Huh, I guess I was just imagining it when I plugged into the OBD-II port on my 2020 Ford and reprogrammed a bunch of engine and transmission parameters to improve performance. I certainly didn't have any proprietary Ford software or hardware.
There are some boutique companies, and even some oems [2] that provide software to retune your engine but I have no experience, nor desire, to do that kind of tinkering.
1-https://www.amazon.com/Scanner-FORScan-Adapter-ELMconfig-Dia...
I don't have the expertise to set up all the parameters on my own, but I'm very happy with the tune they provided.
You can't do that with a generic OBD-II compliant tool and Ford's OEM firmware.
I am particularly thinking about John Deere. Although not specific to Electric vehicles.
In your example, have you since taken it to ford and told them you did this? Better not, as you've broken your warranty and they will see this and report that to you.They will put this information on record, and you now have a nightmare selling the vehicle.
Again, and your example is a good one, ICU vehicles and manufacturers are at least addressable/self repairable. This is not the case so much for electric.