a physical backup latch hidden in the hatch.
You can have flush handles that are entirely mechanical (Lotus Emira, to pick one of many at random).
So this electric handle fad is just bollocks.
Solved by a Mustang branded ball peen hammer tucked behind the drivers side fender. “It’s an easter egg!”
“Smart _____”: a device that has been around for decades, and is redone with loads of software to make a marginal improvement in day to day usability and convenience, with the downside that if anything goes wrong, things go from a minor inconvenience to a full on disaster. See: Smart Phones, Smart Fobs, Smart Doors, etc.
Not to be confused with “Smart Ass”, which society generally agrees does not provide even marginal improvements in convenience, or really any improvements for that matter over a common donkey. See: myself.
For 100 years mechanical door handles were entirely adequate for cars, but now we have to add electronic bullshit to everything, for reasons. Yeah.
I’ll take Problems That Should Never be Possible for $200
Why do we keep trying to reinvent the wheel?
“Surprise and delight” features sell cars.
Things that seem cool in the showroom are more important than things that seem bloody obvious in the dark and the rain when your stupid car is broken.
Laughs in Grand Cherokee 4XE, where a dead 12v battery means you can’t shut the vehicle off.
Unlike Tesla, which won’t let you out of the vehicle when you get into a crash:
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/tesla-cybertruck-lawsuit-driver-burned-bones-disintegrated-b2771728.html
Given the choice – I think I’d take the Ford.
My wife has backed into her own car a few times, I bet she could do it. 🙂 (might want to consider “reenter” or “back in”)
I really like the Mach-e overall, and am hoping to pick up a used one in a few years. It’s too bad Ford seems to have followed Tesla down the unfortunate primrose path of these electronic door systems with no mechanical linkage. I can’t imagine the aero savings are worth all the potential failure points
Lack of mechanical backup strikes again!