2023 Ford Mustang Mach E
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Vehicles › Ford › Mustang Mach E › 2023
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
These records cover every 2023 Ford Mustang Mach E. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
6 recalls name the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach E. Newest first.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Mustang Mache E vehicles that received a new Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) during a prior repair. The battery energy control module software may cause an incorrect state of charge to display in the vehicle, or lead to an increased risk of a high voltage battery fire after repeated DC Fast…
An inaccurate state-of-charge reading can lead to an unexpected loss of drive power, increasing the risk of crash. Additionally, a high voltage battery fire increases the risk of injury.
Dealers will update the BECM software, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed September 18, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated in December 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S68. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on September 9, 2026.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Mustang Mach E vehicles. The rear side quarter window glass trim may be improperly secured, which can allow it to detach.
Detached trim pieces can create a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect and replace the quarter window glass assemblies, as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed September 14, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S56. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning September 7, 2026.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Mustang Mach E vehicles. The rear differential pinion shaft may fracture.
Differential pinion shaft fracture may result in a loss of drive power, or unintended vehicle movement if the vehicle is in park without the parking brake applied, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will repair or replace the rear differential assembly as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed July 13, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated in late December 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S50.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2021-2025 Mustang Mach E vehicles. In the event of a low battery charge, the electronic door latches may remain locked once the driver or front passenger exits and shuts the door, possibly trapping someone who is unable to use the inside door release handles, such as a child in the back seat.
The inability to enter or exit the vehicle in an emergency increases the risk of injury.
Dealers will update the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) and the Secondary On-Board Diagnostic Control Module C (SOBDMC) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed to 2021-2025 Mustang Mach-E owners September 12, 2025. Additionally, Owner notification letters were mailed to 2024-2025 Mustang Mach-E owners July 10, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S65.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Bronco, F-150, 2021-2024 Edge, 2022-2025 Escape, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, F-600, 2022-2024 Expedition, 2022-2025 Transit, 2021-2023 Mach-E, 2024 Ranger, Mustang, 2021-2023 Lincoln Nautilus, 2022-2024 Navigator, and 2023-2024 Corsair vehicles. A software error may cause the rearview camera image to…
A frozen or missing rearview camera image can reduce the driver's view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
The accessory protocol interface module (APIM) software will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air update, free of charge. This will be a phased campaign, with the remedy becoming available in different phases based on model and model years. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on June 26, 2025. Additional letters will be mailed once the final remedy is available on each phase. Owner notification letters were sent on October 8, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S49.
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023-2024 Maverick, Ford Bronco Sport, and Mustang Mach-E vehicles. The front windshield wiper motor may become inoperative, causing the wipers to fail.
Inoperative windshield wipers can reduce visibility in certain conditions, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect and replace the windshield wiper motor as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on December 6, 2024. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24S51.
Sensors constantly list as failed. Makes the automated functions unusable. Paid for these features and they don't work over half the time. Also the JUN 30, 2026 recall is still not fixable. That's nearly 5 months of no serviceable fix. Manufacturer Recall Number26S50 NHTSA Recall Number26V417 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete, remedy not yet available
Exterior Paint Blistering consistent with tsb 25-2189
The spot welds holding the driver side front door check strap (the thing that keeps the door from opening too far) have failed on a 3 year old Mustang Mach E GT (2023 model year) with 45,000 miles on it and no corrosion on the door. You are more than welcome to look at the failure or I can send you pictures. The safety issue is that this is the only thing keeping the door from opening too far and damaging the hinges that could prevent the door from closing. I don't want this failure to be reproduced as my other doors seem okay. The spot weld failure on my car hasn't been inspected, but there are numerous Mach E doors with the same issue, but Ford won't issue a recall or a TSB like they did with the 2021 Escape doors that have the same issue. The warning sign was a creaking when opening and closing the door.
recall still not fixed from 2024
OTA software updates are unable to be recieved and I cannot set the auto update option to on. Since the vehicle is basically a computer on wheels, this is a serious safety concern. All functions rely on the computer which in turn relies on the software updates.
