Walk into almost any fleet depot in America and you will find one name on more electric cargo vans than any other. Ford’s E-Transit has been one of the go-to pitches for fleet managers hunting a workhorse that promises lower running costs, a zero-emission footprint and the reliability that comes with Ford’s longstanding commercial van heritage.
The sales argument is compelling. Electricity is cheaper than diesel, the van has fewer moving parts to service, and Ford Pro’s software ties the whole fleet together through a connected management portal.
But earlier this year, a document quietly posted to NHTSA’s public database told a different story about a batch of those vans rolling off the Kansas City Assembly Plant line.
Why fleet buyers chose this van over everything else on the market
The E-Transit built a strong reputation as one of America’s leading electric vans.
That status was built on a straightforward value proposition. With 3,401 units sold in Q2 2024, Ford’s E-Transit had its best quarterly sales since its debut in 2022. Ford confirmed that the E-Transit remained America’s best-selling electric van through much of that year, though by year-end 2024 Rivian’s delivery van had edged ahead in annual totals. Electric commercial vans carry a widely cited cost-of-ownership advantage over diesel equivalents, and maintenance savings for EVs are commonly attributed to fewer moving parts, no oil changes, and reduced brake wear from regenerative braking.
Fleet operators also appreciated the Ford Pro ecosystem, telematics, charge management and route optimization all bundled into one platform, designed specifically for high-utilization commercial use.
Ford’s electric van is assembled at its Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri. The E-Transit comes in multiple roof heights and body lengths, making it easy to spec for everything from last-mile parcel delivery to utility service routes.
On paper, it looked like the electric transition made easy.
The assembly line moment that set a recall in motion
Ford became aware of the issue last November, when a worker noticed two bolts were missing conical washers. This kicked off an investigation, which eventually blamed the problem on a supplier sorting error that failed to detect the absence of washers during production.
The Kansas City Assembly Plant subsequently initiated a tracing campaign to identify affected vehicles.
The supplier, Brugola Industriale USA, apparently failed to detect the absence of washers during the high-voltage battery bus bar assembly process.
Affected vehicles are select 2026 Ford E-Transit models produced between October 14th, 2025, and November 13th, 2025.
A batch of delivery vans had gone out into the world with a quiet defect hiding inside their battery packs, and nobody outside the supply chain knew yet.
What happens inside a battery pack when a washer goes missing
To understand why a small hardware piece matters so much, consider what the busbar does. It carries high-voltage current between cells inside the pack. The washer distributes clamping load evenly across the bolt joint, keeping resistance low.
Without it, the joint can loosen over time. Commercial utilities bill both energy consumed and peak demand, and fleet charging creates intense electrical loads. Inside a battery pack, those same electrical forces compound any weak connection.
Bolts inside the high-voltage battery pack may be missing washers, which can cause high electrical resistance or electrical arcing.
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.
A van that shuts down mid-route is a productivity problem. A van whose battery pack catches fire is something else entirely, and that is the risk NHTSA’s records confirm.
The hidden catch that no fleet spec sheet mentioned
Ford’s recall number is 26S05, with VINs searchable on NHTSA.gov from February 4, 2026. This recall potentially affects 98 vehicles.
For fleet managers, the operational consequence is immediate. If electrical resistance or arcing occurs, affected vehicles may experience a sudden loss of motive power; a warning message will be displayed in the instrument cluster, and vehicles may coast to a stop while the 12-volt battery sustains assisted braking and steering.
A van coasting to a stop on a delivery route is a downed asset, exactly the uptime failure that the E-Transit’s fleet pitch was designed to eliminate.
As the cost pressures on US fleet operators continue to mount in 2026, unplanned downtime from a recall hits the bottom line harder than ever.
Ford is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this condition. But even a fractional fire risk in a commercial van that spends its days in dense urban neighborhoods is a risk no fleet manager can quietly absorb.
The recall is also a reminder that electric van reliability still depends on supply chain discipline, the same quality-control challenge that shapes every vehicle, electric or not, coming off a high-volume assembly line.
What comes next for affected vans and the fleets running them
Dealers will inspect and repair the busbar fasteners and replace the busbar if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 13, 2026.
Fleet operators with affected VINs can look them up directly on NHTSA.gov or call Ford Customer Service at 1-866-436-7332, referencing recall number 26S05.
The broader commercial EV transition rolls on regardless. Fleet managers should track recalls, contact dealers, and complete inspections promptly to protect drivers and ensure compliance.
With new commercial vehicle production expanding across the US, competition in the electric van segment is only going to intensify, which means quality pressure on every manufacturer will too.
The reality in 2026 is nuanced: the tech is real and improving, yet many fleets are still cautious because the math has to work, covering route fit, charging, incentives, and uptime.
A recall that touches all four of those concerns at once is exactly the kind of event that sharpens that caution.
The fix is straightforward. The lesson, for every fleet operator weighing their next electric van order, is that the spec sheet and the supply chain are two very different things.
