Harvest Program 25H02

[Lytning]

Below is the NHTSA chronology of events that have led to the harvest program. They are calling it a recall in their report. Looks like there have been 5 vehicle fires that may be related to a battery manufacturing defect that could be present in batteries built between Jan 2022 and April 2023. SK determined that there was a miscalibration on 8 stacker machines that could lead to a cathode shift (which may cause a short and/or fire.) Since 4 of the 5 fires destroyed the batteries, Ford could not conduct the research to verify that these trucks had the battery defect. It looks like Ford is looking for a representative field sample across trucks with batteries made during that time period to determine if the cathode shift is present in enough batteries to issue a full recall. I'm curious if this issue may be limited to specific sized/shaped modules that are tied to the specific production machinery that was miscalibrated or if all modules have the potential cathode problem. If it is all modules, we may see full battery packs being replaced soon.

Although my inclination is to leave well enough alone, whether I would participate in the harvest program would be defined by a. Proper compensation b. an offer to extend my battery warranty to include problems that may arise from the replacement after the 8 years/100k miles, and c. if I trust my dealer to be able to do the job correctly.

Here is the text from the NHTSA chronology report...

Ford Motor Company (Ford) Recall No. 25S18 Chronology

CERTAIN 2022-2024 FORD F-150 BEV – BATTERY FIRES

Date of Submission: February 28, 2025

Chronology of Defect / Noncompliance Determination

Provide the chronology of events leading up to the defect decision or test data for the
noncompliance decision.

On October 17, 2024, an issue pertaining to a 2022 model year Ford F-150 Battery Electric
Vehicle (BEV) fire was brought to Ford’s Critical Concern Review Group (CCRG) for review
after Ford learned of the incident on October 9, 2024.

On November 21, 2024, two additional fires, involving a 2022 MY F-150 BEV and 2023 MY F-
150 BEV, were reported to Ford and CCRG opened a new investigation to more broadly
investigate claims of 2022-2023 model year Ford F-150 BEV fires with potential origination
within the high voltage battery pack. No physical samples from the vehicles were available for engineering evaluation at that time.

From December 2024 to January 2025, the CCRG investigation analyzed connected vehicle
data and supplier cell manufacturing history to explore a potential connection between the
vehicles involved in the fires.

On January 3, 2025, Ford received a fourth report of a fire involving a 2022 model year Ford F-150 BEV. On January 10, 2025, Ford Engineering received a battery array that had been replaced in one of the affected vehicles prior to the fire event.

From January 2025 to February 2025, Ford conducted teardown analysis on this battery array and continued this detailed review
of the supplier's manufacturing process.
On January 24, 2025, while this teardown analysis and review was ongoing, Ford’s Field Review Committee authorized Harvest Program 25H02 to obtain additional physical samples from the field for in-depth evaluation and root cause analysis to facilitate further testing and understanding of root cause.

On February 2, 2025, based on the teardown analysis on the returned array, Ford identified
evidence of misaligned electrodes in the high voltage battery cells. The supplier also identified evidence of cathode shift on eight stacker machines between two production lines based on a review of historical data for cells manufactured between January 3, 2022 and April 1, 2023. This manufacturing concern resulted in overlap that did not meet the supplier’s design requirement.
Some of the cells in the vehicles that experienced fires were built in this timeframe.

On February 18, 2025, Ford learned of a fifth report of a vehicle fire that is under investigation.

On February 21, 2025, Ford’s Field Review Committee reviewed the concern and approved a field action.
Ford is not aware of any claims of crash related to this concern. Ford is aware of one claim of
injury and five reports of vehicle fire that may be related to this concern and are under further
investigation.

Thank you for the detailed technical information! It would be nice to know if this cathode shift issue is also related to the defective modules requiring replacement in "4%" of mostly 2022 Lightnings.

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[TaxmanHog]

Below is the NHTSA chronology of events that have led to the harvest program. They are calling it a recall in their report.

Related threads:

Safety Program: 25S18 aka 25V131: HV Battery Electrode Misalignment Discussion

NHTSA 25V131 aka Recall 25s18: certain 2022-2024 F-150 Lightning – supplier manufacturing defect in high voltage battery cells

Parts are in for Recall 25V131 aka 25s18, Internal short circuit in High Voltage battery.

 

[RickLightning]

I believe the 4% of bad 2022 - 2023 modules did not result in a formal recall, or even CSP. Ford just reached out - or the truck had a failure, like mine.

 

[GoodSam]

Below is the NHTSA chronology of events that have led to the harvest program. They are calling it a recall in their report. Looks like there have been 5 vehicle fires that may be related to a battery manufacturing defect that could be present in batteries built between Jan 2022 and April 2023. SK determined that there was a miscalibration on 8 stacker machines that could lead to a cathode shift (which may cause a short and/or fire.) Since 4 of the 5 fires destroyed the batteries, Ford could not conduct the research to verify that these trucks had the battery defect. It looks like Ford is looking for a representative field sample across trucks with batteries made during that time period to determine if the cathode shift is present in enough batteries to issue a full recall. I'm curious if this issue may be limited to specific sized/shaped modules that are tied to the specific production machinery that was miscalibrated or if all modules have the potential cathode problem. If it is all modules, we may see full battery packs being replaced soon.

