Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Ford
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The feds are stepping in to investigate the “Stop Safely Now” messages that a Ford Focus Electric vehicle driver reported to AutoblogGreen earlier this year. The situation is a serious one, but not widespread as Reuters reports that the NHTSA has received just 12 complaints. Not a big number considering Ford has sold 1,910 Focus EVs through August of this year, and Reuters estimates 1,000 of the EVs are included in the just-launched federal probe.
The problem now under NHTSA investigation is that the Focus EV has the tendency to simply stop providing its own momentum under certain conditions. In other words, it stalls. There have been no reports of injuries or accidents, but some of the stalls happened when the car was going over 30 miles per hour. One driver reported: [The] vehicle abruptly lost drivetrain power and came to a sudden stop in the left-hand lane of a major surface street in San Jose. The vehicle suddenly displayed the warning “Stop Safely Now”. Attempts to restart or reboot the car failed leaving us dangerously stranded in moderate traffic for over 20 minutes until a nearby resident helped us to push vehicle to safety… Pushing the vehicle was very difficult, as if the brakes were engaged. The Ford dealer reported that the regenerative braking system was engaged and could not be disengaged. Ford dealership reported over 30 diagnostic trouble codes appearing on the vehicle that proved to be misleading.
Ford told Reuters it is cooperating with NHTSA on the probe and there has not been a recall announced as of yet. We’ve collected the “Stop Safely Now” complaints reported to the NHTSA below.Continue reading Ford Focus EV ‘Stop Safely Now’ stalling problem under NHTSA probe
Ford Focus EV ‘Stop Safely Now’ stalling problem under NHTSA probe originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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