- Ford is recalling thousands of Escapes and Corsairs.
- Plug-in hybrid crossovers have a bad battery pack.
- This marks the third recall tied to the same issue.
We haven’t even hit March yet, but Ford has already racked up more recalls than Hyundai and General Motors combined. They’re now cementing that lead with an expanded recall that involves 24,690 crossovers including plug-in hybrid versions of the 2023-2025 Escape and 2023-2026 Lincoln Corsair.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the crossovers could have a manufacturing defect in one or more of their high voltage battery cells. This can result in an internal short circuit and battery failure. If this occurs, the vehicle could lose drive power or catch on fire.
More: Ford’s Hybrid Recall Just Recalled The Recall
That’s a dangerous combination, but it’s a well-known problem as Ford has already issued two previous recalls about it. The latest campaign builds on previous efforts and appears to bring the combined recall population up to 61,526 units.
The problem is being blamed on “variability in the battery cell supplier’s production process” that can result in the “cell’s cathode inducing micro-defects and/or local stresses in the cell’s separator layer.” The safety recall report goes on to say these “micro-defects and local stresses may damage the separator.” The batteries were made by Samsung SDI, although only 1% of the latest recall population is believed to have the defect.
While that’s good news, Ford doesn’t have a fix at the moment. They’re also advising owners to only use Auto EV mode and to limit battery charging to a maximum of 80%.
Interim notification letters will go out early next month and will eventually be followed by an update when a remedy is available. Unfortunately, there’s no word on when that could occur. It’s also worth noting new, in-stock models have been hit by a stop sale order, which prevents them from being delivered or demonstrated.
