Automotive Defect Investigation

The NHTSA have a continuing investigation into certain LGES high voltage batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles. The investigation was prompted by the number of fire recalls on the electric and hybrid vehicles listed below. The purpose of this investigation is to find other companies that might have purchased the same or similar equipment from LG and to notify them if this defect has shown up in any vehicles they manufactured.


Recall No. 20V-107
Date: February 2020

Mercedes Benz USA notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in one 2019 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive vehicle.
Note: This vehicle received an LG Chem high voltage battery that may contain a defect allowing for an electrical arc, which can ignite inside the battery cells, increasing the risk of a fire.


Recall No. 20V-630
Date: October 2020

Hyundai Motor America notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in certain 2019-2020 Kona Electric vehicles. Note: The high-voltage battery system in the subject vehicles, supplied by LG, may have been produced with internal damage to certain cells of the lithium-ion battery increasing the risk of an electrical short circuit, which could result in a fire.


Recall No. 20V-701 & 21V-650
Date: November 2020

General Motors notified NHTSA of a safety defect in all 2017-2018 and certain 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles.
Note: These vehicles were built with high voltage batteries, produced by LG, that may contain latent cell-level manufacturing defects posing a risk of fire when charged to full, or nearly full, capacity. In August 2021, GM expanded this recall to include certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV vehicles. GM stated, “the root cause of the failure is the simultaneous presence of two rare manufacturing defects in the same battery cell.”


Recall No. 21V-127
Date: March 2021

Hyundai notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in certain 2019-2020 Kona Electric and 2020 Ioniq Electric vehicles .
Note: These vehicles are equipped with LG produced Lithium-ion battery cells where, if the Anode (Negative) tab is folded, the battery cell could allow the Lithium plating on the Anode tab to contact the Cathode resulting in an electrical short, thereby increasing the risk of a fire while parked, charging and/or driving.


Recall No. 22V-077
Date: February 2022

Chrysler notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in certain 2017-2018 Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid Electric vehicles.
Note: These Pacifica vehicles contain hybrid battery packs produced by LG. FCA has not yet determined whether the battery packs were defective or the root cause of the fires.


Recall No. 22V-162
Date: March 2022

Volkswagen notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in certain 2021 ID4 vehicles.
Note: The high voltage batteries used in the vehicles may contain insufficient soldering points and thus contain unreliable connections inside the high voltage battery. As a result of the unreliable connections, the vehicles may break down or stall while driving, leading to a crash.

Over the years, automakers have invested billions of dollars into studies and research in an attempt to build the best electric vehicle, and as a result, electric vehicles have become more attractive and affordable for the average driver. The cost of an electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) are usually higher than a gas powered vehicles, but there are some federal and state electric car tax credits and incentives that can bring the upfront cost down. The Plug-In Electric Motor Vehicle Tax Credit is the main federal program for electric cars in the United States. Under this program, a new electric vehicle is eligible for a tax credit as long as it meets the federal electric car tax credit criteria. The federal tax credit applies to both all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The amount you can claim varies based on the vehicle model.

California is a leader in clean vehicle adoption with more plug-in electric vehicles on its roadways than any other state. This move away from gasoline and diesel brings environmental and economic benefits, including less air pollution and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. As long as funds are available, eligible California residents can apply for a Clean Vehicle Rebate (CVR) after purchasing or leasing an eligible vehicle.

It’s been thirty years since the first lithium-ion battery cell was used in camcorders, laptops and cell phones, and in those thirty years there have been fires. In 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation jointly banned the shipment of lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger airplanes, and limited how they can be shipped on cargo aircraft, after several incidents were linked to battery fires. Now that they are in much larger products, like automobiles, battery fires draw even more media attention, especially when they occurred while vehicles are parked inside a garage.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV battery recall is one of the recalls that received a large amount of publicity for risk of fires. One case documented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration talks about a Bolt that caught fire in a home where firefighters spent an hour trying to put out the flames. The fire restarted an hour later and reignited a third time after it was towed to a dealership. General Motors traced the problem to a manufacturing defect at the plant which supplied defective batteries that resulted in the Hyundai Kona EV recall as well. Ford recently recalled a small number of 2021-2022 Ford Escape and 2022 Lincoln Corsair hybrid power-train SUVs because the high voltage battery could experience an overheat situation, and Tesla cars have also, been investigated for fires. The most recent recall for battery problems affects certain 2017-2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid vehicles that could experience a fire, even with the ignition in the “OFF” mode.

Many plug-in electric vehicle fire incidents have taken place since the production of plug-in electric vehicles. As a result of these incidents, the United States, Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducts studies to establish whether lithium-ion batteries in plug-electric vehicles pose an exceptional fire hazard. The research looks into whether the high-voltage batteries can cause fires when they are being charged and when the vehicles are involved in an accident. The NHTSA “Battery Safety Initiative” for Electric Vehicles works to coordinate research and other activities to address safety risks relating to batteries in electric vehicles. They continue to examine data related to electric vehicle battery safety, field incidents and conduct special investigations of electric vehicle crash and non-crash events, to ensure that electric and hybrid vehicles don’t pose an unnecessary risk for drivers.

An agreement between BMW and Toyota, will have the two automobile makers collaborating on environmentally sustainable technology in the auto industry. BMW will supply Toyota with 1.6 and 2.0 liter engines for their struggling European line, and both companies will work together to develop car battery technology for electric and hybrid vehicles. The alliance will increase efficiency, reduce costs, and allow vehicles to be brought to market more quickly. Because BMW and Toyota operate in different segments of the market, it is unlikely they will encountering competitive conflicts.

Coda Automotive, a company based in Santa Monica, California plans to have a battery electric car on the market in the fall of 2010 in California only. It’s will be about the size of a Honda Civic and will cost about $45,000 minus a federal tax credit of $7,500. The lithium-ion battery will be manufactured in China, but Coda hopes to eventually build their batteries in Enfield, Connecticut. Coda plans to market their cars mostly on the internet.