Telling customers not to charge because of risk of fire, no fix available, and buyback is the only option is another embarrassing brick in our wall of quality shame.
Roughly one year ago, a recall was issued for 14,452 2019-2020 Ford Fusion Energi (PHEV) models over a problem with the battery energy control module (BECM). In those models, the BECM may become damaged due to excessive voltage and current flow, which could lead to a loss of drive power or a fire, increasing the risk of a crash or injury. At that time, Ford noted that it didn’t currently have a remedy for this problem, and asked owners of affected Ford Fusion Energi models not to charge their vehicles in the interim.
Then, just last month, Ford launched a buyback program for affected Ford Fusion Energi models offering customers a statutory refund of the vehicle’s purchase price, less a reasonable allowance for depreciation. This amount is based on the fair market value of the vehicle, plus a 15 percent premium, and doesn’t include the cost of any modifications made to the vehicle after it was originally sold. Customers interesting in taking advantage of this program had until July 1st, 2025, to do so, at which point Ford expects to have sufficient quantities of parts needed to complete final remedy repairs.
At that time, Ford told impacted Fusion Energi owners that they should refrain from charging their vehicles until their new battery has been installed, and wait on further communications. Now, it seems as if those communications have begun going out to those owners, as one recently posted Ford’s memo on Reddit. However, this is merely detailing an interim fix, which is to have a dealer disable plug-in charging until parts become available.
This will at least prevent fires from occurring until the final remedy repair can take place. As for those that don’t want to wait another several months to a year for that to happen, they can still take advantage of the buyback program, too.