Ford Motor Company recently issued a recall for over 20,000 hybrid crossover SUVs due to the risk of battery fires. According to a filing with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the recall encompasses 16,480 Ford Escape and over 4,000 Lincoln Corsair plug-in hybrid SUVs manufactured between the model years 2020 and 2024.
Documents filed with the safety administration explain that the problems are the result of “microdefects and local stresses” caused by manufacturing errors. As a result, they could lead to damage within the battery, causing a short circuit and leading to a fire. The filing explained, “In the event of a high voltage battery cell internal short circuit, customers may experience shutdown of the vehicle’s propulsion system.”
“Loss of motive power increases the risk of crash and injury. Steering, braking, and lighting functions are not affected,” the document further states. “In the event of a high voltage battery cell internal short circuit, the customer may also experience battery thermal venting potentially resulting in a vehicle fire, increasing the risk of injury.”
The American Tribune previously reported on concerns surrounding lithium-ion battery fires, particularly this Fall when hurricanes impacted the southeastern United States. Florida saw incidents in which EV batteries burst into flames caused by the impact of Hurricane Helene. In 2022, Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis wrote a letter to the NHTSA requesting guidance on how to mitigate EV fires caused by storm waters.
“The State Fire Marshal’s Office is in need of immediate guidance regarding the response to fires produced by electric vehicles (EVs) that are compromised as a result of lithium batteries corroding from exposure to salt water,” Patronis said. “I joined North Collier Fire Rescue to assess response activities related to Hurricane Ian and saw with my own eyes an EV continuously ignite, and continually reignite, as fireteams doused the vehicle with tens-of-thousands of gallons of water.”
Users on social media have reacted to the battery fire risk as well. “The Fire Department Chronicles dude talked about how incredibly dangerous & difficult these fires are to put out. Fire departments now have to have specialized equipment & extinguishers to put out these battery fires because they’re THAT dangerous & difficult to put out. He said some of these batteries, even when submerged in water, took 30 DAYS to fully extinguish. I feel sorry for this homeowner, they’re not going to have a house after this,” one person said.
Reports across the nation have expressed the concern surrounding the lithium ion battery fires. “Electric vehicle fires are an emerging threat across the world right now,” explained Eric Kurtz from South Metro Fire and Rescue. “Specifically when the battery pack is involved, that it can be nearly impossible to extinguish it will take 10s of 1000s of gallons to do that.”
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Watch a Florida EV fire during Hurricane Helene below:
Kurtz stressed that EV owners should fully understand the fire risk that is presented with these types of vehicles, as they become increasingly prevalent on the consumer market. “We don’t want people to necessarily feel afraid of those. We just want them to better understand that there is a risk of fires,” he said.