I am reporting a recurring safety defect involving my 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium. The defect appears to involve the high-voltage battery system, powertrain system, and High Voltage Battery Junction Box (HVBJB). The vehicle and related components are available for inspection upon request. My vehicle experienced failures on May 28, 2026, June 25, 2026, and October 1, 2026. Prior to each failure, the vehicle displayed "High Voltage Battery Warning" and "Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power" messages. Following these warnings, the vehicle became completely inoperable and would not start. This has now occurred three times, indicating a recurring defect rather than an isolated incident. This defect created safety risks for both myself and others. During the first incident on May 28, 2026, the vehicle became inoperable while in the drive-through lane of a busy coffee shop. Because the vehicle could not be started or moved, it blocked access to the drive-through during peak morning and lunch periods, forcing the business to temporarily close the drive-through lane. This created a traffic obstruction and left me stranded. On all three occasions, the vehicle became unusable without warning, creating the risk of being stranded and unable to safely rely on the vehicle for transportation. The vehicle was taken to a Ford dealership after each incident for inspection and diagnosis. Despite multiple service visits, the issue has not been permanently resolved, and the same warnings and failure conditions continue to occur. The vehicle and components have been inspected following each incident; however, no repair has successfully corrected the problem or prevented it from recurring. The repeated occurrence of High Voltage Battery Warning, Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power, and HVBJB shutdown conditions that render the vehicle unable to start raises serious concerns about the reliability and safety of the vehicle. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate this defect.
On almost all Mustang Mach-E vehicles, a loose or faulty cable connection which runs to the forward facing camera in the rear-view mirror housing causes error messages to suddenly display on the dashboard screen. Generally, the driver will receive a "Front Camera Fault – Service Required" error message, in addition to a "Pre-Collision Assist Not Available" error message, also followed by an error message indicating that lane centering is also no longer functioning. All of this occurs after the vehicle travels over a harsh imperfection/bump in the road pavement, or in my case, every time I drive over railroad track crossings. I have seen so many reports of owners receiving this exact same issue, and everyone says the same thing: when this issue begins to occur, the vehicle will disable all of these safety features for about 30 seconds or less, and then all of the systems will reactivate like normal. Many owners state that eventually these errors become permanent, which causes all of these safety systems in the vehicle to become PERMANENTLY disabled, until the vehicle is brought into a dealership service center. If the vehicle is still within the 3-year/36,000 mi factory warranty, Ford will replace the coaxial cable running to the camera at no charge to the vehicle owner. However, as many owners have stated, if their vehicle is beyond the factory warranty, the vehicle owner usually is forced to pay for the repair out of pocket, which seems to range anywhere between $1,000 and $4,000. The reason I am reporting this matter is because I believe this is a major safety concern. When the front camera fault appears on the driver's display, the vehicle automatically disables many of the safety systems, including the ability for the vehicle to avoid a collision by bringing the vehicle to a stop. Because this is a major safety concern, I believe that NO Mustang Mach-E owner should be forced to pay for this repair out of pocket, and I believe that this should be a recall.
See attached document for complaint.
Multiple intermittent electrical/software malfunctions in my Ford Mustang Mach-E, one of which poses an acute safety risk. STEERING WHEEL BUTTON / UNCOMMANDED ACCELERATION: A button on the steering wheel, when pressed, causes the vehicle to suddenly accelerate to a high speed with no corresponding throttle input from me, and speed cannot be immediately brought back under control. This creates a serious risk of collision to myself, passengers, and other road users. DOOR LATCH: A door does not open fully ("bounce open") as designed. This matches Ford recall 25V404, covering doors that may fail to open, potentially trapping an occupant during an emergency exit. ALARM SYSTEM: Alarm is either overly sensitive (false triggers) or fails to trigger when it should — an inconsistent fault suggesting an underlying electrical issue. DISPLAY SCREEN: Center/instrument screen intermittently goes black while driving, temporarily removing visibility of speed, warnings, and camera views. REAR SOUND BAR: Rear-seat speaker intermittently stops working. Not itself a safety risk, but suggests a broader wiring/electrical fault affecting several systems at once. Component available for inspection: Yes, upon request. Reproduced/confirmed by dealer or independent shop: UNKNOWN. I have called the dealer twice and been unable to reach anyone to schedule diagnostic service. Inspected by manufacturer, police, or insurance: UNKNOWN. No inspection has occurred yet. Warning lamps/messages before failures: UNKNOWN. No consistent warning appeared beforehand; symptoms occur intermittently without advance alert.
