Volvo EX30 recall confirmed amid battery fire risk
Volvo has launched an official recall of more than 44,000 EX30 cars after the discovery of a battery fault that could cause a fire.
The Swedish car maker revealed in January that it had identified a potential problem with the drive battery packs in some versions of its smallest EV.
At the time, it urged owners not to charge their cars beyond 70% to minimise any risks.
Now it has confirmed to Reuters that an official recall has been issued affecting a total of 40,323 EX30 Single-Motor Extended Range and Twin-Motor Performance cars built between 2024 and 2026.
Volvo says that the problem is with cells in those cars’ 69kWh battery from one particular supplier. The standard range Single Motor model with the smaller 51kWh battery is not affected. Other Volvo EVs are also unaffected by the issue.
It says the issue arises at high states of charge and in “worst-case” scenarios this could lead to a fire in the battery.
Volvo will replace the batteries in affected cars free of charge but has again urged drivers to cap charging at 70% until their car is fixed. Owners of affected cars can set a maximum charge level via the car’s touchscreen system or the Volvo Cars app. Volvo says that at 70% state of charge or below the risks are “significantly” reduced.
When news of the problem first arose Volvo told EV Powered the number of reported incidents represented around 0.02% of all potentially affected vehicles. It added that there were no reports of injuries resulting from the fault.
In a statement, the firm said: “Safety is a top priority for Volvo Cars, and while the number of reported incidents is very small, we are treating it very seriously.”
The batteries come from Shandong Geely Sunwoda Power Battery Co, which is a joint venture backed by Volvo’s parent company Geely. It says it has identified and fixed the problem and will supply the replacement packs. Reuters has estimated that the recall could carry costs of up to $195 million, although Volvo called that figure “speculative”.
