Ford and Jaguar recall vehicles over battery fire hazard

Both Ford and Jaguar issued car recalls at the end of May due to potential fire hazards posed by batteries. The Jaguar campaign affects around 6,400 Jaguar I-Pace electric SUVs in the United States, while the Ford recall affects approximately 142,000 Lincoln MKC SUVs in the United States. In both cases, the number of automobiles affected in Canada was not easily available.

The Jaguar recall specifically covers 6,367 fully-electric I-Pace SUVs from model years 2019 through 2024. In affected vehicles, an issue with the battery energy control module software could cause the high-voltage batteries to overheat, which poses the risk of a fire. The company is aware of at least eight U.S. fires tied to the defect, though none have led to accident or injury.

Jaguar is recalling over 6,000 I-Pace electric SUVs in the United States due to the possibility of the LG Energy Solution high-voltage battery overheating and catching fire.

Trouble in EV industry?

The recall is the most recent in a series of electric car battery recalls due to the risk of fire. According to documents filed Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the recall applies to all SUVs from the 2019 through 2024 model years.

According to the documents, the car batteries were manufactured by LG Energy Solution, which is under NHTSA investigation after five automakers issued recalls due to possible faults that could cause fires or stalling.

The NHTSA launched the investigation in April 2022, involving roughly 138,000 vehicles equipped with the South Korean company’s lithium-ion batteries.

Since February of 2020, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Stellantis, and Volkswagen have issued recalls, the majority of which are due to internal battery problems that might raise the danger of fires.

To ensure that recalls are carried out when necessary, the government said it will write to LG and other businesses that may have purchased batteries with a similar design.

The study is just another flaw in a growing global push by all automakers to replace internal combustion vehicles with electric ones in an effort to reduce pollution and combat climate change. In recent years, batteries have also been recalled by Ford and BMW.

After looking into a number of Tesla vehicle fires, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries provide a safety concern to emergency personnel in collision situations.

Many governments are relying on electric vehicles (EVs) to replace gasoline-powered cars that release greenhouse emissions that contribute to global warming.

EV battery fire may not contribute to reduction of global warming at all nor will it reduce CO2 emissions.