Defective Ford F-150 Lightning EVs from collapsed conversion firm can now be fixed... at a cost

The owners of 146 battery-powered Ford F-150 pickups produced by a failed Brisbane converter have been thrown a lifeline by a fellow Queensland company – but they’ll have to pay for a recall fix to prevent their fingers being burned, literally.

Following the end of F-150 Lightning production in the US, local converter AUSEVwent into receivership on March 17, a week before it issued a nationwide product safety recall on March 24, warning owners not to use DC fast-chargers due to the risk of being burnt by overheated charge port pins.

“Vehicles that are fitted with a Combined Charging System (CCS2) charge port may experience increased electrical resistance during high-power Direct Current (DC) fast charging causing the internal charging pins to overheat,” said the recall notice at the time.

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Owners were directed to only charge their vehicles using AC power, a process that could take up to four days to complete via a household power outlet.

“Please avoid charging the vehicle using DC fast chargers. Use AC (Alternating Current) charging instead,” said the recall notice.

“If a person makes direct contact with the overheated charge port pins immediately after a charging session, there is a risk of burns or serious injury.”

However, AUSEV parent company BossCap had gone into receivership a week earlier, and its public website no longer loads, emails to its info address are bouncing back to senders, and calls to the company’s phone number are automatically forwarding to voicemail, leaving affected owners in the dark about how their vehicles can be fixed.

Now, per a March 30 update to the original recall notice, owners are being directed to have their vehicles repaired by Performax International, another independent Queensland converter of pickup trucks, which is based in Gympie.

“In the interests of public safety Performax has offered their services to rectify vehicles affected by this recall,” says the updated recall notice.

However, it adds that because Performax “did not design or modify these vehicles or supply them to the Australian market”… “A cost may be incurred for these repairs”.

The recall notice lists the supplier of the F-150 Lightning as “AUSEV PTY LTD (company in receivership)” and urges owners of affected vehicles to contact Performax to schedule an appointment to have their vehicle inspected by emailing warranty@performax.com.au.

A full list of vehicle identification numbers for the 146 vehicles involved in the recall can be found here.

Established in 2012 in Queensland, BossCap is the owner of AUSEV, which was best known for importing electric F-150 Lightnings and converting them to right-hand drive in the Brisbane suburb of Brendale. The subsidiary claimed Brisbane Airport and BHP among its customers.

In a statement issued to Yahoo Finance, BossCap – also the company behind Advanced Manufacturing Queensland – put the blame at the feet of the Blue Oval, citing “sudden change in global production strategy from Ford”.

Ford confirmed it had axed the F-150 Lightning in mid-December 2025 after less than four years in production as part of a strategic switch on battery-electric vehicles – with the US car giant instead focusing on developing electric models with petrol generators, better known as extended-range electric vehicles (EREV), for segments like this.

Despite “strong market interest and growing sales”, the receivers claimed the inability to supply vehicles had “significantly disrupted the company’s forward pipeline”.

The conversion and distribution of F-150 Lightning vehicles by AUSEV is unrelated to the petrol V6-powered F-150s officially ‘remanufactured’ for and sold by Ford Australia. AUSEV vehicles aren’t backed by the Blue Oval’s five-year factory warranty.

While the company had focussed on selling the F-150 Lightning to fleet customers, just a day before BossCap was placed into receivership AUSEV posted an image of customers taking delivery of their electric pickup, and advertising the vehicle from $109,990 before on-road costs.

“Just a few recent customer deliveries, and many more to come,” said AUSEV in a social media post, suggesting many in the organisation were unaware of the impending shutdown. It’s understood about 100 staff are affected.

“The F-150 Lightning is arriving across Australia, driving a genuine shift in the future of trucks,” the post said.

Within days, creditors of BossCap had initiated the receivership process – which differs from a voluntary administration.

“We regret to advise that the BossCap Group was placed into receivership on 17 March 2026,” the receivers said in a statement issued to Yahoo Finance.

“Accordingly, operations have been suspended whilst the receivers undertake an assessment of the business. At this stage, BossCap is unable to undertake warranty repair works.”

AUSEV was formerly known as AUSMV, before being rebranded as part of a shift to EVs.

BossCap’s SCD Remanufactured Vehicles subsidiary – which previously imported and converted various combustion-powered American models including the Ram 1500 and Dodge Challenger to right-hand drive – ended local conversions in March 2024.

Like Harrison F-Trucks, which contracts Melbourne-based converter Vehicle Development Corporation (VDC) to remanufacture its vehicles, Performax was a major retailer of remanufactured Ford F-Series pickups until Ford Australia relaunched the F-150 after contracting Melbourne-based RMA Automotive to convert its vehicles in 2023.

The other three full-size US pickups officially sold here – Ram Trucks Australia’s Ram 1500/2500, GM Specialty Vehicles’ Chevrolet Silverado, and Toyota Australia’s Tundra – are all developed and remanufactured on a contract basis by Walkinshaw Automotive in Melbourne.

MORE: AUSEV’s Ford F-150 Lightning conversion recalled for charging fault, but where can it be fixed?

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