Back in June, a recall was issued for the Ford Mustang Mach-E after it was discovered that the EV crossover was experiencing an issue that could cause certain examples to become immobile. The recall – which affects 48,924 of roughly 100,000 Mach-Es produced thus far – also prompted Ford to temporarily halt deliveries of that model. At first, Ford didn’t have a fix for this issue, which is caused by a problem with high voltage battery connections, but a workaround became available at dealers last week, a bit earlier than expected. Regardless, three Ford Mustang Mach-E owners have now filed a lawsuit against the automaker alleging that it knew about this potential design flaw and hasn’t yet figured out how to fix it.
“Companies go through recalls all the time,” lawyer Aashish Desai of the Desai Law Firm in Costa Mesa, California, told the Detroit Free Press. “But when you have damages that affect a safety issue and the company doesn’t appear to have a solution, then you get into a problem that nobody wants to drive around a car that may stop working while they’re driving. I’m shocked they still have these cars out on the road.”
“Ford has actual knowledge that, because of the way in which the battery contactors were designed and integrated into the Defective Vehicles, the contactor switch could suddenly fail during normal operation, cutting off engine power and certain electrical systems in the cars, which in turn, disables key vehicle components, safety features or other vehicle functions, leaving occupants vulnerable to crashes, serious injuries, and death,” the lawsuit reads. “Ford was provided notice of these issues and defects by numerous complaints filed against it, as well as its own internal knowledge derived from testing and internal expert analysis.”
Ford’s temporary fix for the issue is software only, with no hardware involved, and reportedly ensures that the EV crossover doesn’t “brick” itself, or stop working altogether. Overheating connectors would instead trigger a “service vehicle soon” message, protecting them from damage in the process. This means that owners could at least drive their Mach-Es to the dealer for the update in reduced power mode, rather than having to tow the vehicle there. The software update is merely a way to protect the Mach-E’s contactors – not permanently fix the problem.
“That doesn’t make sense to me,” Desai said. “I’m afraid there’s something else going on here. Does Ford have the connectors? Can they not get them? Are they too expensive? Why were smaller ones put in? Why did they make this mistake? We’re talking about 50,000 cars that can just turn off unexpectedly. At that point, it’s time for a lawsuit.”
We’ll have more on this and all Ford lawsuits soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford recall news, Mustang Mach-E news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
FORD will make news when it doesn’t have a problem at the rate they’re going. One things for sure, the dealer mechanics won’t go hungry.
Just when I was looking, again, at buying a Ford product to, all these unresolved recalls come out, like this one, the 2.5l hybrid motor failures, the Bronco V6 motor failures, etc., etc., etc., and it makes me loose confidence in Ford products. I think at this stage, Alfa Romeo has a better reliability record then Ford.
I went through such a “bricking” over Easter 2021 and it was a mess getting the car towed (dollies, flat bed), rental car. While it was frustrating ever mostly due to the Roadside Assistant service that Ford subbed to. They were awful refusing the only competent tow service because they were too expensive. And they lied too. But I give Ford Customer Service for making good on the issue. I understand any car having issues and I wasn’t used to this never having had to tow my car in over 60 years and 45 different cars and trucks. We all need to have a little patience. It is a brand new car and I enjoy it immensely. Oh, and I loathe tort attorneys. Unless you did actually get injured, just accept your responsibility for buying the car in the first place. Damn near everything in life is a crap shoot!
Well, well, well, look what we have here. I hope people stop purchasing Fords and let the company go bankrupt to eventually losing all customers. How many issues are they willing to go through to see that they are TERRIBLE at engineering, designing and partnering with suppliers. They need to hire new designers and engineers who really want to see the company for the first time ever, produce a quality product. Ford is the worst auto manufacturer who are still in business. They are the most unreliable of all. I hope ALL Mach E owners sue them. How dare them to sit quite on such an issue saying they didn’t have a resolution until now.
Woe to those people with that car that take it to the dealer to have it repaired. You might not see it again until next year. I tried scheduling my 2016 TRANSIT CONNECT work van for an oil change the other day. They told me that they can’t take any appointments until next month. I asked him if it was because of all of those FORD recalls? He claims it’s because so many techs are on vacation. If that’s the case, the manager obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing scheduling too many vacations at once. If they can’t handle details like that, what makes you think they can fix your electric MUSTANG in a reasonable time?
Well you are correct any number of oil change places would do for what the “namesake” states. But many of these places can’t seem to handle tire rotations. If possible, I would rather go to one place to take care of things all at once and not have to wait or put the van down for a day more than once in a while and have to make arrangements to use a different vehicle. The FORD dealer I use is the only one nearby and I don’t want to scurry around to go several more miles to handle that. I like to keep to a schedule if I can.