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Ford Recalls Just 18 Electric F-150 Lightning Trucks Over Battery Fire Risks, It's a Joke

After an F-150 Lightning was consumed by fire in a holding lot while awaiting a final quality control check, Ford decided to halt production and shipments of the truck. The Blue Oval said the vehicles already delivered to customers or dealers were not affected, but it was wrong. Ford is now recalling 18 F-150 Lightning trucks because they might have been built with the faulty battery cells that caused the February fire.
Ford recalls just 18 electric F-150 Lightning trucks over battery fire risks 8 photos
Photo: Ford | Edited
Ford holds F-150 Lightning deliveries indefinitelyFord holds F-150 Lightning deliveries indefinitelyFord F-150 LightningFord F-150 Lightning productionFord F-150 Lightning productionFord F-150 Lightning productionFord F-150 Lightning production
Have you noticed when your flight is delayed or canceled that the airline never tells you from the start what to expect? It begins with a one-hour delay, even when they know there's no other plane to replace the one that caused the mess. And then, they extend the periods just to keep you hooked and only cancel the flight when it's too late, and you run out of options. Well, it's the same with recalls. Ford announced a recall for just 18 F-150 Lightning that may have been built with faulty battery cells that caused a fire in February.

This is bizarre because Ford initially said it was "confident" that no trucks already delivered to customers were affected. The Blue Oval continued sales of F-150 Lightning that were already on dealer lots as if nothing had happened. However, it decided to stop shipments of new vehicles to dealers while halting production at Rouge EV Center in Michigan.

Ford issued a statement saying that it identified the battery issue that caused the February fire as a cell manufacturing defect that occurred over a four-week period starting at the end of last year. According to Ford, the defective cells were likely to experience a short circuit at a high state of charge that could result in a vehicle fire.

This implies that Ford has found which battery cell lots were defective and knows exactly what vehicles are affected. Even at the 2022 production level (15,000 units), we bet Ford built more than 300 Lightning trucks per week before the February fire. And it's fair to assume that SK On factory where the defective battery cells were produced has at least a similar production capacity. Ford only issued the In-Transit stop-ship order in February, so recalling only 18 trucks seems like a joke when there are probably hundreds built with defective cells.

It's not unusual for a car manufacturer to extend a recall to a new batch of vehicles. We expect Ford to reconsider the F-150 Lightning recall, especially as the alternative could prove much more damaging. The Chevrolet Bolt battery fire fiasco started small, and at first, GM wanted to fix the problem with a software update. Then it developed into a huge, $2 billion recall to replace tens of thousands of battery packs. Surely Ford, the most recalled car brand in the U.S. last year, would want to avoid that.

The Blue Oval hasn't issued a "park outside" recommendation to customers, although it says that the trucks should be taken for repair as soon as possible. The fix consists in replacing the faulty battery pack, and it remains to be seen when Ford has the spare battery packs to perform the repairs. Ford says customers may continue to drive and charge their vehicles, although I'd take that advice cautiously.
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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