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Safety Recall Notice 24S79 / NHTSA Recall 24V954

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67K views 517 replies 65 participants last post by  JohnTrigger  
#1 ·
Not another safety recall on my 2022 Escape PHEV, anyone else received this new recall? It states that it affects 2020-2024 Escape PHEV vehicles. States: A manufacturing defect in one or more of vehiles high voltage battery cells may cause the cell to develop an internal short circuit. Parts and software are not available just yet. In the event of a high voltage battery cell internal short circuit, one will experience a Stop Safely Now message and warning icon in the instrument cluster. One may also experience a battery thermal venting potentially resulting in a vehicle fire !!!
 
#4 ·
3 reported thermal venting events in Europe between April 2024 and August 2024 but no reported fires.
Has anyone experienced the failure they are describing? What are the odds of the failure occurring?
Not another safety recall on my 2022 Escape PHEV, anyone else received this new recall? It states that it affects 2020-2024 Escape PHEV vehicles. States: A manufacturing defect in one or more of vehiles high voltage battery cells may cause the cell to develop an internal short circuit. Parts and software are not available just yet. In the event of a high voltage battery cell internal short circuit, one will experience a Stop Safely Now message and warning icon in the instrument cluster. One may also experience a battery thermal venting potentially resulting in a vehicle fire !!!
Has anyone actually experienced the failure described? Or do they have an estimate of odds of failure occurring? If Murphy has anything to do with it the failure will only occur when you a thousand miles or more from homeland I'm planning a long road trip this spring.
 
#5 ·
Has anyone experienced the failure they are describing? What are the odds of the failure occurring?

Has anyone actually experienced the failure described? Or do they have an estimate of odds of failure occurring? If Murphy has anything to do with it the failure will only occur when you a thousand miles or more from homeland I'm planning a long road trip this spring.
Read the chronology on page 3 of the attached report. It lists the known instances of the issue. Total of 4 reports out of 20,000 vehicles.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
My wife has a 2023 Escape PHEV. I've been reading about this and figured we would get the letter, but never have. I put the VIN in the Recall and Customer Satisfaction website on Ford.com, and it came back saying NO recalls or Customer Satisfaction programs. So, is it possible then that not all the vehicles from these years is affected? Maybe some have a different type of battery built on certain days?
 
#15 ·
I just found out about this recall on my 2023 PHEV due to having electrical problems whereby all sensors went wacko giving incorrect messages, telling me the engine was running on FordPass when it wasn't, and failing to start for about an hour when something reset itself and the car magically went back to normal and started. The recall says that the vehicle should not be plugged in to charge the high voltage battery as that will increase the risk of problems up to and including fire. Oh boy.
 
#18 ·
I’m not panicking either. However, IF what they are working on is also the fix to my problems related to the vehicle not starting, electronics going bonkers, and we follow their recommendations to not plug our car in it may be 3-6 months of driving a PHEV without its being a PHEV. And during this wait time, we have a vehicle that won’t reliably start at home or elsewhere - that’s a big concern. MAYBE my local dealer will put another warranty 12v battery in this week. I’m 100% certain they won’t if the battery tests good unless the tech finds a dead car when fetching it to take it into the shop, like 6 months ago.
 
#20 ·
So in the recall it states this, "Ford is advising customers to immediately refrain from charging their vehicle to maintain a lower charge level in the high voltage battery, reducing the risk of a vehicle fire until a remedy is available." The way I read this they are saying NOT to let the battery drain to a low level and then charge. Preferring to charge more often and keep the battery in a higher state. Possibly reduces the risk? In my case that might be possible because often it is smaller 20-25 mile trips or less. But not sure if that means it is a thought but not what the percentage of failure is reduced to.
 
#21 ·
CrazyJim,

you are interpreting Ford’s guidance incorrectly.

Do not plug-in and charge the Li-Ion battery at all until the vehicle is returned to the dealer for the recall.

Especially, do not let the battery charge to 100% since charging the battery to high charge states creates the greatest stress on the battery. If the battery insulator is damaged. A battery failure is most likely to occur at a high charge level.
 
#23 ·
You can check you recall by providing VIN from Ford site. https://www.ford.com/support/recalls/

Here is what mine says Now. The section "Remedy" has been updated to include the wordings of "Do not plug in your vehicle to charge the high voltage battery until the software remedy is completed at your dealer."

Campaign/NHTSA#
24S79/24V954
Issue Date
2025-01-06
Description
A manufacturing defect in one or more of your vehicles high voltage battery cells may cause the cell to develop an internal short circuit.
Safety Risk
In the event of a high voltage battery cell internal short circuit, you will experience a stop safely now message and warning icon in the instrument cluster. You may also experience a loss of motive power, increasing the risk of a crash. You will continue to have 12-VOLT v accessories, steering, and braking control. You may also experience battery thermal venting potentially resulting in a vehicle fire, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy
Do not plug in your vehicle to charge the high voltage battery until the software remedy is completed at your dealer. Parts and software are not available. Ford Motor Company is working to provide parts and software if needed for this repair. When the remedy becomes available, Ford Motor Company will notify you via mail to schedule a service appointment with your dealer for repairs to be completed free of charge. The remedy is anticipated to be available in the second quarter of 2025.
Next Steps
Contact your local dealer and schedule a maintenance appointment. To find your local dealer, use the "find a dealer" feature below.
 
