Tourists driving rented Ford Mustang Mach-E EVs are having issues. They’re getting stranded at one of Norway’s most popular sites, the famous, winding Eagle Road. It is the country’s most popular tourist road and leads to Geiranger. Well, it is supposed to, but for some, it leads to a local Ford repair facility.

Rented tourist Mustang Mach-E EVs are dying on Norway’s Eagle Road

That’s because these new, rented Mustang Mach-E EVs suddenly die. They can’t be restarted and need to be towed out. “I have had six salvages of the same car model in 14 days,” said Karl Martin Rønnenberg. He is a Ford salesperson and member of the Norwegian Automobile Federation, or NAF, speaking to Norway’s Motor.no. 

Since the vehicles were stopped, Rønneberg says the Mach-Es with issues had to be removed using a tow truck. But now Ford Norway says it knows what the issues are and how to fix them. The six Mach-Es used too much regen braking. This caused the batteries to get hot. 

All of the Mach-Es were being driven down a long, winding road to Geiranger. They were all set on maximum regenerative braking mode to help charge the batteries under normal conditions. The amount of braking involved to get down the road is not your typical driving condition.

What is Ford doing to fix the issues?

Annie Sønsteby, Ford Norway information director, says the Mustang Mach-E braking issues can be handled with an over-the-air fix. Unfortunately, with Ford, that means you still have to take it into a dealership to get it. So, maybe Ford should just call it a “software update at the dealer” update instead. The good news is that the over-the-air updates will be starting around October 2021. So it will be happening, just not now. 

“We have been made aware of a very small number of Mustang Mach-E in Norway, where the electric motor has stopped on steep downhills,” Sønsteby says. “There is a software update available for customers at all our resellers that addresses this issue. Alternatively, customers can also get their Mustang Mach-E updated with a Power-Up via OTA updates that will be available as part of our next 21B update – which will take place in September/October this year.”

We’ve covered some of the issues Mustang Mach-E owners are experiencing. On some forums, owners are calling themselves “beta testers” instead of “drivers.” None of the EV manufacturers have had clear sailing when it comes to new models, including Tesla. 

There is a certain confidence that Ford has the Mustang Mach-E dialed-in

But that is why potential EV adopters have been anxious to look into purchases from legacy auto manufacturers. Rather than buying from a startup, there is a certain built-in confidence that goes with buying a new EV from Ford or Chevy. That is why these issues that keep popping up are disappointing. 

Of course, nobody is more frustrated and embarrassed about these EV hiccups than Ford. As more issues inevitably crop up, and with actual over-the-air software fixes, these will be but minor blips for owners. And won’t make headlines like they currently are doing.