Ford recalls over nearly half a million Bronco Sport and Maverick cars due to loss of drive power risk

Over 456,000 Bronco Sport and Maverick cars are being recalled by Ford because of a battery detection problem that may cause drive power to be lost, raising the risk of a crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released data that suggest the impacted Ford’s body and power train control modules might not be able to recognize variations in battery charge. Furthermore, if a low battery charge goes unnoticed, it may result in an unanticipated loss of driving power, which may include abrupt halting or the inability to restart, as well as the need for additional electric features like warning lights.

A recall report dated 4/12/2024 states that the recall involves around 53,000 model year 2022–2023 Mavericks made from February 2021 to October 2022, as well as over 403,000 2021–2024 Bronco Sports produced between February 2020 and March 2024.

Dealers will recalibrate the body and power train control modules of the affected vehicles at no cost in order to resolve this issue. On May 13, owner notification letters and recall acknowledgment letters from the NHSTA are scheduled to be mailed.

According to a Ford representative who spoke with The Associated Press on Wednesday, the software update is not currently ready but should be released later in the second quarter. "Safety is a top priority, and we are taking proactive measures to address this issue promptly & effectively," the representative continued in the statement.

Owners of Bronco Sport vehicles are also affected by other recalls.

Following the recall of approximately 43,000 certain Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs, where gasoline can leak from fuel injectors onto hot engine surfaces, increasing the danger of fires, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last week that it was looking into the fix Ford had suggested. According to the NHTSA, fixing the fuel leaks was not part of the solution.