Ford announced it’s recalling almost 185,000 F-150 full-size pickups. The 2021 and 2022 model-year trucks are experiencing driveshaft problems that could cause it to fracture.
Ford is recalling nearly 185,000 F-150 pickups from the 2021 and 2022 model years.
The truck’s underbody thermal/acoustic insulators can loosen over time. If they come in contact with the truck’s aluminum driveshaft, they can cause scoring or marks. If this goes on long enough, the heat generated each time can eventually crack the driveshaft.
Potential results if the issue is not repaired
“A fractured driveshaft may result in loss of motive power,” the report states, “unintended vehicle movement while the vehicle is in park if the parking brake is not applied, and may result in secondary damage to surrounding components.”
Additionally, once fractured, the driveshaft could break loose and touch the ground, causing the driver to lose control of the pickup, potentially resulting in a crash. The company is unaware of any accidents or injuries caused by the problem.
Some Ford F-150 pickups are facing issues with the aluminum driveshaft on the truck.
Owners are advised to look for a “loose underbody insulator.” They should also listen for a rattling, clicking or clunking noise due to the loose insulator coming in contact with the driveshaft. The scoring or marking on the driveshaft described earlier may also be visible.
Next steps
Ford’s taken steps to resolve the problem during production by swapping the underbody thermal acoustic insulator for an under-carpet thermal patch at the two plants — Dearborn (MI) Truck and Kansas City (KS) Assembly — already.
Dealers received the notice Tuesday, and owners will begin receiving notices in the mail shortly. They will be instructed to make an appointment with their dealer to have “positive attachment features adde to the underbody insulators.”
They’ll also inspect the driveshaft for scoring or marks that may have already occurred. This will be done at no expense to the truck owner.
As of Dec. 7, Ford received 27 reports of fractured aluminum driveshafts possibly related to sagging underbody insulators on the F-150s, the automaker said in an Automotive News report.
Charging is key to the transition to electric vehicles and while more chargers are one the way, Ford Motor Co. is launching a new program to ensure the juice needed to run an EV does not contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases.
Ford’s program can be used by current owners of the Mustang Mach-E, E-Transit and Escape PHEV.
With help of one auto industry’s traditional foes, the California Air Resource Board, Ford is beginning what it describes as a “sustainable charging program,” which allows owners of plug-in electric vehicles in California to opt for only carbon-neutral charging at home.
“Ford’s electric vehicle customers are beginning to realize all the possibilities associated with their vehicles and sustainable energy management,” said Matt Stover, director of charging and energy services, Ford Motor Co.
“By working with regulators, utilities and customers for home integration services, we’re enabling EV drivers to lower their carbon footprints, potentially save money and help protect the grid, all through their smartphones.”
California-based owners of all current Ford all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, including the Mustang Mach-E, the E-Transit and the Escape PHEV, plus the F-150 Lightning coming in 2022, are eligible for the program.
Only green energy wanted
The idea is to only use electricity made with renewable sources rather than oil, gas or coal, reducing the carbon footprint of the energy used to power the vehicles.
Ford plans to participate in CARB’s “Low Carbon Fuel Standard,” which will offer customers a new way to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change by matching the use of electricity used to charge plug-in electric vehicles at home with 100% local renewable energy, the automaker said.
CARB, which has control of air quality standards throughout California, has long warred with automakers about emissions. Significant health concerns, created by automotive-related air pollution in Southern California, have given CARB enormous influence over emission standards not only across California but also across the United States.
Once enrolled, the FordPass app automatically tracks the amount of electricity used while charging at home. Ford generates, or buys, an equivalent amount of California-sourced Renewable Energy Certificates, an EPA-recognized program that records the generation and usage of green energy.
Ford then sends evidence of the matching amounts to CARB, ensuring that all home plug-in charging activity is matched with zero-carbon electricity.
Ford is investing more than $30 billion in electric vehicles and batteries through 2025. The push supports the company’s longer-term goal of creating a sustainable American manufacturing ecosystem, and to accelerate its progress towards achieving carbon neutrality no later than 2050. Overall, Ford expects 40% to 50% of its global vehicle volume to be fully electric by 2030.
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Ford Motor Co. and its partner SK Innovation will invest a combined $11.4 billion to set up pair of battery plants in Kentucky, as well as a new EV assembly plant outside Memphis, the automaker announced Monday evening.
Ford announced plans to invest $11.4 billion into building two new battery plants in Kentucky and an EV assembly plant near Memphis.
The Tennessee complex, which Ford dubbed “Blue Oval City,” will produce a new generation of all-electric F-Series pickups, from base models like the F-150 up to heavy-duty versions, said Lisa Drake, the automaker’s North American chief operating officer. The BlueOvalSK Battery Park, meanwhile, will handle everything from the processing of raw materials to the recycling of used batteries, which will provide basic components like lithium for the new batteries. All told, 11,000 jobs will be created.
The new facilities will become a cornerstone of Ford’s rapidly expanding shift from gas and diesel to battery-electric powertrains. CEO Jim Farley earlier this year announced a total of $30 billion in EV investments by 2025, with a goal of having all-electric models account for 40% of the carmaker’s total U.S. sales by the end of the decade.
A “pivotal moment”
If anything, the three new facilities provide “more upside” to go beyond the 40% EV target, said Drake, during a conference call with reporters Monday. She expects at least a third of all pickup buyers will go electric, noting a large share of those will be commercial users, such as fleets and contractors.
Lisa Drake, Ford’s Chief Operating Officer, North America, said the investment was a “pivotal moment” in the company’s EV plans.
