2023 Ford Escape PHEV Owner Complaints

Purchased a 2023 Ford escape PHEV in May 2023. In January 2025, a safety recall 24S79, Ford explicitly instructed owners to immediately stop plugging in their vehicles and to avoid using external charging cables entirely. Then in February of 2026 after a year not being able to charge, recall 25SC4 was issued, advising owners to limit charging to a maximum of 80% capacity and operate exclusively in "Auto EV" mode. For 18+ months this vehicle has not been able to operate as advertised.

NHTSA ID

11753252

Incident

Jan 3, 2025

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle became inoperable. The vehicle was jump-started and the vehicle operated as intended. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V789000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available, and the contact associated the failure with the recall. The local dealer was contacted, and the battery was replaced. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and advised the contact not to charge the vehicle to full capacity to avoid the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.

NHTSA ID

11751535

Incident

Nov 15, 2024

Mileage

12,000 mi

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V789000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the recall was an inconvenience because the battery could only be charged to 80 percent. The dealer was notified and informed the contact that parts were still unavailable. The manufacturer was notified of the issue and referred the contact back to the dealer for assistance. The contact had not experienced a failure.

NHTSA ID

11750327

Incident

Dec 1, 2025

I received a recall notice for my car for the batteries. I parked my car in the garage so now I'm worried that my house is going to catch on fire and if I'm doing 70 mph down the freeway is my engine going to shut down. I'm not sure if this is part of it but my car doors lock on their own and a couple times my keys have been inside the car thank goodness I had an extra fob or the window was rolled down enough I could put my hand in it.

NHTSA ID

11748739

Incident

Mar 6, 2026

Dear Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center, We are resending our original letter (dated March, 2026), as we have still not received any response or resolution regarding this ongoing recall matter. Since sending that letter, we received a notice stating the recall fix for the battery issue was finally available. Despite the significant inconvenience, we promptly brought our vehicle in to have the repair completed. We were then informed that only ONE of the two critical battery fixes was available and performed — the second, equally critical portion of the recall repair remains unavailable and unresolved. This is unacceptable. We have now been dealing with this issue for well over a year, have complied with every restriction Ford has asked of us, and made yet another trip to the dealer in good faith — only to be told the problem is still not fully fixed. As outlined in our original letter, we are asking Ford directly — not through our dealer, who has been unable to provide answers — for the following: 1.A confirmed timeline for when the remaining battery fix will be available and completed. 2.Confirmation of whether our current high-voltage battery will be fully replaced with an improved unit. 3.A formal response regarding compensation for the 24+ months we have been without full use of our vehicle’s core PHEV functionality — the primary reason we purchased and waited over 8 months for this vehicle. Our original email was sent Marc h 2026 and we have tried email, mailing and calling with no response or resolution. Considering the language of the recall we are very concerned about the safety AND also concerned we cannot use this as the commuter car intended.

NHTSA ID

11747324

Incident

Mar 2, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape PHEV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V091000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced the failure.

NHTSA ID

11743119

Incident

Jun 10, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while charging the battery, the battery only charged up to approximately 20%. No warning light was illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V954000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and advised the contact to reach out to the manufacturer for assistance. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 24,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ID

11650478

Incident

Jun 15, 2023

Mileage

24,000 mi

Instrument cluster screen intermittently going black after related recall was performed.

NHTSA ID

11624835

Incident

Nov 12, 2024

The Vehicle's Emission Control System has detected a restricted fuel vapor tube between the fuel tank pressure sensor and the fuel tank which could result in a fire. Service Engine Soon Warning

NHTSA ID

11584376

Incident

Apr 21, 2024

When using Apple Car Play for navigation and approaching traffic circles, instrument cluster always indicates the driver navigate to the left of the circle into oncoming traffic.

NHTSA ID

11562507

Incident

Jun 21, 2023