Auburn Hills, MI — April 12, 2016 — Some motors in Volkswagen vehicles may accidentally shut down as part of an electrical malfunction. According to a Part 573 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this problem concerns 5,561 e-Golf vehicles, with “stalling events” related to this defect traced back to early last year. The power systems in these vehicles could potentially deactivate the battery.
The report further described this as a case of “oversensitive battery diagnosis,” where the system switches off due to a perceived surge. Normally, this feature is a safety precaution, but when there’s no power surge occurring, the shutdown is a risk for occupants. Though it does occur with a “high voltage system warning,” the deactivation can directly impact the vehicle’s motor.
Stalling events related to this issue only seem to have affected models on the U.S. market. The source said that dealers will address the problem by adjusting the included battery management software, reflecting a February update.
“Battery management software will be updated to contain a less sensitive diagnostic routine, which is robust against minor current peaks/surges and does not lead to inadvertent emergency shutdown of the high voltage battery,” the report added.
A recent Wall Street Journal article put this action in context with Volkswagen’s other recalls. In addition to the ongoing attempts to fix vehicles tainted by the emissions cheat scandal, the manufacturer is also dealing with a brake pedal issue in approximately 800,477 cars. These include Porsche Cayennes and Volkswagen Touaregs.
Because the new action solely concerns electric vehicles, it could undercut the company’s attempt to focus on this sector instead of the diesel-powered autos, the article added. The diesel recall impacts 11 million vehicles and the related corrections have a April 21 deadline.
