Ford Ireland warns Kuga plug-in hybrid owners of fire risk when charging their car
The company has written to owners of newer Ford Kuga plug-in hybrids to inform them of the potential for the high-voltage battery in the car to 'short circuit'. File picture
Ford Ireland has begun contacting owners of certain hybrid vehicles warning them against charging their car, as to do so risks causing a fire.
The company has written to owners of newer Ford Kuga plug-in hybrids to inform them of the potential for the high-voltage battery in the car to “short circuit”. Ford said that it had discovered the issue as a result of its “monitoring vehicles in operation”.
“In the event of a high voltage battery cell internal short circuit, you will experience a Stop Safely Now message and warning icon,” the letter from the company states.
“You may also experience a loss of motive power, increasing the risk of an accident,” it said. “You may also experience battery thermal venting potentially resulting in a vehicle fire, increasing the risk of injury.”
The letter added that should the car lose propulsive power while in motion, the driver will still “continue to have 12-volt accessories, steering, and braking control” however.
The Ford Kuga hybrid model typically retails for about €45,000 when new.
The company said that its engineers are currently “developing new software to remedy" the potential short circuit issue.
However, until that process is complete, Ford advised owners of the Kuga models in question to not plug in their vehicles to charge the battery, and instead to use the ‘Auto EV’ mode when driving the car only.
That mode sees the car operate as a petrol-powered vehicle only, with EV mode kicking in only in certain situations, such as when the car is being driven downhill.
Not charging the car “will prevent the potential issue from occurring while charging or driving”, Ford’s letter said.
It said that when the “remedy” for the situation is available, Ford will contact the vehicle owner by post once more “to schedule an appointment for a software update”, but that in the meantime “Ford has not issued instructions to stop driving your vehicle”.
However, until that fix is available, the letter requested of drivers who do “experience a Stop Safely Now message” that they “please do follow the advice and exit the vehicle as soon as it can be brought to a safe stop”.
The asked Ford if the issue with the Kuga models is guaranteed not to occur if the car is driven in petrol-mode only without being plugged in.
It was also asked why a software fix is seen as a remedy when the issue is physically with the car’s battery; how many customers have been affected; and whether compensation will be paid to owners for the loss of their vehicle’s functionality while a fix is prepared.
A response was not received at the time of publication.
One Kuga owner who spoke to the noted that the hybrid was “probably the best car” they had ever driven and that no issues had previously been noted with it.
They added, however, that when they consulted with the dealership from which they bought the car as to what was going on, the dealer had heard nothing about the issue.
