18 Ford F-150 Lightnings At Risk Of Battery Fire

Mar. 13, 2023 1:08 PM ET by Sebastian Cenizo Recall / 4 Comments

Ford has tracked the issue that led to a factory fire and wants to fix it before customer trucks are affected.

Ford has just announced a recall for the F-150 Lightning that pertains to a potential battery fire, and it's not a good look for the Blue Oval. The automaker already had to roll out a recall after botching the first one it announced for old Rangers. This came after it issued more recalls than any other company - automotive or otherwise - in 2022.

This latest recall is more concerning because it relates to an issue Ford had supposedly kept under control. The automaker had to halt production last month after a Lightning caught fire during a routine pre-delivery inspection.

At the time, the company said that it had identified the problem and was "confident" no trucks were shipped to customers with the potentially incandescent issue.

Ford

At the beginning of March, the Blue Oval announced that production of the F-150 Lightning could resume, indicating that the fire issue was in the rearview mirror. Unfortunately, some trucks slipped through the cracks, and Ford is now recalling just 18 units to address the potential problem.

What makes this weird is that Ford only issued an in-transit stop-ship order last month; could only 18 units have left the automaker's factory when it produced hundreds each week? While we'd like to remain optimistic, we'd brace ourselves for another recall along the same lines.

Hopefully, this won't snowball into the catastrophe that was the Chevrolet Bolt's recall program.

Ford

On the plus side, Ford has not issued a warning to owners urging them to park their electric trucks outdoors, which suggests that it is highly unlikely that the trucks will combust spontaneously. That said, we'd get the issue looked at as a matter of urgency.

Ford may have had several issues with quality over the last few years, but CEO Jim Farley is trying to uproot the causes of defects. The Dearborn-based manufacturer is also working on new battery packs that should be cheaper, last longer, and charge quicker.

Hopefully, Ford gets these new packs right on the first attempt.