Focus Electric won't start

[WhiteEV]

I purchased an FFE in late June and drove it for around 1,500 miles before getting the "Stop Safely Now" message one morning. According to the owners manual, "This indicates an electrical component fault/failure that will cause the vehicle to shut down or enter into limited operating mode." In my case the vehicle would not start and I had to have it towed to my local dealership. Based on discussions with the service adviser at the dealership, initial indications pointed to a battery problem. After several days of working with the local dealership over the phone, Ford sent several engineers to San Diego to analyze the car. My understanding is that while the engineers were analyzing the car with their test equipment, the error magically disappeared. Nothing was replaced or repaired. The quote I got from the Ford Customer Service Rep is, "the car fixed itself." He said that can happen with electric cars, that the cells can recharge. The car was at the dealership for 11 consecutive days. I was wondering if others have seen a similar problem?

I think its likely the problem will reoccur, I will post an update if it does.

Prior to this problem I was very happy with the car.

 

[BlueNotGreen]

I haven't had that happen, but there was a bit where I heard some faint electric snaps coming from somewhere near the shifter. The next day my clock was off by like 6 hours and non-zero minutes (meaning not a round number of hours). I switched to GPS-based time setting so I don't know if this has happened since. I have only charged the car once so far so I will see if this sound ever repeats (such as with a full battery).

Aside from this my car has been a great experience.

Good luck!

 

[felkster]

I've had this happen about 6 times over the last 2 days. I'm waiting for a clear error or a firm "repro" before I take it to a dealership.

Regardless, the problem always resolved itself after a few power off/power on cycles until the message was cleared.

I've also had the shifter not actually shift into reverse (the shifter moved, but the car stayed in neutral).

Early adopter bugs, perhaps? I'll be keeping an eye on things and let you know if I end up having the car serviced. I might try and grab the OBD message next time I get the Stop Safely Now message.

 

[Evocus]

Based on this thread and another on the MyFordMobile.com, we are now at 3 cars out of ~150 sold that have reported this issue. Perhaps it's a catch-all error for any problems in the electric drive equipment but it seems like a high number to me.

 

[BlueNotGreen]

In my case I did not get any listed errors.

Something seemed strange one morning during my first week where I was able to back out of my garage, but the steering wheel seemed unpowered. Then I couldn't move forward (while my car was in a blocking position for traffic, of which thankfully there wasn't any). At some point it occurred to me that my car was not really on. I hadn't held down the brake when starting it so it was in some sort of mode where you can move about 30 feet but no more. It took a few tries to turn the car off and then to get it back on properly. In the end this was just not being used to starting my vehicle and not really a problem with the car. However, I would have appreciated clear instructions instead just being in "dead" state where the car looked like it was on but I was stuck and couldn't move (after having moved about 30 feet). The displays were all on, so certainly some message could have showed up to help me.

While that little adventure was due to operator error, the clock reset and the strange faint snapping sounds that happened once have me a little concerned. Tomorrow I will be charging the car at work and I have switched back to non-GPS time (to see if the time gets messed up again).

 

[Fluke]

In my case I did not get any listed errors.

Something seemed strange one morning during my first week where I was able to back out of my garage, but the steering wheel seemed unpowered. Then I couldn't move forward (while my car was in a blocking position for traffic, of which thankfully there wasn't any). At some point it occurred to me that my car was not really on. I hadn't held down the brake when starting it so it was in some sort of mode where you can move about 30 feet but no more. It took a few tries to turn the car off and then to get it back on properly. In the end this was just not being used to starting my vehicle and not really a problem with the car. However, I would have appreciated clear instructions instead just being in "dead" state where the car looked like it was on but I was stuck and couldn't move (after having moved about 30 feet). The displays were all on, so certainly some message could have showed up to help me.

While that little adventure was due to operator error, the clock reset and the strange faint snapping sounds that happened once have me a little concerned. Tomorrow I will be charging the car at work and I have switched back to non-GPS time (to see if the time gets messed up again).

I've experienced the unpowered start two times also. Putting the car in park and cycling the start button has taken care of it for me. I'm not willing to admit yet that this was operator error. I did press the start button both times, but may not have checked to see if the green car icon came up indicating the car was ready to drive before putting it in gear.

 

[Charged Up]

I have noted that the FFE is very particular that the brake must be depressed before pressing the power button. Whereas on the Volt if you press the power button and then immediately press the brake it seems to do a full start up.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that accessory mode (power button no brake pedal) looks very much like start mode, only there is no "Ready To Drive" icon.

 

[BlueNotGreen]

I have charged a couple of times since mentioning my clock reset and strange faint snapping sounds.

There have been no such incidents since. I switched back to non-GPS clock setting just for purpose of detecting clock problems, but no problems have happened again. All that I have experienced is pure electric driving goodness.

