Ford has issued a Technical Service Bulletin for the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid due to a software issue with the brakes, similar to the recent Toyota Prius and Lexus HS recall.

The regenerative braking system reportedly doesn’t work properly at times. The car will switch from regenerative braking to conventional hydraulic brakes at the wrong time, leaving you with very little braking power. After simply turning the car off and restarting it, the braking should be fine. There have already been some cases of this happening, although none have resulted in injury or death.

Dealers will be upgrading the software to fix this problem. Ford says it should reduce the chance of this happening, which is a bit worrying, as they clearly stated “reduce” and not “remove”. Ford will be sending out letters to vehicle owners soon.

If you own one of the affected cars, contact your local dealership and arrange for the fix. I wouldn’t recommend driving the car until it’s fixed.

Source: Inside Line