Ford has issued a recall that applies to just about 15,000 items of the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid constructed in the course of the 2019 and 2020 mannequin years. The sedans affected within the marketing campaign are outfitted with a faulty present interruption gadget (CID) that may, in some circumstances, trigger a fireplace.
Assigned recall quantity 23V-440 by the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA), the marketing campaign contains 14,452 items of the Fusion Energi constructed between December 6, 2017, and July 27, 2020. Ford estimates that the defect is current in 100% of the recalled vehicles.
The corporate explains that “CID activation in a high-voltage battery cell can lead to extra voltage and present circulate by way of the battery power management module (BECM).” In flip, this will harm the BECM and trigger the drivetrain to show off, although Ford provides that drivers may see a “cease safely now” message within the instrument cluster earlier than this occurs. Injury to the BECM may trigger “a localized fireplace.”
Ford states that it isn’t conscious of any accidents or accidents linked to the defect, nevertheless it notes that its Development and Early Warning Assist (TEWS) group reported 5 situations of fireside allegations that began within the trunk of a 2019 Fusion plug-in hybrid. The agency explains that these incidents occurred between March and Could 2022, and that the fires began whereas the vehicles have been getting a brand new BECM put in by a dealership.
On February 8, 2023, Ford despatched its sellers a technical service bulletin (TSB) instructing them to switch the high-voltage battery if a buyer brings a Fusion Energi for service as a result of a number of voltage sense diagnostic hassle code as a substitute of solely changing the BECM.
Whereas it searches for an answer to the issue, Ford is asking house owners of affected vehicles to “chorus from charging their automobiles to keep up a decrease cost stage within the high-voltage battery” to scale back the chance of the drivetrain shutting down and the chance of a hearth. The corporate will attain out to house owners by mail beginning on July 10, 2023, and it plans to maintain them up to date as engineers uncover extra particulars about the issue.
