Ford Recalling 18 Lightning Vehicles After Battery Fire

[Pod]

Do not get me wrong, I love my poor man XLT but if Ford is giving me a new battery, I’ll take an upgraded truck with it for my troubles

Sponsored

 

[LUXMAN]

OK - we discover the defect pretty quick and we can look back at 2 months of production and are confident that only 18 had the problem - knowing the packs are already sealed shipped and in trucks.

I'm thinking I'm willing to meet anyone in Vegas - I'm taking the line that this is not the last we'll hear of this and the number 18 is just getting started.

Maybe but I hope they are right. I don't need people asking me if I am worried it is gonna catch fire.
That said, I know car manufacturers like their supplies "just in time", but I wonder if that applies to battery packs?
meaning, How fast does SK make them?
Is Ford the only one receiving batteries from them?
And do they make them is batches while making other customers batteries at other times?
So maybe the variables here allowed them to narrow it down.... unless those other battery replacments they emailed customers about are actually part of it ....

 

[davehu]

I'm assuming that all trucks built and awaiting shipment also had post-fire battery cell inspections but I'm just guessing.

aren't we all?

 

[davehu]

Maybe but I hope they are right. I don't need people asking me if I am worried it is gonna catch fire.
That said, I know car manufacturers like their supplies "just in time", but I wonder if that applies to battery packs?
meaning, How fast does SK make them?
Is Ford the only one receiving batteries from them?
And do they make them is batches while making other customers batteries at other times?
So maybe the variables here allowed them to narrow it down.... unless those other battery replacments they emailed customers about are actually part of it ....

when someone asks you that, ask them if they are worried about their ICE vehicle catching fire?. according to statista.com there were over 178,000 highway vehicle fires last year. and over 6.5 million. but I like this one from way.com/ with this graph:

 

[Replika]

when someone asks you that, ask them if they are worried about their ICE vehicle catching fire?. according to statista.com there were over 178,000 highway vehicle fires last year. and over 6.5 million. but I like this one from way.com/ with this graph:

I'm not concerned because BEV fires are very rare, but this graph is probably missing context.
Are the cars all the same age? BEVs tend to be much newer. A recall is also often a preventative action by a manufacturer. To a point it's at their discretion. Lastly, a BEV fire is very difficult to extinguish.

 

[Frankis843]

The notice has not yet been posted on the Ford dealer site....

 

[ivan256]

when someone asks you that, ask them if they are worried about their ICE vehicle catching fire?. according to statista.com there were over 178,000 highway vehicle fires last year. and over 6.5 million. but I like this one from way.com/ with this graph:

I'm not worried about my Lightning catching fire AT ALL. However I hate misleading charts like this.

My lightning is parked right next to my '76 'vette that has a completely custom pulse-width-modulated fuel system I built myself with no prior experience, and completely custom wiring. As such, the 'vette is probably a million times more likely to burn to the ground. However if it were to catch on fire I have complete confidence the local fire department would know how to put it out in a short period of time. If the Lightning catches fire.....

Also, the 'vette is sitting there with the battery disconnected. The Lightning is hooked up to my household wiring through a 100 Amp breaker sucking down power as fast as it can. If the 'vette catches fire I'll almost certainly be right there when it happens and my fire extinguisher is rated for that sort of thing. If the Lightning catches fire while charging I'll be somewhere else (which one of those is better? Hard to say....)

And that's before you even get into the fact that they divided by sales, and not by the number of registered vehicles.

 

[Bills R Electric]

Yeah this most likely affects just the trucks that somehow made it's way to customers after the stop shipment was issued. I know we had a few forum members who took delivery then. It would be interesting to hear if they were affected. My date hasn't changed from 3-14 to 3-20 since they pushed it back the 2nd time a month ago. I'm hopeful, but also wouldn't be surprised if my truck is back at the factory and my expected delivery gets pushed back again.

I want to know what ford is doing to figure out what trucks are affected. Are they sending workers out to the railyard? I'd imagine just the process of determining what trucks are affected can be time consuming.

I was notified in January that My production date was supposed to be February 6th.

Does that mean I was in that 4 week production period of the batteries from hell?
Aaaah.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I was notified in January that My production date was supposed to be February 6th.

Does that mean I was in that 4 week production period of the batteries from hell?
Aaaah.

There is a potential .........

 

[Bills R Electric]

There is a potential .........

That is what I am thinking.
If they built my vehicle (they sent me a VIN in January too) and put a battery from hellfire in, and now have to pull it out, just give me a NEW different truck. I have waited a long time. I can wait longer.

 

[TaxmanHog]

That is what I am thinking.
If they built my vehicle (they sent me a VIN in January too) and put a battery from hellfire in, and now have to pull it out, just give me a NEW different truck. I have waited a long time. I can wait longer.

I think they will drop & swap the entire packs on trucks at the factory, then ship the defective packs to a special re-work shop to speed up the mitigation and recovery of on site held inventory

 

[Bills R Electric]

I think they will drop & swap the entire packs on trucks at the factory, then ship the defective packs to a special re-work shop to speed up the mitigation and recovery of on site held inventory

Of course if it was a Tesla Model Y with the structural battery, you are not "swapping" batteries.
Don't know what is involved with the Lightning....

 

[TaxmanHog]

Of course if it was a Tesla Model Y with the structural battery, you are not "swapping" batteries.
Don't know what is involved with the Lightning....

8 bolts, a couple plumbing hoses and the LV/HV power connections R&R is under 4 hours w/o opening the pack for additional work, save that for a special reconditioning shop.

 

[GDN]

Of course if it was a Tesla Model Y with the structural battery, you are not "swapping" batteries.
Don't know what is involved with the Lightning....

Why not? Just because it is structural doesn't mean it isn't replacable?

Although it may not be easy. I may eat my words here, but likely Tesla wouldn't have this kind of problem either.

https://insideevs.com/news/587147/tesla-structural-battery-pack-removal-replacement/

 

[CdnCGM23]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/ford-recalls-electric-f-150-lightning-pickups.html

This would appear to be good news overall given that Ford was able to narrowly identify the affected trucks. If you lucked out and got delivery right before the hold, maybe not so much.

I especially like this part…

A Ford spokeswoman declined to disclose how many trucks Ford has in holding that may have the issue. She said the company is "applying quality actions to already-produced vehicles with batteries built in this four-week window which we have been holding."

With that statement, I am hopeful that they have actually been doing something with my truck that was supposed be delivered back during the week of 2/6. It was bumped to 2/13, 2/20, then 3/21. My date hasn’t changed since they bumped it to 3/21-3/27. Fingers crossed.


***************************
MODERATOR NOTES
***************************
This topic is related to the older conversation located here, which has been locked to minimize redundant posts.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/notice-from-ford-battery-replacement-needed.14433/

My date changed to Apr 13th a couple of days ago. Think it's back in Dearborn getting a new battery!

Sponsored