After General Motors Company declared in August that was an issue with the Hummer EV’shigh-voltage connector that lets water into the battery pack, the manufacturer faced another similar complication, according to InsideEVs.
GMC Battery Packs Sealing
Water could get inside the Hummer EV battery packs because of improper sealing, which could impact the vehicles to not start or lose power during use.
Over 700 units of the GM Hummer EV produced during the 2022 and 2023 model years will be recalled due to the improper seal and 89 BrightDrop EV600 electric vans. Both vehicles were built on GM’s Ultium platform and had similar battery packs.
The company issued a stop-delivery order at the time of the recall, and it has yet to discover a way to fix the issue.
In addition, the automaker states it is aware of three instances the manufacturing defect could cause problems.
The company told National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it had found 3 EVs with this issue: an internal test vehicle that lost power while in use and two customer-owned vehicles that would not start. As of writing, the automaker is not aware of any accidents, fires, or injuries related to the problem, and GM approximates about 1% of the EVs are affected.
GM noted that the root cause of the problem has anything to do with improperly primed or electro-coated battery pack flanges “inhibiting proper adhesion of the urethane sealant.”
The recall announcement published by the NHTSA added that “vehicles equipped with high voltage battery pack enclosures produced outside of the supplier’s suspect manufacturing window are not included in this recall.”
If, for instance, water got inside the affected vehicle’s battery pack and malfunctioned, the Hummer will display messages and warning lights in the main display to let the driver know.
“GM is working quickly to finalize the repair procedure and notify affected customers,” a GM spokesperson wrote in an email to CNET.
However, with the fact that it can result in a sudden loss of power, it is worth considering that it poses a safety risk. GM has yet to announce the solution for the problem – repair faulty battery packs or replace them overall – it estimates that it will start notifying owners of affected vehicles beginning on Thursday (October 28).
