American EV Adoption Slowed By Rash of Recalls

Electric vehicles, from the least expensive to the most expensive and everywhere in between, are being held back by a string of unusual recalls. Here’s what’s happening and our insight as to why.

If you’ve shopped for a new electric vehicle recently, you may be surprised to find that the model you heard so many good things about online isn’t actually for sale. Or maybe it’s for sale, but there is a months-long waiting period. Part of this delay between the announcement of EVs and the actual delivery is intentional. Automakers want to be seen as “in the EV business,” even if they really have few or none to sell. However, a meaningful reason for the delay of many EV models has to do with a long string of odd recalls. Here’s our rundown of the surprising recalls some of today’s most promising EVs have suffered from.

Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV - Battery May Burst Into Flame

Let’s start our review of the odd recalls suffered by EVs with one of our favorite models, the Chevy Bolt and the Chevy Bolt EUV. We love the Bolt’s affordable price point, the fact that it is assembled in America, and because it’s a blast to drive. The Bolt EUV is even better. It’s like a Bolt with three more inches added to its interior. So what’s the problem? Every single one ever made needed to have its EV battery replaced. The reason was that while parked and not running, the Bolt EV may catch fire.

Chevy blamed the Bolt battery recall fiasco on a manufacturing error by its partner who makes the batteries. You read that right. Chevy doesn't make the single most important part of this union-built American-branded EV. The battery isn’t built in the much-hyped GM Ultium battery plant because the Ultium plant has barely built anything, and the Bolt has been on the market now for two generations.

The cost of the battery recall to owners was inconvenience, but to GM and its battery partner, the financial cost was enormous. However, we feel its worst side effect was the validation that, yes, you may very well need to someday replace the crazy-expensive battery in your EV. Just like your uncle Jebediah tells anyone who mentions EVs.

Hyundai Kia EVs - Jealous of Bolt

It turns out that Chevy’s Bolt EV isn’t the only model that had to have its battery replaced. The Hyundai Kona EV also had the same battery defect. Mainly because the Hyundai Kona had that same battery supplier. Kia’s Niro suffered from a problem with its power relay assembly. These problems also could cause a fire.

Toyota bZ4x and Subaru Soltera - Wheels Fall Off

Toyota builds the highest-quality, most durable, and most reliable vehicles known to mankind, if you believe every quality publication ever printed. That’s precisely why it was so odd when Toyota announced a recall of the first bZ4x battery-electric vehicles it had shipped because - are you ready for this - the wheels might fall off. If you are picturing a coyote wearing Acme-brand roller skates with a rocket strapped to his back, you have it about right. *The. Wheels. Could. Fall. Off. A Toyota… *

This recall also affected the zero deliveries of the Subaru Solara EV that Toyota builds and then slaps a Subaru badge onto at the end of the assembly line. How did it affect these zero deliveries? By holding up the release of these two twin models for five months. Yes, five months to figure out how to do something Henry Ford had figured out circa 1903.

Rivian - Wheels May Get All Flippy Floppy

Rivian makes battery-electric pickup trucks that cost about $100,000 and can do the things off-road that a $20K Polaris Razor ATV can do better. But, hey, it’s also a road-going EV pickup with crazy performance and lots of cool tricks. Rivian’s vehicles didn’t have the wheels actually fall off. Rather a steering/suspension part could loosen up, and the wheels would sort of turn all flippy floppy on the rugged off-roader. Rivian has had to recall nearly every vehicle the company had ever built. Rivian also had recalls for seatbelts and airbags, but we don’t get to use a fun term like flippy floppy, so we lead with that.

Mustang Mach-E - Three Recalls In Under Two Years

The Ford Mustang Mach-E has earned praise from reviewers and owners alike. The Mach-E is a sort of tall hatchback crossover vehicle with innovative features like a Tesla screen turned sideways and drive modes with names that are fun. What’s not fun for owners is three recalls in under two years on the market.

The recalls for the Mustang Mach-E are not nearly as exciting as the Bolt’s and Kona’s. Just a possible broken axle, a propulsion system contactor that can overheat and stop the car, and a seatbelt anchor that refuses to perform its sole function in life.

Don’t take our optimism the wrong way, the Mustang Mach-E was still pulled off the market for a while, but that was mainly due to demand exceeding Ford’s capacity to build about 2,000 units per month for U.S. customers in its Mexico plant. Too many customers? Stop taking orders. Problem solved.

Volkswagen ID.4 - Where Do We Begin?

The new Volkswagen ID.4 is a crossover with an attractive price point and the potential to lead VW into a new era where it is no longer one of the smallest U.S. brands. Owners are passionate about their ID.4s, but some of the model’s biggest advocates have turned on the car Benedict Arnold-style.

The ID.4’s recalls are all over the place. Seatbelts, headlights, the EV battery, seatbelts yet again, and the steering system. So far. Oddly, none of these things are why once-loyal owners have taken to Youtube to warn other shoppers off the model.

One superfan was Alex, as in E For Electric Alex. He was a big-time Tesla fan and owner (four if our count is right). Alex jumped the fence to own and promote the Volkswagen ID.4 after the Tesla superfan market became crowded. However, when we checked in most recently, he had given up on his ID.4 co-promotion with Volkswagen due to an infotainment system that doesn't work and can’t be fixed. You can see more about this here.

Another grassroots fan and promoter of the ID.4 did an about-face when the car’s electric motor went off the rails, and VW informed him that there is no timeline for replacement. As crazy as this sounds, he was informed that each motor is custom-built for each individual car, and so he will have to wait months or years before he can drive his (still under warranty) EV. You can see more about this here.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 - Rollaways and Software

Like the Mach-e, ID.4, bZ4x, and Soltera, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 are new-generation five-passenger crossover-ie cars. These twins, made by the same parent company, were recalled because the car’s computer was deciding to shut off the parking brake randomly, when it should have the parking brake on. Why is the car’s computer controlling the parking brake in the first place? Progress.

Recalls bite vehicles of all types. New, old, sedans, crossovers, trucks, you name it, manufacturers mess things up somehow. What seems different about the newest battery-electric vehicles’ long list of recalls is just how comprehensive they are. Cars on the market just after launch. High-profile fires. Wheels falling off. Hard-core off-roaders with wheels flopping around.

But even more confusing are the broken axles, seatbelts, and parking brake failures. These are mature technologies that were perfected before the internet. Why are the most high-tech vehicles automakers build failing so often and so hard? Maybe the answer lies in the question, and once these vehicles have time to settle down, they will become more reliable. After all, the modern age of EVs that began with the 2010 Nissan Leaf is now only entering its 13th year…