Maybe Ford should pay a little less attention to sucking up to the EV agenda and try to fix something as simple as a fuel leak. It's not rocket science.
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The increase in recalls is the result of all the "working from home" that surveys indicated was working so well. The problem was, they only surveyed the people and management "working at home", not the people that went back....
As Florida officials and residents continue to clean up and assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ian, they're discovering the storm has turned some electric vehicles into incendiary devices on roads, parking lots and even on the backs of tow trucks.
Electric vehicles that were flooded and damaged by the storm have been catching fire without warning in incidents throughout the hardest hit areas in the state, according to State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis, who told ABC News his team has counted at least nine such incidents. In some cases, the EVs would burst into flames, stay on fire, then reignite hours later.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has warned that EVs can ignite weeks after contact with saltwater.
As storms increase in ferocity, and the sale of EVs increases worldwide, it's a phenomenon we are likely to see much more of says Eric Fredrickson of Call2Recycle, a non-profit which specializes in transporting lithium-ion batteries to recycling facilities.
"Part of what we're dealing with right now is that this is the first major storm that we've had in an area where we have a high penetration of electric vehicles. So we're seeing these fires in these incidents more than we have with any of the other storms," he said.
It's also a challenge for firefighters who have to use between 8,000 to 12,000 gallons of water to put out the fires, more than 10 times as much as a gas engine-based vehicle, according to James Hammond, the assistant chief of operations at North Collier Fire Control & Rescue District.
"It's just a constant flow trying to cool them down and stop the battery," Hammond told ABC News.
Hammond said his teams would typically spend an hour putting out a traditional gas-powered vehicle, but have spent five or six hours dousing electric vehicles.
Saltwater flooding is the main factor behind these fires, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The flooding creates a chain reaction in the engine and the batteries that made the parts more likely to catch on fire, the agency said.
The biggest concerns, according to firefighters and safety experts, is that it is still unknown what could spark the blaze in the first place. Something as simple as turning the wheel following the saltwater damage could start the fire in the vehicle, experts said.
The issue has gotten so bad that some tow truck drivers in Florida have refused to pick up flood-damaged EVs. Tim Baker, a tow truck driver, told ABC News that one car he picked up caught on fire after he brought it to his lot.
"They have the potential to catch fire pretty much any time," he told ABC News.
Injectors and wiper motors used to be designed at Ford and made at the Ford Rawsonville plant. I wonder if the MBA's that decided it was too expensive for Ford to make them anticipated all of the supplier recalls.
Ford's quality department has an army of people that track and recover warranty costs from suppliers. They do absolutely nothing to improve customer satisfaction.
Future doesn't look good.
Ford should be ashamed of so many recalls. How low can it go? It can't build quality cars. BEVs will be a disaster too when volumes increase. Company will go out of business soon.
Only ANOTHER 300,000 customers impacted. Ford is a brand name that consumers can no longer trust.
Ford Motor Company is recalling select 2020-2022 Ford Escape models over a fuel injector issue. A select group of 2021-2023 Ford Bronco Sport models are also being recalled for the same problem.
The defect: in affected vehicles, a fuel injector may crack and leak fuel inside the engine compartment.
The hazards: a fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source such as hot engine or exhaust components can increase the risk of a fire.
Ford is not aware of any reports of accidents or injuries related to this condition.
Components: fuel injectors.
Affected vehicles: select 2020-2022 Ford Escape models equipped with the turbocharged Ford 1.5L I-3 EcoBoost engine produced between November 19th, 2018, and October 17th, 2022.
Number of vehicles affected: 333,342
The fix: dealers will update the engine control software to include fuel injector leak detection and install a drain tube, free of charge.
@dfj+1jSXf7gx You be hilarious “software based issues very rarely become expensive safety campaigns”. Software is more bug ridden than mechanical components and software can and is hacked. Ford’s track record speaks for itself
This recall is concerning as it was on all the news yesterday. However I do see a bright side for the future. With the company transformation to digital and data business model, mechanical caused issues like this will be in our past. As you all know, software based issues very rarely become expensive safety campaigns.
It is rocket science when your price target for every component is 50% of what it should be!
drive for a living and I stopped taking pictures of ELECTRICAL VEHICLES (EV's) on the side of the road, and on the back of flat bed tow trucks (Facts).
So I guess those tow trucks run on unicorn farts right? EV's can not exist without Diesels delivery them, and picking them up everytime they failed on a hot day ,or run out of battery power.
Facts: try to talk in 25 years when we have stacks of unrecyclable batteries
everywhere.
EVs are an immature technology because the manufacturing of those batteries creates 17.5 tons of carbon dioxide for smaller batteries and even more for larger batteries.
Facts: As long as we continue to make batteries that create pollution, EV technology will be bad for the environment.
EV owners use electricity generated from coal plants and other carbon emitting sources you figure it out if this helps the environment.
(Buy gas cars until we can get real clean hydrogen power vehicles they only emit water vapor and warm air.
Forward to friends)
Ford need to spend more time on the fossil fuel vehicles which sell instead of the electric cars that don't sell. How much more is the consumer spending on fossil fuel vehicles to subsidize their foolish investment into vehicles nobody want?