2023 FORD F-150 LIGHTNING BEV Recalls, Complaints & Safety

The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated that upon charging the vehicle, the charge was reduced by 40 miles. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to charge properly with a low-volume charger but charged as needed while using the high-volume charger. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH and overtaking another vehicle, the vehicle accelerated to 65 MPH as intended, but the vehicle temporarily lost motive power. The vehicle restarted independently, and the contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the cause of the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The contact was a field engineer and determined that the high voltage battery power module had failed, causing the main 12-Volt battery charging failure and a computer failure. The contact notified the dealer and the manufacturer that the high-voltage battery needed to be replaced. The contact was awaiting a response from the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000.

I was driving at 45 miles an hour. With no warning, the car had 28 warnings pop up and it just died with no warning. No power steering, no brake assist at all, no lights (not even emergency light would turn on). I was not able to put it into neutral so I was just stuck. Ford roadside was not able to get moving so I was just stuck. I called a tow and it was dragged up. The dealer determined it was a faulty 12v battery.

My f150 lightning won't drive wben put in Drive. Then all the sudden it goes forward when not expecting it and we almost was in an accident. This happened many times and has been in service for over 3 months. They aren't able to fix it. We are trying to get them to take it back. The computer we noticed was defective the day after we bought it and inquired about it immediately. delayed engagement followed by a sudden lurch or unintended acceleration—matches several reports from other F-150 Lightning owners. Because this vehicle is fully electric, "revving" effectively signals the electric motors to apply instant torque, which can lead to dangerous lunges if the software or sensors are out of sync.I mentioned the safety issues and it was not addressed Our computer goes in and out and blacks out when driving. Anything you ask of it has not worked. This isn't the biggest deal but the safety issue. [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Rear light bar has water in it. Recall alert but no remedy available. Rear light bar has water inside. Reverse light and brake light are out or flickering

Earlier this year, I filed NHTSA ID 11663872 when I noticed moisture collecting in the brake light assembly on my truck and Ford called this "normal", despite earlier issuing a recall for this very thing happening under NHTSA action 23V-418. Now, the brake light has failed completely, and Ford is denying coverage of this under my extended warranty with the following explanation: "your claim is denied due to water intrusion. A subject matter expert advised that Ford and Lincoln Protect will not participate in this claim as the lighting option only covers electrical failures on incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs, High Intensity Discharge (HID) and [Light-Emitting Diode] LED lamp assemblies. A mechanical failure of a lamp assembly that allows water intrusion (fogging/moisture) is not a covered failure. A resulting electrical failure from this moisture/water would be consequential to the mechanical failure and would not be covered." Having inoperable brake lighting and possibly reverse lighting as well is an obvious danger to the public and there is no messaging system in the vehicle to tell you those components are not working properly, and clearly the previous recall campaign that replaced the lens assembly the first time did not work.

Water intrusion into rear lightbar/back up/brake light assembly that has caused shorting of the back up lights and flashing of the brake lights. This is a known issue, NHTSA campaign 23V418000. Ford is refusing to cover replacement of this part.

Defective rear light bar allowing water intrusion causing some reverse lights and brake lights to malfunction including a running rear white light shining into the face of drivers causing a safety hazard

Rear light bar housing brake lights and backup lights have water inside the assembly. Water is causing shorting of the lights. It puts me and others at risk if it doesn't activate or activate at a bad time.

The rear light bar in the tailgate that also includes my back up lights is defective. The light bar was defective at delivery of vehicle and this is the second time this light bar has been deemed defective by a Ford Dealership Service Department. The first repair on this defect was covered under a recall. This issue is a safety concern as it causes the rear light bar to flicker on and off and it has disabled the back up lights. There was no warning lights or alerts, I was pulled over by law enforcement and given a verbal warning to resolve the issue. The vehicle is currently at Red McCombs Ford in San Antonio, TX and Ford is denying any issue with the vehicle.

Rear tailgate light bar has multiple cracks

The front traction motor on my 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning failed without warning, causing the vehicle to lose all-wheel drive capability. The truck automatically limited available power to about 67%, which I later learned indicates the front motor was disabled and the vehicle was operating in rear-wheel drive only. The failure occurred with no warning lamps, messages, or prior symptoms on the dashboard or in the FordPass app. I assumed AWD was functioning, which could have caused a serious accident in snow, ice, or gravel conditions because the loss of front-wheel traction significantly reduces vehicle stability. The component/system is still available for inspection. At this time, the issue has NOT been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer, and the vehicle has NOT yet been inspected by the manufacturer or any other party. Cause of failure is UNKNOWN. This lack of a warning or alert to the driver represents a major safety hazard because it changes how the vehicle handles without the driver’s knowledge.

