Back in August 2020, The Blue Oval issued a stop-sale and recall for the Ford Kuga PHEV in Europe after a handful of models caught fire. It later discovered that the cause of the issue was a battery cell contamination in the supplier’s production process, and ultimately determined that the best course of action was to replace the battery pack in affected Ford Kuga PHEV models. Now, however, the top-selling Ford Kuga PHEV has been recalled in Europe yet again, this time, over another battery issue.
According to The Guardian, Ford has issued a recall for 26,000 2019-2025 Kuga PHEV models and is instructing owners not to charge their vehicles after it discovered that those crossovers could short-circuit and lose power while driving. This can lead to a loss of power and a potential fire, but at the moment, the automaker doesn’t have a fix for the problem. Ford says that owners can continue to drive their vehicles, but has also instructed them to exit immediately if the “stop safely now” warning is displayed. Ford estimates that a fix for this issue will be ready to roll out by July.
The previous recall for older Ford Kuga PHEV models pertained to 27,000 units, and came after a handful actually did catch on fire in Europe. Originally, Ford believed the fires were likely caused by the overheating of the vehicle’s high-voltage batteries caused by a lack of ventilation, but it later discovered that batter cell contamination was to blame. At that time, the automaker instructed owners not to drive their vehicle in electric-only mode or charge the battery externally.
Additionally, the North American version of the Kuga PHEV, the Ford Escape PHEV and its C2 Platform mate, the Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring, were both delayed as a direct result of the stop-sale and recall after both were originally scheduled to enter production at the Louisville Assembly Plant that same spring and summer, respectively.
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