2012 FORD FOCUS ELECTRIC Complaints

ON THE FREEWAY ACCELERATING SLIGHTLY WHILE MERGING INTO THE LEFTMOST LANE. POWER SUDDENLY WAS LOST WITH A "STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE ON THE DASH. AS IT WAS RUSH HOUR, IT WAS DIFFICULT TO MERGE 6 LANES TO THE RIGHT TO GET TO THE SHOULDER. BRAKES AND STEERING WERE WORKING AND I STOPPED SAFELY. CAR WOULD NOT RESTART. *TR

JUST ENTERED FREEWAY ON-RAMP AND BEGAN TO ACCELERATE WHEN POWER INSTANTLY CEASED AND CAR COASTED. DASHBOARD INDICATED "STOP SAFELY NOW" AND I PULLED TO THE SIDE. STEERING AND BRAKES WERE STILL FUNCTIONING BUT NO RESPONSE AT ALL FROM THE ACCELERATOR. CAR DID NOT RESPOND AT FIRST TO A RESTART. HAD TO TURN CAR OFF, OPEN DOOR, CLOSE DOOR, WAIT FOR DASHBOARD TO GO BLANK AND THEN RESTART TO ACTUALLY MAKE IT GO AGAIN. THIS WAS THE SAME SYMPTOM THAT OCCURRED IN NOVEMBER OF 2013 (AND REPORTED HERE) THAT FORD SUPPOSEDLY FIXED THROUGH RE-CALL. AFTER RESTARTING THE CAR, THERE IS NO INDICATION OF ANY PROBLEM. CAR HAD A STATE OF CHARGE OF 36% AT TIME OF FAILURE. *TR

THE REGENERATIVE BRAKES ON MY 2012 FORD FOCUS EV DO NOT APPEAR TO BE WORKING PROPERLY AND I AM GROWING CONCERNED THAT THEY MAY BE UNSAFE, ESPECIALLY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. OTHER FORD FOCUS EV'S THAT I'VE TESTED BRAKE DIFFERENTLY WITH MUCH MORE CONTROL. THE BRAKES ON MY VEHICLE ARE EITHER "ON" OR "OFF"; THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN, NO GRADUAL STOPPING BECAUSE, WHEN PRESSING DOWN ON THE BRAKE PEDAL, NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL THE PEDAL TRAVELS ABOUT HALFWAY, THEN THE BRAKES CEASE AND THE CAR LITERALLY JOLTS TO A STOP. TWO FORD MECHANICS AT TWO DIFFERENT FORD DEALERSHIPS AND 1 FORD SERVICE MANAGER HAVE TOLD ME THAT MY BRAKES DO NOT APPEAR TO BE WORKING PROPERLY AND THAT THEY MAY BE UNSAFE; HOWEVER, AFTER NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS TO FORD CORPORATE GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO WHEN I FIRST PURCHASED THE VEHICLE IN SEPTEMBER 2013, FORD CLAIMS THAT "EVERYTHING IS NORMAL," IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT TWO OF THEIR OWN TECHNICIANS AND A FORD SERVICE MANAGER STATE OTHERWISE. *TR

THE PRODUCT IS BOSCH POWER XPRESS 240 VOLT CHARGER COUPLED TO MY 2012 FORD FOCUS ELECTRIC. IT IS SET TO 30 AMPS FOR MY VEHICLE....UPDATED 12/17/14 *BF THIS CHARGER WAS PUT IN SERVICE ON 7/22/2013. I NOTICED IN FEBRUARY THAT THERE WAS A NOTICEABLE ELECTRICAL SMELL OF MELTED PLASTIC AFTER CHARGING THE CAR, BUT THERE WAS NO DAMAGE. I FIGURED THAT WITH THE VERY COLD AIR IN MY GARAGE THAT MY SENSE OF SMELL MAY BE OFF. I CHARGE AT HOME AND AT WORK. THE WORK CHARGER IS MADE BY PEP. I HAVE ALSO OCCASIONALLY USED CHARGEPOINT CHARGERS. DURING THE WINTER I ALSO PRE-CONDITION THE VEHICLE TO 85 DEGREES. ON 3/27/14 I NOTICED FIRSTHAND THE ISSUE WHILE GETTING IN THE CAR IN THE MORNING. THE VEHICLE WAS STILL PRE-CONDITIONING WHEN I UNPLUGGED IT. THE CHARGER WAS MELTED AT THE CHARGING STATION COUPLER END AND THE VEHICLE CHARGE INLET PORT WAS ALSO MELTED. I TOUCHED THE CHARGING STATION COUPLER AFTER UNPLUGGING IT FROM MAIN POWER AND THE TIPS OF THE CONTACTS WERE BASICALLY MOLTEN PLASTIC THAT BURNT THE TIP OF MY FINGER. I DECIDED TO SCHEDULE A WARRANTY REPAIR WITH FORD. ON 3/28/2014 I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR WARRANTY SERVICE WITH FORD MOTOR COMPANY AND THEY REPLACED THE CHARGE PORT UNDER WARRANTY. ON 4/8/2014 I CALLED BOSCH ABOUT THE CHARGER AND THEY OPENED A CASE TO REPLACE THE CHARGER UNDER WARRANTY. THE CLAIM WAS ACCEPTED AND PROCESSED ON 4/11/2014. MY CONCERN IS OF POSSIBLE FIRE OR INJURY FROM AN OVERHEATED AND/OR IMPROPERLY INSULATED CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHARGING STATION AND THE VEHICLE. *TR UPDATED 9/29/2015*JS

