Jaguar I-Pace recalled over battery fire risk, nearly 6,400 cars impacted

Jaguar has issued a recall impacting nearly 6,400 I-Pace electric SUVs over a potential battery fire risk. The British luxury car brand has said that the affected electric SUVs will be recalled to replace a battery energy control module in order to eliminate a potential fire risk.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said that a total of 6,367 I-Pace pure electric crossovers have been impacted by the recall. The affected electric vehicles were built between 2019 and 2023. In these impacted Jaguar I-Pace EVs, the high-voltage batteries could overheat, leading to a fire incident. The automaker is reportedly aware of eight fire incidents involving Jaguar I-Pace models in the US, but there were no reported accidents or injuries. The Tata Motors-owned car manufacturer is yet to figure out whether there is a defect with the way the battery pack is assembled but has come up with a solution for the issue.

The NHTSA has said that Jaguar will update the software of the affected vehicles that monitors the battery energy control module. If the module needs replacement, it will be replaced for free, said the company.

The new software installation in the affected Jaguar electric cars will be performed at Jaguar dealerships via an over-the-air software update. After installation of the software, if the battery pack gets to the point that it could overheat, the system will alert the driver with a number of warnings and limit the charging capacity of the vehicle to 75 per cent, whenever it senses a potential fire risk. The automaker has said that if the new software senses a fire risk, I-Pace owners will be told to head back to the dealership for an inspection. If the battery module or the entire battery pack needs to be replaced at this time, the auto manufacturer will take care of it, which will be covered by the recall, free of charge.