Sudden power loss while driving

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darryltbarnes

New member
Joined
Jan 30, 2013
Messages
4
We've had our FFE for about a month. We've had two incidents where the car has suddenly loss power. The first time my wife reversed into the road and it lost power, but it start back up again no problem.

The second time was much more serious. She was driving down a busy road on a downhill slope. While braking for a stop light the "Stop Safely Now" message appeared and the car shut down. It then wouldn't restart or get out of Park!! So, i couldn't move it once i got there. We got out of the car to safety and called a tow. This was during rush hour and it almost causes about 4 wreck when a woman finally slammed into the back of it which totaled her car. Unfortunately it didn't total the FFE and now I get to worry about whether the batteries are damaged at the location of impact and if they really get the core issue fixed so it won't happen again.

The dealership is still trying to figure out the issue and my wife says she's never getting in the car again. FML.
 
Contact FORD directly....

Fredrick Toney VP customer service

[
edited by admin Aug 7/2013

Mike K from Ford's Customer Service Division requested Frederick's email be removed. Mike says the best way to contact Ford is through this page:
http://www.ford.com/help/contact/
You can contact them on twitter, or email, or phone, and then your contact with them is recorded
]
 
Just had this happen, luckily in a much safer situation. Was at the dealership for the first time, yesterday, for a new tire (got a gash). No problem driving home, mix of highway and suburb, about 8 miles. This evening, I pulled away from the curb, did a three point U turn (feeling as if there was less power/more drag than usual, checked the handbrake, no problems there). I made it about 100 feet, past a small intersection, when I got the yodeling tone and "stop safely now" light. It did silence, but then flashed the "check manual" light (the yellow one with the wrench symbol) and then back to the "stop safely now." It's a wide, quiet street, and I was not far from the curb, so I put the flashers on, and tried to shut the car off. No dice--it would not respond to the power button.

After a long wait, during which time I called several people and also AAA (because yesterday and the night before, the Ford road service number had not been working), the car initiated a shutdown procedure (with a very microsoft-looking process bar) to conserve energy. I should mention that during this crisis, the power display showed no "blue," as if the battery was completely empty, but the display still read 42 miles (if I remember right--anyway, the right number of miles remaining). After the car finished its shutdown (it ends with the central dial going slowly dark, very poetic) I hit the start button, and it started up. I thought, "well, maybe it's fine, but just in case, why don't I turn it around, so I'm closer to the curb, and facing downhill." It drove for about 10 feet in a broad curve, leaving me stuck again...this time, across the road. Same yodeling, same warning sequence. Luckily, this time, the stop button did work.

The third time, the car started, and drove...but I only drove it about 15 feet, parked it, and waited for the flatbed to show up. It drove nicely up onto the flatbed.

Interestingly, at some points, the phone app showed "low battery," but at other points, it showed everything being fine. Also, my very brief drives didn't seem to register with the "recent activity app," and no error message was generated (beyond the "cold/plug in" message that's been pretty constant since I got the car in December).

It's a 2013 with 1250 miles on it. Very Zen. The lowest the battery has ever been was about 6 miles left, I think. I have had the sense that it may be taking slightly longer to charge, recently, than just after I got it. From the start, it also mis-estimates the charging time, but I think that may have to do with changes in the ambient temperature.

This is about as full and detailed as possible, but if I've left anything out that the good folks at Ford would find useful, I'll check back in a day or two or three, and if anyone wants to leave a contact number, I'll give you a call. I'm very glad it happened where it happened. I had a Geo Metro years ago with engine problems that made it stall out on the freeway, and I remember the fear of losing power on 90, coming into Seattle, on the bridge / in the tunnel...but that at least gave me a couple hundred feet. I don't think I got more than 3 seconds warning before total power loss this time, and the steering wheel had also locked up, by the time I thought to check it (and that's a VERY stupid feature, guys--at least find an override for that). I'm in that odd state of denial where it doesn't scare me, and I feel warm and kindly towards it, but...maybe I should be more scared. Or at least, plan routes with thought given to bailout options.

Really, it's been essentially trouble free, reliable and enjoyable until now, unless you count silly stuff like sporadically claiming that it doesn't recognize my music...sometimes even while playing the music. (Not complaining, just mentioning it, on the very unlikely chance the two are somehow related).
 
