31 of the
394 complaints filed about the Ford F-150 Lightning BEV
are about the throttle and cruise control —
8% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2023.
31
Complaints
8%
Share of all complaints
7
Crashes
0
Fires
Acceleration & Cruise Control complaints by model year
Dealer identified Water intrusion into the rear wiring, harnesses is causing corrosion in the PIN connectors, which therefore leads to flickering tail lights which could be mis interpreted as braking or a turning. I also experienced random acceleration from slow speeds and a failure to decelerate. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11749547 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was the only person in the truck and there was no one nearby. I was slowly backing the Ford 150 Lighting into my driveway, going straight back. I was going slow because another car was parked at the back end corner. As I was rolling slowly back, the truck started to accelerate on its own, I had not increased pressure on the pedal. The truck was not making any beeping noises or alerts on the screen indicating that there was another car parked behind it. NO safety alerts at all. The truck was completely out of my control other than my ability to turn the steering wheel. I had lifted my foot off the gas pedal entirely at one point to make sure it was not me pressing it and the car kept moving faster without my foot. I tried to steer the truck straight back but upon realizing it would not stop and was only getting faster, I veered the steering wheel to avoid hitting our other small car and turned the truck which backed up directly into the south west corner of our house. The house is what stopped the truck. Upon impact with the house- NO airbags inflated. The truck touchscreen temporarily shined red and audibly said that it would “call 911” and no call was ever made. After this, and after I had gotten out of the truck, I realized that the entire truck shut down mechanically. The turn on button did nothing, the key did nothing, the gears would not shift - it was in a locked position. The driver's seat that I was in- got dislodged and crooked by the force of the truck to the house. My right calf is still sore because my right foot was on the pedal when the truck hit the house. My left side of my neck is very sore and I have a headache around tension around my temples and top of head, my forearms, wrists, trapezius muscles, and rhomboid muscles - all were sore after the crash.
NHTSA complaint #11746670 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a Ford F-150. The contact stated that the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated while in a drive through, a vehicle was ahead, the vehicle appeared to be rolling forward even though the foot was on the brake pedal. The front grill fender area was impacted. The other drivers vehicle the trunk and rear bumper were impacted. No additional property damage. No airbags deployed. No warning lights illuminated including any collision indicators. No injuries were sustained. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate mileage 15,002.
NHTSA complaint #11741477 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
About 30 mins prior to the incident,the accelaration was vey slow getting upto only 30/35MPH Message appeared in Dash Board instructing to SCHEDULE MAITANANCE SERVICE SOON. My last service was done only 2 months ago. anyhow i decided to drive the nearest Ford Dealer. On exiting the Freeway,the ramp was downhill and the Braking System completely failed and I crashed into the pavement. All the AirBags came on. I have Sternal Contusion.
NHTSA complaint #11739960 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was making a road trip in my 2024 F150 Lightning Lariat. I pulled up to a Tesla supercharger. I turned the car off and attempted to plug in but the cable was about three inches too short. So I got back in the truck, turned it back on and put it in gear for the last three inches of travel. The truck accelerated dramatically. It clipped two charging stations, hopped a curb and went into a field, headed for a major lane of traffic. I rode the brake as hard as I could and it continued to accelerate. I threw it in neutral and finally got control of it, just short of the road. I turned the vehicle off and back on and drove out of the field, the truck behaving normally. I finished the trip and returned home without incident. In reviewing the experience in my mind, I can't make mistaking the accelerator for the brake pedal make sense. You can't turn the vehicle on without pressing the brake pedal. You can't put it in gear without pressing the break pedal. And the fact that it continued to accelerate after hitting the charger doesn't sound like a pedal mistake. I have never found the human factors of the F150 to be challenging - it is very straight forward to drive. I also don't think I could have accidentally hit the cruise control. You can't accidentally engage the cruise control from a standing stop. I do always use one-pedal driving.
NHTSA complaint #11698604 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact rented a 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH and attempting to slow the vehicle, the RPMs suddenly increased, after which the contact became aware that the vehicle was accelerating independently. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard however, the vehicle failed to stop as needed. The contact shifted to park(P) to bring the vehicle to a stop. The vehicle then returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The contact requested a replacement vehicle from the rental company. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact was unaware if the vehicle was taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The contact was unaware if the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 28,000. The VIN was not available.
NHTSA complaint #11632132 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Using the 1 pedal drive mode, I was entering my driveway, which is 90 degrees adjacent to the street I was on. My approximate speed entering the driveway was 2 MPH. As I was finishing the turn and almost straightened out, my hand accidently glazed over and engaged the cruise control button. My truck lurched forward and started to accelerate towards the garage door. I quickly stepped on the brake and the truck came to rest mere inches from the garage door. I believe the speed it was trying to accelerate to was 15 MPH when I had looked down at the dash. This is a big safety hazard. I have tried to recreate it and cruise control wont engage on slow speeds. I'm not sure why this occasion was different.
