Mach E totalled

[tuminatr]

I think the insurance company was fair with the value. I am just sad about the Ford cost for the battery pack. It was a pretty random issue, but not sure I'll take the risk again with the Mach E battery design. Although, a used Mach E is interesting.

IMHO this would be true of all EVs. If a collision damages the battery they are likely to be totaled regardless of brand. Since what happened to you is a complete fluke likely you won't ever hit another median. if I were otherwise happy with the car I would buy a comparable used one.

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[tuminatr]

The insurance company's decision has nothing to do with the drivability of the car, but rather the cost of the repair vs. the retail value of the car. Most states have regulations regarding what percentage of repair cost determines a total loss. That percentage ranges state by state between 75% to 90%, or the state allows the insurance company to determine the total loss percentage. You can find the regs on the internet for your state.

EV battery fires have a lot of liability associated with them, which is why EV insurance premiums are higher and EV get totaled due to minor minor collisions.

The dealer quoting $63,000 to replace the battery far exceeds the value of your car. The risk of a battery fire is the insurance companies biggest concern due to any adjacent cost risks associated if the battery were to catch fire in the future. The dealer and your insurance company are taking the lowest future liability risk approach by getting rid of the car.

What is interesting is would the insurance company allow you to buy your car back and let you have it repaired by an independent repair shop. Based on the preceived high risk of a battery fire, your insurance company may not allow you to buy your car back as salvage. If you want to take that path, fully investigate what your state's regulations are regarding salvage title and post-repair inspection certifications.

Obviously the Ford dealership you have been involved with is not the facility you want to attempt a repair of just the battery.

I agree that the fluid found is most likely from the battery cooling system. That is even now a safety concern for you.

If it were my car, I'd get a second opinion from another "EV certified" Ford dealer.

Yep its extremely simple math $33,000 payout to total or $63,000 to fix

 

[Bruboy]

Thanks. That is super helpful. I have the direct quote with the cost of the part in the quote. The insurance guy had a similar estimate to your 30,400, but still was not worth it to the insurance company to fix since they get $10K in salvage. I’ll call another dealer. There was no labor cost since that was covered by the recall to fix the HVBJB recall anyway.

was your battery extended range?

My understanding is this why insurance for some is through the roof on EVs. If they get hit hard at all or there's a battery failure, they total the vehicle. Some insurance companies, just don't want to mess with it.

 

[voxel]

tesla does not give you a new battery though. they use old ones with less life left

No.. the LFP packs are new. They are cheap.

They used to provide a refurb NMC/NCA pack but unless it is a Performance they will give you an LFP pack.

 

[shark]

Thanks - I talked to Ford and its clear the dealer does not want to deal with it. Ford's stance is the dealer can charge whatever they like for the battery pack. Weirdly, the dealer that quoted me in writing at $61,789 for the battery pack has the battery pack below MSRP at $35,479 online.

Finally got the insurance pictures. The bottom cover of the battery definitely has some impact and the insurance company decided to total the car. I am not clear there is any damage that is preventing the batteries from working. There is no liquid leaking from the battery pack. Apparently, the tech was worried about acid leaking because he saw paint peeling on the rear panel of the battery pack (huh). The batteries are functioning fine and still at 85% charge.

Either way, I can't drive the car on the road if the insurance company totals it so I am kind of stuck . Not sure, I can get insurance on the car, if the insurance company thinks the car is undrivable.

In another few years, this will get better when there are more EVs on the road, but now it is a little dicey unless you buy a Tesla, and it's still dicey there, but many more cars on the road.

Can you post some pics of the damage? I wonder if there is actually any problem with your battery pack at all. The "EV Tech" at that Ford dealership must be a complete moron if he thinks the HV battery pack is using lead-acid batteries. The Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced power alert could be anything. I had seen this one on my 2021 GT as well, a couple times intermittently, and they went away after updating all modules with FDRS.

 

[ArthurDOB]

If OP is being honest, please tell us who the dealer is. We should be keeping a "Black List" of dealers on this website that are either "Sharks", dishonest, or have way too high markups an Cars and Parts.

Just my 2 cents...

In the height of the Craziness (July 2021), my dealer (Mall of GA Ford) in Buford, GA, sold me the car for MSRP and after my request, provided me with a 2nd Key Fob at no additional cost (Prior to Ford making it mandatory) since initially PAAK was REALLY BAD. Since those early days PAAK is 99.9% perfect for me!!! We normally only hear Negative Reviews of Dealers (as we should) so just thought I'd give a positive shout out to my Dealer.

