Ford Mustang Mach-E Recalled Because Battery Can't Handle Owners Flooring It

Ford is recalling nearly 35,000 units of the 2021 and 2022 Mustang Mach-E equipped with the extended-range battery over concerns that the electric crossover could lose power while driving. The recall is the Blue Oval's second attempt to resolve an issue with a component found inside of the Mach-E's high voltage battery pack that may fail while DC fast charging or flooring the car's accelerator pedal one too many times.

Ford first issued a software update as part of a 2022 recall. The update would monitor the temperature of the affected part and reduce battery power to avoid overheating, though this appeared to not fully address the defect as owners still reported problems following the update, sparking a federal investigation over the effectiveness of the fix.

"Direct Current (DC) fast charging and repeated wide open pedal events can cause the high voltage battery main contactors to overheat," reads the NHTSA recall report. "Overheating may lead to arcing and deformation of the electrical contact surfaces, which can result in a contactor that is prevented from closing or a contactor that welds closed."

The faulty part in question is the High Voltage Battery Junction Box (HVBJB), also called the Bussed Electrical Center (BEC). Its entire purpose is to "switch" the high voltage battery on and off using a series of electromechanical switches, called contactors. This means that electrical current flows through this device to power the front and rear drive units, or to charge the battery.

According to the recall, some vehicles may have pre-existing damage that occurred prior to the 2022 software fix due to overheating. This damage reportedly reduces the effectiveness of the software fix. Should the contactors weld closed while driving, the vehicle will continue to operate until the next key cycle, but if they are prevented from closing, the vehicle will lose power and coast to a stop.