What 42 owners told NHTSA about the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-e Bev Bev

The Mustang Mach-E Select has three driving modes. From least to most aggressive in terms of acceleration, they are Whisper, Engage, and Unbridle. When driving in 1-pedal mode where removing your foot from the accelerator causes the car to brake, the strongest application of brakes is in Whisper mode as well. It’s not aggressive, but it will bring the car to a stop over a shorter distance. There is a known and reported problem among drivers, shared often in driver forums like Reddit, where vehicles will change to Engage mode from either Whisper or Unbridle. Over a year ago, I first noticed my car doing this on a downhill exit from a highway to a stoplight. I engaged the brake when I realized I was approaching the stopped car in front of me faster than I should. Over the past 16 months, I’ve experienced this at least twice a month, with no way I’ve been able to discern of predicting when it will happen. I drive the car in the most energy-using and highest energy-recovering mode. I am well aware that the braking might change at any time, but am concerned my wife, who drives the car less than I do, or some other Mustang Mach-E driver will rear-end another vehicle by realizing too late the car is not slowing as expected. I’ve told my dealer, I called Ford, now I’m notifying you in the hopes you can get Ford to issue a software fix. This was something I just noticed again pulling in to my garage solely because I was showing my wife something, and I realized I had the time to report it. Here are a few links of people having this issue. [XXX] [XXX] / [XXX] You’ll see this has been happening with a wide variety of owners for years. Please do something before someone gets injured, if it hasn’t already happened. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11731266

While picking up my daughter from school this week, I entered a school parking lot and began a low-speed right turn to pull into a parking space. During this maneuver, the car unexpectedly and abruptly accelerated forward. I reacted immediately and applied the brakes, but the car traveled approximately two car lengths beyond the intended parking spot. I came to a stop across two parking spaces. This occurred in an active school pickup area with parents and children nearby. There were no cars or pedestrians directly in front of me at that moment. I still fear what the outcome might have been if anyone had been present. Immediately after stopping, I observed that the adaptive cruise control speed indicator on the instrument cluster was set to 15 and was crossed out, indicating it had recently been active and disengaged. However, I did not engage adaptive cruise control during that trip. Based on the car’s behavior and the display state, my best assessment is that adaptive cruise control was unintentionally engaged during the parking maneuver causing the car to attempt to accelerate toward a previously set cruise speed despite being in a low-speed, turning scenario. Again, I did not use ACC on this trip. A sudden acceleration in a school parking lot presents an extreme hazard. The only reason this incident did not result in injury or death was immediate braking and luck. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to the incident. The car has not yet been inspected by a dealer or manufacturer. I am aware of multiple publicly shared videos from other Mach-E owners documenting similar incidents, some resulting in crashes. This appears to be a systemic adaptive cruise control design or software issue that warrants immediate investigation and correction to avoid serious injury or death.

NHTSA ODI 11716373

Everyday I drive the vehicle There are 2 error messages 1. Front Camera fault, service required 2. Pre-collision Assist not available I have 32 Pre-collision warning messages in the last month, one for every day I drive. I had to drive 4 hours with no cruise control causing my leg to cramp at the 2 hour mark. There needs to be a recall for this issue. Many many other owners of the Mach-e have mentioned the same.

NHTSA ODI 11714066

I was proceeding to drive home from an appointment with a friend, the car suddenly lost power and I had no control over anything. I was able to keep the steering wheel in the locked position trying to get to the side of the road. Thankfully the speed was only 25mph, as someone had just switched lanes and came in front of me. I was in the process of turning to enter the highway. I've been having a problem with this car since I purchased. I told Ford after this incident, that I fear to drive the vehicle with my family, because that's how scared I was when I had no control. I requested multiple times for someone from Ford Corporate to contact me, and still have not heard from anyone. On 11/26 I received a recall for the 12v battery, which is pretty much what keeps the car on and off, and I still have not heard from anyone in Ford corporate.

NHTSA ODI 11709518

There is an issue with Cruise Control while moving out of a parking space. I am concerned for my wife who knows nothing about technology. If she were to MISTAKENLY press the Cruise Control button while parked and a car is in front of her, the car's Cruise Control will ACTIVATE AND LUNG FORWARD at a speed of 15MPH. This can be frightening and in a panic a person can crash. This has happened to me on SEVERAL occasions but I am able to handle the situation. If it happens to my WIFE, there surely will be a HUGE problem. I can reproduce the problem very easily. If you are parked behind a car Cruise Control can be activated. If you are STOPPED and there are no cars in front of you, you CANNOT activate Cruise Control. Therefore, when you need Adaptive Cruise Control (for traffic jams) a double click of the button seems feasible. Single click when you are over 30mph. This should be an easy software update.

NHTSA ODI 11690106

Sudden unintended acceleration event. I was pulling into a parking spot going very slow and lifted my leg off the accelerator when the car suddenly surged forward and crashed into a tree, a wall and a nearby parked car (no people in the car). This put my safety at risk. I was thankfully not severely hurt and had no other passengers in my car. I have sustained some muscle strains in my neck. I have reported the incident to Ford Credit and requested the data logs and investigation. My airbags were also not deployed and this seems very similar to other reports I have seen online. The police were called to the site and a case filed. There was a message flashing "parking sensors fault".

NHTSA ODI 11666383