TO DATE 8/20/2013 THE CAR HAS DIED 8 TIMES AND 4 TIMES IN THE LAST WEEK. THE SEQUENCE I USE TO GET IT STARTED AGAIN IS AFTER THE SSN WARNING, PULL OVER, TURN INGITION OFF, OPEN DOOR, CLOSE DOOR, LOCK CAR, UNLOCK CAR, PRESS START. IT ONLY STARTED TO HAPPEN AFTER THE UPDATE WAS DONE. IT HAPPENS OVER BUMPS, ON THE FREEWAY, IN A PARKING LOT AND HAPPENS AT ALL SPEEDS AND HAPPENS RANDOMLY. FORTUNATELY IT HAS NOT YET CAUSED AN ACCIDENT BUT IT EASILY CAN ESPECIALLY IF IN THE FAST LANE ON THE FREEWAY OR IN AN INTERSECTION.

FULL CHARGE, ENTERED READY TO DRIVE MODE, SELECTED REVERSE AND CAR SHUT DOWN. READY TO DRIVE INDICATOR OFF. PLACED BACK IN PARK, PRESSED STOP BUTTON, DEPRESSED BRAKE PEDAL, PRESSED START BUTTON AND CAR INDICATED READY TO DRIVE AGAIN. SELECTED REVERSE AND IT WORKED NORMALLY. SEPARATE INCIDENT, ONE WEEK PRIOR. 5 MILES OF RANGE REMAINING WHILE PULLING INTO DRIVEWAY UP A HILL. PRESSED ACCELERATOR AND LEFT DISPLAY SHOWED STOP SAFELY NOW, AND POWER WAS REMOVED. CAR STALLED ON HILL, READY TO DRIVE INDICATOR OFF. PLACED BACK IN PARK, SET HAND BRAKE, SHUT OFF CAR. DEPRESSED BRAKE, PRESSED START BUTTON, AND READY TO DRIVE INDICATOR FAILED TO TURN ON. TURN CAR BACK OFF AND WALKED INSIDE. CAME BACK AFTER DINNER (30 MINUTES) AND EVERYTHING POWERED UP LIKE NORMAL. PULLED INTO GARAGE AND STARTED LEVEL 1 CHARGING. *TR

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, I SUDDENLY RECEIVED A "STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE. THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES SINCE THE FIRST INCIDENT, SOMETIMES WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, AND SOMETIMES WHILE THE VEHICLE IS NOT IN MOTION. IN ADDITION, THE STATED AVAILABLE CAPACITY OF THE BATTERY (23KWH) IS IN FACT NOT ACCESSIBLE, AND THE VEHICLE IS ONLY ABLE TO USE 16KWH BEFORE THE STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE IS DISPLAYED. *TR

THIS IS AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE. THE CAR WAS SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY IN THE MIDDLE OF STREET. THE MESSAGE DISPLAYED INDICATED I SHOULD "STOP THE VEHICLE NOW". AFTER ABOUT TWO MINUTES, I WAS ABLE TO START THE SYSTEM AGAIN AND DRIVE AWAY. *TR

"STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE APPEARED WHILE TRAVELING ABOUT 30MPH AND SLOWING DOWN FOR A STOPLIGHT. CAR WOULD NOT MOVE WHILE MESSAGE WAS LIT. THE CAR HAD 88% CHARGE, AND WAS CHARGING 5MIN PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT. TRYING TO RESTART THE CAR WAS UNSUCCESSFULLY AT FIRST, BUT I TURNED THE CAR OFF, OPENED A DOOR, CLOSED IT, THEN IT RESTARTED AFTER THAT. I WAS STUCK FOR ABOUT 3 OR 4 MINUTES. *TR

STARTING UP FROM WAITING AT A SIGNAL LIGHT THE SYSTEM FLASHED "STOP SAFELY NOW". (I HAD JUST TOUCHED THE DISPLAY SCREEN TO VIEW THE BATTERY STATE OF CHARGE - NORMAL.) PROCEEDING THROUGH A LEFT TURN AND WHEN GETTING TO THE CURB THE SYSTEM SHUT DOWN PROVIDING NO MOTIVE POWER. AT THAT POINT A COMPLETE TURN OFF OF THE CAR WAS ATTEMPTED WHICH DID NOT HAPPEN, THE DASH DISPLAY WAS STILL ACTIVE. REPEATED ATTEMPTS FINALLY COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN THE SYSTEM, WHICH WAS THEN STARTED NORMALLY. *TR