- Harm to the batteries’ separator may result in shorts and/or fires
- Recall campaigns from Stellantis, Ford, and Audi permit alternative of battery packs
- New paperwork filed by battery provider Samsung SDI says the problem stays underneath investigation
Plug-in hybrids from a number of automakers have been recalled due a possible situation with automobiles’ Samsung SDI-supplied battery cells that would trigger lack of energy or fires. And new paperwork filed with the federal authorities this week means that the problem has not but been totally resolved.
A complete of 180,196 automobiles are affected within the U.S., together with 155,096 from Stellantis, 20,484 from Ford, and 4,616 from Audi. Every automaker, in current months, already introduced a person recall for its respective automobiles.
2023 Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid
Stellantis issued a battery-related recall for the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe SUVs final October. Audi then recalled its Q5 and A7 plug-in hybrids in December, and Ford then issued a recall for plug-in hybrid variations of the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs in January.
All of those automobiles have Samsung SDI cells which can be broadly related, in keeping with paperwork filed with the NHTSA, which emphasizing that actual specs are nonetheless distinctive to every automaker. Every automaker instructed the protection company that defects in these cells may result in inner brief circuits or fires. Ford and Stellantis additionally reported injury within the separator layer between the cathode and anode in some cells, which may result in brief circuits and fires. Ford and Audi each mentioned inner evaluation pointed to manufacturing defects, and each mentioned they’d set up new software program as a short lived treatment.
2022 Audi Q5 55 TFSI e plug-in hybrid
These new paperwork filed by Samsung SDI do not broaden the listing of automobiles recalled, however they underscore that the problem lacks a transparent decision, as of but. In paperwork filed February 5, Samsung SDI calls the problem “nonetheless underneath investigation” for each Ford and Audi. A letter from the NHTSA, reacting to the Samsing SDI submitting and dated February 6, asks the battery provider for a “abstract of all guarantee claims, discipline or service reviews, and different info.”
In an announcement offered to Inexperienced Automotive Stories Friday, Jeep mother or father Stellantis underscored that for its automobiles, the problem has been remedied. “The treatment features a software program replace and, if crucial, alternative of the high-voltage battery, each offered for gratis to homeowners,” it said, pointing to notification letters despatched out in December. “Buyer security is our highest precedence, and we admire the persistence of our clients as we labored to resolve this matter and implement an answer for all affected automobiles.”
For now, homeowners of affected automobiles can name the respective automakers’ customer support departments for extra info. Stellantis will be reached at 800-853-1403, Audi at 800-253-2834, and Ford at 866-436-7332.
–with reporting by Bengt Halvorson
