Failed High Voltage Battery

[foci]

Hi All,

Some bad news for me today. My 2013 Focus Electric's HV battery was deemed dead at the dealer today after 83,000 miles. Replacement cost is $16,500. It's been a great car up to now. I have enjoyed owning it. I bought it in November 2012 so it is just outside of the 8 year warranty.

We bought two of these cars at the same time and got a great deal. My wife's Focus Electric's HV Battery also died after 7.5 years at about 65,000 miles. It was just under the warranty period so it was replaced at no charge to us. They put in the 23 kWh standard battery so the range stayed the same but we should get at least another 50K+ miles out of it.

Have any of you replaced the battery outside of the warranty period? Are there any 3rd party options out there for battery replacement? Unfortunately the replacement cost is very high so it's not worth replacing it at the dealer. Would love to figure out a way to repair it, any ideas or is it a lost cause?

Thanks

[nallgaier]

Bummer! Just so I understand, can you clarify what you mean by "deemed dead"? Is the pack not functional, or has it just degraded a certain amount... and if the latter, how much? Same questions for your wife's pack when it "died".

Sorry to say I don't know anything about 3rd party battery replacements... would be cool if you could find a cheaper option, (though I sort of doubt it).

Best,
Nick

[foci]

I estimate that both cars had about a 60 mile range at the time the HV batteries died. Both cars gave the SSN warning light and we could not move the cars at all. Both cars failed in our driveway while disconnected from their charger. The cars had to be towed to the dealer. The dealer ran diagnostics and the report indicated that the HV battery failed and had to be replaced. I'll ask for more specifics on the failure with my car when I pick it up today.

[Heima]

Please do.
And if you can provide and DTC codes, either from the dealer, or from Engineering Test Mode (See viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4991), that would be helpful.
I have a hard time believing that the entire battery is dead. I am thinking like for hybrids, one or two cells within the battery are bad.
Remember, a dealership repairs for maximum profit, that means replacing a component, and not repairing it. The manufacturer believes the same.
However, the manufacturer refurbishes the batteries, so that they can be warranty replacement parts.
A shop that does Hybrid battery repairs should be able to perform the same steps that the manufacturer does.
I would think that a shop that repairs Priuses or Ford hybrids could assist with your problem.

Another thing, there are components inside of the battery that are not really battery related, but their failure can render the entire battery useless, and hence will deem a perfectly good set of cells for replacement.
Such as contactors, fuses, and shunts. The DTC codes could identify this.

Thanks

[foci]

Car is back home. The battery suffered a coolant leak. Shame that a system that is intended to extend the life of the battery is the cause of the failure. The Engineering Test Mode displayed one DTC code C46B86.

Would also like to hear from you all about any organizations that would take the car as is in case I can’t repair it. I’m in located in southern CA.

Hopefully Ford will have more reasonably priced battery repair options for the Lightning and Mach-E platforms. I am optimistic that they will since these will sell in much higher volumes. The FFE’s low volume model doesn’t allow for low priced replacements from dealers or third parties. As suggested, I’ll contact some hybrid repair shops and report back. Hopefully other 2013 owners will have better luck than we have.

[CWD]

A couple months back I was having some code show up to STOP NOW. Took it to the local Ford dealer as it was still mobile. They told me the batteries had developed a coolant leak. The car had 73K and they replaced the HV batteries at no charge. Took a couple weeks but NO CHARGE. Way cool. Range has gone up to 70 miles. 12 V battery is now going dead if not left plugged in. Found a article on Alldata about a reprogram that should fix that issue. Took it back to Ford with the article. They agreed it might be an issue. They reprogrammed it but a week later the 12v battery went dead again after being parked for 4 hours. Got a jump start with a 12v battery pack. Still have to call Ford about it. They did charge me for the reprogram $170. I like the car for my daily driver but I have to plug it in at both ends.

[foci]

My car is out of warranty so no free replacement fo me. I have not been able to find a place that will attempt to repair it. Most shops that deal with electric cars have never even heard of this car. I can repair it similar to the repair that a user accomplished on this site, but since I carry kids in the back I worry about running the battery without the coolant circuit. I am slowly coming to the realization that I will just have to donate/junk the car.

[Anti_Climax]

Where are you?

[Eff_evb]

Hi friends, I have a 2013 FFE that just ate $hit last week. The dealer said it was the good ole coolant leak in the battery and quoted me $17k for the job and so here I am as well. Not sure what to do in this case. I put in a call to Ford Customer Service today for some financial assistance to see what they would do for me. I am also 4 months out of warranty and didn't get this car sold off quick enough before this problem got me. So truth be told, if you're out of the 100k, 8 yr battery warranty, I hope your anal sphincter works.

[scottt]

Hi friends, I have a 2013 FFE that just ate $hit last week. The dealer said it was the good ole coolant leak in the battery and quoted me $17k for the job and so here I am as well. Not sure what to do in this case. I put in a call to Ford Customer Service today for some financial assistance to see what they would do for me. I am also 4 months out of warranty and didn't get this car sold off quick enough before this problem got me. So truth be told, if you're out of the 100k, 8 yr battery warranty, I hope your anal sphincter works.

Did the coolant leak out all at once? Did you have a puddle in your garage/driveway? Is it $17k to fix the leak, or did the battery get damaged from lack of coolant?

Thx