JTEX

Same here. Thankfully I have yet to find any regressions. One minor improvement seems to be you do not have to pull down 5 times to get it to really refresh on charge state/range. Now once or twice will do it. Under the account icon you can now access via the app (versus logging in via a browser) “connected services,” but I believe that is for hot spot equipment vehicles and perhaps pure EVs.

Whether using the official Ford “stick on” flat 4G antenna used in the official upgrade, the one available on Amazon (that yields a harmless DTC), or the one you can buy from Ford for $35ish (that is detailed in the F150 forum about this and must be screwed/grounded in) you will find the as a rule (at least I have found this to be the case) your 4G TCU reception and responsiveness is dramatically better even if the antenna is not on the roof, but rather hidden someplace under the back window ?. Unlike cell phones that have to successfully manage lots of packets of data with sufficient reliability to assure normal sounding voices, the TCU communicates very simple encrypted data sets via 4G back and forth with “Fordpass central” in the cloud (your app talks to Fordpass in the cloud which then talks to your car . . .the smartphone Fordpass app doesn’t communicate directly with your vehicle). Indeed 4G for this purpose is a huge improvement.

Thanks . . .good call. I will try as you suggested over the weekend and report back.

I am now also at “-UN” level on my FFE’s “H” series TCU. Same functionality and thankfully no regressions. Hopefully more improvements are still coming in the app and the backend over the summer. BTW interesting Forscan behavior (that you folks may already be aware of) in that after the update to the UN level the option to make any other firmware changes to the TCU disappeared, but the ability to edit the “754 . . “ remained (I made no changes). On many of the other modules the firmware update option remains available . . . So apparently Forscan takes away the firmware update option (at least in the beta version I am using) once you are “current” per Ford and reverting to a prior version does not seem to be an available option.

As someone that has been successful with the DIY 3G -> 4G update (thanks to lots of help from folks on this and the related FFE forum) it seems worth sharing that: 1) to be successful you need to follow all the steps/upgrades/configurations required using the proper tools/software . . .(like having an “H” TCU, installing the “UM” update, and the revelation from one team member that having the correct data in each and every line of the TCU configuration mattered . . .which BTW was a huge turning point.) 2) just as every step is important for DIY the same applies to the dealer techs and we all know that now and then a few don’t necessarily “sweat the details” so just because one had the upgrade done at the dealer is sadly not a guarantee you will have a successful upgrade (unfortunate recent example: I found that nearly all of the plastic insert “nuts” for the screws that hold my FFE’s air flow panel . . .that must be removed for oil changes. . .are stripped because the a few techs are using power drivers that are not properly torque limited for such a use) 3) using the “connected car” web site helps to accelerate the toggle for authorization . . .including making it easy and fast to go back and forth, re-enable after a SYNC reset, etc.

What I just posted in the FFE forum may benefit the Cmax team regarding driving data: I tried Journeys a few weeks back and while it was interesting the value judgements it was making on my driving style was too much to handle so since then I have always had Journeys off, but I do get lots of fun facts after each drive under Driving Data/My Journeys/EV Data/My EV Driving . . .so I have been churning through the “what may be different?” for you folks. Each time I have reset SYNC for any reason once it comes back online I have a checklist of my prefs I set including: connect to my home wifi for SYNC updates, set Home and Work favorites, pair both cell phones, turn off CarPlay, turn off charge light, and then this is what you folks may want to check. . . . under apps in SYNC I download the SYNC Fordpass app and once it becomes alive (sometimes it take a few minutes) in SYNC you are asked to give it permissions, I give it all the permissions, then I give all permissions to “all apps” and the “app catalog”. This is done all in SYNC. Also on my iPhone I have given the iOS app Fordpass “always” location rights. When driving my iPhone is also always connected to the car via USB and Bluetooth. I bring up all of the above because perhaps while I have Journeys off giving both the related SYNC Fordpass app all the rights and the iOS Fordpass app location services rights/permissions in some way allows the required data to get to the Fordpass back end database to then be reported in the smartphone Fordpass app inside “Driving Data.” So you folks may want to mess with that if you don’t have it set the same way. For overall functionality of Fordpass now on my DIY FFE TCU swap I am “all good” for all functions. Indeed I am now in better shape than with MFM and have the benefits of 4G speed. The key “must do’s” seem to be: 1) “H” TCU 2) “-UM” firmware, calibration, etc. for that H TCU using Forscan’s latest beta with a top quality USB OBE cable 3) Configuring ALL the lines of your TCU to be absolutely identical to the known good dealer installed configuration (in my case for the FFE). 4) being in a reasonably good AT&T cell reception area 5) using the connected car app to enable the car 6) doing at least one SYNC reset 7) giving it a few days for the FordPass back end to update . . . .and having the lastest rev of the Fordpass app on your smart phone Perhaps to the above list the “permissions” on Fordpass in SYNC, etc. also matter, but we will need one or two other team members to validate.

