In annie's case its not confirmed as a loose ground... it was a "loose wire". That could mean any connection in any of the bazillions of connectors in there.

Exactly, bazillions. Easy for them to say loose wire when in reality they have no clue what it was. I will make them show me exactly what they did. Who knows, maybe it really was just a "loose wire" but why would a wire come loose for no reason? My hubby does not trust them one bit. And although I cannot imagine they would be so stupid to let me drive off with a car that had brake failure without really fixing it (if it happens again and I get in an accident, I will sue them in the ground obviously), the one thing that this has proven to me again is that you cannot trust car sales people, no offense. So, I will go in a little bit and talk to them.

It is very likely that it was just a loose wire.
A loose ground wire affects many things, as many things share a common ground wire.
A loose power or signal wire would affect just that item.

And it may shock you to know that the ground wire for the brakes ( regen brakes, anyway ) is not in the engine or fusebox. It is under the driver's seat!

Don't question why. Many very smart people put this car together, and there is a logical reason for this, just unknown to you and me and most dealer service techs.

AAhhhh....the hazards of introducing advanced technology into the mass market place.

The computer controlled braking in the FEH, often called "brake-by-wire," is significantly different than the fully hydraulic braking systems that have been in autos for 80+ years. [In the past, electrical hardware problems like wire connections could not have a profound effect on brake system operation.] Ford engineers put a lot of effort into "hiding" this difference to the average driver. They want it to drive as much like a non-hybrid truck as possible because implementing a new braking system concept is a greater risk to the operator.

IMHO, Ford did not put enough effort into educating the service technicians at the dealers - where their customers interface with the company. Hence, customers get rightfully concerned about safety when an important system (braking) malfunctions. As reported in many forums, some technicians try and hide their ignorance when they are faced with a system they do not fully understand - afterall, they are supposed to be the experts. Then, both the customer and the dealer are suspicious of each other.

No offense but, many dealers (and some folks) are not ready to be "early adopters" of new technology, no matter how much it looks and acts like the vehicles they've been fixing (and driving) for decades.

So what I gather from John's statement above, there's a chance that stowing something under the driver's seat or even adjusting the seat could cause a questionably attached connection (loose from the factory, maybe) to lose continuity and cause this issue... interesting indeed.

well, I will question why, and I will have them show me what they did, just so that I am more educated if it happens again. Do these things happen more than once or is the fact that we found this loose wire so early actually a good thing 'cos we got it fixed? What are my chances of this happening again? I am scared driving the thing home! Do I just need to get over my fear and trust this car?

oh and I am by no means READY for this technology. Like I have said before, I don't know anything about cars, regular or hybrid, but IMO that's what we have dealers and mechanics for, so that they help us in case we have problems and so they educate us enough that we can safely drive these cars. In my case that didn't happen and I dealt with five different dealers.

One thing to remember is that Ford has always intentionally messed around with the electrical system if there is any problem. I had a 2006 Freestyle that suddenly started blinking the turn signals very fast. It turns out there was some kind of bad connection under the dash. Ford caused the turn signal change to indicate an electrical problem.

Ok, this is what the guys came up with. Apparently one of the nuts that hold the power wires in place, was loose. Was only about half way down. SO, that caused the power loss. Because I had the power loss, the brakes had to be re calibrated. They said they did several panic stops and engaged the ABS (which I had NOT done during my hard braking, I never got a signal for it on the dashboard), restarted it several times and it still runs fine. They seemed confident that it was a factory error and not gonna happen again. They said I was lucky it happened in a parking lot and not on the highway in the rain. I had them show me what they did where. Apparently the power died while they worked on the car, so they could find the source of the problem. I will let y'all know what happens next and it anything else comes up.
Thanks

For your satisfaction, these hybrid vehicles are tracked by Ford Motor Company. Problems such as yours create documents which are then sent to the factory and assembly location where further probing occurs.

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best Interstate tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.

Best Interstate tank trip E30 MPG 34.6 for 271 miles along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio.

Best multiple road tank trip E30 MPG 36.2 for 202 miles in Southwestern Pa.