Impacts: Electric system software & fools/locks/linegae. The EV vehicle has suffered a catastrophic, complete failure of its central software architecture, specifically impacting the APIM module and RDS system. Ford's internal In-Vehicle Technology (IVT) records confirm this failure originated in December 2025 while vehicle was fully under its 3-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. Because vehicle's underlying diagnostic and software infrastructure is completely frozen in an unresolved "updating" loop, the vehicle's onboard diagnostic tools are entirely incapable of reading or reporting critical hardware and structural component failures. Initial service was May 26. This software failure has caused severe, active safety hazards. In July 2026, the driver-side door latch completely failed to secure. Because software is bricked, no diagnostic code or dashboard warning was generated. As a 100% disabled driver, I was forced to drive 35 minutes home from an oncology medical appointment physically holding the driver’s door shut at speed on public roads to prevent it from swinging open. Furthermore, vehicle's network connectivity has completely shut down while driving on 3 separate occasions. During door latch failure, I was trapped in a rural area with zero cellular service. Because onboard telematics and modem systems are frozen and failing to receive critical safety patches, vehicle's SOS Post-Crash Alert System and tracking telemetry are severely compromised. If an accident or ejection had occurred due to the door latch failure, emergency services would have had no automated tracking link. Ford has failed to repair this after multiple extended dealer stays and has admitted through their IVT department that vehicle is unfixable due to massive never before seen software failure via standard service and requires manufacturer buyback. Dealer files att show no vehicle updates since Feb 2026 tho IVT confirmed May 28 not updates since Dec 2025 from Ford known software glitch.
My 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT experienced a sudden electronic parking brake failure. The vehicle displayed a parking brake fault warning, and the electronic parking brake became stuck in the engaged position and would not release despite repeated attempts and restarting the vehicle. The failure completely immobilized the vehicle and required Ford Roadside Assistance to tow it to an authorized Ford dealership. The Ford dealer diagnosed the issue in writing as: “REAR EPB HARNESS CORRODED; STARTING TO CORRODE ON RR AS WELL; RECOMMEND REPLACING BOTH REAR PIGTAILS WITH UPDATED STYLE.” The dealer therefore found corrosion affecting the electronic parking brake wiring on one rear side and corrosion beginning on the other side. Both rear EPB pigtails are being replaced with an updated-style component. This failure appears substantially similar to the electronic parking brake wiring/connector issue Ford previously identified in Customer Satisfaction Program 22P31 for certain earlier Mustang Mach-E vehicles. Ford's documentation for 22P31 states that damage to the EPB wiring can result in a parking brake malfunction and, in some cases, an inability to disengage the parking brake. My 2023 vehicle is apparently not included in that program despite experiencing a very similar failure mode. I am submitting this complaint because corrosion of the electronic parking brake wiring on a relatively new vehicle resulted in the parking brake becoming permanently engaged and the vehicle being completely immobilized. The dealer also found corrosion developing on the opposite-side EPB wiring and recommended replacement of both sides with updated-style pigtails. I believe NHTSA should evaluate whether this EPB wiring/connector corrosion condition extends to 2023 Mustang Mach-E vehicles beyond the population originally identified by Ford.
Vehicle unexpectedly and without driver command steered/pulled to the right, departed the roadway and struck a guardrail. Dashcam footage documents the vehicle’s movement immediately before impact. BlueCruise was not equipped/being used. Driver did not intentionally steer the vehicle from the roadway.
Vehicle unexpectedly and without driver command steered/pulled to the right, departed the roadway and struck a guardrail. Dashcam footage documents the vehicle’s movement immediately before impact. BlueCruise was not equipped/being used. Driver did not intentionally steer the vehicle from the roadway.
We recently brough the Mach E in for a recall of the rear camera. We mention the front camera alerts. They said due to safety concerns, sometime when the back camera goes out it affects all cameras. When we picked up the car, they told use that the front camera, which controls active cruise control, self-driving and emergency stopping is not covered under the recall. How can this not be a safety issue. The cost to fix it is over $4000. Please let me know if there are any upcoming recalls. Thanks!
There was a message " Motor coolant over temperature '' popped up on 05/21/2026. Sent the car to Ford dealership for diagnosing it .Found out there was a big hole on the Motor casing . Told them, there was a crash on 04/14/2026. After diagnosing ,they did not know what caused the issue. We resubmitted the case to AAA insurance company for the sub-claim, they told me that the issue was not related to the previous crash . On the ford side, Car warranty did not cover the replacement of motor case and the repair cost. But it is really the quality issue of the part ( the casing of the motor)made by the Ford company.
