NHTSA Complaint #10549370 — 2013 FORD FOCUS ELECTRIC

MY VEHICLE DISPLAYED A "STOP SAFELY NOW" WARNING DURING MY NORMAL MORNING COMMUTE. THE WARNING WAS PRECEDED BY A FAILURE OF THE RADIO PORTION OF THE SYNC SYSTEM. I BRIEFLY TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE AT A USUAL STOP ON MY ROUTE AND UPON TURNING IT ON, THE RADIO VOLUME, POWER AND TUNING WERE ALL UNRESPONSIVE. I ATTEMPTED TO RESET THE VEHICLE AT THE NEXT TRAFFIC LIGHT BY POWERING DOWN AND OPENING THE DOOR, BUT THE RADIO REMAINED ON EVEN AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS OFF AND THE DOOR WAS OPENED. I ATTEMPTED THIS SEVERAL MORE TIMES AT EACH SUCCESSIVE TRAFFIC LIGHT AND THE RADIO WOULD NOT SHUT OFF. AFTER ONE SUCH RESET, THE STOP SAFELY NOW WARNING WAS DISPLAYED ON THE DASH. I WAS STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT AT THE TIME AND WAS ABLE TO RESET THE VEHICLE AND SAFELY ENTER A PARKING LOT AND WAIT FOR A TOW - WITH THE RADIO STILL ON. MY LOCAL FORD DEALER WAITED THREE DAYS TO DIAGNOSE THE ISSUE AND UNSURPRISINGLY DETERMINED IT WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE/DEAD 12 V BATTERY AND REPLACED THE BATTERY. SOFTWARE WAS ALSO UPDATED. UPON RETURNING HOME AND ATTEMPTING TO CHARGE, MY VEHICLE DISPLAYED A HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEM FAULT AND HAD TO BE TOWED TO THE DEALER AGAIN. THE DEALER SAID THIS FAULT WAS CAUSED BY A LOOSE CONNECTION ON A TERMINAL BLOCK ON THE ELECTRIC MOTOR THAT WAS USED TO SIGNAL BATTERY CAPACITY TO THE ON-BOARD COMPUTER. *TR