Detroit, MI — June 22, 2015 — A total of more than 9,000 electric vehicles from Fiat Chrysler have now reportedly been affected by a recall involving electric cars. Earlier this year, the manufacturer took action to address a systems problem that may affect the transmission functionality of Fiat 500 Battery Effective Vehicles (BEV). Transport Evolved reports that the company is expanding the original recall, the inaction of which will take effect “on or around” this upcoming July 5.
Fiat Chrysler has issued similar recalls since the car was first produced in 2013, the source notes. The fault itself traces back to an inconsistency within the vehicles’ speed monitor, which could go unnoticed until too late.
The source cites the official Safety Recall Report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which says the Elective Vehicle Control Unit in some cars may shift into neutral unexpectedly, posing a risk of a crash.
As this document further elaborates, the problem was investigated this April, with errors attributed to flaws within vehicle software.
“Due to software updates, the internal vehicle speed monitor was incorrectly changed to ‘mph’ from ‘kph’ while the System Torque Monitoring Ring (‘STMR’) was not,” the report states. “This created a math error and a subsequent trouble fault code error state due to implausible torque readings.”
The manufacturer’s remedy will include both the voluntary recall and update to software in the affected vehicle systems. A planned dealer notification is scheduled for June 27, and owners will be notified soon.
Ensuring an effective recall, especially one that includes more vehicles than originally planned, lays out a path for dealers and owners to follow as potentially hazardous features are corrected and consumers kept safe, no matter how long the entire process ends up taking.