The rear light bar was replaced under warranty safety recall 23S30 on 10/19/2023. Subsequently the “new” light bar developed water in it and after a period of a month of flickering and partial illumination is fully out causing a safety issue with limited rear tail lights and reverse lights.

When the Ford Lightning is in reverse and the 1-pedal braking system is applied, the brakes don't engage when switching to drive causing the car to roll back an additional 3-5 feet depending on speed. In the situation that caused the fender bender, the Ford lightning was reversing in a street at approx. 5 MPH then the driver released the pedal for the brakes and switched to drive. The car rolled back 5 feet into a parked car during this transition.

Crash

While braking slowly to park at my home, my 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT suddenly accelerated forward without any throttle input. The vehicle struck a wall. My foot was on the brake and I did not touch the accelerator. There were no warning messages prior to the incident. This could have caused serious injury or worse if anyone was in front of the vehicle. I believe this may be a critical safety defect.

Crash

While braking slowly to park at my home, my 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT suddenly accelerated forward without any throttle input. The vehicle struck a wall. My foot was on the brake and I did not touch the accelerator. There were no warning messages prior to the incident. This could have caused serious injury or worse if anyone was in front of the vehicle. I believe this may be a critical safety defect.

Crash

While braking slowly to park at my home, my 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT suddenly accelerated forward without any throttle input. The vehicle struck a wall. My foot was on the brake and I did not touch the accelerator. There were no warning messages prior to the incident. This could have caused serious injury or worse if anyone was in front of the vehicle. I believe this may be a critical safety defect.

Crash

The truck's remote access app is not able to communicate with the truck during the entire period I own the truck. This features worked 20% of time only. I am not able to unlock or lock the truck remotely. I am not able to find out its location and I am not able to remotely start its cooling system to keep battery cool during charging. I have brought the issue to the dealer I purchased the truck from at least 3 time in the last 2 years. Even though the truck's key was locked in it at the dealer, this issue was not resolved due to cost of its repair. Other trucks were repaired with a new modem. The truck was advertised as a remotely accessible EV truck, I am concerned about my safety if this feature is not available and I am at a urgent situation when it is necessary to use the features.

Gear shifter was stuck in the car. Can happen at random times. For no reason at all, the gear shifter refuses to budge out of park, or reverse, or drive, and essentially bricks the car. Car refuses to move. Car refuses to respond to accelerator or brake pedals. Can happen in the middle of the road, or in a parking lot late at night when you are trying to leave a sketchy area. Can be an extremely dangerous circumstance, and Ford is trying to avoid attention to this at all costs.

The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact discovered that the rear taillights were inoperative, and the taillight housings were full of water. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and was repaired under an undisclosed recall; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,729.

The part they replace the rear light bar that you have a recall for also fails in the exact same manner causing my reverse lights to stay on while driving.

The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the contact became aware that the rear lights on the vehicle were inoperable. The contact stated that the rear lights failed to function properly while attempting to reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the rear light bar had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

I was driving down the interstate and the vehicle was struck by lightning. The vehicle lost all electrical power. As a result, the brakes did not work. Luckily, I was able to safely coast to a stop in the median. If the brakes can be more than 90% compromised during complete electrical failure, the vehicle should have a mechanical emergency brake.

The rear lightbar was replaced under a safety recall with a defective part. The replacement started flickering after 4 months and the reverse lights would strobe due to moisture. The dealership inspected and determined it was defective,not damaged and Ford has agreed to pay 60 percent only. Safety recall 23s30

The front trunk (or frunk) of the electric truck has a power lift as the primary means of opening and closing it and this has a failure warning/dash light stating it requires service. The front trunk is where the travel charger is stored by the manufacturer as well as where the positive and negative terminals for the 12 v battery are located. In the absence of the power open function, there is a tab to "pop the hood" but this requires the tab to be held back while a second person pulls open the hood to get it to open/is not possible to open by just the driver. Ford recognizes this problem under the code CXH-03906163-G5J3D0 "reprogram the front hatch control module FCHM" but is listing it as a recommended repair to the dealerships, not a recall. Ford does not list a mileage restriction on this recommended repair, but dealerships will not repair at their cost past 36000 miles. A non-functioning hood or trunk latch that restricts access to key electronic components is a safety issue, not just an inconvenience.

Driver's side tail light has moisture within the housing and intermittently fails to work. This is a similar issue to the light bar across the tailgate that was recalled and repaired, but Ford has no open recall on the tail lights. Dealership estimated a $3000 repair with no admission of manufacturer's defect. Obviously a non functioning tail light/turn signal is a safety risk and also opens the driver to being stopped/ticketed/fined.

Tailgate light bar was replaced under safety recall due to concern of moisture getting into housing. Replacement bar now shows signs of water in light bar after rain storm. Both red and reverse lights are flickering.