In the event of a differential pinion shaft failure, the customer may experience a loss of motive power and/or unintended vehicle movement with Park requested if the parking brake is not applied. A loss of motive power or unintended vehicle movement increases the risk of a crash
Vehicle in question had problems since day. One computer was affected was never fixed. Many problems ended up in agency for repairs a total of 9 1/2 months and I’ve only have a three year lease on the vehicle and have not been able to use it fully because of electrical and further issues. Litigation found with my attorneys and Ford attorneys, that the vehicle had multiple problems and was issued by a judge, repayment and penalties.
While I was driving the brakes did not work. I had to slam on the brakes in order to stop the car. The back portion of the car then skid. The following warnings were sent to the phone and appeared on the dashboard as well. There were more on the dashboard but since I was driving I focused on trying to maneuver the car and not reading the dashboard. Not knowing what happened I continued to drive to duplicate the issue. The brakes were consistently only working when slamming on the brakes (and skidding). There was no traffic, allowing us to rely on driving slow speeds and letting the car to come to natural stops. We took it to the dealership immediately who were unable to duplicate. They diagnosed it as a network overload and attempted to release the car back to us. Currently working with a Ford Advocate as a Network Overload will shut our brakes off again. It's just a matter of when. Which is why they can't duplicate it. They can't predict when the Ford Network that communicates to the MachE braking mechanism will overload again. Powertrain malfunction/Reduced power Powertrain system fault Anti brake fault Anti lock brake system fault Brake system Fault Service brakes Electronic Parking Brake Hill start assist warning Hill start assist fault Pre collision assist not available Collision assist unavailable
Had a warning on my vehicle that said Electric Park Brake fault. Prior year vehicles had this issue that resulted in a recall. When the warning light came on the dealership was able to get the car in and fix it immediately.
Upon hitting moderate bumps the Front Camera faults causing the collision Assist to malfunction suddenly turning off any other driving assists , even if already active such as Cruise Control, lane keeping and departure. There are many examples of the same issues happening on dedicated forums to the Mach E. TSB 23-2155 was issued but are not covered on models that are or of warranty.
The vehicle parking brake engaged as expected when parked, but would not disengage. Vehicle became inoperable and required a tow to the Ford Dealership. Ford confirmed the cause of the issue was related to a wiring fault, similar to the 2021 and 2022 model years which resulted in Ford issuing Customer Satisfaction Program 22P31. In addition, this failure caused the brake booster module to fail preventing the parking brake from engaging correctly after the wiring was repaired.
After parking the vehicle, when returning to the vehicle the parking brake would not disengage. The computer reported Parking Brake Fault Service Immediately. Vehicle was not able to be moved and required a tow to the shop as a result. The vehicle is currently being serviced, but speaking with the dealership this is somewhat of a known issue. There were no symptoms or warning signs prior to this. The only potential safety issue about this could have been if the vehicle was parked in an unsafe area and unable to be moved.
I was backing out of a parking spot in a strip mall, when I changed the gear to Drive, and moved forward by a foot. I felt a bump, as I appeared to have hit some obstruction on the left underside of the vehicle (likely a low curb/island). After that, I lost control of the vehicle - the car accelerated very hard, and I tried to stop the car, but it was not responding to my brake input. I crashed into a stationary vehicle, which deflected my car to a storefront wall. The total distance travelled from when the sudden acceleration started to the crash against the wall, was probably 20 - 30 feet (and not in a straight line). But the impact was severe enough to have deployed the air bags and the car is considered totalled. Besides the sudden acceleration which did not happen on my input, and the inability of the car to stop based on my brake input, neither did the Forward Collision Warning go off, nor did the Automatic Emergency Braking turn on, to prevent the crash.
Parking brake fault service required, release parking brake messages when brake is not engaged.
