German legacy automaker Mercedes-Benz has just issued a safety recall on nearly 15,000 electric vehicles in the United States due to a software glitch that could cause battery shutdown.
Battery management system software issue
According to the Part 573 Safety Recall Report, Mercedes-Benz initiated a voluntary recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for almost 15,000 electric vehicles in the US.
The battery management system software of the affected electric vehicles may cause the high-voltage battery to shut down, potentially resulting in a “sudden loss of drive power.”
The issue apparently stems from the overloading of diagnostics requests from other control units, which causes the battery contactors to open.
“In this case, the contactors of the high-voltage battery might open, potentially resulting in a loss of propulsion without prior warning. As a consequence the risk of a crash might increase. When the vehicle comes to a standstill it can be restarted.”
Part 573 Safety Recall Report
It can increase the risk of a road accident, as the issue may occur while driving the car. Alarmingly, drivers will not receive any warning due to the “nature of the failure mechanism.”
Affected models include 2023-2025 MY EQS, EQE, and EQS SUVs
As per the report, the affected models include 14,912 Mercedes-AMG EQE, Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV, Mercedes-AMG EQS, Mercedes-Benz EQE, EQE SUV, EQS, EQS SUV, and Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV from 2023 to 2025 Model Years:
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 4MATIC
- 2023-2025 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 350 4MATIC
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+
- 2023-2025 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 350+
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz EQE 500 4MATIC
- 2023-2025 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 500 4MATIC
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 4MATIC
- 2023-2025 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 450 4MATIC
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+
- 2023-2025 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 450+
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4MATIC
- 2023-2025 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 580 4MATIC
- 2024-2025 Mercedes-Benz Maybach EQS SUV 680 4MATIC
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4MATIC
- 2024-2025 Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV 53 4MATIC
- 2024-2024 Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC
Mercedes-Benz’s remedy
Mercedes-Benz plans to release a letter to owners to guide them on setting an appointment with an authorized dealer.
Mercedes-Benz dealers will then initiate a free software update to the battery management system of the affected EVs.
The German automaker started notifying dealers about the voluntary recall campaign on June 3, 2024. It plans to release owner notification letters before July 23, 2024.
In the meantime, owners may reach out to MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372 and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153).
