2013 Ford Focus Electric: sudden loss of power

Filed Jul 11, 2019 · Transmission · 24,000 miles · CA

Car stopped on motion with an alarm stop safely now, wheels lost power, steering wheel was able to function so car had to be pushed to the side of the road.

Filed Aug 20, 2015 · Electrical, Fuel system · 60,650 miles · MI

While driving the vehicle, a loud chime sounded, with a red triangle saying, "stop safely now" as well as a yellow "see manual" indication. This was very dangerous because it was sudden and while driving. The car lost all power and I had to attempt to pull of the street so I wouldn't cause an accident. I shifted to park and turned the car off and back on and it resolved the issue. However, 2 days later the same problem occurred but this time I was unable to restart the vehicle and needed to tow the car to the dealership.

Filed Jan 21, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 5,700 miles · CA

While traveling down the freeway, decelerating to change lanes the stop safely now message appeared and the car lost power. This is a re-occurrence and the dealer is working to resolve it.

Filed Nov 14, 2014 · Brakes, Fuel system · 20,000 miles · CA

Was driving at 25 MPH in a residential zone, with 48 miles on the battery when an alert dinged and the message on the screen said "pull over to safety now." I immediately pulled out of traffic into a parking space as the power steering stopped working, then steering then completely locked, couldn't turn the wheel. The car would no longer go forward / had lost power. And the power breaks didn't seem to be functioning. Thankfully I had already come to a complete stop. The next morning we had it towed to an authorized ford service center that said there was a recall for this issue. They applied the software fix and test drove the car only to have the problem reoccur. Therefore they said the fix for the recall didn't actually fix the problem and that they would have to order a replacement for the transmission control module, as that was the part ford said was faulty / failed.

Filed May 22, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 12,200 miles · GA

Focus electric bev (not hybrid) - while driving at any speed, warning indication lights up on dash stating "stop safely now". The car has no power to accelerate anymore. The only control the driver has is to brake or pull over. On freeways or other highway with traffic when this occurs this is extremely dangerous as another vehicle can plow into the back of the car because you cannot accelerate and you may not be able to pull over if there is a curb or in a lane other than the right. This is very dangerous especially at night. Understand that the car has no power and you cannot use the accelerator at all unexpectedly. The only thing you can do is brake and/or steer based on the momentum of the car at the time of the warning. You cannot clear the issue until you come to a complete stop. Turn the car off by pressing the ignition button, waiting a minute or two, then starting the car back. At that time, it may or may not work. Sometimes when this procedure does work, you may only get a mile or two down the road before it does it again. This first occurred on april 17/18 and taken to a dealer to repair on a current recall notice of which symptoms include the car "losing power" among other related reasons. At the time, this event did occur and I explained that to the dealer and they informed me it would be taken care of with the recall repair. After receiving the car back, it happened again on april 29. It was taken to a different dealer this time. They attempted to fix and gave me the car back the next day on april 30th. Upon leaving the dealer on the 30th, the problem occurred again on the away from the dealer less than 3 miles away. I returned the vehicle to the dealer and it happened 3 additional times in the 3 miles back to the dealer. The dealer continues to attempt repair and has not returned the car to me. I have ford and bbb case numbers..

Filed Dec 23, 2013 · Transmission · 1,000 miles · CA

Multiple times, our ford focus electric has abruptly lost power and flashed the message, "stop safely now." it's has occurred during rush hour commute on a 5-lane freeway, causing serious safety risks as we have had to make an emergency stop on the freeway. Sometimes the car will restart after multiple attempts and several times we have had it towed back to the dealer. Most recently the car was in service for 8 days at frontier ford in stevens creek, then stalled on the freeway on the way home from the dealer -unacceptable! We bought this car for commuting but the recurring sudden stops and safety messages have totally undermined our confidence in this car. We feel unsafe, as this issues clearly puts us and our children at greater risk of serious injury or death while in this vehicle. Unfortunately, the focus has been in the shop for repair over 30 days during the first year of purchase. We do not want to own this lemon anymore. Ford clearly doesn't know how to fix the issue - it's time for a recall on this unsafe vehicle. Why hasn't the nstb taken any action?

