2022 Ford Escape Phev

My PHEV car randomly and suddenly has loss of propulsion creating a safety hazard in traffic. It seems to occur at low speeds, sometimes from waiting in line at an intersection. This fault produces a solid red battery warning light, but no additional safety warnings, nor an error code for diagnostics. I have experienced this fault randomly in April, May, and June. The worst experience was within intersection traffic when I was unable to accelerate; just coasted with cars whizzing past. My usual dealership servicing staff were unable to reproduce the error. I was told they would/could not assess this fault without an error code. I had my car towed to a different service company. They advised that the 12-V battery showed 66% power; I asked them to replace that battery. I understand that this MAY NOT solve the problem. Although I used a rental car for a week while this problem was being attended, I am now driving my car with the new 12-V battery. Yes, I think my car is unsafe--at least, no one can assure me it has been fixed. I do not know how to assess whether it is fixed, short of being its test driver. My car has an open recall on the HV battery for which a fix is not yet available (not for months so far, anyway), so I drive my car as a hybrid, without charging the HV battery.

Ford issued a recall on my vehicle in January 2025. They state that I cannot charge my car until they fix it, or it could catch on fire. I paid $8,000 extra for a car I can charge, and almost never use my gas engine. I have now not been able to charge my car for 5 months and there is no fix available and Ford has moved the expected fix date from Q2 2025 to Aug/Sep 2025. I also have to pay additional taxes in the state of Vermont for my plug-in, which I can't actually plug-in, and paid $2k for a home charger which is now useless. I have contacted Ford at least 4 times, because I'm concerned with the safety of my vehicle and they refuse to do anything. I have to drive my son to daycare each morning, and I'm concerned the vehicle will catch on fire with us inside of it. The vehicle charges when driving downhill and there are a lot of hills in Vermont, so I'm constantly worried that the battery may charge too much and catch fire. I have spoken with my local dealership and they can't do anything and again, after contacting Ford numerous times, their message is "wait". This vehicle is completely unusable to me, since almost all of my daily driving used the battery and I've had to pay for gas for the last 5 months. Ford doesn't seem to be concerned with my safety, despite admitting that they sold me a vehicle that may catch on fire. I also attempted to trade the car back into the dealership, but they won't take it due to the recall which has no firm date for being addressed. I've going around and around in circles with all levels of Ford but they refuse to do anything. I just want to feel safe with myself and my family in my vehicle, but I do not feel safe and Ford doesn't appear to care.

I want to hold Ford accountable for Recall 23S27. Ford continues to miss their own planned dates to come up with a solution. I want them to buy back their Lemon at Fair Trade-In Value per KBB, which is $30,500. This reminds me of the Ford Pinto fiasco many years ago. Thanks, [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I have not experienced a safety problem that is related to this recall. The problem that I have experienced is that I can not sell the car to a dealer because of the open recall. I am basically frozen out of the market by the manufacturer’s inability to correct their own mistakes. Additionally it turns out that Ford missed their commitment date of resolution by October, 2023.

I purchased this 2022 Ford Escape plug-in hybrid vehicle New in October 2022. In May 2023 I received a recall notice 23S27 / NHTSA Recall 23V380 from Ford Motor Company. According to this recall notice, the parts for the repair to the Engine were expected to be available in October 2023. I have not received any further communication from Ford Motor Company regarding this recall and it is now November 2023. This exceeds a reasonable time to expect repair of this defect. In addition, entering my vehicle information into the Kelley Blue Book web site showed that there are 6 recalls associated with my vehicle. However, entering the VIN number (absolutely correctly) at this NHTSA web site yields: "An error occurred with your request. Recall information for your vehicle is not available at this time. Please contact Ford Motor Company by phone at 1-866-436-7332 or go to their website http://www.Fordowner.com for recall information about your vehicle." I Called the Ford Motor Company number listed by NHTSA above (866-436-7332) and entered the recall notice number listed on the recall notice, 23S27 (as instructed as 23727), and the automated system reply is: "We did not recognize that entry." I searched under owner.ford.com, clicked on recalls and entered my VIN and found 2 recalls which included this one (23S27 / NHTSA Recall 23V380). For both recalls, it states: "Recall incomplete, remedy not yet available." This exceeds a reasonable time for correction of this defect. It is especially important that this be corrected soon as an UNDER HOOD FIRE and SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER are MAJOR SAFETY CONCERNS.

The plastic coolant nipple mounted on the high voltage battery was damaged and the dealership has determined that coolant may have entered the high voltage battery. If coolant did (or could easily) enter the battery, this would be a significant fire hazard and could lead to significant injury or death. The damaged part has been confirmed by the dealership, no one can identify how the damage could have occurred and the least unlikely cause is that I contacted a small animal without knowledge. No noticeable signs of impact (including leftover fur or organic material has been found anywhere under the vehicle. No dents, dings or other damage has been found by myself, the insurance company or the dealership and the location of this damaged nipple is somewhat isolated such that there would need to be some other signs if a more rigid object was contacted. I have tried to reach out to Ford corporate for a more thorough review and discussion but have not yet been successful. No prior issues related to the battery issue existed prior to its failure. I have a unique background that I feel uniquely qualifies me to complete this review and would very much embrace an opportunity to further discuss my concerns to ensure a full evaluation is performed by the appropriate personnel. The automobile is still at the dealership and pending repair/replacement of the battery. Assuming the part was not damaged prior to my taking delivery (I purchased new) and if the damage was truly caused by a small animal, small enough to not crack, dent or leave a tuft of fur, then there is no doubt this design has a flaw with serious safety concerns. Under common conditions, this could lead to a battery fire and under realistic conditions this could lead to death. Metal shield to protect the hoses from deflection that could break nipple, redesign plastic nipple to more rigid material (metal). (Other considerations, there is a defect in the molded nipple and a recall is in order)