Ford has decided to delay production of its Escape plug-in hybrid model until 2021, due to last month’s Kuga PHEV recall in Europe, reports Reuters. The two crossovers are nearly identical, sharing the same engine and battery components.
The U.S. carmaker recalled 20,500 Kuga PHEV models while also suspending sales as it now looks into potential concern regarding the high voltage battery, which in certain cases could cause a fire.
“We are moving full scale production of the Escape PHEV to the 2021 model year. The first Escape PHEVs will be sold next year,” said a company spokesman in the U.S.
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“Because we share components with Kuga PHEV, including battery cells, we are moving production to next year, while we work with the battery cell supplier to resolve the issue affecting Kuga PHEV in Europe,” added another spokesperson.
Initial reports had the fires (four in total) being caused by the batteries overheating. Following the recall, Ford also asked current Kuga PHEV owners not to charge their crossovers and to keep them in “EV Auto” mode. At the time, Autocar reported that this issue could arise “when the vehicle is parked and unattended or is charged.”
Ford initially wanted to put the Escape into production last spring (at Louisville plant in Kentucky), but those plans were also pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic causing factory shut-downs.
The Ford Escape plug-in hybrid has a starting price of just under $35,000 and may qualify for state tax incentives or rebates.