Electronic parking brake failure after Massachusetts snow storms and salt. Car is currently at dealership so yes it’s available for inspection at Sentry Ford Medford MA. Yes it’s been reproduced. I was lucky it did not fail engaged so I was able to drive it. Early production 2023 but ford did not recall this model year. Same problem as csp 22p31. Ford currently is not covering this repair even just 500 miles over factory warranty even though all model years around it have the recall. As for the automatic emergency braking it may stop you very short, and hitting the pedal does not override the braking system. Car jerks and seems confused in this situation. I keep turning it off, but the car keeps putting it back on against my wishes. Extremely concerning as it should stay off.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
On April 25, 2024, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE24012) to assess BlueCruise, a partial driving automation system available on certain vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company (Ford). NHTSA opened the investigation after the agency received notice of two fatal collisions involving BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles. Based on the incidents, NHTSA scoped the investigation to 2021-2024 Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with BlueCruise. In June 2024, ODI sent an Information Request (IR) letter to Ford requiring that it provide certain information pertaining to crashes, non-crash reports, and technical specifications that relate to BlueCruise, as well as other Ford partial driving automation systems that offer lane and speed maintenance. In its response to ODI’s IR, Ford stated that there are 2,539,962 Ford and Lincoln vehicles (including subject and peer vehicles) equipped with a partial driving automation system within the scope of the request. The majority of these vehicles are equipped with a system that Ford calls Lane Centering Assist (LCA), which is a hands-on partial driving automation system that combines longitudinal control authority governed by Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and lateral control authority governed by a steerable path. LCA is offered on a wide range of Ford and Lincoln models beginning in model year 2019. Vehicles that are equipped with BlueCruise, the focus of this investigation, have LCA capability and additionally offer hands-free partial driving automation when certain conditions are met. Hands-free BlueCruise operation is only offered on certain roadways and system availability is geofenced using vehicle GPS. BlueCruise-equipped vehicles employ a camera-based driver monitoring system to determine driver attentiveness to the roadway. BlueCruise was introduced in model year 2021 and is currently available in a select range of Ford and Lincoln vehicles. For BlueCruise- and LCA-equipped vehicles, both ACC and Pre-Collision Assist (PCA) features use a combination of camera and radar sensing technologies to detect and classify objects. ACC is specifically designed to detect vehicles (including cars, trucks, and motorcycles) and bicycles in front of the subject vehicle which are either stationary or moving in the same direction as the subject vehicle. Through this investigation, limitations in the detection of stationary vehicles in certain conditions have been identified. Specifically, due to the potential for false detection of stationary objects at long distances, Ford designed ACC to inhibit any response to reported stationary objects when the subject vehicle’s approach speed is at or above 62 mph. Additionally, system performance may be limited when there is poor visibility due to insufficient illumination. In addition to reviewing Ford’s response to ODI’s IR, the agency conducted a review of crash and non-crash reports identified collectively through Ford’s IR response, incident reporting through Standing General Order 2021-01 (SGO), and NHTSA vehicle owner questionnaires. In total, 32 crashes and 2,004 non-crash reports on subject and peer Ford vehicles were identified across manufacturer and ODI data sources. A detailed analysis of each crash was conducted including the review of any available police reports, photographs, data recovered from in-vehicle event data recorders, connected vehicle data, and/or other information. In both fatal collisions referenced in the PE24012 opening resume, the subject Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicle was traveling over 70 mph on a controlled-access highway during nighttime lighting conditions with hands-free BlueCruise engaged when it collided with a stationary vehicle. Analysis of data imaged from the vehicles’ event data recorders demonstrates that in each incident, the driver did not apply the brakes or take evasive steering action, and no deceleration was initiated by either the BlueCruise system or PCA prior to impact. Through the agency’s crash analysis, four additional frontal collisions were identified where the subject Ford impacted a stopped or slow-moving lead vehicle or another stationary object located in the travel lane. Two of these four incidents involved BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles (included in the failure report summary along with the fatal collisions discussed above), while the other two involved other Ford models equipped with the LCA system. Additionally, a trend was identified through analysis of the non-crash reports relating to allegations that ACC (the longitudinal component of both BlueCruise and LCA) failed to detect and/or respond to a stopped or slow-moving lead vehicle. In these reports, consumers often describe that the absence of deceleration initiated by ACC was unexpected and required harsh manual braking or intervention from the PCA to avoid a frontal collision with the lead vehicle. Based on NHTSA’s analysis, system limitations relating to the detection of stationary vehicles while traveling at highway speeds and in nighttime lighting conditions appear to be factors in collisions under investigation and several apparently similar near-miss, non-crash reports. This Engineering Analysis (EA) is being opened to further investigate these system limitations and to evaluate drivers’ ability to respond to scenarios that exceed system limitations. During the EA, the agency expects to, among other things, perform vehicle evaluations, review additional technical information, and perform additional analysis of related crashes and non-crash reports. The crashes included in the failure report summary can be found at NHTSA.gov under the following SGO report identification numbers: 502-7268, 502-7426, 502-6852, 502-8738.
