2022 Ford Escape Phev

I purchased this 2022 Ford Escape plug-in hybrid vehicle New in October 2022. In May 2023 I received a recall notice 23S27 / NHTSA Recall 23V380 from Ford Motor Company. According to this recall notice, the parts for the repair to the Engine were expected to be available in October 2023. I have not received any further communication from Ford Motor Company regarding this recall and it is now November 2023. This exceeds a reasonable time to expect repair of this defect. In addition, entering my vehicle information into the Kelley Blue Book web site showed that there are 6 recalls associated with my vehicle. However, entering the VIN number (absolutely correctly) at this NHTSA web site yields: "An error occurred with your request. Recall information for your vehicle is not available at this time. Please contact Ford Motor Company by phone at 1-866-436-7332 or go to their website http://www.Fordowner.com for recall information about your vehicle." I Called the Ford Motor Company number listed by NHTSA above (866-436-7332) and entered the recall notice number listed on the recall notice, 23S27 (as instructed as 23727), and the automated system reply is: "We did not recognize that entry." I searched under owner.ford.com, clicked on recalls and entered my VIN and found 2 recalls which included this one (23S27 / NHTSA Recall 23V380). For both recalls, it states: "Recall incomplete, remedy not yet available." This exceeds a reasonable time for correction of this defect. It is especially important that this be corrected soon as an UNDER HOOD FIRE and SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER are MAJOR SAFETY CONCERNS.

The plastic coolant nipple mounted on the high voltage battery was damaged and the dealership has determined that coolant may have entered the high voltage battery. If coolant did (or could easily) enter the battery, this would be a significant fire hazard and could lead to significant injury or death. The damaged part has been confirmed by the dealership, no one can identify how the damage could have occurred and the least unlikely cause is that I contacted a small animal without knowledge. No noticeable signs of impact (including leftover fur or organic material has been found anywhere under the vehicle. No dents, dings or other damage has been found by myself, the insurance company or the dealership and the location of this damaged nipple is somewhat isolated such that there would need to be some other signs if a more rigid object was contacted. I have tried to reach out to Ford corporate for a more thorough review and discussion but have not yet been successful. No prior issues related to the battery issue existed prior to its failure. I have a unique background that I feel uniquely qualifies me to complete this review and would very much embrace an opportunity to further discuss my concerns to ensure a full evaluation is performed by the appropriate personnel. The automobile is still at the dealership and pending repair/replacement of the battery. Assuming the part was not damaged prior to my taking delivery (I purchased new) and if the damage was truly caused by a small animal, small enough to not crack, dent or leave a tuft of fur, then there is no doubt this design has a flaw with serious safety concerns. Under common conditions, this could lead to a battery fire and under realistic conditions this could lead to death. Metal shield to protect the hoses from deflection that could break nipple, redesign plastic nipple to more rigid material (metal). (Other considerations, there is a defect in the molded nipple and a recall is in order)

I have owned the vehicle for 4 months & have had 5 total electrical failures. The car totally shuts down while driving in normal mode which is supposed to use the battery first & use the engine only if needed. In all cases the battery was charged enough (over 40%). In two cases, it occurred in my driveway. The other 3 occurred while driving (fortunately not in high traffic). I called the dealer on 4/20/22 but was not able to get an appointment until 4/26 because they are very busy. Seems like this can be a large safety issue & should be a high priority. I called Ford corporate on 7/21 & they have no recall indicated for the issue. They assigned a case # . The warning sign on the dash Says to "stop safely now" . The manual says the warning symbol represents a high voltage system failure. I did some research on the internet & found the same issue occurred in 2021 to one car. The article had a recall #21S48. Found another article in 2022 (June) indicating the dame problem with 27 cars. Recall #22S33. Neither recall number shows up on the Ford site.