Ford Issues Stop Sale After Mustang Mach E Recall
About half of all Mustang Mach E models produced – 50,000 – are affected by overheating battery connectors.
Ford has issued a recall for 48,924 Mustang Mach E EV’s – about half of the total produced – in a statement on Monday June 13th. According to InsideEVs, the problem involves the high voltage main battery connectors. In conditions such as fast charging or wide open throttle, these connectors can overheat. Cars built between May 27, 2020 and May 24, 2022 at Ford’s Mexico plant are affected.
A memo from Ford further states, “overheating may lead to arcing and deformation of the electrical contact surfaces, which can result in a contactor that remains open or a contactor that welds closed. An overheated contactor that opens while driving can result in a loss of motive power, which can increase the risk of an accident.” They do not indicate the result of a welded closed contactor.
Because of the recall, Ford has ordered dealers to initiate a ‘stop sale.’ This doesn’t necessarily stop dealers from selling the Mach E, instead it simply asks for a delayed delivery till the fix is in place.
According to the previously mentioned InsideEVs report, that fix will be available by next month. It’ll be an over-the-air fix, per CNBC. Reprograming of the secondary on-board diagnostic control module and battery energy control module will take place. So dealers wont have a backlog of undeliverable Mach E Mustangs. Plus, new owners won’t have to wait all that long to pick up their new ride.
No notes have been made on if the new software update will actually decrease performance. We’d assume it would to some degree, because the terminals that are hot and causing the issue are hot because they have a whole lot of wattage moving through them at once.
Still, the Mach E has been chugging along with great sales figures. April of 2022, marked 3,085 Mach E Mustang sales. This places the car second in line for most popular BEV behind the Tesla Model Y. Additionally, the Mach E has had strong sales figures against the traditional Mustang. So clearly, wearing the Mustang nameplate isn’t hurting it whatsoever.
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Photos courtesy of InsideEVs, CNBC