Ford is recalling nearly 273,000 vehicles for a possible 12-volt battery defect that, when present, can cause the vehicle to lose drive power.
The recall specifically covers Ford Bronco Sports from model years 2021-2023, and Ford Maverick pickups from model year 2022 and 2023.
According to documents Ford submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a manufacturing defect can cause the batteries to degrade suddenly while driving. That can mean a loss of power to accessories such as the hazard lights, or a vehicle stalling out while coming to a stop. It could also leave a driver stuck when the SUV or truck can't restart after the engine stops automatically, like at a red light.
As required in a safety recall, Ford will repair the problem for free.
Drivers can confirm if their vehicle is covered by this or any other recall at NHTSA.gov, or by using the agency's "SaferCar" app.
Ford's paperwork states the problem was discovered after a larger recall last year, which was also related to vehicles losing power. At the time, Ford identified a problem in onboard computers that monitor a vehicle's 12-volt battery. A recalibration was supposed to solve the problem.
But even after that fix, some drivers were reporting that their vehicles were having battery issues. So Ford took a second look, and this time they found that 12-volt batteries from a particular supplier had multiple manufacturing defects.
About 1% of the batteries in these vehicles are expected to have the defect. Instead of identifying the defective ones, Ford will swap out all the batteries of that type with higher-quality replacements.
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