BMW urges 83 customers in the US and Puerto Rico to stop driving its iX M60 and i4 EVs - costing between $53k and - $105k - because their Samsung-made batteries can catch fire
- BMW recalled 83 iX M60 and i4s electric vehicles due to faulty batteries
- The Samsung-made batteries were manufactured with irregularities
- The recalled vehicles were sold at 5 US dealerships and one in Puerto Rico
BMW is recalling a total of 83 iX M60 and i4s electric vehicles due to irregularities in the Samsung-made batteries that could catch fire. Owners have been asked to stop driving the cars and park them outside.
The iX M60 starts at $105,100 and the i4 just shy of $53,000, and those recalled were manufactured with high voltage battery that 'may have internal damage.'
The issue is impacting BMW iX SAV models built from 2022 to 2023 and i4 M50 vehicles produced between November 22, 2021 and July 30, 2022, according a letter BMW of North America sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Vehicles were sold at several dealers: Autogermana BMW, Puerto Rico; BMW Fairfax, Virginia; Checkered Flag BMW in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Pacific BMW in Glendale, California; and Fields BMW in Orlando, Florida.
The iX M60 (pictured) starts at 105,100 and the i4s just shy of $53,000, and those recalled were manufactured with high voltage battery that 'may have internal damage'
The issue was first brought to light in with a US-based BMW i4 eDrive40 in April, which sparked BMW to look at Samsung SDI and led them to find irregularities in how some of the battery cells were manufactured, The Drive reports.
Samsung has long been plagued with battery failures of its own – specifically the 2017 Galaxy Note 7 fiasco that resulted in 2.5 million devices being recalled because the defective batteries were also catching fire.
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BMW plans to replace all affected battery cells, free of charge, but owners must wait until the carmaker has new batteries to swap in place.
The carmaker, however, has not acknowledged an alleged fire of a new i3 eDrive35L that occurred in the city of Zhengzhou in Central China's Henan province on July 27 - the North American recall was announced July 28.
Vehicles were sold at several dealers: Autogermana BMW, Puerto Rico; BMW Fairfax, Virginia; Checkered Flag BMW in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Pacific BMW in Glendale, California; and Fields BMW in Orlando, Florida. Pictured is the new BMW i4
The recall was also issued a day after one of BMW's electric vehicles caught fire on a highway in China. The blue sedan was parked in the middle of the right lane with flames shooting out from underneath.
According to CNEVPOST, the BMW i3 was being test driven by a dealership when it caught fire in the middle of the trip. The carmaker released this EV on March 30 in a bid to compete with Tesla, which owns the electric car space in China.
A dealer was taking a potential buyer out for a spin when the vehicle caught fire. The driver stopped dead in their tracks on a busy highway and the pair quickly exited.
The recall was also issued a day after one of BMW's electric vehicles caught fire on a highway in China. The blue sedan was parked in the middle of the right lane with flames shooting out from underneath
The model starts at $52,870 and was specifically launched in China to target the market where the Tesla Model 3 is located – BMW said Tesla's electric vehicle dominance is over in an April statement.
Speaking to US journalists at a press event, BMW Group sales chief Pieter Nota said the company will focus 'on a very strong and fast ramp-up of electric vehicles,' according to Automotive News.
'Tesla had a unique selling point for quite some time. That's over.'
Its new iX M60 and i4s vehicles were poised to be BMW's weapon to destroy Tesla, but the recall may spell trouble for the German carmaker.
However, Tesla does not have a clean record either, as many as 300 fires have been confirmed from the Elon Musk-founded company.
The fires have occurred when the car was in motion, parked and charging.
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