Although my inclination is to leave well enough alone, whether I would participate in the harvest program would be defined by a. Proper compensation b. an offer to extend my battery warranty to include problems that may arise from the replacement after the 8 years/100k miles, and c. if I trust my dealer to be able to do the job correctly.

Here is the text from the NHTSA chronology report...

Ford Motor Company (Ford) Recall No. 25S18 Chronology

CERTAIN 2022-2024 FORD F-150 BEV – BATTERY FIRES

Date of Submission: February 28, 2025

Chronology of Defect / Noncompliance Determination

Provide the chronology of events leading up to the defect decision or test data for the
noncompliance decision.

On October 17, 2024, an issue pertaining to a 2022 model year Ford F-150 Battery Electric
Vehicle (BEV) fire was brought to Ford’s Critical Concern Review Group (CCRG) for review
after Ford learned of the incident on October 9, 2024.

On November 21, 2024, two additional fires, involving a 2022 MY F-150 BEV and 2023 MY F-
150 BEV, were reported to Ford and CCRG opened a new investigation to more broadly
investigate claims of 2022-2023 model year Ford F-150 BEV fires with potential origination
within the high voltage battery pack. No physical samples from the vehicles were available for engineering evaluation at that time.

From December 2024 to January 2025, the CCRG investigation analyzed connected vehicle
data and supplier cell manufacturing history to explore a potential connection between the
vehicles involved in the fires.

On January 3, 2025, Ford received a fourth report of a fire involving a 2022 model year Ford F-150 BEV. On January 10, 2025, Ford Engineering received a battery array that had been replaced in one of the affected vehicles prior to the fire event.

From January 2025 to February 2025, Ford conducted teardown analysis on this battery array and continued this detailed review
of the supplier's manufacturing process.
On January 24, 2025, while this teardown analysis and review was ongoing, Ford’s Field Review Committee authorized Harvest Program 25H02 to obtain additional physical samples from the field for in-depth evaluation and root cause analysis to facilitate further testing and understanding of root cause.

On February 2, 2025, based on the teardown analysis on the returned array, Ford identified
evidence of misaligned electrodes in the high voltage battery cells. The supplier also identified evidence of cathode shift on eight stacker machines between two production lines based on a review of historical data for cells manufactured between January 3, 2022 and April 1, 2023. This manufacturing concern resulted in overlap that did not meet the supplier’s design requirement.
Some of the cells in the vehicles that experienced fires were built in this timeframe.

On February 18, 2025, Ford learned of a fifth report of a vehicle fire that is under investigation.

On February 21, 2025, Ford’s Field Review Committee reviewed the concern and approved a field action.
Ford is not aware of any claims of crash related to this concern. Ford is aware of one claim of
injury and five reports of vehicle fire that may be related to this concern and are under further
investigation.

You may be right, that the Harvest Program 25h02 is related to this 25s18 Safety Recall (i will have 3 of my 9 modules replaced), but is there any documentation that directly says that?

 

[Grumpy2]

I have the following, as part of the NHTSA Report on Battery Fires dated 28 Feb 2025:

Ford Recall 25S18 Chronology includes:

"On January 3, 2025, Ford received a fourth report of a fire involving a 2022 model year Ford F 150 BEV. On January 10, 2025, Ford Engineering received a battery array that had been replaced in one of the affected vehicles prior to the fire event. From January 2025 to February 2025, Ford conducted teardown analysis on this battery array and continued this detailed review of the supplier's manufacturing process. On January 24, 2025, while this teardown analysis and review was ongoing, Ford’s Field Review Committee authorized Harvest Program 25H02 to obtain additional physical samples from the field for in-depth evaluation and root cause analysis to facilitate further testing and understanding of root cause. "


It is confusing why it took 6 months before Harvest letters were received by folks .....

 

[adoublee]

@JPro and @Traconesu both reporting issues following module replacements as part of 25s18. A blown fuse when out of town with vehicle, and a bad replacement battery module.

Also seeing that similar harvest programs (mustang V8 engine heads) participation has sometimes been tied to warranty preservation, with non-participation risking denial of future claims. That is not explicitly stated for the 25H02.

 

[JPro]

@JPro and @Traconesu both reporting issues following module replacements as part of 25s18. A blown fuse when out of town with vehicle, and a bad replacement battery module.

Also seeing that similar harvest programs (mustang V8 engine heads) participation has sometimes been tied to warranty preservation, with non-participation risking denial of future claims. That is not explicitly stated for the 25H02.

Evidently there are (2) fuses in the HV battery. My dealer said one positive and one negative? One of them blew before my module replacements and the other one after.

 

[GoodSam]

On January 24, 2025, while this teardown analysis and review was ongoing, Ford’s Field Review Committee authorized Harvest Program 25H02 to obtain additional physical samples from the field for in-depth evaluation and root cause analysis to facilitate further testing and understanding of root cause. "


It is confusing why it took 6 months before Harvest letters were received by folks .....

Interesting that the July letter is only going to 299 vehicles, unless a whole bunch of others were already taken between January and June for the 25H02 as mentioned in the 25S18 January notification. I hope Ford is backcharging SK On for this mess.

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