NHTSA complaint #11628171 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Bought an electric truck in May of 2023 that is frequently malfunctioning while on the road. Turn signals and hazard lights becoming unusable. Gauges w/ speed are turning off and on while driving. All safety features become disabled. Video of multiple occurrences are available and have been submitted to ford. Would someone please help me and atleast reach out to see the videos of what this truck is doing. I have extensive documentation of my attempts to get this vehicle repaired or off the roads through the BEV specialist. My emails are ignored and my phone calls are put in endless loops before being hung up on. I have been trying for 6 months to get them to make my truck safe. I’m scared me and my family or possibly other motorist are going to be hurt if this situation is not fixed. I know I shouldn’t keep driving it but I have to get to work. Purchased an extended warranty for thousands of dollars but after taking to 3 dealerships multiple times a piece no repairs to the computer have been made and they literally have documented they are trying a temporary method for “testing” out unproven “wire overlayment” to bypass an issue with a harness bc they dont want to “condemn” an expensive module on the truck. The computers that control this electric vehicle are failing and I’m scared what is going to happen when if completely goes out while I’m driving at 70 on the interstate. If someone would please look at the service transcripts, my emails to ford, and videos of this vehicle malfunctioning I would be sincerely grateful and appreciate any guidance.
NHTSA complaint #11623043 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I got into my vehicle and turned it on but the dashboard would not respond. On the advice of some Ford forums, I attempted a soft reset of the "infotainment" system by holding down the volume down + next track buttons and the center console screen restarted but the dashboard would not turn on. I ended up driving home using my phone as a GPS speedometer. After multiple restarts, I waited about 3 hours to try to restart the truck and when the dashboard suddenly started working again.
NHTSA complaint #11606979 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to slow the vehicle, with the brake pedal was lightly depressed; however, without a foot on the accelerator pedal, the vehicle inadvertently surged forward. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence, almost causing several crashes. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
NHTSA complaint #11605892 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Gauge cluster completely dark. Cluster is a screen type when dark no speed visible. No warning lights available for safety feedback. Driving without speed is very dangerous mileage u known as display shows mileage.
NHTSA complaint #11598210 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The cruise control can be easily and accidentally activated and can be activated at any speed. Once activated, it has a minimum established speed of 15mph. If traveling at low parking lot speeds of under 5mph, this will result in a sudden surge as the truck attempts to hit the minimum 15mph speed. The sudden surge is a surprise to many and can be dangerous as it typically occurs in low speed areas such as parking lots and can be accidentally activated during low speed maneuvers. Recommend the manufacture adjust the settings so that either cruise control can not be activated when below the established minimum speed setting of 15mph. Additionally, please refer to pages 4-5 of the forums for additional users complaining about the same: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11585726 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2022 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the contact's wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that the vehicle was in line at the car wash when the failure occurred. The vehicle re-ended the vehicle in front, which caused several vehicles to crash into one another. In addition, the vehicle bounced off the curve and crashed into two other parked vehicles before landing on the side of one of the vehicles. The contact stated that the whole incident happened in about five seconds. The contact stated that a parked police vehicle was one of the vehicles involved in the crash. No injuries were sustained. A Police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the tow yard. The vehicle was scheduled to be towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
NHTSA complaint #11584450 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The dash screen where you can see speed fails. Towing required. Fixes itself hours later. Happen repeatedly. Dealer says no error codes, as if it never happened!
NHTSA complaint #11579386 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When I started the vehicle the virtual instrument cluster was blank, therefore I could not tell how fast I was going, how many miles I could go before I needed to charge, start cruise control, and many other features only available on this screen. I tried to restart the vehicle, but the screen was still blank. Fortunately the screen worked again after I parked to go shopping for a period of time.
NHTSA complaint #11578135 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My dash went completely blank while driving at night. The center console was still functioning normal. The headlights and blinkers were still functioning normal. I could not see my speed or any other data on the dash. It was still backlit, but the screen was completely blank. Turning the vehicle off and on did nothing. I found on a forum that this is a fairly common occurrence. This is very dangerous, not knowing my speed or any other data while driving. Also, none of the other safety features could be observed, unknown if they would function in an emergency.
NHTSA complaint #11578164 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owned a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds and attempting to slow the vehicle with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own. The contact veered into the shoulder of the roadway to avoid a collision, coming to a complete stop after colliding with heavy shrubs. The air bags did not deploy. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed, and injuries were reported. The contact was transported to an area hospital by EMT and treated for abdominal contusions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who declined to inspect the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. After that, the vehicle was towed to a tow yard and deemed a total loss by the contact's insurance provider. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but did not assist. The failure mileage was 2,100.
NHTSA complaint #11574895 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.