2023 FORD MUSTANG MACH E Complaints

Description of Incident: On August 3, 2025, while driving my 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E, smoke began rising from the front of the vehicle. Within moments, flames erupted. I pulled over and evacuated. The fire quickly engulfed the cabin, resulting in a total loss. Component/System Involved: UNKNOWN. Based on the location and nature of the fire, a failure in the high-voltage battery system or related electrical components is suspected. Documentation and photos are available upon request. Safety Risk: This posed a serious threat to my safety and others on the road. Had it occurred in traffic or at higher speeds, the outcome could have been far worse. Reproduction/Confirmation: The issue has not been reproduced. The fire was investigated by my insurance company and the local fire department. Ford was notified and took possession of the vehicle on August 5. Inspection History: Ford left the vehicle uncovered outdoors for over two months. In October, they sent an engineer who spent 15–30 minutes walking around the car without opening or moving anything. Based solely on this brief visual inspection, Ford claimed the fire was caused by an “outside source” but provided no supporting evidence. I have fire report and police reports. Warning Signs: No warning lamps, error messages, or unusual behavior occurred prior to the fire. The drive was uneventful until smoke appeared. The vehicle had charged normally the day before. Assessment: UNKNOWN. The cause remains undetermined. Ford’s investigation lacked transparency and rigor. Given the growing number of EV fire reports, this incident deserves further scrutiny to protect other consumers.

Dear NHTSA Team, I am writing to urgently raise concern and seek answers regarding what appears to be a systemic safety issue affecting vehicles equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and self-driving technologies. I have personally experienced repeated and dangerous incidents of phantom braking, overcorrection, and loss of control while driving a 2019 Toyota Prius. The car suddenly brakes, swerves, or pulls sharply when it detects shadows, road inclinations, or mild curves — making it unsafe to drive, especially at highway speeds. These events occur without any driver error. To make things worse, this issue is not limited to one brand or vehicle. Over the past year, I have driven and rented multiple cars from different brands and models through rental companies, and many of them presented the exact same unsafe behavior — unpredictable braking, steering correction, and traction instability. This clearly indicates that the issue is industry-wide, not isolated to a single manufacturer. I have been a professional rideshare driver for over five years, completing more than 500,000 miles without a single accident or ticket. Since October 2023, these vehicle behaviors have made it nearly impossible for me to continue working safely. This situation has destroyed my livelihood — I am now three months behind on rent, my mental health has been severely impacted, and I am facing homelessness for the second time in two years. All of this has happened because of unsafe technology that drivers cannot fully disable, even when it is clearly malfunctioning. I respectfully ask NHTSA: Why are automakers allowed to release and maintain these unsafe systems on public roads? Why do drivers not have the right to safely disable malfunctioning ADAS or self-driving features, like any other electronic system that can be shut down in an emergency? When will NHTSA take meaningful action to stop these dangerous practices before more lives are affected?

Rear hatch on my 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E (VIN: [XXX] , mileage: 31,751 km) opens spontaneously without user input. Occurs while parked and locked, sometimes when approaching with Phone As A Key (PAAK). Incident Details: One incident caused property damage when the hatch opened in a garage. No buttons were pressed, and foot-activated liftgate was not used. Issue is intermittent and unpredictable. Safety Concerns: Risk of property damage Potential injury if someone is near the hatch Risk of theft if hatch opens unattended Ford dealer unable to replicate or resolve. Other owners report similar issues. Request NHTSA investigation for possible recall or fix. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I’m writing this message out of frustration, exhaustion, and genuine concern for public safety. Over the past months, I’ve been renting and driving multiple cars from different brands and models — Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, and now a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E — and all of them show the same dangerous behavior: •sudden phantom braking for no reason, •traction control malfunctioning, throwing the car from side to side, •unstable handling, especially on highways or during light rain. This is not an isolated case — it’s happening across several brands and systems, which makes me question what is really going on. Why are drivers being forced to deal with unreliable technology that clearly isn’t ready for real-world conditions? Are these systems being tested using real drivers as data sources to “teach” self-driving cars how to handle special situations? Because that’s what it feels like — we are being used without consent, forced to correct constant software mistakes that could cost lives. This situation has destroyed my professional and financial stability. I work as a rideshare driver (Uber and Lyft), and passengers have reported me as “unsafe” because the car suddenly brakes or moves erratically — something completely out of my control. I’ve lost access to stable work, fell behind on my car payments, and ended up returning my own vehicle because of all the expenses and stress trying to fix something that was never broken in the first place. And I have to ask: Why did NHTSA approve a regulation that prevents drivers from fully turning off these driver assistance systems? In what world does it make sense for a safety-critical technology to have no emergency off switch? In any other context — like electricity — we have breakers to stop the system when it becomes unsafe. Cars should be no different. I’ve lost almost everything I worked for because of this. Please, take this seriously. People’s lives, jobs, and mental health are being destroyed by this technology.