That's pretty scary. Has anyone had a problem at higher speeds. That might just be a dangerous experience. I've been invited to talk with Ford next week so I may have to ask about that and the steering locking.
 
@JFS: I would contact the VP contact above with the issue. Chances are the local dealership is not going to know how to handle the issue.

Yes, my wife was going about 50mph and was starting to brake when it happened. Very dangerous.
 
Yup, emailed the email address above, and then forwarded that to my local folks, along with a link to this thread. When I brought mine in for the new tire, it's the first time they'd seen one, but they seemed actually very well informed and keen (one guy had driven a leaf considerably, and another had tweaked his car--diesel? to 65 mpg. Heck, even the tow truck driver had designed a fuel cell car as part of a class project when he was an electrical engineering student.)

But I noticed that when mine died, it either had (or thought it had) exactly 1250 miles on it, and that's the same mileage that someone else reported in another thread. Lots of possibilities. Maybe that's a default mileage that the odometer pops up when this happens (and it happened to be close to my real mileage). Maybe it's a bug that triggers at 1250 miles. Maybe this is all a big coincidence. Don't suppose you know what your mileage was? You mention it happened twice, which suggests it's not a one-time trigger. But that doesn't mean it's not a bug...

Thoughts?

Though another thread mentioned rodents and wire-chewing. Not sure that would explain the multiple starts and stops.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure it died again for the tow truck driver. After he dropped it, it was first willing to talk to my phone (nice to see it had made it to the dealer) but then it went into "sleep mode." Very deep sleep, that must be. The dealership said they had to pull the physical emergency key out of the clicker key to open the door. But they seem to be a really good team, and I have high hopes.
 
JFS

I really think it was right at 1250 as well. It hasn't done it the last 2 days. I haven't taken it in yet, I just picture them staring at it and not really knowing where to go. I should put a couple hundred miles on it this weekend. Let me know what they find. I will bring it in next weekend. I should have a little more time then. No noise with my experience. The 2nd time it allowed me to pull over and started back up pretty quick, maybe 2 tries. I don't remember any power loss but it happen pretty quick.

Leo
 
It was at about 1050 miles while braking. The regenerative brakes are complicated...that might have to do with it. I guess if you get to 2k miles then you might be in the clear. : )
 
I posted an update over in the "stop safely now" forum.

http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=900&p=3339#p3339

Sorry for skipping from one to the other, they seem to be the same topic, but there's no way to combine them.
 
I am at 1100 miles and two days ago experienced this same issue. I came to a stop at a busy intersection. When the light turned green I pushed on the accelerator pedal and nothing happened. I thought, "what the heck?" Then a tone went off, and the "stop safely now", then the check manual light and back to the "stop safely now." At this point I was the least popular car at the intersection with a lot of irate drivers around me. I tried repeatedly to get the car to go into park to restart it. I just kept hitting the on/off button. Eventually the power cycled, but showed the same thing. I then tried it again and it was gone. I was really afraid I was going to get rear ended with my son in the car. I called Ford they put me in touch with the EV division who took a report. I have been driving myself the last two days without issue. I plan to bring in to get them to run the diagnostics. I am not very optimistic as the dealer is EV rated, but doesn't carry the Focus Electric and has never seen one.
 
It is very scary that this is still such a low volume car and that so many people are reporting the same issue. In my case I was very afraid I was going to get rear ended. I am even more concerned because the dealer could find nothing because the car didn't log any codes. I would really hate for this to happen while in motion as some have reported.
 
