Ford Focus Electric won't start

I wanted to let everyone know that on 9/11/2014 my 2013 FFE would not start when I went to leave the office. It was plugged in and I didn't realize that a Ground Fault warning popped up in the App until later but it was towed by Ford to the dealer where it has sat since.

Has anyone else had an issue like this? It popped up with the "Stop Safely Now" warning and then with the wrench.

Here is the video I took that day and they sent a specialist to look at the vehicle and I'm still waiting to hear what is wrong as of now the dealership has replaced the wiring harness and are now talking about replacing the battery. I started the Lemon Law process with Ford as I have not had the car a year.

http://youtu.be/cR8IyoKkwKU

Wow, that stinks !

A ground fault sounds like the car's battery management system did exactly what it was supposed to do to protect itself, or that the sensors they use for ground fault detection failed.

I'm not too surprised it's taken them a month to requisition, receive, and install the wiring harness; we're talking about a major wiring component for a low-production car. At least process of elimination suggests it's not a wiring harness problem.

I have a handful of questions if you're willing to answer them.


Did the ground fault detection message come as an e-mail, or as a pop-up notification from MyFordMobile on your smartphone ?

Did the fault occur when you stepped on the brake and pressed the Start button to put the car into "Ready to Drive" mode, or just when you started the car ? Do you remember if you heard the customary "thunk" of the main contactor closing ?

Did your local dealer have somebody qualified to look at the car, or was the expert from another dealer or from Ford themselves ?

Have you been in contact with anyone at Ford like a "service advisor" to monitor the status of your FFE, or are you working entirely with the dealer ?

Do you have insurance that provides a replacement car, or is the dealer providing one for you, or are you stuck without a car ?

I'm sorry to hear you're having such a serious problem with your FFE and appreciate that you're willing to share the experience with the MyFocusElectric community.