A potential safety defect in its top-selling electric vehicle has led Ford Motor to instruct dealers to immediately stop sales, and a recall of vehicles already sold is expected to be put into place.
The Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s top-selling e-car, has a potential safety defect that could lead to the car’s losing mobility while in motion. The country’s factory in Mexico produced the 49,000 Mustang Mach-Es in question and has temporarily halted production.
According to a CNBC report quoted by Breitbart, Ford sent notices to dealerships stating that the potentially affected vehicles include 2021 and 2022 Mach-Es built from May 27, 2020, through May 24, 2022, at the automaker’s Cuautitlan plant in Mexico. About 100,000 Mach-Es were produced during this time frame, but less than half are suspected to have the potential safety issue.
The issue lies with the cars’ high voltage battery main contactors, which is the power circuit’s electrically-controlled switch. The contactors have the potential to overheat, leading to a malfunction that would prevent the car from starting or if in motion, lose power entirely.
This isn’t the first recall of Ford’s e-car, nor is it the only recall of any electric vehicle.
The Mach-E has been recalled several times, most recently for a software error that could have caused unintentional acceleration or deceleration, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Last June Tesla recalled almost 300,000 Model 3 and Model Y cars over an online software update related to assisted driving. This feature could be activated by the driver accidentally, the recall claimed, causing unintended acceleration. The Tesla recall was put into motion by Chinese regulators for vehicles both made in China and imported to the Communist nation. In May of last year, a Tesla vehicle crashed into a parking lot column after suspected unintentional acceleration. However, according to Tesla, no fault was found in the vehicle’s braking system, and that the incident was the result of driver error.
Amid recalls, Ford says costs to build Mustang Mach-E are skyrocketing https://t.co/XPR2h3QNXi by @rebeccabellan
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) June 15, 2022
Earlier Mach-E recalls were issued over a myriad of problems, including improperly attached rear seat belts, inadequate front windshield bonding which could lead to separation in the event of a crash, and inadequate panoramic roof glass panel bonding.
It’s been a rocky few years for Ford as it has had issues with its non-electric vehicles as well.
Its “cash cow” vehicle, the Ford Explorer, experienced at least four recalls of its 2020 edition, with consumer watchdog groups claiming the company didn’t completely fix chronic performance and malfunction issues, according to a CNBC report. During this time the company announced the launch of its Mach-E, and somewhat hubristically expected the rollout of its new electric SUV to go smoothly.
Breitbart reports that Ford is optimistic that they will have a solution to the Mach-E contactor problem sometime before the end of summer. However, the cost to build the Mach-E continues to skyrocket, compounding profit forecasts.
If you’ve bought a Mustang Mach-E you will be notified via mail of the recall as soon as car dealerships receive repair instructions and parts ordering information from Ford. A Ford spokesperson announced that repairs would most likely involve a “software update to the car’s “Secondary On-Board Diagnostic Control Module and Battery Energy Control Module,” and this update can be conducted without the need for the e-car owner to drive to the dealership.