After nearly 24 hours AT&T fixed their regional outage so my FFE is now working on Fordpass again. Even the charge notification now works (that’s how I knew the FFE was back online: I received a charge notification). So the lesson is that if you have been successful updating your vehicle to 4G (so most Fordpass functions work for you including lock, unlock, start, charge scheduling, etc.) and suddenly the Fordpass interactive functions are no longer working then the first thing to check is to determine if your vehicle is for some reason no longer connected to the ATT 4G network. your vehicle functions<->your vehicle’sTCU & antenna<->AT&T 4G network<->Ford’s Fordpass “servers”<->Fordpass app on your device

May have nothing to do with the platform . . .I just checked and AT&T 4G cell service is down (checked with 3 mobile devices) in my area so at least for now it appears the root cause is my FFE not being able to make contact with the Fordpass backend.

Good intel . . .thank you! On the FFE 4G forum another user is having the same issue so perhaps this is just backend issues for iOS users.

Just in case other forum members are experiencing the same . .. so you know it is not your setup . . .since last evening the Fordpass app (on iOS) is not getting any response from the backend for nearly all key actions including lock/unlock, charge state, charge schedule, etc. Top of my app says it hasn’t been updated in 16 hours. The bottom banner says “waiting to charge” with the time stamp for last night ? Things I have tried: -force close the app -reset the iPhone -delete Fordpass, reset the iPhone, download fresh Fordpass, and login Some historical stuff remains (like going into Journeys I can see EV data from a brief drive yesterday morning), but anything interactive to the backend is down (like going to charge settings/setup preferred . . . ./ you get a hard red error banner at the top after “begin setup”)

I did not want to edit the above since it is all correct, BUT I learned the “preferred charge times” may be a bit buggy on the back end. BACKGROUND: A key “ahah!” when I got this to work after fixing all those other blocks was that finally my home location appeared in previous locations so I was finally able to make the settings (name my location, pick two sets of times, etc.). Once that was done it did supersede the ValueCharge settings in Sync (i know this because in SYNC I set the start time to 12:01am whereas in the app it does not allow minutes so 12:00am). BUG APPEARS: Later on I decided I wanted to change the second of the two preferred charge times, but it will not allow one to edit. So I figured I would delete the location and start over. Big mistake as then I could not get the location to return. So next step was to figure out how I can prompt the system to get that location to return. SOLUTION: It is a bit wonky from a user experience perspective, but if you have lost your preferred charge location to get it to return you must complete a charge now (seemed obvious so I had already done that), BUT additionally disconnect from the EV charger, start the car, drive a foot forward and back, turn off car. The location will now appear and you can redo your preferred charge settings and also toggle between a preferred time and charge now just like with MFM. BTW: Charge logs now works too.

i can now confirm those other blocks make a major difference as after just changing on my 2020 FFE to the identical blocks of ALL of the TCU blocks as shared from that was done by a Ford dealer I now have ability to set “Preferred Charge Times” (formerly called “Value Charge in MFM and still in SYNC). So every bit matters ? Charge level notification is yet to work, but the banner now at the bottom seems sufficient. Note after making these changes to the TCU, I reset the TCU & and the APIM. Then I did a SYNC reset. So now all good so far on my FFE as long as the 12V battery issue doesn’t come up again.

