Volvo recalls 73,000 plug-in hybrids

The Swedish manufacturer has had to recall almost 73,000 plug-in hybrids of various series worldwide. When the battery is fully charged, parked vehicles may experience a short circuit in the high-voltage battery. Owners are advised not to charge their vehicles.

Initially, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the recall of 7,483 Volvo plug-in hybrids due to a potential fault in the electrical system. This concerns various model years of the S60, S90, V60, XC60, XC90 and V90 series built between 2020 and 2022 – in other words, virtually all plug-in hybrids based on the first-generation SPA platform.

It was thus obvious that not only models sold in the US were affected. Volvo Germany has now confirmed to the German Auto, Motor und Sport that this is a worldwide recall for the six models mentioned, built between 2020 and 2022. Globally, around 73,000 Volvos are affected, including roughly 8,000 in Sweden and 4,825 in Germany.

In the SPA platform, batteries are not installed under the boot floor but in the centre of the vehicle in the transmission tunnel. There may have been an error during battery production by South Korean supplier LG, which increases the risk of a short circuit in the battery – and thus the risk of fire. LG manufactured the modules between June 2019 and November 2021, according to Auto, Motor Sport.

During maintenance, the batteries will be checked for defective cells – if damage is detected, Volvo will replace the entire battery. In any case, a new software version for battery management will be installed: This will enable Volvo to detect future defects more quickly.

In Germany, the owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, KBA). However, Volvo is asking owners not to charge the battery until it has been checked at a workshop.

nhtsa.gov, auto-motor-und-sport.de (in German)