So 45,000 Miles In, My Ford Dealership Asks for $695 To Replace My Mustang Mach-E's 12v Battery, Which It Said Was Healthy at 94%

Just more reasons for me NOT to buy an ev. That's also not a Mustang, but another poorly styled jellybean suv. My daughter's Chrysler minivan had an issue with her auto start battery. It died, 400.00 to replace it, kept draining her main battery. Once I disconnected the auto start battery from the main battery her issue went away.

This is a tease of a story. Where the meat and potatoes. Everything you need to know about the story is in the title. The rest is just repeating the same thing. Ev 12 volt battery system bad. What was the answer from Ford. Common guys do better.

So what was wrong with the battery and why did it need to be replaced? What caused the problem?

I have a small battery charger which is in my vehicle all the time. Came in handy a couple of times in the past. Have replace my 12v battery last month.

Ok....12v Battery Warranty for Certain Electric Vehicles....Example...12vAGM Battery Warranty 4 years at Walmart....Hey Dealerships...Step up and Warranty your 12v Batteries or your customers will go back to Competitor's Hybrids.....

This article basically said EV encounter the same 12V issues as ICE vehicles.
The real complaint here is $695 charge to replace the dealer. The 94 percent good seems like smoke and mirrors. Its such a precise number; if you live up north you know your battery is not at 100 during winter startups regardless of ICE or EV.

We are not told exactly what the $695 covered. There has to be more to it. If not, switch service centers, because that 12V battery is not some kind specialized unicorn of 12V, and access to it is not bad.

I am on my second Mach E, my first was a 21; I also have few classic ICE Mustangs It seems to me "most" of it's haters are non-EV experienced drivers. Renting a Tesla for a weekend doesn't count.

Why the tanget, why not? This article is a long disjointed tanget on EV battery experiences that are the same for ICE vehicles, yet somehow it's news because it's an EV.

I look forward to the day when armchair mechanics get an equal amount "informed" EV knowledge as they have with ICE, and a battery dieing won't be news worthy.

This is a common 'theme' amongst all EVs(except, perhaps the Cyber truck, that is left to be seen). I don't want to call it an issue, because it's more of a limitation of supply of accessory parts(lights, AC units, stereos, powered side mirrors, and all common automotive electrical components are manufactured mostly in 12volt versions, with the exception much older, pre 70s classic cars which run 6volt). All ICE cars use power from the alternator to run these accys when the engine is running, where EVs basically run them all from the 12v battery, then the main battery that powers the motors has to recharge the 12v battery using a converter. That 12v battery is designed as it always has been, to only start the ICE car and occasionally run the radio or headlights for a few minutes while parked. What it was originally designed for was to continually run every 12v component in a vehicle for hours at a time. This continued charging and discharging puts at least 3x the cycles these batteries would normally see. I own a Tesla and they know it's a necessary evil to use 12v systems keep costs down because these accessories are already designed and available. The cybertruck uses a 48v battery and accessories likely chosen because there are some 48v accessories used in the RV industry where having 4 x 12v batteries helps get you thru a hot night with AC running. My first battery in my Tesla only lasted 28k miles and Tesla keeps customers happy, knowing that how quickly these 12v batteries fail will be a shock to customers new to EVs. How do they keep us happy? They charged me $118, installed, by a guy in a van that came to my house. How good is Tesla? They noticed my car had a recall on the brake light wiring unit that hadn't been done and sent the repairman out with the unit to switch it out on the same trip as the 12v battery. They really are a different kind of company. Talking with the repair guy, he said he came from Honda and worked at two other manufacturers (30 years total) and went to Tesla because the other three were only about making the maximum amount of money e e6 time the customer came in.

I'm now at about 94k miles and have had two batteries(they must be using a new design that lasts longer). The only other out of pocket expenses have been two sets of tires, 2 gallons of windshield wiper fluid, two sets of windshield wipers. That's it, 94k miles, and that's it!?!? It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I'm car guy, my dad owned an auto repair shop for 30 years and was a service manager at two dealerships before that, I understand the industry. Tesla is doing it right, not every choice has worked out, but they continually push the envelope. Hopefully I will be able to buy my dream Porsche some day, but my daily driver from now on will always be an EV, until a better innovation comes along. Combustion engines just have too many things that can go wrong. My suggestion to Mach owners, have a 3rd party shop change the battery maybe for $200, and be happy with all the other problems you'll never have to worry about and congratulations on the eventual savings over ICE (internal combustion engine).

More evidence that EV's are more trouble than they're worth.