The BMW-owned Mini is now recalling over 12,000 versions of the Mini Cooper EV because there is a risk of the battery pack in cars built between 2019 and 2024 burning up.
Mini is now recalling 12,535 electric cars because there is a risk of the cars' battery packs burning up. Specifically, it concerns versions of the Cooper EV that were built between 21 March 2019 and 25 January 2024.
This is stated by the American road safety authorities, NHTSA, on its website .
The recall comes after an electric Mini Cooper in Germany and at least one car in the US were affected by 'thermal activity'. In other words – the batteries caught fire.
Technical investigations have since established that the fires are caused by insulation faults in the battery. And it's not good news for Mini. The exact same electric car has previously been recalled because water could seep into the battery pack itself.
READ ALSO: Sticker to prevent fire in Audi's electric cars
Despite the serious nature of the new bug, the BMW Group believes it can be resolved with a software update. A software update that must, however, be carried out by Mini's technicians.
The update means that the cars will automatically be set to discharge to 30 percent of the current on the battery if an error is detected. In this way, BMW/Mini believes that further fires can be prevented.
On the other hand, Mini cannot claim to be free of fire risk in their fossil-fuel cars either. In 2012 alone, the brand had to recall 235,000 petrol cars because they could catch fire.
The error, which CNN wrote about among others, had affected cars produced between 2007 and 2011. At that time, there were problems with the coal for the turbo. In January 2012 alone, 89,000 of the cars were recalled. A number that should turn out to be even higher.
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