Battery failure issue: 2 battery cells need to be replaced

[Monica reamer]

My 2022 F150 with 113,000 miles was parked while I was on a cruise. It had an automatic update while it was parked. When I returned home and started it, I got the PowerTrain Malfunction light and warning. I was able to make an appointment on Monday to get my truck into service. I tried to charge it to get to the dealer and it would only charge at 20kw.
The error codes the dealer pulled are PCM C0630:00: 66 and PCM C0604: 00: 68, They are telling me I suddenly have 2 battery cells that need to be replaced at a cost of $11,000, with no assurances it will fix the problem. To compound this issue, my Ford Premium Protection plan doesn’t cover the batteries at all, I never would have purchased this if I had been told the biggest component of the electric truck, the battery, isn’t covered.

My questions
1. Has anyone seen a battery fail all at once?
2. If one cell goes bad, why wont the other cells charge, if they all have Power Control Modules, the rest should charge and function
3. In all the Power Train malfunctions in these threads, none of them resulted in battery cells replacement, does anyone have experience with this cause and result?

Thank you for your help understanding this issue. I love my Lightning and am not new to electric vehicles, having owned 2 Tesla’s and I do Tesla Powerwalls configuration all day, so not a complete battery novice.

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[Zprime29]

They probably mean modules, not cells.

As I understand it, if one cell in a module goes out of spec, the entire module is off limits to prevent catastrophic failure (like a battery fire). Power and charging are reduced to help protect the reduced capacity of the rest of the battery.

I have never seen anyone report two modules going bad at the same time. However, it is not unheard of for two modules within the same original pack to go bad. This is also the first time someone has reported a bad module outside of the battery warranty (which ended at 100k miles). I seem to recall past reports that a module replacement would have been around $5500 so the quote for 2 seems in the ball park.

I'm really sorry to hear this is happening to you. If the dealer ran a battery health test and two modules came back bad, there aren't many options that I can think of.

 

[TaxmanHog]

To compound this issue, my Ford Premium Protection plan doesn’t cover the batteries at all, I never would have purchased this if I had been told the biggest component of the electric truck, the battery, isn’t covered.

Welcome to the forum Monica, sorry you didn't read the details of your battery & powertrain warranty, the key parameters, 100,000 miles & eight years duration for low mileage drivers!!!

High mileage drivers need to pay attention and consider the wear & tear risks.

 

[BhamDCam]

No idea if you have the ability to do this, but some others on here have gotten a used Ford OEM battery pack off eBay and swapped it out themselves. It's plug and play, but you will need a way to lift the truck and remove the battery pack from underneath. Even a used battery pack can cost anywhere between $5k - $8k typically. Still not cheap, but less than getting a dealer to fix it.

If the same happens to me that will likely be my plan at that time.

 

[KurtsRPMGarage]

Sorry to hear this is happening. If it were me I would reach out to any local EV repair shops and see if they can help you out. Its unlikely they have worked on lightnings before as the vast majority are still under warranty. Like BhamDCam said though it seems swapping the battery is a suprisingly simple affair. So as long as they could get ahold of a used pack or modules (ebay, scrap yard, etc..) it should not be that hard to remedy. With a module replacement being a bit harder than the full pack. Likely save significantly vs the dealer's price.

Alex from the Out of Spec Renew youtube channel would be a good resource to reach out to for advice as he just did a swap at his shop in ....South Carolina? a month or two ago.

 

[tedshred]

I had two go bad last year at 40k miles. Was out of service for a month!

 

[Grumpy2]

There are small operations that will work on EV batteries. An example in Portland:
WATTWORKS
You perhaps can find one closer to you to get a quote from.

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

This is one of those situation where I believe ford should step in.

 

[chriserx]

Despite the exclusion clause of the HV battery, it is pretty objectionable that it's there in the first place, and there isn't even a rider available to add it back. But there is a rider for the lighting, like why the fk isn't that included in the first place???

 

[GoodSam]

$11,000, with no assurances it will fix the problem.

Ask to see the the table of the 90 or 96 cells showing their voltage numbers.

Also, as I understand it, each module of 10 or 11 cells (each identifiable cell made of 4 or 5 pouches) also needs a new heat transfer metal coolant sheet and the transfer glue with its pattern sheet. That is some extra costs involved that probably cannot be pulled from a junkyard module? Yes, the overall costs are high. Any money back for the module cores that are replaced? Probably not, proper shipping costs back to Ford are probably expensive.

See my signature for reference to a google spreadsheet tracking many other HV battery module failures. 2022 was definitely a bad year for quality control.

There is another thread on perhaps getting an extended warranty that would include the High Voltage battery modules/pack. Think that was estimated to be $4K for another 7 years and 150K miles?
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ery-drivetrain-for-after-100-000-miles.34777/

 

[GoodSam]

automatic updates can trigger detection of pre-existing wear.

Have others experienced faults after an automatic update?

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

Have others experienced faults after an automatic update?

Faults - no, but… My updates are set to 1AM, but my truck does updates on YOLO schedule.

 

[electricpig]

Be.aware, there is more to it than just swap battery modules. They have to be of a similar usage health, or they get out of balance with the rest of the cells in the other modules resulting in eventual pack failure again. Better off replacing the full battery pack.

 

[proprepper]

Sucks big time. Watch a few youtube videos on HV battery replacements.

Don't expect ANY help from Ford. You'd get more care and concern from a gofundme..

 

[DNap4]

Ask to see the the table of the 90 or 96 cells showing their voltage numbers.

Also, as I understand it, each module of 10 or 11 cells (each identifiable cell made of 4 or 5 pouches) also needs a new heat transfer metal coolant sheet and the transfer glue with its pattern sheet. That is some extra costs involved that probably cannot be pulled from a junkyard module? Yes, the overall costs are high. Any money back for the module cores that are replaced? Probably not, proper shipping costs back to Ford are probably expensive.

See my signature for reference to a google spreadsheet tracking many other HV battery module failures. 2022 was definitely a bad year for quality control.

There is another thread on perhaps getting an extended warranty that would include the High Voltage battery modules/pack. Think that was estimated to be $4K for another 7 years and 150K miles?
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ery-drivetrain-for-after-100-000-miles.34777/

Looking at your spreadsheet, it seems that the majority of SR batteries were more likely to fail before 20k miles (I believe 4-5 failed after 20k in the 30s, 40-60s and one around 90k). After 20k Miles the majority of failed batteries tended to be from ER Lightnings. At least that’s how I interpret the sheet. It’d make me hesitant to buy an Ebay ER battery if that were the case.

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