I’m writing this message out of frustration, exhaustion, and genuine concern for public safety. Over the past months, I’ve been renting and driving multiple cars from different brands and models — Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, and now a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E and all of them show the same dangerous behavior: sudden phantom braking for no reason, traction control malfunctioning, throwing the car from side to side, unstable handling, especially on highways or during light rain. This is not an isolated case it’s happening across several brands and systems, which makes me question what is really going on. Why are drivers being forced to deal with unreliable technology that clearly isn’t ready for real-world conditions? Are these systems being tested using real drivers as data sources to “teach” self-driving cars how to handle special situations? Because that’s what it feels like we are being used without consent, forced to correct constant software mistakes that could cost lives. This situation has destroyed my professional and financial stability. I work as a rideshare driver (Uber and Lyft), and passengers have reported me as “unsafe” because the car suddenly brakes or moves erratically something completely out of my control. I’ve lost access to stable work, fell behind on my car payments, and ended up returning my own vehicle because of all the expenses and stress trying to fix something that was never broken in the first place. And I have to ask: Why did NHTSA approve a regulation that prevents drivers from fully turning off these driver assistance systems? In what world does it make sense for a safety-critical technology to have no emergency off switch? In any other context like electricity we have breakers to stop the system when it becomes unsafe. Cars should be no different. I’ve lost almost everything I worked for because of this. Please, take this seriously. People’s lives, jobs, and mental health are being destroyed by technology that we can’t control.

Car constantly shuts down at electric vehicle charging stations and has even loss power will driving on highway and bought up powertrain fault

I’ve had this situation happen at least 2 to 3 times but specifically I’ll talk about the most recent. I was reversing out of my parking spot approximately 20 feet or so to where I can turn around and circle around the parking lot and exit. When I switched over to drive the vehicle accelerated rapidly unprompted. I was able to stop it by using the break, but I can also see how this could be a significant safety issue.

My car displayed a warning that the pre-collision assist was not available. This caused all of the safety features not to work (collision warning; lane departure warning; parking collision warning etc.) The car has been in and out of the dealership since Aug. 6th to repair this but Ford has not corrected the problem. We have not been told what is wrong with the car or any estimation on if or when it will be repaired. I requested the service documents for all of the records of when my car has been in the shop for this issue. I received the document but it has incorrect and missing information which causes me to be concerned that the issue is not being address but instead my car is being held with no efforts of a remedy. My car has not operated correctly for almost 2 months but the only service recorded was a replacement of a coaxial cable which did not fix the car.

Upon vehicle startup, the speedometer does not show on the instrument cluster (completely digital readout, analog readout not possible). In its place is the EV's remaining battery % with absolutely no way to access the speedometer and know the speed of the vehicle. This places the driver, other drivers, pedestrians, anyone else on the road at risk of excessive vehicle speed. There is no warning, error messages, or other symptoms prior to the issue happening. The only way rectify the issue is to fully restart the vehicle. However, this is not always a guaranteed fix, and the problem may persist between starts up. The issue does not occur during every start up event and is intermittent with a sudden onset (had the vehicle for 1.5 years at this point). The issue has occurred 3x in the last 2 weeks now. This issue appears to happen to other drivers of the same make / model and varying model years according to several other sources: (link 1) [XXX] (link 2) [XXX] (link 3) [XXX] (link 4) [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact's husband owns a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach E. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle that was in front of the vehicle stopped abruptly. The contact stated that the driver depressed the brake pedal, and the vehicle started decelerating. The contact stated that Automatic Emergency Braking system then engaged, and the vehicle stop decelerating and crashed into the rear end of the other vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle sustained severe front end damage, but no air bags deployed. No injuries were reported. The other driver exited the vehicle, returned inside the vehicle and drove away from the scene. A police report was filed, but the police report number was not available. The vehicle was able to be driven away from the scene. The vehicle was taken to an autobody repair shop to be repaired. An unknown dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the incident. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.