I think there is one of these "bad dealer" lists somewhere. Maybe someone already said this before this post.

 

[RandyMache]

I think the insurance company was fair with the value. I am just sad about the Ford cost for the battery pack. It was a pretty random issue, but not sure I'll take the risk again with the Mach E battery design. Although, a used Mach E is interesting.

I thought you could replace sections of the battery pack? Like no need to replace the whole battery if only one part of the battery was damaged......? Please educate me.....

 

[enhost]

63 thousand to replace the battery…..you can buy a new one off the lot cheaper then that. I’m calling BS! ?

I agree... that sounds incredibly unrealistic. A battery pack for a Model 3 LR is $15k.

 

[enhost]

That's what I was thinking. Though I could see replacing it with an EV with higher ground clearance in case of running over another small median. The bZ4X / Solterra has a pretty good ground clearance... ?

I thought you could replace sections of the battery pack? Like no need to replace the whole battery if only one part of the battery was damaged......? Please educate me.....

Modules in the battery can be swapped. Manufacturers don't do it because they want to squeeze the customer as much as they can, but there are third parties that are gradually popping up that perform the module swap.

 

[azerik]

Yet Ford is swapping in modules for some contestants. You can even partake in some pack harvesting if you're lucky enough to have some of those modules they want.

 

[Dzrhino]

I had the same type of problem, but after getting info below from Mach-Lee and Ford technical support involved the quote dropped from over $50K to $15K.

Mach-Lee said:
Yeah that's bad. You (or somebody driving your car) hit something at high speed, I guess you didn't notice. The damage pattern looks like you were bouncing over it (suspension compressed while you were on top of the object). You did hit hard enough to bend one of the cell modules.

I disagree with the quote. I reviewed the service manual battery damage guidelines, you need a new battery case, not a new battery. One cell module got bent, so that one will have to be replaced. The rest of existing modules can be transferred over.

Tell them to take the $38k battery off the quote (why would they put a whole new battery on there at the same time as a case?) add a cooling plate, and reduce the labor down to about 15 hours (~$2500) and then it will be realistic. So the quote should be about $15k.

 

[pikepilot]

Thanks. That is super helpful. I have the direct quote with the cost of the part in the quote. The insurance guy had a similar estimate to your 30,400, but still was not worth it to the insurance company to fix since they get $10K in salvage. I’ll call another dealer. There was no labor cost since that was covered by the recall to fix the HVBJB recall anyway.

was your battery extended range?

Yes, ER GT

 

[redcarguy]

Yet Ford is swapping in modules for some contestants. You can even partake in some pack harvesting if you're lucky enough to have some of those modules they want.

It’s not clear there is anything wrong with the batteries, the dealer simply refused to perform the HVJB recall because they were afraid to drop the battery assembly from the car. The insurance company agreed with that idea leaving me few options.

I had the same type of problem, but after getting info below from Mach-Lee and Ford technical support involved the quote dropped from over $50K to $15K.

Mach-Lee said:
Yeah that's bad. You (or somebody driving your car) hit something at high speed, I guess you didn't notice. The damage pattern looks like you were bouncing over it (suspension compressed while you were on top of the object). You did hit hard enough to bend one of the cell modules.

I disagree with the quote. I reviewed the service manual battery damage guidelines, you need a new battery case, not a new battery. One cell module got bent, so that one will have to be replaced. The rest of existing modules can be transferred over.

Tell them to take the $38k battery off the quote (why would they put a whole new battery on there at the same time as a case?) add a cooling plate, and reduce the labor down to about 15 hours (~$2500) and then it will be realistic. So the quote should be about $15k.

Wow - I wish I had seen this earlier. I got no help from Ford BEV customer support. The dealer refused to drop the battery pack just to do the HVJB recall. I think my car has already been hauled away at this point. . So sad. We are looking at a new Ioniq5, but still considering a used Mach E which I would service somewhere else.

 

[azerik]

Eventually dealers will have to learn how to repair and replace pieces and stop trying to pull the Shock and Awe card for EV work.

 

[redcarguy]

Get the Hyundai, they might be less stupid than FoMoCo.

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