1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Answer: The Hybrid system/battery caught fire. The vehicle is with the Insurance company Allstate, I believe should be available for inspection upon request. 2. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Answer: The vehicle caught fire after just dropping my kid in to his school, the school has to be evacuated as the vehicle burned near the building. 3. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Answer: There is an existing recall "Phev battery cell degragation" from Ford. Here is the Campaign/the federal safety agency#: 23S33/23V440 4. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Answer: The Fire Marshall and the Police was present and we had Police report(case num: [XXX]) and Fire Marshall report(case num: [XXX]) 5. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? Answer: I did notice an unusual behavior, like minutes before the fire the AC fan suddenly turned up blowing a non cold air, I attempted to turn off the vehicle 2 or 3 times until the fan and the vehicle completely turned off. I turned it back on to have AC again and it was good, after like less than 5 minutes I turned off the vehicle to get out of the car with my kid to drop him in his school. Minutes after I returned to the car, there was already smoke, had to call 911 after that. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Ford Fusion Energi fire or smoke problems
11 of the 317 owner complaints about the Ford Fusion Energi describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 2019 model year.
- owner complaints
- 11
- worst model year
- 2019
By model year
- 20203
- 20196
- 20171
- 20141
What owners say
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fusion Energi. The contact received advance notice notification from the dealer that a failure with the charging system might cause the vehicle to catch on fire however, the part to repair the charging system was not available. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact had not experienced a failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000.
I just purchased (4/12/24) a used Ford Fusion Energy from a Ford dealership with out them notifying me of any recall. I am concerned the car may start on fire. The dealership did not disclose there was a recall on this vehicle.
My car has been under recall (the federal safety agency recall 23V440) without a remedy since June of last year. According to Ford if I charge my car (it is a PHEV) I risk damaging major components and/or the car catching on fire. Ford is not making any effort to repair my car in a timely manner. They will not provide a firm date for when they plan to fix this recall. I have called Ford and asked them to make this right and they have refused, saying that my state's lemon laws do not obligate them in any way to help me. I cannot sell the car because the resale value of the car has plummeted since the recall was issued. I only owned the car for 3 months before the recall happened.
There is currently an active recall with no remedy being made available as of 6/16/2023. In this recall it is stated EXCESS VOLTAGE AND CURRENT FLOW THROUGH THE BECM CAN RESULT IN A LOSS OF MOTIVE POWER WHICH INCREASES THE RISK OF A CRASH, OR A VEHICLE FIRE IN THE TRUNK AREA. The safety of my family, which includes a two year old who is in a car seat in the back seat has been put at risk every day due to this issue not being remedied and continuing to have a potential for vehicle fire every time we start the car. Ford has advised to not charge the vehicle, however there is a system that allows for recharge while breaking. I have pulled the following information from the Ford website..."Regenerative Braking, When you apply the brakes in a conventional vehicle, kinetic energy is lost due to friction. During braking in a Ford hybrid, however, regenerative braking recovers more than 90%* of this energy, sending it back to the battery to be stored for later use." With this feature the battery is still being engaged and putting my daughter at risk. It would be extremely time consuming to run around the vehicle to her location then unbuckle and pull her out from the car seat after having to pull over once alerted to the car being on fire, potentially while on the highway. Its unlikely that we would reach her in time to save her. Another consideration for risk would be to other drivers on the road. Creating an emergency such as vehicle fire has high probability to cause others to become distracted while driving leading to more injuries. Vehicle has been taken to the Ford dealership on multiple occasions in 2023 for battery issues. We request to see the issue completely resolved or for Ford to buy the vehicle back.
Manufacturer Recall Number 23S33 the federal safety agency Recall Number 23V‑440 Ford denied my buyback claim due to the vehicle being pre-owned, but with the open recall, I believe this vehicle to be a significant safety risk. My vehicle has limited functionality and reduced fuel economy in a model for which I specifically paid extra money. There is no fix in sight until the end of 2024 at the earliest, and there are other accounts of people's vehicles leaving them stranded or catching on fire! Ford does not have a fix for this vehicle, and a fix will not be available within a reasonable timeframe.
car can catch on fire due to hybrid battery issue.
Purchased the hybrid fusion to save on gas . Received a recall with no time as to when they will have a fix. The car is now only able to be used as a gas car because we Were advised you cannot charge the vehicle as it may go on fire. I now have to fill up every week as opposed to every 4-6 weeks. Gas is very high now and the car is not what I wanted without the hybrid mode . Car is lackluster in gas mode and my gas bill is not 5-6 times what I was paying and want to pay .
The contact stated their son owned a 2020 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that their son was driving at approximately 35 MPH, when the vehicle's instrument panel illuminated all possible warning lights. Then there was smoke emitting from the vehicle near the driver's feet. The driver pulled to the side of the road where they turned off the vehicle. The vehicle then caught on fire under the hood of the vehicle. The fire department was called and distinguished the fire. A fire report was filed. The vehicle was towed and deemed totaled. There were no injuries. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and then opened a case regarding the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.
Car was sitting in my driveway and the back lithium ion battery in trunk had a short and started on fire while car was off and not plugged in. Burnt through trunk and into back seat and both speakers are gone. Car has heavy smoke damage and all windows are bad. Found battery harness with completely melted where it plugs into battery.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Ford Fusion Energi fire or smoke
Which Ford Fusion Energi years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2019 (6 complaints), 2020 (3 complaints) and 2014 (1 complaints).
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