Had that complete feature set in my 2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium, but alas not on my 2020 FFE even though it is a fully loaded “Titanium” . .. sadly just another example of the “de-contenting” of the 2020 FFE.. I mention this because perhaps someone on the Fusion Hybrid forum may be able to provide what you need.

Great graph! This morning when I went to the car and opened the door coincidentally I found the dreaded “system off to save battery” message which is the second time that has happened since installing the 4G TCU. I took delivery of my 2020 FFE in late November of 2019 and I suspect it was likely built a few months before so to be fair I am getting reasonably close to the typical 3-4 year lead acid cell end of life. I decided to replace the 12V battery. Scary bit of intel: all of the area Ford dealers that particular replacement battery back ordered. IMHO not a good sign. But the parts guy told me that AutoZone carries the identical battery in the “Duralast” brand and recommended I check around local stores. So I ended up with the Duralast Gold version and indeed everything other than the label is identical to the Motorcraft unit including vent port, etc. It was priced a bit higher than the Motorcraft, but is rated about 100 CCA higher. Standard 3 year warranty. Before installing it I put my tester on it and it read 100% Now I have a fresh start point so if the “system off to save battery” happens again in the near future after a standard overnight Value Charge than (at least on my FFE) I have a 12V power drain issue post 4G TCU install.

With regard to notifications, app status, etc. I just posted in the FFE forum on this 4G upgrade: My Fordpass app screens are identical (to those posted in the FFE forum) and I get a screen notification within the Fordpass app that is a banner within the app that appears on the bottom. This morning for example it reads: “ Reached 100% charge” then shows the approximate time it was finished. To the right in that banner it has a “Details” button. When I click on Details the next screen usually has a “Fordpass timed out” at the top in red, shows the charge range, and then a bunch of empty rows for other aspects. I am hoping that when the “Charge Level Notification” button starts working (versus “Loading” circle running for many minutes without success” that it will give us an app push notification & an email (like MFM did) when charge is completed, but at least now know charge level via the app is progress. Tops on my list of function fixes will be the arrival of charge parameters/timing control via the app (what was called “Value Charge” in MFM). Once that arrives and given the other progress my needs will be met. Some concerns: - ANNOYING -the current Fordpass app (or the backend) is very buggy (so hard to believe it passed thorough sufficient testing). The best example is when you start the app in the morning on your phone after a charge was likely completed and click on “vehicle” then the screen (nor lower banner) will not show the car is charged. Then you do the classic “update” pull down move at the top and the app will charge from “updated 7 hours ago” to “updated just now”, but will still not show the battery has been charged. Then you pull down yet again for another update and it will show the actual fully charged info. Yes, I do have background app refresh on in iOS for Fordpass and I am on a fast low latency network. This is purely a buggy app thing or very sluggish backend at Ford. - VERY WORRIED ABOUT- Systems wise the app/Ford backend/car integration is likely very similar to typical IOT devices wherein the Fordpass app is never talking directly to the car, but rather the app is only talking with backend servers at Ford and those servers’ APIs in turn talk to the car. So the 4G modem TCU at steady state when nothing is happening should be just basically listening in a very low power mode and only pulling more power to transmit when either the backend tells it “hey wake up and send us the following data . . .. or do the following (as in unlock the door because the servers have picked up the app asking for such)“ or something happens with the car (as in battery fully charged event) so the car then proactively calls on the TCU to transmit to send data to the Ford servers. For both cell data traffic management and power consumption this is the way it should work ? But as shared in another post lately the dialogue between the TCU and the car seems very “chatty” as I can be doing chores in the garage and hear the relay clamp under the hood a few times each hour even though the car is fully charged, plugged in, and I am not asking the vehicle to do anything via the app. So either the backend is frequently asking the car for info or the car is frequently on its own wanting to send the backend data. The problem with this is potential major drain impact to the 12v battery. So one parks your FFE or CMax plug in at the airport for a few days and do you come back to a dead 12volt battery? Hopefully the “system off to save the battery” logic will have intervened, but??? There was chatter in one of the other forums about some dealers claiming the upgrade program was on hold . . . If that is true (perhaps was just particular dealer talk) it could be because the beyond the concern with the app not being quite ready yet there are unexpected adverse event issues ?. Let’s hope not.