“This is a really pivotal moment for us,” said Drake, as Ford rapidly shifts its attention away from internal combustion technology. The automaker was an early pioneer in the use of “electrified” drivetrains, but fell behind key rivals, including not only General Motors but also upstart Tesla, in bringing out long-range battery-electric models. It launched its first direct Tesla rival, the Mustang Mach-E, late last year, and will start production of the F-150 Lightning next June. Initial demand for the battery pickup has been so strong Ford this month announced a $250 million investment to double its initial production capacity.
Blue Oval City will become Ford’s fourth U.S. plant building full-size pickups. At nearly six square miles, the facility will be fully three times larger than the Rouge complex in suburban Detroit which today focuses on the mainstream F-150 family — and will add the Lightning next year.
The Tennessee manufacturing facility will contain not only an assembly plant but numerous supplier operations. Many of those will focus on battery manufacturing. Ford has tied its EV future to SK Innovation, the South Korean battery company set to contribute about $4 billion of the total $11.4 billion in new investments announced Monday.
Billions and billions of watts
This rendering of the exterior of Ford’s Blue Oval City complex only hints at the true size of the massive facility.
The Memphis complex will go into operation in calendar year 2025. That same year, the first of the two new battery plants in Kentucky will come in line. The second will follow a year later. Each of the three new battery factories — including the one at Blue Oval City — will have capacity to produce 43 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually. That’s enough to power about 1 million long-range BEVs like the Ford F-150 Lightning, said Drake.
That’s on top of two plants the partners announced over the summer with a combined output of 60 GWh. All told, that would give Ford enough batteries to power the roughly 1.5 million BEVs it expects to produce annually by decade’s end, noted Drake.
A key element of the new plan will see Ford and SK handle operations ranging from the processing of raw materials through to recycling. The end-of-life process will be handled by Nevada-based Redwood Materials. Eventually, Ford officials explained, they hope to create “zero waste” at the new EV operations. Old batteries will be dismantled, ground up and their raw materials used in new cells.
That, stressed Drake, will help reduce the cost of future batteries. Today, automakers spend about $150 per kilowatt-hour for individual cells, a figure that jumps to nearly $200 when the cost of the entire battery pack is considered. Ford and SK are targeting a pack price of around $80. For a vehicle like the Mustang Mach-E with a 300-mile, 98 kWh pack, that would reduce costs by well over $10,000 — putting it on a price par with a comparable, gas-powered vehicle.
Ford plans to build another plant near Memphis to build all-electric F-Series pickups.
Blue Oval City to use new EV truck platform
Ford and SK officials offered few technical details about the vehicles that will be built at Blue Oval City. But the F-Series models built there — along with the next-generation model assembled in Michigan — will get an all-new, skateboard-like BEV platform specifically designed for truck applications. Insiders suggest it will be lighter, offer better range and offer other advantages based on relocating its motors and batteries underneath the load floor.
Blue Oval City will become the first completely new assembly plant Ford has set up in the U.S. since it made over the Rouge complex nearly 30 years ago. The new Electric Vehicle Center at the Rouge will only handle final assembly after bodies and chasses are put together and painted at the existing pickup plant.
Ford has broadly hinted that it plans to roll out all-electric versions of other “icon” models. That will include a battery-powered Explorer SUV which, according to Sam Fiorani, chief analyst with AutoForecast Solutions, should go into production around 2023.
The second-largest U.S. automaker also is developing an electric version of its Transit van. And, as TheDetroitBureau.com recently reported, new, all-electric replacements for the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus SUVs are in development, as well. Those models are expected to go into the Ford plant in Oakville, Ontario.
“We are moving now to deliver breakthrough electric vehicles for the many rather than the few,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “It’s about creating good jobs that support American families, an ultra-efficient, carbon-neutral manufacturing system, and a growing business that delivers value for communities, dealers and shareholders.”
For years, Ford Motor Co. the development and production police cars formed one of the pillars of the company’s plans bolster its sales of vehicles to commercial fleets, including those belonging to municipal governments.
Ford submitted an all-electric police Mach-E pilot vehicle for testing as part of the Michigan State Police.
Now Ford, which caught some flak from its own employees about its close relations with police departments during the protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, are beginning a campaign to get the local departments to think about the possibility of using electric vehicles on for patrolling the nation’s streets.
The automaker confirmed through a press release, which says as part of its more than $30 billion investment in electrification through 2025, “Ford is exploring all-electric, purpose-built law enforcement vehicle.”
Police, however, tend to be rather conservative in their vehicle choices and over the years they have resisted new technology such as anti-lock brakes.
Demand for electric police vehicles expected to grow
As part of the effort to show “an electric powertrain can deliver strong performance and stand up to demanding police duty cycles, Ford is submitting an all-electric police pilot vehicle based on the 2021 Mustang Mach-E SUV for testing done by Michigan State Police.”
The Michigan State Police evaluations are used by many other police departments to guide their purchasing decisions. Ford will use evaluations of the pilot vehicles built from the battery-electric Mach-Es as a benchmark for the development of future police vehicles.
Ford believes its Mach-E can handle the rigors of police usage.
The demand for purpose-built electric police vehicles in the future is expected to grow worldwide and last week Ford introduced a new Mustang Mach-E concept police car in the United Kingdom, where major cities are moving forward with restrictions on vehicles with internal combustion engines. Several police departments across the United Kingdom are eager to try out the Mach-E, Ford said.
Mach-E police vehicle
Selling a police car based on the Ford Mustang Mach-E in the United States, however, could be problematic. Many large municipalities, urban counties and even state governments have adopted “Buy American” ordinances as part their procurement requirements, which are relatively stringent.
The Ford Mach-E is made in Hermosillo, Mexico, which would appear to limit its appeal to local governments in the United States. They could face expensive litigation for going around the ordinances even under provisions of the current United States Mexico Canada Agreement, which replaced North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020.
