Just had this happen, luckily in a much safer situation. Was at the dealership for the first time, yesterday, for a new tire (got a gash). No problem driving home, mix of highway and suburb, about 8 miles. This evening, I pulled away from the curb, did a three point U turn (feeling as if there was less power/more drag than usual, checked the handbrake, no problems there). I made it about 100 feet, past a small intersection, when I got the yodeling tone and "stop safely now" light. It did silence, but then flashed the "check manual" light (the yellow one with the wrench symbol) and then back to the "stop safely now." It's a wide, quiet street, and I was not far from the curb, so I put the flashers on, and tried to shut the car off. No dice--it would not respond to the power button.
After a long wait, during which time I called several people and also AAA (because yesterday and the night before, the Ford road service number had not been working), the car initiated a shutdown procedure (with a very microsoft-looking process bar) to conserve energy. I should mention that during this crisis, the power display showed no "blue," as if the battery was completely empty, but the display still read 42 miles (if I remember right--anyway, the right number of miles remaining). After the car finished its shutdown (it ends with the central dial going slowly dark, very poetic) I hit the start button, and it started up. I thought, "well, maybe it's fine, but just in case, why don't I turn it around, so I'm closer to the curb, and facing downhill." It drove for about 10 feet in a broad curve, leaving me stuck again...this time, across the road. Same yodeling, same warning sequence. Luckily, this time, the stop button did work.
The third time, the car started, and drove...but I only drove it about 15 feet, parked it, and waited for the flatbed to show up. It drove nicely up onto the flatbed.
Interestingly, at some points, the phone app showed "low battery," but at other points, it showed everything being fine. Also, my very brief drives didn't seem to register with the "recent activity app," and no error message was generated (beyond the "cold/plug in" message that's been pretty constant since I got the car in December).
It's a 2013 with 1250 miles on it. Very Zen. The lowest the battery has ever been was about 6 miles left, I think. I have had the sense that it may be taking slightly longer to charge, recently, than just after I got it. From the start, it also mis-estimates the charging time, but I think that may have to do with changes in the ambient temperature.
This is about as full and detailed as possible, but if I've left anything out that the good folks at Ford would find useful, I'll check back in a day or two or three, and if anyone wants to leave a contact number, I'll give you a call. I'm very glad it happened where it happened. I had a Geo Metro years ago with engine problems that made it stall out on the freeway, and I remember the fear of losing power on 90, coming into Seattle, on the bridge / in the tunnel...but that at least gave me a couple hundred feet. I don't think I got more than 3 seconds warning before total power loss this time, and the steering wheel had also locked up, by the time I thought to check it (and that's a VERY stupid feature, guys--at least find an override for that). I'm in that odd state of denial where it doesn't scare me, and I feel warm and kindly towards it, but...maybe I should be more scared. Or at least, plan routes with thought given to bailout options.
Really, it's been essentially trouble free, reliable and enjoyable until now, unless you count silly stuff like sporadically claiming that it doesn't recognize my music...sometimes even while playing the music. (Not complaining, just mentioning it, on the very unlikely chance the two are somehow related).
