Ford’s Mustang Mach-E recall to forestall energy failures is beneath investigation

The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors and Security Administration (NHTSA) is opening a question on Ford’s response to a recall final yr that affected virtually 49,000 Mustang Mach-E autos, as reported by Automotive Information. The June 2022 recall was issued as a consequence of a malfunction involving overheating of the electrical SUV’s high-voltage contactors, which, at worst, could make the EV instantly lose energy on the highway, rising the chance of a crash.

Occurances would usually observe high-speed battery charging or repeated quick acceleration periods.

Ford issued an over-the-air (OTA) software program replace to answer the recall, which was designed to cut back energy if the contactors bought too sizzling — in hopes of stopping sudden energy loss and potential injury to the contacts. The automaker additionally held new Mach-E deliveries at dealerships till they acquired the software program replace. The automaker had moreover opened a service bulletin to exchange the Excessive Voltage Battery Junction Field in affected autos.

Now, NHTSA’s Workplace of Defects Investigation stories receiving 12 client complaints relating to Ford’s resolution.

The Workplace of Defects Investigation (ODI) has opened this Recall Question (RQ) after receiving 12 client complaints alleging a excessive voltage battery primary contactor failure in MY 2021-2022 Ford Mach-E autos (topic autos) that had been included in Recall 22V-412 and remedied previous to the reported incidents. The treatment on this recall was a Secondary On-Board Diagnostic Management Module (SOBDMC) software program replace to observe contactor temperature and cut back battery energy to forestall injury to the contactor, and a Battery Power Management Module (BECM) software program replace to observe contactor resistance to establish an overheated contactor and cut back automobile energy to forestall additional injury.

One buyer criticism dated August nineteenth says they needed to get the Excessive Voltage Battery Junction Field changed twice for a similar electrical system difficulty. One other criticism in February talked about the failure reoccurred after getting the software program replace.

The unique recall affected 48,924 2021 and 2022 Mustang Mach-E autos constructed between Could twenty seventh, 2020, and Could twenty fourth, 2022, at Ford’s Cuautitlan plant in Mexico. For the brand new question, NHTSA says an estimated 64,727 autos are a part of its investigation.