Seeking Help and Advice for My Troublesome Ford F150 Lightning Platinum

[Kaivankh]

Hello fellow forum members,

I'm writing to share my recent and, to be quite frank, horrifying experience with my new EV 2023 Ford F150 Lightning Platinum model. It's been a major letdown, and I'm reaching out to this community for some guidance and support.

I purchased this high-end electric vehicle back in June 2023, and within just one month of ownership, the window decided to give up on me. I took it to my local Ford service station, and to my shock, they informed me that the motor had burned out. Four days later, they finally got it fixed. For a renowned company like Ford and a vehicle with a hefty price tag, this was an utterly disappointing start.

Hoping this was an isolated incident, I soldiered on and continued using my truck. However, in mid-September 2023, a potentially catastrophic incident occurred. There was a sudden fire, seemingly triggered from the charging port located at the rear passenger seating area, in the dead of night. Fortunately, I have security cameras in my parking lot, which allowed me to spot the smoke and extinguish the fire before it could engulf the entire truck. Still, there was significant damage around the port, the rear passenger seating, and the floor of my truck.

Naturally, I took the truck to the dealership, specifically Capital Ford of Wilmington, NC, the very next day. I was truly terrified during the drive, as I had heard unsettling stories about EVs catching fire, and I didn't want to be in a potentially hazardous vehicle that could explode at any moment. The car smelled like burned charcoal, and as an individual with asthma, I deeply regretted driving it even for a few minutes.
However, the dealer's response was far from satisfactory. They stated that they needed to investigate the incident but refused to provide a loaner car. This was simply ridiculous, especially considering the price and reputation of the truck. Other luxury car companies treat their customers much better, and I was thoroughly disappointed.

Not wanting to be left without transportation, I reached out to Ford corporate to find a solution. Initially, they suggested I rent a car with the promise of reimbursement. Yet, the very next week, they changed their reimbursement process. Thankfully, I have documented all of this via email for tracking purposes.
Despite all the drama, I reluctantly handed my car over to the dealership. After about a week, when I inquired about the progress, they claimed they were awaiting direction from Ford corporate for the investigation and diagnosis. It's clear that there's a significant lack of communication between the company and the dealership.

This is when my anxiety reached its peak, and I deeply regretted my decision to purchase this car. After a lengthy and concerned discussion with the dealership, they finally showed some empathy and offered a loaner car. Thank goodness for that, as being without a car for an extended period was simply not an option.
Fast forward to today, it's been a full month since I dropped off my car for investigation, and there's still no positive news about its status. Repairs or diagnoses haven't even begun. At this point, I'm strongly inclined to return the car and get a refund. This situation is an absolute mess, and I'm eager to resolve it as swiftly as possible.

I've heard rumors about recalls related to the F150 Lightning, but Ford is insisting that there are none pertaining to my car, and they won't repurchase it. In the meantime, I'm shelling out for insurance, gas for loaner truck(which I thought I would never pay after buying an EV) car and monthly loan payments for a car I don't even have with me. I invested over 100K in this vehicle, and I'm questioning whether it's truly worth all the troubles and headaches it has caused me.
So, here I am, turning to this forum for advice and assistance. What should I do now? Your insights and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Sincerely,
Kaivan Khajanchi

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[TaxmanHog]

What if anything was plugged into the USB outlet?

Have you met the Lemon Law criteria for NC?

 

[ddimit]

Something plugged into that port started on fire. The burn pattern is outside the port connection. This is an issue for your insurance. No different than plugging an appliance into an outlet in your home, and it catches on fire. it's not a defect in your house.

 

[Kaivankh]

What if anything was plugged into the USB outlet?

Have you met the Lemon Law criteria for NC?

Thank you for reading my post.
Yes apple oem wire was plugged into the port but there was no device attached to it.

Based on what I read on the internet, this would meet the NC lemon law criteria. What should i do if the vehicle qualifies?

For a vehicle to qualify under the North Carolina Lemon Law, it must meet certain requirements:

• The vehicle must have been purchased in North Carolina
• The vehicle may not been previously titled (or sold as “used”)
• The warranty problem must have occurred within two years or 24,000 miles, whichever occurs first
• The same warranty problem has to be presented for repair on numerous occasions unless the problem took over 20 days at the dealership to fix
• The case generally must be brought within four years of the purchase date

 

[Kaivankh]

Something plugged into that port started on fire. The burn pattern is outside the port connection. This is an issue for your insurance. No different than plugging an appliance into an outlet in your home, and it catches on fire. it's not a defect in your house.

Thank you for reading my post.
If there was a device plugged in then it would be a different story but here it was just an apple oem wire that was connected to the port (not charging or hooked to any device).
If an oem wire hanging from a port in a brand new home can cause fire it would make me think that electrical work done in the house could be the root cause of the problem. Thoughts?

