What 60 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Ford Cmax Energi

I bought this vehicle in 2018. For the next 6 years, I lived in an area where I was unable to plug it in to a wall to charge, so used it as a hybrid. Now, I have a house and when I plugged it in for several hours, it melted the plug and nearly started an electrical fire. Upon further investigation, I found the serial number to the charger that was included with purchase as the factory-issued charger, matches a known recall due to fire safety hazard, but my VIN does *not* match the recall. At the time of purchase I was informed the charger was not the factory original but "everything would be okay." I have contacted the dealership that sold it to me and they won't take responsibility for not only selling me a faulty piece of charging equipment, but also failing to inform me about a recall that impacted it, and only through sheer luck and me noticing the outlet was starting to melt, it didn't start an electrical fire in my house. Ford also refuses to take responsibility for it. My local Ford dealership confirmed that it's a recalled charger, but also said they can't process the recall because my VIN doesn't match it, and confirmed it was not the correct charger to be sold with that car. I already had the electrical outlet replaced, and didn't realize at the time that there may be a recall issue with the charger, but the charger is visibly scorched and melted and I can also get the statement from the electrician that the outlet was scorched. I can't afford to replace the charger, and Ford refuses to help me correct their mistake - which was both expensive and created a serious safety hazard for me. NOTE: File upload feature is not working, but I have photographs of the melted charger and it's serial number

NHTSA ODI 11564193

I WAS DRIVING IN THE MIDDLE LANE OF AN EXPRESSWAY TRAVELING AT 70 MPH WHEN A RED WARNING DISPLAYED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE DRIVER'S SCREEN: "STOP YOUR CAR SAFELY AND GET OFF THE ROAD" (OR WORDS TO THAT EFFECT. THE ENGINE HAD CUT OUT AND MY CAR WAS OPERATING SOLELY ON THE BATTERY. THERE WERE VEHICLES TRAVELING AT THE SPEED LIMIT IN EACH OF THE OUTSIDE LANES. LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER TO THE LEFT SHOULDER AT A BREAK IN TRAFFIC. SOON THE BATTERY GAVE OUT--CHARGE INDICATOR SHOWED NO CHARGE LEFT. I CALLED AAA TO TOW THE CAR. AFTER I CALLED FOR THE TOW, I TRIED THE START BUTTON (~15" AFTER SHUTDOWN, AND THE (GAS) ENGINE STARTED AND BEGAN TO CHARGE THE BATTERY, AND I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR TO THE LOCAL FORD DEALER. THE "HYBRID SPECIALIST" FOUND THAT "SOMETHING" HAD HAPPENED, BUT I WAS TOLD THAT THEY COULDN'T FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED. THEY DROVE THE CAR TO SEE IF THIS WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN, BUT IT RAN WELL, AND CONTINUES TO RUN WELL. I HAD ABOUT 30K MILES ON CAR WHEN THIS HAPPENED. I FELT FORTUNATE THAT THIS HAPPENED AT NIGHT AT A TIME WHEN THE TRAFFIC WAS LIGHTER THAN WHAT IT WOULD BE DURING DAYLIGHT. I BELIEVE THAT I NARROWLY ESCAPED A SERIOUS CRASH, AND I HAVE NOT BEEN DRIVING ON EXPRESSWAYS, FEARING THE POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER INCIDENT. I AM VERY ANGRY AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THIS POINT, OTHER THAN TO SELL THE CAR. ATTACHED IS SERVICE REPORT FROM DEALER.

NHTSA ODI 11270519

CHARGING CORD OVERHEATED AND MELTED AT THE PLUG. RECALL IN PLACE ON THIS ITEM, BUT FORD SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS IN RECALL TO ENSURE CHARGING CORD IS PLUGGED IN TO DEDICATED AND UNDAMAGED/NON CORRODED OUTLET (IT WAS-UNTIL AFTER EVENT) AND NOT ATTACHED TO AN EXTENSION CORD (IT WAS NOT).

NHTSA ODI 11170728

VEHICLE IS NOT HOLDING EV NOW/LATER MODES CAUSING UNEXPECTED BATTERY USAGE AND FUEL CONSUMPTION. AN EXAMPLE IS TRAVELING HIGHWAY SPEEDS (70-75 MPH); VEHICLE WILL UNEXPECTEDLY SWITCH INTO AUTO MODE AND REVERT FROM GAS/HYBRID PERFORMANCE TO ELECTRIC/BATTERY ONLY PERFORMANCE WHICH IS REDUCED POWER AND RESPONSE AGAIN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE AS I HAVE FOUND THIS TO HAPPEN BEFORE I ENTER THE HIGHWAY AND CAN ADJUST MY DRIVE ACCORDINGLY. ADDITIONALLY, THIS HAPPENS IN EV NOW MODE WHICH HOLDS THE ELECTRIC ENGINE TO PREVENT GAS USE AT ALL BUT THE SYSTEM WILL INADVERTENTLY SWITCH TO THE AUTO MODE. CONDITION IS EXTREMELY SPORADIC AND DIFFICULT TO REPLICATE MOST TIMES WILL HAPPEN WITHOUT THROWING A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CODE. FORTUNATELY I DO HAVE A FEW INSTANCES WHERE A CODE WAS THROWN AND I WAS ABLE TO HAVE THE DEALER TAKE A LOOK AND MAKE SOME WARRANTY REPAIRS NONE OF WHICH HAVE RESOLVED THE ISSUE AS IT STILL COMES BACK IN THE SAME RANDOM FORM. ATTACHED ARE THE SEVERAL DEALER VISITS TO ADDRESS THE CONCERN AND AFTER SEVERAL VISITS, THE TRANSMISSION PUMP MODULE SEEMS TO BE A REPEAT ISSUE. UNFORTUNATELY NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE CAUSE OF THE MODES NOT HOLDING AS IT SHOULD.

NHTSA ODI 11031986