Mercedes-Benz Recalls 15,000 EVs Because Batteries Might Shut Down While Driving

Mercedes-Benz has issued a voluntary recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for almost 15,000 electric vehicles sold in the United States.

The issue lies with the battery management system software, which, when overloaded with diagnostics requests from other control units, might lead to the contactors of the high-voltage battery opening, potentially resulting in a loss of propulsion without any warning on the instrument cluster. This can happen while driving, which can increase the risk of an accident. After restarting the vehicle, the issue goes away, but it could come back without notice.

The 14,912 vehicles affected by this recall include certain versions of the Mercedes-AMG EQE, Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV, Mercedes-AMG EQS, Mercedes-Benz EQE, EQE SUV, EQS, EQS SUV and Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV. All affected vehicles are from the 2023 model year or newer, according to the NHTSA’s recall report.

To fix the issue, owners will get a letter instructing them to schedule an appointment with a Mercedes-Benz dealer which will update the battery management system software for free.

That said, this isn’t the first time Mercedes-Benz’s EVs were recalled for faulty software that could cut power to the wheels. Last year, the EQE, EQS and EQS SUV were recalled because the electric drivetrain may have been deactivated due to a fault in the software management response logic. A separate recall was conducted for a different batch of EQS EVs that could have experienced a fault with the ESP monitoring software.

A similar recall regarding the high-voltage battery management software was announced in China last year for imported EQS EVs made from 2021 to 2022.