I Need a Battery Replacement at 1500 miles.

[SoCalSaluki]

I just leased a new 2024 Lightning Flash and just before 1500 miles I got a “Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power” notification and had a loss of power. It was still drivable but did not have much power on acceleration.

I took it back to Ford dealership and they told me that several battery cells were faulty and it needed a whole new battery.

My intention was to buy at the end of my lease but now I’m worried I picked the lemon on the lot. This seems completely unacceptable.

What are my options here?

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[invertedspear]

I'm not sure how you lemon law a lease, but start that immediately to light a fire under the dealer's ass to get your battery fixed. Your battery has an 8 year 100k mile warranty so your safer than you think. You got a hell of a lemon of a battery. It's rare to have a single cell crap out, much less multiple. Let them replace the jacked cells, then enjoy your truck for the rest of your time with it. Just cause the battery crapped out doesn't mean anything else is wrong with any other aspect of the truck.

 

[SoCalSaluki]

I'm not sure how you lemon law a lease, but start that immediately to light a fire under the dealer's ass to get your battery fixed. Your battery has an 8 year 100k mile warranty so your safer than you think. You got a hell of a lemon of a battery. It's rare to have a single cell crap out, much less multiple. Let them replace the jacked cells, then enjoy your truck for the rest of your time with it. Just cause the battery crapped out doesn't mean anything else is wrong with any other aspect of the truck.

They’re replacing the entire battery. But it’s gonna be at least a week till the part gets in. They told me I’m going to be without the truck at least 3 weeks.

 

[Henry Ford]

Wait until the lease is nearly up before deciding if you want to buy the truck. You don't have a complete picture yet of whether it works for your particular situation.

Stuff breaks. You won the crappy lottery. Hopefully your dealer provides a loaner and finishes the work in a reasonable amount of time. Please keep us updated on your experience.

 

[SoCalSaluki]

Wait until the lease is nearly up before deciding if you want to buy the truck. You don't have a complete picture yet of whether it works for your particular situation.

Stuff breaks. You won the crappy lottery. Hopefully your dealer provides a loaner and finishes the work in a reasonable amount of time. Please keep us updated on your experience.

They are providing a loaner (mustang mach E) but at 6’5” 250lbs anything smaller than my truck is a literal pain in my ass, back, knees etc. when I put any real amount of driving in.

 

[Heliian]

I took it back to Ford dealership and they told me that several battery cells were faulty and it needed a whole new battery.

I would ask to see the diagnostic report on that.

Due to the modular design, it would be highly unlikely all the cells are bad, you'd be the first I've heard of.

Most likely it just needs a module replaced due to bad cells in the module and not the entire battery.

 

[SmoothJ]

I would ask to see the diagnostic report on that.

Due to the modular design, it would be highly unlikely all the cells are bad, you'd be the first I've heard of.

Most likely it just needs a module replaced due to bad cells in the module and not the entire battery.

As @Heliian stated, it won't be a whole battery pack. If anything it just be a module which takes +/- 2 weeks to get repaired. I had it done to my truck as well.

Talk to the dealer and get the battery report, which shows which cells where bad. It will look something like this:

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

My intention was to buy at the end of my lease but now I’m worried I picked the lemon on the lot. This seems completely unacceptable.

What are my options here?

lemon only applies after 3 failed attempts to fix.

get it fixed. I agree its totally unacceptable but sh*t happens

 

[Ricks Lightning]

Actually in Calif it’s 10 years 150,000 miles I believe on the battery.

Rick

 

[RocketGhost]

The battery failures in Lightnings I've heard about happen early. I haven't heard about failures later on. It seems like you either have a manufacturing defect that shows up in the first few thousand miles or you're good to go for the long haul.

What I'm curious about is if there is a failure beyond the warranty period, when there is at least some degradation, if only the individual affected module can be replaced. The voltage among the modules has to "match," and I haven't seen any technical guidance from Ford regarding replacing individual modules when the working modules have a degree of degradation. But so far data shows that even at high miles degradation is slight.

 

[RaspPiDude]

They are providing a loaner (mustang mach E) but at 6’5” 250lbs anything smaller than my truck is a literal pain in my ass, back, knees etc. when I put any real amount of driving in.

I'm the same physically and had to drive a Mach-E loaner for a day. Not my cup of tea.. I actually had more head room than I thought I would, but it was a tight fit and getting in and out wasn't fun. It was also LOUD compared to the truck, which I assume is because you're way closer to the road noise.

 

[3rdgenfan]

Meh. It's one warranty issue; let them fix it and then finish out your lease.

 

[Tdub]

lemon only applies after 3 failed attempts to fix.

get it fixed. I agree its totally unacceptable but sh*t happens

3 failed attempts OR 30 days in the shop for the problem

 

[GoodSam]

Actually in Calif it’s 10 years 150,000 miles I believe on the battery.
Rick

California: Effective: November 30, 2022 13 CCR § 1962.2
§ 1962.2. Zero-Emission Vehicle Standards for 2018 through 2025 Model Year Passenger Cars, Light-Duty Trucks, and Medium-Duty Vehicles.
(c) Transitional Zero-Emission Vehicles (TZEV).
(2) TZEV Requirements. In order for a vehicle to be eligible to receive a ZEV allowance, the manufacturer must demonstrate compliance with all of the following requirements:
(D) Extended Warranty. Extend the performance and defects warranty period set forth in subdivisions 2037(b)(2) and 2038(b)(2) to 15 years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first except that the time period is to be 10 years for a zero-emission energy storage device used for traction power (such as a battery, ultracapacitor, or other electric storage device).

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