 

[Heliian]

I would take that up with Apple, it's not the port. I would question if that cable was even genuine.

Also, are the usb ports even powered when the truck is off?

Anyways, I keep my cheap cable plugged in all the time, so do millions of other usb users worldwide with zero concern. I don't even see how 5v DC is going to arc enough to cause a fire unless the cable was made with something highly flammable.

Your truck isn't a lemon, you just have bad luck.

A 4 day repair is also not noteworthy, in fact 4 days is fast!

 

[Zprime29]

I was truly terrified during the drive, as I had heard unsettling stories about EVs catching fire, and I didn't want to be in a potentially hazardous vehicle that could explode at any moment.

Please do some more research into this. In fact, @tommolog has a recent video discussing EV fires and the risks they pose. In brief, EV's don't explode. They burn forever, but they are not bombs with wheels. Also, if you look at where the fire occurred, that isn't a problem with the HVB, it's a problem at the outlet which is only provided power after passing through an inverter and while the truck is on.

Could you have forgotten to turn the truck off? Since there's no motor running it's not unreasonable to have forgotten and not notice. Perhaps the sun shone just right to melt some plastic? I leave usb cords in all the time without worry.

I'm sorry this happened to your truck, it's hard to say what happened. Long wait times for repairs are common. There's a wide range in the level of service across all dealers.

 

[The Weatherman]

That issue has nothing to do with an EV. That may have happened with the port on ICE vehicle just as easily. Seems most likely that the cable was defective or as stated earlier it was counterfeited cable that was fire waiting to start.

I am sorry to see you having these problems with a 100k vehicle regardless of the reason.

 

[Count Orlok]

Hello fellow forum members,

I'm writing to share my recent and, to be quite frank, horrifying experience with my new EV 2023 Ford F150 Lightning Platinum model. It's been a major letdown, and I'm reaching out to this community for some guidance and support.

I purchased this high-end electric vehicle back in June 2023, and within just one month of ownership, the window decided to give up on me. I took it to my local Ford service station, and to my shock, they informed me that the motor had burned out. Four days later, they finally got it fixed. For a renowned company like Ford and a vehicle with a hefty price tag, this was an utterly disappointing start.

Four days for the window motor is nothing. You should be thankful the part was available. I had to wait a month for my 2021 during peak covid parts delays.

Other luxury car companies treat their customers much better, and I was thoroughly disappointed.

While the platinum is expensive, Ford is not a luxury brand.

In regards to your fire, that sucks and I'm sorry you have to wait for the repair. It looks like it has nothing to do with it being a Lightning, however, and I would suspect the problem started with a short in the cable you left plugged in. If the repair isn't covered because it is determined to not be Ford's fault, you need to reach out to your auto insurance carrier.

good luck and please let us know what happens.

 

[GDN]

You don't happen to know a YouTuber that drove a White Lightning do you?

 

[Grease Lightning]

I would take that up with Apple, it's not the port. I would question if that cable was even genuine.

Also, are the usb ports even powered when the truck is on?

I just went and checked mine. The answer is NO.

The scorch marks on the mats look like there was something more than wiring there.

 

[ChrisCon]

This doesn’t help with your issue but I also had the rear usb charging port overheat with nothing hooked up to it but a usb c to lightning (apple) cable . Yes it was an apple cable and not a knockoff The cable became burning hot to the touch and then the usb ports stopped working all together . I didn’t have any physical burning visible but the entire rear usb charging assembly was replaced under warranty.

 

[Henry Ford]

There was a sudden fire, seemingly triggered from the charging port located at the rear passenger seating area, in the dead of night. Fortunately, I have security cameras in my parking lot, which allowed me to spot the smoke and extinguish the fire before it could engulf the entire truck.

1) How did you see smoke in the "dead of night"?

2) Why were you looking at security cameras in the "dead of night"?

3) How did you put out the fire?

4) How did the carpet get burned?

 

[TaxmanHog]

He probably has a Security camera system with loop recorder / DVR

 

[Lytning]

I just went and checked mine. The answer is NO.

The scorch marks on the mats look like there was something more than wiring there.

" Also, are the usb ports even powered when the truck is on?"

I assume the question meant when the truck is off versus on. FWIW, I always unplug the USB cable when I am not using it. Admittedly, I am extra cautious due to being an Engineer and a former Assistant Fire Chief in the Air Force Reserve.

There definitely is a burned "footprint" of a device on the carpet apparent in the attached photo. Something resting on the carpet obviously got very hot, especially in the center of the footprint outline. There is also evidence that the device ruptured and spewed hot contents away from the center of it and toward the bottom of the photo.

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