2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Bev problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Exterior Lighting (18) · Vehicle Speed Control (16) · Electrical System (15)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Ford F-150 Lightning Bev model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (11)
Power Train:automatic Transmission:internal:park Pawl 2025-12-12 · campaign 25V863000 · 272,645 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2026 F-150 Lightning BEV, 2024-2026 Mustang Mach-E, and 2025-2026 Maverick vehicles. The integrated park module may fail to lock into the park position when the driver shifts into park. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."
Risk: A loss of park function can allow the vehicle to rollaway, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: The park module software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 3, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C69. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning January 26, 2026.
Exterior Lighting 2025-10-24 · campaign 25V731000 · 14,843 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2023 F-150 Lightning BEV vehicles previously repaired under recall number 23V418. The rear lightbar may have microcracks in the outer lens that allows moisture to accumulate, which can result in inoperative or flickering reverse lights.
Risk: Inoperative or flickering reverse lights may not alert other driver's that the vehicle is reversing, increasing the risk of injury or crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace the rear lightbar and fasteners as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 3, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SB6. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 29, 2025.
Electronic Stability Control (Esc) 2025-05-09 · campaign 25V313000 · 6 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2023 F-150 Lightning vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under recall number 23V801. The SYNC software may fail to activate the electronic stability control (ESC) system at the beginning of each ignition cycle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 126, "Electronic Stability Control Systems."
Risk: Failure to reset the ESC to active may result in the driver unknowingly operating the vehicle without electronic stability control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will update the Accessory Protocol Interface Module (APIM) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 18, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C15.
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery 2025-04-23 · campaign 25V272000 · 3 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023 F-150 Lightning vehicles. The fasteners that secure the junction box bus bars inside the high-voltage battery pack may not have been tightened securely, which can cause electrical arcing at the busbars.
Risk: Electrical arcing increases the risk of a fire. In addition, a loss of drive power may occur, which can increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and repair the busbar fasteners and replace any damaged components as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 21, 2025. Owners may contact Ford Customer Service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24S11. This recall expands previous recall number 24V-144.
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery 2025-02-28 · campaign 25V131000 · 950 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2024 F-150 Lightning battery electric vehicles. A manufacturing defect in the high voltage battery cells may result in an internal short circuit.
Risk: A battery short circuit increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Owners are advised to only charge their vehicles to a maximum of 80% battery capacity until the repair has been completed. Dealers will inspect and replace the high voltage battery array as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 27, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S18.
Suspension:front:control Arm:upper Ball Joint 2024-12-19 · campaign 24V949000 · 11,922 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023-2024 F-150 Lightning BEV vehicles. The front upper control arm ball joint nut may not have been tightened properly, allowing the front upper control arm to detach from the knuckle assembly.
Risk: A detached control arm can cause a loss of vehicle steering and control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the upper control arm ball joint nut, and replace the nut and/or knuckle assembly, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 10, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24S76.
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery 2024-02-23 · campaign 24V144000 · 216 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023 F-150 Lightning vehicles. The fasteners that secure the junction box bus bars inside the high-voltage battery pack may not have been tightened securely, which can cause electrical arcing at the busbars.
Risk: Electrical arcing increases the risk of a fire. In addition, a loss of drive power may occur, which can increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and repair the busbar fasteners and replace any damaged components as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 31, 2024. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24S11.
Electronic Stability Control (Esc) 2023-11-28 · campaign 23V801000 · 5,118 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2023 F-150 Lightning vehicles. The SYNC software may fail to activate the electronic stability control (ESC) system at the beginning of each ignition cycle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 126, "Electronic Stability Control Systems."
Risk: Failure to reset the ESC to active may result in the driver unknowingly operating the vehicle without electronic stability control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: The Accessory Protocol Interface Module (APIM) software will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 21, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23C38.
Visibility:defroster/Defogger/Hvac System:windshield:electrical Heating Element 2023-10-13 · campaign 23V688000 · 931 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023 F-150 Lightning pickup trucks. The electronic cabin coolant heater module may be missing a solder joint, which can cause intermittent or no cabin heat and result in an inoperative windshield defrosting and defogging system. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 103, "Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems."
Risk: An inoperative windshield defrosting and defogging system may decrease the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the electronic cabin coolant heater, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 3, 2024. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23C32.
Exterior Lighting 2023-06-09 · campaign 23V418000 · 16,375 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2023 F-150 BEV vehicles. The rear lightbar may have microcracks in the outer lens that allows moisture to accumulate, which can result in inoperative or flickering reverse lights.
Risk: Inoperative or flickering reverse lights may not alert other driver's that the vehicle is reversing, increasing the risk of injury or crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the rear lightbar, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 9, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23S30.