It would be good to hear updates from those who got the trouble indicator to go on (which has not happened to me).

 

[Charged Up]

So I finally convinced the wife to use the FFE for her morning commute today.

I just knew she was going to like it. I was standing right there when she got in the car because I was going to show her how to reset the trip log, so that I could keep track of mileage and watts consumed.

She gets in the car, hits the start button and up comes the "Stop Safely Now".

She power cycles 3 times and still nothing. She gets out, annoucing she is "done with that car." Who can blame her.

I get in, and of course 4th time is the charm, it starts right up.

And I drove it the rest of the day with many stops and starts without incident.

But let's go back to the morning.

Just before she got in I opened the back door and put her stuff in the back seat. And I heard a contactor on the EVSE close shortly after I did that. This is not unusual, opening doors with the charger plugged in seems to wake up the EVSE.

I noted that all four quadrants of the charge ring were flashing, which indicates a "charge fault." That's strange I thought as I unplugged the charger cord. FYI I have a Schneider EVSE.

Then the wife entered the car and tried to start up.

On the third try it seems like she did get the "ready to drive" icon, but when she took it out of park, there was no power.

Put a call into dealer, need to follow up on it tomorrow.

So question... those of you who have experienced this "Stop Safely Now" message, what charger are you using?

What was happening with the car in the moments right before getting this message? Were you driving, just starting it up?

 

[Charged Up]

OK, got the "Stop Safely Now" message again on start up this morning. Cleared after two power cycles.

Did NOT plug in the car last night because it had plenty of range on it for my needs.

Which kind of shoots down the EVSE/Car bad interaction theory I was working on.

I have put in a second call to Richmond Ford to see if they have any suggestions/info.

 

[Evocus]

On the MyFordMobile.com site and here I have seen about 4-5 mentions of Stop Safely Now issues. In at least two cases, Ford has flown 2 engineers from Dearborn to review the issue. In the most recent solved case, a connector pin was not fully inserted into the connector housing. Exact quote: "It turned out to be a loose connection, they found a 'problem with contactor circuits at lower battery 40 pin connector. Pin #25 was not locked into connector completely..'"

I see your crosspost over on MFM, so you probably have already read this information.

 

[Charged Up]

On the MyFordMobile.com site and here I have seen about 4-5 mentions of Stop Safely Now issues. In at least two cases, Ford has flown 2 engineers from Dearborn to review the issue. In the most recent solved case, a connector pin was not fully inserted into the connector housing. Exact quote: "It turned out to be a loose connection, they found a 'problem with contactor circuits at lower battery 40 pin connector. Pin #25 was not locked into connector completely..'"

I see your crosspost over on MFM, so you probably have already read this information.

Doesn't seem like everyone here is also using MFM so I thought it best to post here as well.

 

[Evocus]

Yep, I understand. I'm active on a number of forums because I'm not sure which will become the better ones in the long term. So far, it seems to be myfocuselectric.com (this one) and MFM gaining traction.

 

[felkster]

I thought I'd respond back with some of my experimentation. So far, the only 2 issues I've had with this car are the charge cap being open and the Stop Safely Now message when I am shifting into drive.

I can now confirm that both are "user error" for me. I have been paying VERY close attention to my behaviors, and have determined that:
1) the charge cap was only open when I forgot to close it after unplugging it. I became 100x more diligent in closing it, and I have not seen it open ever again.
2) The Stop Safely Now message appears when I attempt to start the car when a) I am mid-shifting or b) already have shifted into gear
I do think that Stop Safely Now is easier to hit because you don't wait for the sound of an engine to start.

Stop Safely Now has also appeared when shifting between Reverse and Drive while the vehicle is still in motion (yes, I know, this is sloppy driving on my part). FWIW, I got the exact same error on my Ford Escape Hybrid when I used to do the same thing (only once or twice).

Note - Not trying to say that others are seeing the same thing. It's just that, for ME, I have determined this is 100% user error. Since becoming a bit more careful in my startup and shifting behaviors, I have not experienced this message at all.

 

[Evocus]

felkster,

Thanks for the added bit of user detail. I've never seen the message but in all the stories I've read it certainly never occurred to me that sloppy user habits might also cause it to show. I had a similar concern early on (about the car not getting the Ready To Drive icon) cured by tightening up my habits.

Tim

 

[Brandon]

I have had similar recurring problems with my 2015 Ford Focus Electric. It won't start or it won't enter drive or reverse.

 

[sefs]

Just a tip for anyone who gets a SSN warning. In order to reset a soft SSN, where the vehicle isn't locked out from starting until the DTC is cleared, you need to power off, open the door (you can close it again after that) and wait till you hear the interpack contactor open. It's not very loud, but definitely noticeable. It takes about ~15-20 seconds. At this point, the logic modules power down and when they start back up they will be reset. Turning on and off rapidly won't help, you have to wait for the modules to shut down.