Ford employees produce the electrical F-150 Lightning pickup onDec 13, 2022 at the car manufacturer’s Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC).
Michael Wayland|CNBC
DETROIT– A malfunctioning battery that triggered a Ford F-150 Lightning in the business’s belongings to ignite previously this month isn’t the only issue the Detroit car manufacturer has actually just recently experienced with its brand-new all-electric pickup.
OnJan 27, a week prior to the fire, the business provided a “customer service action” for a little group of automobiles to have actually parts changed to “prevent performance degradation” of the high-voltage battery. Ford Motor stated the issue just impacted about 100 automobiles up until now and is not thought to be linked to theFeb 4 fire. Ford stated it is keeping track of the automobiles from another location and proactively calling consumers when the business identifies the issue.
Despite the little number of automobiles affected, it contributes to a pattern of issues Ford and other car manufacturers are having as they invest billions in hurrying electrical automobiles to market. Many of the market’s concerns have actually been small. But when they include the expensive, and complex, batteries of the automobiles, monetary issues and major security issues– particularly fires– can develop.
For Ford, the F-150 Lightning issues become part of continuous quality and functional concerns, as detailed by CEO Jim Farley to financiers days prior to the fire took place in a Ford holding backyard.
“We have deeply entrenched issues in our industrial system that have proven tough to root out,” he statedFeb 2 throughout a fourth-quarter revenues call. “Candidly, the strength of our products and revenue has masked this dysfunctionality for a long time. It’s not an excuse, but it’s our reality. And we’re dealing with it urgently.”
Ford, which executives have actually stated was the most remembered car manufacturer for the previous 2 years, is not alone in having issues with its latest EV launches.
Toyota Motor in 2015 needed to remember its very first mass-produced worldwide EV since of a threat the wheels might come loose. General Motors 2 years ago remembered all of its Chevrolet Bolt EV designs due to fire concerns. Others such as Hyundai, BMW and Volvo likewise have actually remembered electrical automobiles, consisting of plug-in hybrids, due to fire threats recently.
To be clear, fire issues are not unique to EVs, they have actually traditionally been issues for the automobile market and continue to happen. Stellantis‘ Ram Trucks today revealed a recall of 340,000 big diesel pickup to change an electrical adapter after reports of 6 fires.
Ford’sJan 27 notification was provided for a battery module issue, which can initially reveal a “wrench” caution on the dash prior to decreasing into a restrained efficiency mode or, at worst, ending up being stable by not moving into drive.
“This not a safety recall. This is a proactive investigation to help prevent customers of the identified vehicles from experiencing a degradation in battery performance and to obtain field parts for evaluation,” Ford spokesperson Marty Gunsberg stated in an emailed declaration.
The quantity of “customer service actions” Ford has actually provided for the F-150 Lightning considering that its launch in April 2022 was not right away readily available.
Ford, as interacted to consumers, is changing “certain high-voltage battery module(s)” from the automobiles with brand-new parts totally free of charge to fix up the concern. The time required for the repair is one day, according to details offered by a “CXS, Ford Concern Team Battery Electric Specialist” to a minimum of one client.
Regarding the concern that triggered the fire and triggered Ford to stop production and deliveries of the lorry early recently, Ford stated it is uninformed of any occurrences or concerns connected with automobiles currently provided to dealerships or consumers.
Ford stated Wednesday it thinks engineers have actually discovered the source of the fire. The examination into the issue is anticipated to be finished by the end of next week, followed by modifications to the truck’s battery production procedure that “could take a few weeks.”
The F-150 Lightning is being carefully enjoyed by financiers, as it’s the very first mainstream electrical pickup on the marketplace and a significant launch forFord The business remains in the procedure of almost doubling production capability of the lorry at a Michigan plant to 150,000 systems by fall 2023.
Ford does not launch production information for the F-150 Lightning, nevertheless the business offered more than 2,200 of the automobiles last month. In 2022, Ford reported sales of more than 15,600 systems of the lorry.
