Back in February, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into select 2021 Ford Bronco Sport models after its Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) unit received 31 complaints from owners who said that their crossovers have suffered from a “loss of engine power accompanied by complete electrical system failure.” Consumers that reported having this issue on the NHTSA’s vehicle owner questionnaires (VOQs) say that their vehicles lost power while they were out driving. Now, however, that investigation has been closed.
During the course of its investigation, the NHTSA discovered that select 2021-2024 Ford Bronco Sport and 2022-2023 Ford Maverick models equipped with the 12V enhanced flooded battery (EFB) were found to have experienced, on some occasions, an abrupt failure while owners were driving them. This failure stems from an internal corrosion issue that is influenced by exposure to higher underhood temperatures. If the loss of 12-volt battery voltage isn’t detected by the vehicle’s battery management sensor, the vehicle could experience a loss of power, without any sort of warning.
FoMoCo proceeded to issue a recall addressing this problem in April, pertaining to 456,565 models in total – 402,978 Bronco Sports and 53,587 Mavericks. Ultimately, the NHTSA found this action to be satisfactory, which is why it chose to close this investigation – though it also retains the right to take additional action if it deems that to be necessary in the future.
“The recall remedy provides updated calibrations to the body control module and powertrain control module. Ford indicated that the update will result in improved detection of 12V battery state of charge during drive cycles and will provide notification to the driver if the battery significantly degrades while driving,” NHTSA wrote of its decision. “Additionally, Ford has replaced the EFB with an absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery as both a service component for the subject vehicles and as original equipment for Bronco Sport vehicles with production dates beginning in mid-March 2024. The warranty claim rate for peer vehicles equipped with an AGM battery is substantially lower than that for the subject vehicle population. In view of the recall action being taken by Ford, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation.”
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