On April 25, 2024, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE24012) to assess BlueCruise, a partial driving automation system available on certain vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company (Ford). NHTSA opened the investigation after the agency received notice of two fatal collisions involving BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles. Based on the incidents, NHTSA scoped the investigation to 2021-2024 Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with BlueCruise. In June 2024, ODI sent an Information Request (IR) letter to Ford requiring that it provide certain information pertaining to crashes, non-crash reports, and technical specifications that relate to BlueCruise, as well as other Ford partial driving automation systems that offer lane and speed maintenance. In its response to ODI’s IR, Ford stated that there are 2,539,962 Ford and Lincoln vehicles (including subject and peer vehicles) equipped with a partial driving automation system within the scope of the request. The majority of these vehicles are equipped with a system that Ford calls Lane Centering Assist (LCA), which is a hands-on partial driving automation system that combines longitudinal control authority governed by Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and lateral control authority governed by a steerable path. LCA is offered on a wide range of Ford and Lincoln models beginning in model year 2019. Vehicles that are equipped with BlueCruise, the focus of this investigation, have LCA capability and additionally offer hands-free partial driving automation when certain conditions are met. Hands-free BlueCruise operation is only offered on certain roadways and system availability is geofenced using vehicle GPS. BlueCruise-equipped vehicles employ a camera-based driver monitoring system to determine driver attentiveness to the roadway. BlueCruise was introduced in model year 2021 and is currently available in a select range of Ford and Lincoln vehicles. For BlueCruise- and LCA-equipped vehicles, both ACC and Pre-Collision Assist (PCA) features use a combination of camera and radar sensing technologies to detect and classify objects. ACC is specifically designed to detect vehicles (including cars, trucks, and motorcycles) and bicycles in front of the subject vehicle which are either stationary or moving in the same direction as the subject vehicle. Through this investigation, limitations in the detection of stationary vehicles in certain conditions have been identified. Specifically, due to the potential for false detection of stationary objects at long distances, Ford designed ACC to inhibit any response to reported stationary objects when the subject vehicle’s approach speed is at or above 62 mph. Additionally, system performance may be limited when there is poor visibility due to insufficient illumination. In addition to reviewing Ford’s response to ODI’s IR, the agency conducted a review of crash and non-crash reports identified collectively through Ford’s IR response, incident reporting through Standing General Order 2021-01 (SGO), and NHTSA vehicle owner questionnaires. In total, 32 crashes and 2,004 non-crash reports on subject and peer Ford vehicles were identified across manufacturer and ODI data sources. A detailed analysis of each crash was conducted including the review of any available police reports, photographs, data recovered from in-vehicle event data recorders, connected vehicle data, and/or other information. In both fatal collisions referenced in the PE24012 opening resume, the subject Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicle was traveling over 70 mph on a controlled-access highway during nighttime lighting conditions with hands-free BlueCruise engaged when it collided with a stationary vehicle. Analysis of data imaged from the vehicles’ event data recorders demonstrates that in each incident, the driver did not apply the brakes or take evasive steering action, and no deceleration was initiated by either the BlueCruise system or PCA prior to impact. Through the agency’s crash analysis, four additional frontal collisions were identified where the subject Ford impacted a stopped or slow-moving lead vehicle or another stationary object located in the travel lane. Two of these four incidents involved BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles (included in the failure report summary along with the fatal collisions discussed above), while the other two involved other Ford models equipped with the LCA system. Additionally, a trend was identified through analysis of the non-crash reports relating to allegations that ACC (the longitudinal component of both BlueCruise and LCA) failed to detect and/or respond to a stopped or slow-moving lead vehicle. In these reports, consumers often describe that the absence of deceleration initiated by ACC was unexpected and required harsh manual braking or intervention from the PCA to avoid a frontal collision with the lead vehicle. Based on NHTSA’s analysis, system limitations relating to the detection of stationary vehicles while traveling at highway speeds and in nighttime lighting conditions appear to be factors in collisions under investigation and several apparently similar near-miss, non-crash reports. This Preliminary Evaluation is being upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA25001) to further investigate these system limitations and to evaluate drivers’ ability to respond to scenarios that exceed system limitations. During the EA, the agency expects to, among other things, perform vehicle evaluations, review additional technical information, and perform additional analysis of related crashes and non-crash reports. The crashes included in the failure report summary can be found at NHTSA.gov under the following SGO report identification numbers: 502-7268, 502-7426, 502-6852, 502-8738.
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.