Ford says it’s recalling 18 F-150 Lightning pickup trucks “due to a battery cell manufacturing defect.” Ford said all 18 affected trucks would get new battery packs as part of the fix. autoblog,
The recall is related to and originated from an F-150 Lightning battery fire during a quality check at Ford’s facilities on February 4 of this year. After the fire, Ford placed a stop-build and stop-ship order for the Lightning while it investigated the matter. On March 2, Ford announced the end of its investigation and provided March 13 as the date for restarting production.
Ford didn’t provide details about the Lightning investigation at the time, but this recall notice gives us a few more details to go on. We’ve pasted Ford’s full statement below.
“Ford is recalling 18 F-150 Lightnings due to a battery cell manufacturing defect that occurred over a four-week period beginning late last year. We recently established that over a four-week period 18 vehicles with sails made it to dealers and customers.
“On February 4, during a standard quality check, a vehicle displayed a battery problem and caught fire. The identified root cause was related to battery cell production at the SK ON plant in Georgia. Ford is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this recall. Together with SK On, we have verified root causes and implemented quality actions. Production is on track to resume on Monday with a clean stock of battery packs.
In essence, Ford is suggesting that the cause of the original fire was due to a battery cell production issue at the SK Onn plant. Those 18 affected trucks will get new battery packs, and Ford says a loaner vehicle will be given to customers while the work is done. Ford also tells us it’s safe for customers to continue driving and charging their trucks, but is encouraging them to schedule an appointment with their dealer as soon as possible.
In addition to the recall details, Ford has confirmed that production of the F-150 Lightning will resume on March 13 with new battery packs using lessons learned from Ford’s investigation.
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