BMW recalls 14,000 electric cars over battery software bug
BMW has announced the voluntary recall of more than 14,000 i4, i7 and iX vehicles built between October 14, 2021 and October 28, 2022, due to a software bug in the cars’ battery.
After serial recalls from Tesla, it’s now up to the German manufacturer BMW to recall several thousand electric cars. In total, these are exactly 14,086 electric vehicles from the manufacturer are affected. Specifically, BMW is recalling 5,389 iXs built between February 4, 2021 and October 28, 2022, 8,659 i4s built between March 17, 2021 and October 26, 2022, and 38 i7s built between February 22, 2022 and October 27, 2022.
The cause is a problem in the traction battery management software of certain i4 and i7 sedans, as well as certain iX SUVs, which could lead to a temporary loss of power. To fix the problem, it only needs to deploy an update, but for that it must first recall the vehicles.
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What causes battery bug?
According to BMW, the high voltage battery electronic control unit is the subject of the software problem. ” Due to a software problem, monitoring of the high voltage battery charging process may be affected. This could cause interruption while charging the high voltage battery, temporary loss of power while driving, or stalling. “.
” The high voltage battery electronic control unit software may, under certain vehicle operating conditions, cause the power supply to be interrupted. Specifically, a misdiagnosis may occur sporadically in the electronic battery management system, which could cause the electronic control unit to reset. If a reset occurs, it may cause an interruption in the power supply “, corroborates the NHTSA in its report.
BMW became aware of the issue in June 2022 and conducted extensive testing to resolve the issue in a new update. Unfortunately, unlike Tesla who can just roll out an update remotely after issuing a recall, BMW is this time forced to ask dealers to install the new version. The owners concerned will be contacted from the beginning of February 2023.