I was leaving my storage unit on Sunday October 6, 2024 at around 7 pm. I was traveling at 5 mph as I approached the exit gate code box. I stopped at the top of the steep hill by depressing the brake. I rolled down the window so I could put the code in that opens the rolling gate below. As I took my foot slowly off the brake, suddenly the vehicle rapidly accelerated, veering slightly left, the steering wheel locked as I pressed the brake pedal twice more it was unresponsive. We flew like a rocket ship knocking down small trees, 2 light posts with 1 light coming down and breaking passenger side windshield. Continuing crashing through 2 iron water main fixtures and through an iron gate. At the bottom of the hill the truck flew into the air and came to a hard landing, the steering wheel unlocked and we came to a stop quickly as the one pedal finally engaged and the computer screen announced " one pedal engaged". Then announced Power Train Malfunctioned. Also airbags never deployed. Prior to the wild ride, the vehicle was awaiting the overdue WiFi update named Power Train system update and prior to approaching the hill, I had tried twice to turn on the one pedal and got the never before seen message " one pedal failure could not engage". Truck was a total loss and my passenger and I were injured. When I contacted a Ford representative and told them about the incident, I mentioned that there was 2 other incidents of a brief steering wheel lock and rapid acceleration without injury or crash, I was told that I should have brought it in, therefore they were not responsible. The 2 brief incidents left me unsure of what had happened so we thought it was a fluke and without out any computer warnings we paid it no mind.

Crash 2 injured

I made a left-hand turn during a snow storm, and the right rear wheel slid and I made contact with the curb at a relatively low speed. The rear right wheel assembly failed and snapped, leaving the wheel assembly 90 degrees to normal. In other words, the wheel went from vertical to horizontal. Upon visual inspection, the axle snapped, and the axle's interior steel looked defective. The axle appeared very coarse, porous, and poorly consolidated. I requested to keep all the parts which are now located in storage. Both the insurance company and the Ford Motor Company dealership seemed to think the axle was defective. Nobody was injured or hurt.

Crash

I made a left-hand turn during a snow storm, and the right rear wheel slid and I made contact with the curb at a relatively low speed. The rear right wheel assembly failed and snapped, leaving the wheel assembly 90 degrees to normal. In other words, the wheel went from vertical to horizontal. Upon visual inspection, the axle snapped, and the axle's interior steel looked defective. The axle appeared very coarse, porous, and poorly consolidated. I requested to keep all the parts which are now located in storage. Both the insurance company and the Ford Motor Company dealership seemed to think the axle was defective. Nobody was injured or hurt.

Crash

I made a left-hand turn during a snow storm, and the right rear wheel slid and I made contact with the curb at a relatively low speed. The rear right wheel assembly failed and snapped, leaving the wheel assembly 90 degrees to normal. In other words, the wheel went from vertical to horizontal. Upon visual inspection, the axle snapped, and the axle's interior steel looked defective. The axle appeared very coarse, porous, and poorly consolidated. I requested to keep all the parts which are now located in storage. Both the insurance company and the Ford Motor Company dealership seemed to think the axle was defective. Nobody was injured or hurt.

Crash

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding a serious safety issue with my 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning. While driving, the gauge screen on my vehicle intermittently goes black, leaving me without critical driving information, including speed, battery charge level, and warning indicators. This issue occurs unexpectedly and poses a severe safety risk, particularly at high speeds or in heavy traffic conditions. The inability to monitor vital vehicle data while driving significantly increases the risk of accidents, as it forces the driver to operate without essential real-time information. Additionally, this issue may lead to non-compliance with speed limits, missed warnings for mechanical failures, and impaired vehicle control. I have reached out to Ford regarding this issue, but as of now, no effective resolution has been provided. I am deeply concerned about the potential for serious accidents if this problem is not addressed immediately. Given the growing number of electric vehicles on the road, ensuring the reliability of essential display systems is crucial for public safety. I urge the NHTSA to investigate this matter and take necessary action to ensure that Ford acknowledges and resolves this dangerous defect. I appreciate your attention to this urgent safety issue and look forward to your response regarding any next steps.

Powertrain Failure. Vehicle unresponsive. Multiple complains through various individuals of this failure. Battery pack failures causing numerous safety issues related to driving, 12v system, etc

On my new Ford F-150 Lightning, five out of the six studs on the right front wheel sheared off, leaving just one lug nut and stud holding the wheel on. I took my truck into the Ford dealership who repaired the vehicle and it was returned to me. They did not appear to be escalating the dangerous situation to Ford. The dealership kept the removed parts for warranty submission.

The instrument cluster failed to present information upon start up. Multiple restarts did not resolve the issue.