Ford (F) has offered customers who bought some 2010 Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids “a customer satisfaction program to update the software of the regenerative brake system.” Many media outlets are depicting this as a sort of recall. According to Reuters, “Ford’s action came after Consumer Reports said one of its test engineers had experienced what appeared to be a loss of braking power with a Fusion hybrid.” The news service adds “The No. 2 U.S. automaker by sales notified its dealers of the problem in October but not the public because it did not believe the glitch represents a failure of the brakes.” The media descriptions and Ford’s own, raise the question of whether any car company with a glitch or something more serious in the operation of its vehicles, will be dragged into the category of Toyota which has recalled and shut down production of eight of its most popular models. The Japanese car giant also faces questions about brake safety on some of its popular Prius hybrid. The trouble has prompted an investigation by the federal government.
A Google search of the term “Ford recall” brings back results about the Fusion and Mercury Milan brake software upgrade. Some news outlet even use the term “recall” in their description of the car company actions.
Ford, it appears, has been caught up in the recall media frenzy.
Douglas A. McIntyre

 

The description appears to be exactly the same issues discussed with the Prius and other Toyota hybrids, the momentary sensation of braking loss as the system transitions from regen to mechanical braking. The articles I read though, seem to be a lot kinder to Ford. I saw two articles side by side, one about the Prius braking issue and the other about the Ford braking issue. Both seem to generally be the same type of problem, but the Toyota article was about Evil Empire Toyota dealing death and destruction while the heroes at Ford were saving the day by announcing their "satisfaction program".

 

LOL, your post is amusing.

What you failed to mention is that the Ford has a transitional sensation BUT STILL STOPS!

The Prius just keeps on going, thru the wall, the stop sign, the red light....

 

"...transitional sensation.."

I wonder if they plan to use the BMW technique to "pre-charge" the brake cylinders and thereby bring the brake pads into slight contact with the rotors when the brakes are initially applied but only using regen.

BMW uses the windshield wiper rain sensor to decide when to pre-charge the brake cylinders in order to keep the rotors dry.