You should test it out at the pump and see if you're actually losing a meaningful amount of gas. Would be curious what your findings are, but the digital stuff can be inaccurate, especially over short distances.
I love the new wireless Apple CarPlay, but ironically I find myself plugging-in more often. Helps me avoid using my phone when driving, I like to tuck it away.
That's so strange that you couldn't feel anything, but that it was enough that multiple people felt like flagging you down to mention it. I've had the same issue before but I felt it before seeing it. Regardless glad to hear it's getting resolved.
I personally prefer the look of the molded ones. We have them in-stock if you're interested:
https://www.autonationparts.com/parts/ford-splash-guards-molded-black-rear-m1pz16a550ba
Definitely sounds like something happened with the battery install, especially since it was so recent. Hopefully you can get it figured out soon. When modern batteries go the whole system goes haywire.
I've personally been having a lot of issues with CarPlay since iOS 26, but I haven't updated to the latest version yet. Hopefully that solves it, as it's affecting multiple cars I drive.