About 2,600 Focus Electrics built between Sept. 15th, 2011 to Aug. 8th, 2013 at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne have finally been recalled due to the "Stop Safely Now" problem. Officially, 2,020 Focus Electrics have been reported by Ford as sold in the United States.
The "Stop Safely Now" issue (which is what the Focus Electric's dash readout says then there is a problem) is a dangerous situation that in some cases causes a loss of power to the wheels - even when the car is in operation. Fortunately when the problem pops up, steering and brakes remained unaffected.
InsideEVs' own Marc Lee was one of the first to experience (and report on) this issue 427 days ago. We have since received more than 10 complaints about the problem from owners - one of whom has experienced the failure 4 times, and we have been in contact with Ford directly about the power failure on multiple occasions.
It appears that an official investigation opened 7 weeks ago by the NHSTA may be what ultimately accelerated the recall after a dozen Focus Electric owners reported the problem to the agency...11 such instances of failure happened while the car was in motion.
Dealers apparently were notified of a Safety Recall Notice yesterday - 13S09 "POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE REPROGRAM"
TSB 13-9-19 - MODULE REPROGRAMMING FOR VARIOUS DTCS
FORD: 2012-2014 Focus
ISSUE: Some 2012-2014 Focus Electric vehicles may exhibit one or more of the following concerns, red triangle warning lamp and Stop Safely Now displayed in message center, illuminated wrench lamp with multiple diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), illuminated ABS warning lamp with DTC C0044,12-volt battery experiencing a low state of charge when not connected to 120/240 volt Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) for 2 or more days.
According to Marc the eventual reason determined for his problem more than 400 days ago:
"The exact nature of the problem with the FFE was a Battery Energy Control Module failing to communicate, which prevented the bottom HV battery from engaging."
An official recall campaign is expected shortly, and we take comfort that the problem has finally been resolved.
- some details via Detroit News