#28 · (Edited)
My take is that when Ford tells owners of PHEV "Do not plug in your vehicle to charge the high voltage battery until the software remedy is completed at your dealer", it does not leave much room for speculations. They don't specify, L1 or L2. Or level of SOC allowed to be charged. It is a blank Statement telling us not to plug in. Period. It is just one step less restrictive of saying "do not drive the car". I bought the car specifically for its ability to charge it from the wall and drive it as an EV without fireing the ICE. For me, this safety measure is not an acceptable remedy.
 
#29 · (Edited)
My take is that when Ford tells owners of PHEV "Do not plug in your vehicle to charge the high voltage battery until the software remedy is completed at your dealer", it does not leave much room for speculations. They don't specify, L1 or L2. Or level of SOC allowed to be charged. It is a blank Statement not to plug in. Period. It just one step less restrictive of saying "do not drive the car". I bought the car specifically for its ability to charge it from the wall and drive it as an EV without furring the ICE. For me, this safety measure is not an acceptable remedy.
Yes totally agree.I paid a premium for a PHEV and do not expect to have to drive it as an HEV until Ford finally comes up with a remedy.I purchased mine new in March 2022 expecting a reasonably reliable trouble free car,Between the outstanding recalls,driving back and forth to dealer for software updates and warranty work due to an antifreeze loss it is starting to become a real disappointment.It's not as if this is Fords first attempt at building a HEV or a PHEV .They have years of experience.So one would think they would have it figured out by now
 
#35 ·
But is the remedy actually a replacement part or just software to disable the vehicle from being charged ever again? That's what I'm wondering about, I've gotten the recall notice from Ford so my bad luck Escape once again will the the 'fix' of not allowing me to drive the car. If it means to disable the vehicle if a certain high voltage occurs and then I get it towed to have the battery replaced ok then.
 
#37 ·
If it means to disable the vehicle if a certain high voltage occurs and then I get it towed to have the battery replaced ok then.
They are covering the worst case scenario. I think the part about "do not charge" is to prevent potential battery fire.

From what Ford has done on earlier engine compartment fire issue, I suspect they will try to bandaid the problem without replacing potentially faulty batteries from all cars recalled. So, yes if you are "lucky" to get the 'stop safely now message and warning' warning at right timing at convenient location and shorted out battery gets replaced by Warranty, that may be better than having a software patch. But... What if this happened at worst time and place? Or, if the car catches fire in your garage? That's a lot of risk to take.
 
#39 ·
#41 ·
Snail mail, email and a message in the FordPass app. I expect a phone call before too long. Maximum CYA. Nice to know the almighty Samsung is the ultimate bad guy in this. I hope they get their asses spanked hard.
Thanks for finding and sharing the link. Mine is 2022 that really has had no issues at all and giving great mileage. Only used about 6 tankfuls of gas in those 3 years and have solar along with battery backup. Thus driving used to cost almost nothing. Very happy with the CVT and most of the features. Ford software inferface to charging options is really lame and hard to know when it takes.
 
#42 ·
When you say "driving used to cost almost nothing," are you factoring in the cost of electricity to charge the battery? I live in the Pacific Northwest, where we enjoy relatively low electric rates, but I did a back of an envelope calculation that led me to the conclusion thatthe cost of charging the battery is the equivalent of about $2 a gallon of gas. Well that's a lot less than gas in Washington state, I wouldn't characterize it as "almost nothing."
 
#49 ·
Gotta love this recall.

We decided to install a Level 2 charger as it seems we are doing more short trips around town and never quite get a full charge, also to future proof. Spent the time and money to buy my charger and run my conduit, then was going to wait till the piggy bank replenished till I bought the wire and permit. Was going to wait a little longer to buy the charger but some moron decided to slap tariffs on Canada so figured to get it sooner and beat the price increase. So now I'm at the point of buy the wire now and finish the project or wait while Ford screws around till who knows how long with the fix and hope the copper prices don't jump.

Still a little pissed at Ford about conveniently not bothering to tell about the mileage drop in the cooler months. I understand why the drop but explaining it to my wife is a lost cause. Only reason I bought this bolt bucket was to tow behind my motorhome.
 
#50 ·
Here is the email from Ford I just received:

Building vehicles you can count on is one of our most important jobs. Which is why we’ve issued a recall for certain 2020‑2024 Ford Escape® Plug‑in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).

You should immediately refrain from charging your vehicle to maintain a lower charge level in the high voltage battery, reducing the risk of a vehicle fire until a remedy is available.

A manufacturing defect in one or more of your vehicle’s high voltage battery cells may cause the cell to develop an internal short circuit.

In the event of a high voltage battery cell internal short circuit, you will experience a Stop Safely Now message and warning icon in the instrument cluster. You may also experience a loss of motive power, increasing the risk of a crash. You will continue to have 12‑volt (V) accessories, steering, and braking control. You may also experience battery thermal venting potentially resulting in a vehicle fire, increasing the risk of injury.

Parts and software are expected to become available in the second quarter of 2025. You will be notified by mail as soon as parts and software are available.

For any questions about safety recall 24S79, please contact our Ford Customer Relationship Center at 866‑436‑7332 and a Ford Recall team member will be happy to assist you. You can also visit us online at ford.com/support.

As always, thank you for being a Ford Owner.