Ford issued a recall notice for 18 F-150 Lightning trucks with faulty battery cells, causing at least one truck to catch fire. The automaker will restart production of the electric truck on Monday, March 13, with a “clean stock” of battery packs, after a four-week pause in production and shipping to investigate the cause of the defect.
Ford said the “root cause” of the problem was at South Korean battery supplier SK On’s factory in Georgia. In a statement, spokeswoman Emma Bergg said the company was not aware of any accident or injury reports related to this recall.
“Together with SK On, we have confirmed the root causes and have implemented quality actions,” Bergg said. “Production is on track to resume on Monday with a clean stock of battery packs.”
“Together with SK On, we have confirmed the root causes and have implemented quality actions.”
The affected vehicles are either on dealer lots or in the hands of customers, Bergg confirmed. The automaker has been in close contact with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is expected to publish the recall notice next week.
Battery fires, while rare, remain a serious concern for electric vehicle manufacturers. More data is needed, but researchers have determined that the vast majority of electric vehicles have a low risk of battery fires. However, when fires do occur, electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries get hotter, faster, and require more water to extinguish, a fact that has led some cities to retrain their emergency services for when such fires do occur. incidents.
The most serious incident involved the Chevy Bolt, which was recalled after GM reported at least 19 battery fires due to faulty cells from supplier LG. The automaker was forced to temporarily shut down production after a software fix failed to prevent several more fires. Chevy resumed production last year after installing new battery packs.