Filed Nov 22, 2013 · Transmission · 8,000 miles · IN

I was driving on high at 65mph when a safety alarm went off in the car and message read "stop safely now". Which I did. Car had died by then. I was not able to turn the switch off but engine was not running. I had to get it towed to ford dealer who failed to identify any issues. It worked well for 2 to 3 weeks, until 2 days ago when same thing happened. It has since happened 3 times, latest being today. I have contacted ford about this. I believe it is very dangerous to lose power like that midstream. People behind me can crash into me since I have no propulsion. I have looked through internet and there are other people having same complaint with same vehicle and somebody needs to look into it. I have about 8000k on the car. I purchased about 6 months ago.

Filed Nov 6, 2013 · Transmission · 5,200 miles · MI

This issue has actually happened about 4 times in the last 6 months. For example, while driving home a few weeks ago, my 2013 ford focus electric suddenly lost all power while driving at approximately 45 MPH. The dashboard error read "stop safely now". Luckily I was not on the highway or in an area where I was unable to pull aside off the road quickly. It took me about 15 minutes to get the car going again. I figured out that I had to actually exit the vehicle, close the door and then open and re-enter again to get the car to restart. It sounds weird that I would have to go through that process, but I think the keyless push start had something to do with it. This has been the process to get it finally started each time after I figured it out.

Filed Oct 27, 2013 · Electrical · 4,680 miles · CA

I previously reported to the federal safety agency two previous occasions that this car suddenly lost power and came to an abrupt stop. The same fault occurred on 10/25/13. I have contacted albany ford of california and the car will be flat bedded back to them tomorrow for further attention. After the previous occasion they had this car to correct this fault, no parts were replaced or repaired but codes were downloaded and a diagnostic test was performed. Obviously this did not cure the problem. I filled out a form on the ford owner web site yesterday and have had an acknowledgement by e-mail. This is an obvious safety problem which was not adequately addressed previously.

Filed Oct 22, 2013 · Transmission · 4,800 miles · WA

While operating the 2013 ford focus EV on the highway, just after braking to enter the left turn lane, the vehicle lost all propulsion capability. The instrument gauge indicated "stop safely now" one or two seconds before this loss of power. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic and I was able to coast to a safe parking spot. In other circumstances this could have been very dangerous..

Filed Oct 18, 2013 · Brakes, Electrical · 5,600 miles · TX

I have received a "stop safely now" warning twice in the past week while drive my ford focus electric. When this has happened I've lost all acceleration, and one of the times I lost the ability to steer and break. Both times that this has happened the car battery was near fully charged. --------------------------------- 1st occurrence was on oct 7th 2013 while slowing down to approach a stop sign, I heard beeping and received the "stop safely now" warning on the screen and immediately the car lost power (the dashboard still had power). I lost the ability to steer, break and accelerate. Thankfully I was already coming to a stop (for the stop sign) and was under 5mph. The car rolled to a stop, I was unable to turn the car back on until I opened the driver's door (this caused the dashboard to power off), after this I was able to power the car back on and continue driving. ------------------------------------- 2nd occurrence was on oct 16th 2013 while driving 65mph on the freeway, I heard beeping and received the "stop safely now" warning on the screen and immediately the car lost power (the dashboard still had power), this time I was still able to steer and break but had no acceleration. Thankfully there was a freeway exit close by, and the car had enough momentum that I was able to roll down the exit ramp and to the shoulder of the feeder road. The car would not restart, I had to open the driver side door for the car to power down all the way. I was than able to power the car back on and keep driving. ------------------------------------- I have taken the car to the ford service dept (on oct 17th); at this time they are telling me that they have not found an issue.

Filed Oct 8, 2013 · Transmission · 5,698 miles · CA

While driving to work in the morning, car lost power and displayed "stop safely now" message. I was able to coast to the side of the road. After several tries was able to restart the car successfully and continue on route.