Geely’s Volvo Recalls Plug-In Hybrid Cars in China Due to Battery Problems
On September 30, two subsidiaries of Geely’s Volvo Cars and Zhejiang Haoqing Automotive Manufacturing Co., Ltd., an automobile manufacturing company that produces Volvo cars, filed a recall plan with China’s State Administration for Market Regulation according to laws and regulations. It will recall the vehicles from September 30, 2022, totaling 4,720 vehicles.
The involved models are all plug-in hybrid cars, including:
| Model | Production time | units |
| Inported XC90 (2020, 2021 editions) | June 4, 2019 – March 8, 2021 | 1379 |
| China-made S60 (2020, 2021 editions) | May 15, 2019 – September 1, 2020 | 294 |
| China-made S90 long wheelbase (2020, 2021 editions) | March 28, 2019 – October 8, 2020 | 2109 |
| China-made XC60 (2020, 2021 editions) | Feburay 25, 2019 – September 24, 2020 | 938 |
With regard to the reasons for this recall, the official document shows that some plug-in hybrid vehicles within the scope of this recall may overheat when the power battery is in a high-energy state due to internal short circuit in the battery module, which leads to thermal runaway of the power battery in extreme cases, posing potential safety hazards.
Regarding the recall, Volvo Cars China said that from September 30, 2022, it will temporarily upgrade the software for vehicles within the scope of the recall free of charge to reduce the risk of thermal runaway. At the same time, from May 1, 2023, all power battery modules will be replaced free of charge for vehicles within the scope of recall to eliminate potential safety hazards. In addition, the car company suggests users should avoid charging vehicles before downloading the upgraded software. At the same time, users shall contact the authorized dealer of Volvo Cars as soon as possible to upgrade their vehicle’s software.
SEE ALSO: Geely Recalled More Than 120,000 Vehicles in China in July
In addition, according to a report by Chinese media outlet Zhichepai, the car company also said that after replacing all the battery modules, each customer will be given a subsidy of 10,000 yuan ($1388.1). Besides, vehicles with problems have been recalled, so there will be no such problems with vehicles delivered later.
On October 9, Volvo released its September sales data, and sold 14,818 vehicles in Chinese mainland, up 53.1% year-on-year. Among them, 6,201 vehicles were the Volvo XC60, up 58% year-on-year. The sales volume of Volvo S60 and Volvo S90 also continued to rise with a year-on-year growth rate of 45% and 41% respectively.
In terms of future model planning, Volvo Cars announced that the next generation flagship SUV EX90 will be released within this year. The new model will be equipped with full-stack self-developed software, Luminar lidars and DUS driver perception system. Equipped with an NVIDIA Orin X chip (508 TOPS), the new model provides drivers with highly automated driving function, Ride Pilot, which can reduce driving safety hazards caused by human factors.
