Ford Motor Co. admitted Thursday a problem affecting braking in some of its hybrid vehicles, and offered a software fix following a wave of problems affecting Japanese rival Toyota.
The US automaker said it was offering the fix to owners of 2010-model Ford Fusion Hybrids and Mercury Milan Hybrids to update software of the regenerative brake system.
“We have received reports that some drivers have experienced a different brake feel when the hybrid’s unique regenerative brakes switch to conventional hydraulic braking,” Ford said.
“While the vehicles maintain full braking capability, customers may i initially perceive the condition as loss of brakes.”
Ford said the two cars’ brake system “maintains full conventional brakes and full (antilock) ABS function even as the customer sees visual indicators and hears a chime.”
But it said the software upgrade “will reduce unnecessary occurrences of the vehicle switching from regenerative braking to conventional hydraulic brakes.”
Ford said customers with affected vehicles will receive a notice in the mail, asking them to bring in the cars to be reprogrammed at dealers at no charge.
Ford’s announcement followed a review by Consumers Union, which does its own independent testing and reported a “mushy” brake feel on the Fusion.
Consumers Union said that after the electronic module “cuts out” during some braking maneuvers, “the brake pedal needs to be pushed just over an inch farther down than normal before the conventional hydraulic system applies the brakes” and that its test driver “thought he had no brakes.”
The news came within hours of a US probe announced on potential braking problems affecting Toyota’s popular Prius hybrid.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a formal probe into the Prius after 124 complaints from consumers on the 2010 model of the world’s most popular hybrid.
