The South Korean battery manufacturer Samsung SDI has issued a recall notice for 180,000 high-voltage battery packs installed in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) after an investigation by US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Certain models across North America are at risk of the battery failing leading to fires.
These are batteries in:
- 118,230 of the 2020-2024 Jeep Wrangler PHEV, 35,802 models of the Jeep Grand Cherokee PHEV made by Chrysler – owned by Stellantis
- 4616 Audi cars including the 2022-2023 Q5 and 2022 A7 owned by Volkswagen
- And 20,484 Ford models, the 2020-2024 Ford Escape and 2021-2024 Lincoln Corsair.
An investigation from the NHTSA found the battery defect appears to be related to two potential issues.
Issues with the cathode of the cells having micro-defects, and battery packs with damage to the separator which may cause a cell internal short circuit if damaged.
The root cause is still under investigation, but current analysis may show that manufacturing deviations may have happened at the battery cell and module, NHTSA claims.
Notes to the NTSHA revealed in a 573 safety recall notice showed the American automaker Ford is still investigating what the source of the issue is, as is Volkswagen.
Chrysler told Samsung SDI of two fires that happened in May 2023 involving Jeep Wrangler PHEV battery packs.
In November 2023, after five fires a month before, a further eight fires were reported to Samsung SDI, which led to 32,125 Jeep Wranglers being recalled, according to the NHTSA.
The NHTSA suggests vehicle owners contact the manufacturers with their questions and may call the safety hotline if needed: +1-888-327-4236.