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery 2023-03-15 · campaign 23V168000 · 18 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023 F-150 Lightning pickup trucks. The high-voltage battery pack may experience an electrical short-circuit when the battery is fully charged or near fully charged.
Risk: A battery short-circuit increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Dealers will replace the high-voltage battery pack, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 31, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23S15.
Service bulletins (93)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-24 · 26B07 · Other
recommended repair prior to sale customer satisfaction program 26b07 certain 2021-2025 model year f-150 lightning and mustang mach-e vehicles undesired acceleration due to adaptive cruise control (acc) activation
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-16 · TCU-26.2.12.2.2 Mach E, F · Over The Air
quality improvements include: -addresses a bug that may cause updates to fail
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-16 · ECG-26.2.12.3 F-150LtMac · Over The Air
quality improvements include: -eprivacy enhancements
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-13 · SSM 55080 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2021-2023 mustang mach-e vehicles built on or before 25-jun-2023, 2022-2025 e-transit and 2022-2023 f-150 lightning vehicles may experience a high voltage battery stop charging condition when using a direct current (dc) fast charger level 3 with diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) p0eee:27 and p2e5
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-23 · SSM 55032 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2022-2026 f-150 lightning vehicles may exhibit a reduced distance to empty (dte) projection, a high voltage battery pack state of charge (soc) that drops from 100% to less than 90% within 60 seconds of being driven, and an inability to reach a target soc using the scheduled charging feature wit
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-06 · 26B09 · Other
customer satisfaction program 26b09 certain 2022-2023 model year f150 lightning equipped with intelligent backup power feature update the accessory protocol interface module (apim), gateway module (gwm) and telematics control unit (tcu) software
Showing the 6 most recent of 93 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-19 · Steering“over the past year, the steering on my 2023 ford f‑150 lightning has progressively developed a severe “sticky” or “notchy” condition when turning the wheel to the right. the steering wheel will resist movement and feel like it is caught on a notch. additional force is required to overcome the bind, and when it releases, the vehicle abruptly jerks t…”
2026-10-07 · Exterior Lighting“2023 ford f-150 lightning with 42,220 mi. the rear light bar has formed a crack which will allow moisture intrusion (photo attached). this is the same condition named in recall 25sb6 (nhtsa 25v731) and predecessor 23s30 (nhtsa 23v418): water droplets in the lightbar outer lens, which can cause inoperative or flickering reverse lamps. on 10/06/2026 …”
2026-10-05 · Visibility/Wiper“on 10/5/2026 the front part of the sunroof on my lightning burst into pieces and fell onto me and all over my cab while i was driving down the road. i had glass pieces and shards all over me and the front of the truck. i've read online that some other have also had issues with the same component. there was no warning. it wasn't hot, it was arou…”
2026-09-29 · Unknown Or Other“the vehicle's sunroof shattered spontaneously with a very loud, explosive noise similar to a gunshot. this was not an object strike, no vehicles were nearby or within 300 feet in front and nothing was overhead. the sunroof exploded upward and outward; most glass ended up in bed of the truck. the sunroof shade was drawn, so no glass fell into the ca…”
2026-09-23 · Power Train“the high-voltage battery in my ford f-150 lightning is exhibiting significant degradation and erratic power availability. the vehicle will no longer charge above approximately 60% state of charge. upon startup, available power can suddenly drop from 100% to approximately 50%, and the indicated available power continues to fluctuate unpredictably wh…”
2026-09-22 · Exterior Lighting“the rear tail lights do not function. the vehicle cannot be driven at night because it has no rear illumination. it puts both the operator and other vehicles at risk of collision. i took the vehicle to a ford dealer for repair. they reported the tail lights failed due to corrosion of the wiring harness pin connectors due to water intrusion. the wir…”
2026-08-31 · Power Train“ on august 20, 2026, while driving my 2023 ford f-150 lightning, the vehicle suffered a sudden, complete, and catastrophic loss of propulsion. the truck stopped abruptly while in motion on an active roadway. this immediate loss of power created an extremely hazardous situation, exposing myself, my passengers, and oncoming traffic to an immediate ri…”
2026-08-27 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings · 💥 crash“while maneuvering the vehicle to park near a building, the truck unexpectedly accelerated forward and crashed into the building. i did not intend for the vehicle to accelerate into the structure. during the incident, i did not receive the expected assistance from the vehicle’s front sensing/collision-warning systems before impact. the vehicle str…”
2026-08-14 · Electrical System“when i had the radio paused and not playing anything in my 2023 f150 lightning it made a loud auditory pop and one of my ears hearing got "muffled"…”
2026-07-10 · Vehicle Speed Control“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 freed…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.