Ford’s Catastrophic EV Recall

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Jun 21, 11:18AM EDT

Key Points

Ford Recalls Mach-E
It Is Another Warranty Stumble.

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Ford’s Catastrophic EV Recall — © Tramino / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Ford (NYSE: F | F Price Prediction) recalled almost all the Mustang Mach-Es it ever sold. It was supposed to be one of the two flagships of its EV efforts. It was named after America’s most iconic sports car, the Mustang, which was launched in 1964. Ford already has what is probably the worst warranty record among very large car companies. The extent to which this damages Ford’s image is considerable.

In the case of some Mach-Es there are unexpected 12V battery discharges which can cause the front door electronic latch to stop functioning, This could leave an owner stuck outside or inside the vehicle. Ford is recalling approximately 317,000 Mustang Mach-E models in the US and worldwide as it works to resolve the flaw. The recall effects model years 2021 through 2025. Ford told dealers not to sell any more of them for now.

The letter from the NHTSA read “Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2021-2025 Mustang Mach E vehicles. In the event of a low battery charge, the electronic door latches may remain locked once the driver or front passenger exits and shuts the door, possibly trapping someone who is unable to use the inside door release handles, such as a child in the back seat.”

Ford has been desperate to sell Mach-Es. At one point it was offering 0% APR for 72 months financing. Ford has also offered a home charger with free installation. Ford only sold 4,724 Mach-E’s last month.

Ford continues to have atrocious warranty costs. According to Warranty Week, “In 2024, Ford spent a total of $5.83 billion on warranty claims payments. This was a 22% increase from 2023’s total of $4.78 billion.” There is no reason to think 2025 will be any better. The Mach-E recall is proof that Ford continues to struggle.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.