"Stop Safely Now" conundrum. :evil:
I have a 1995 Ford Ranger in which I once had a battery cell go bad. It would not start as the starter solenoid would not engage. The computer must sense the low voltage and prevented the vehicle from starting. A good battery should read 12.6 volts and my bad battery read 10.5 volts. I lost one cell which is 2.1 volts. 6 cells give 12.6 volts. Fortunately I was on a hill and pushed it. I popped the clutch in 4th gear and got it running to make it home. Even the Internal combustion cars have their own problems. BTW my Ranger has 300k miles on it and is nearly showroom.
Has anyone connected a voltmeter into the 12v socket in the center console?
As for the Ford Focus electric I would assume all the components under the hood (coolant circulation pump for the AC traction motor & battery, & heater, heat pump, vacuum pump for power brake booster) and anything inside {(computer, heater, radio, lighting (interior and exterior)} are run by the 12 volt battery. The owners manual and fuse listing should verify this. The traction battery is a high voltage battery that runs the AC traction motor. If the 12 volt battery is not being properly charged it could present a problem to the computer. The 12 volt battery should be kept charged via the traction LiFePo4 battery. This would be done via a dc to dc converter.
I believe the electric drivetrain for this vehicle is designed and manufactured by Magna International not Ford. Hopefully the people at Ford can resolve this issue. It is a safety issue if one gets rear ended and ends up as a quadriplegic. Hopefully this does not happen.
I mentioned heat pump above as Visteon manufacturers such a unit and Ford uses Visteon products. I know the Nissan Leaf switched to using a heat pump. I would assume the Ford Focus uses it also for heating and cooling.
I like the Ford Focus electric over the Nissan leaf for its looks and traction battery management system. I hope to be able to purchase one this year if this conundrum is ironed out and I still have a job.
 
I measured the "12V" voltage on my 2012 FFE.
1. The 12V outlet (to right of driver's seat) is always powered, unlike the outlet in our Honda.
I measured (at the battery itself) 12.3 which dropped to 11.9 when I opened the door, which turns on various lights.
(This was the morning after car sat with little charge all night; it was driven plenty the day before.)

2. Voltage jumped when I connected the Level 2 "charger" (EVSE), from 11.9 to 13.5 volts.

3. Voltage jumped more when I turned the car on (on a different day), from 12.1 to 14.5 v.
It held steady at that voltage while I drove. (No lights on, just the fan was on low.)
(I am skipping the last digit, as my meter has not been calibrated for 30 years.)
 
I too can confirm that the 12V outlet in the FFE seems to stay powered even after the vehicle is turned off... or at least it stays powered for a long time after. And I too happen to have a Honda whose 12V outlet, in contrast, is powered only when the ignition is in either the "accessories" or "on" position. The behavior in the Ford seems a little out of the ordinary.

But, this is a good lesson to learn... never leave something plugged into the 12V outlet in your FFE. If it draws any power, left long enough, it will drain your 12V battery, rendering your FFE undriveable without a jump.
 
This is bad. Any updates? Has Ford found a solution? Should the press be made aware of this? I just Leased the car yesterday, not knowing about this potential problem.
 
Seems a little extreme to notify the press... :shock:

Yes, it's annoying. But, just don't leave anything plugged into your 12V outlet and there will be no problems.

Personally, I never plug anything into the 12V port in my FFE. In the past, in other vehicles, I've used the 12V port for things like USB power adapters for charging devices (GPS, phone, etc.). But, since the FFE comes with two built-in USB ports (which don't stay powered when the car is off), I just use one of them instead.

Is there something you need to leave plugged in (or might forget you have) to the 12V port?
 
Keep in mind... just because we say the port is "powered" doesn't mean that any power is being consumed by the port itself. You have to plug something into the port. (In case this was your misconception.)

This is exactly like all the electrical outlets in your house... they are "powered" all the time, with a potential voltage of 120V, but no electricity is actually used unless you apply a load across the voltage.
 
Has it been proven that use of the 12V outlet drains your 12V battery thus leading to a sudden loss of power when driving?

Plugging the car in increases the voltage of the 12V outlet as does driving(from the lithium battery as stated in the manual), so it appears that the 12V battery has adequate charging opportunities. Also, why are FFEs running fine(in the act of driving) before it experiences the problem, and why can some drivers get the car restarted on most occasions? Throw the magic 1250 miles on top of all that, and the dead 12V battery theory just doesn't add.
 
Was somebody trying to connect the two? I think we simply started talking about the 12V power system somewhere in this thread.

Re: your questions. I don't know if it's "proven" that plugging something into the 12V battery (while the car is off) will drain the battery, but it is rational, no? Any power draw on a battery will eventually drain it. It has been shown that the 12V socket in the FFE remains powered even when the car is turned off.

In any case, I think the "sudden power loss" problem is probably unrelated, but a weak or dead 12V battery does have the potential to cause strange problems.
 
Dead 12 volt batteries were causing problems for the Model S when it was first released as well. The car would go to sleep and not wake up. I'm not sure what they did but that problem seems to be solved at this point. Why did it come up in this thread?
 
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