Audi and Jaguar are recalling their electric SUVs due to potential safety issues.
The recall of Audi’s e-tron comes about a month after the automaker began delivering the vehicle to customers. An Audi representative said the recall is due to a potential problem with a seal that could allow water into the battery compartment, which could result in a short-circuit or a fire.
“Audi of America takes the safety of its customers and the quality of our vehicles very seriously,” the representative said. “We are applying an abundance of caution as no such incidents have been reported globally.”
Audi is recalling a total of 1,644 e-trons, around 540 of which have been delivered to customers. Not all vehicles delivered to customers so far are affected, the Audi representative said. A fix for the leak is expected to arrive in August. In the meantime, affected customers can choose to continue driving their vehicles, unless they receive a yellow battery-warning light, or customers may switch to a loaner vehicle and receive an $800 cash card.
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Jaguar is recalling around 3,000 I-Pace vehicles due to a potential problem with its braking systems. According to a recall notice posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website, if the regenerative-braking systems on the affected I-Pace vehicles fail, there will be a delay between when the driver presses the brake pedal and when the vehicle begins to slow down. (Regenerative braking allows electric vehicles to recapture some of the energy lost when braking and use it to charge their batteries.)
The recall is voluntary, a Jaguar representative said, and affected customers will soon receive a letter asking them to reach out to their dealership to schedule a software update for their vehicle.
The e-tron and I-Pace are among the early entrants in a wave of luxury and mass-market electric vehicles that are set to be released in the coming years. Each has so far failed to sell as well in the US as competing vehicles from Tesla, according to estimates from the electric-vehicle website InsideEVs.
Despite Tesla’s sales success, electric vehicles still account for just about 1% of the global automotive market, but that number is gradually climbing.