Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio is recalling 4,803 of its ES8 electric vehicles following a handful of battery-safety incidents.
Recently, NIO ES8 battery safety incidents occurred in Shanghai and other locations in China. Immediately following the incident in Shanghai, NIO formed a team of industry experts, the provider of ES8’s battery pack module, as well as other concerned parties to carry out a joint investigation.
After detailed analysis and repeated testing, the investigation has concluded that the battery packs in the vehicles involved were equipped with a module specification NEV-P50, and the voltage sampling cable harness in the module may be pressed by the upper cover of the module due to improper positioning.
In extreme cases, the insulation on the pressed voltage sampling cable harness may wear out and cause a short circuit, creating a safety issue. Other ES8 vehicles that have encountered safety issues are equipped with the same battery pack.
Effective immediately, models produced from April 02, 2018 to October 19, 2018 equipped with NEV-P50 will start to be recalled, altogether affecting 4,803 vehicles. NIO will be replacing battery packs equipped with the NEV-P50 modules with battery packs equipped with the NEV-P102 modules in order to mitigate the above-mentioned safety issue.
NIO will notify users of the recall measures via NIO app notifications, registered mails, telephone notifications and other means of communication. At the same time, all NEV-P50 batteries in the battery swap network will be replaced to ensure safety. The battery replacement is targeted to be completed within the following two months.
70kWh battery packs in vehicles produced after October 20, 2018 are equipped with the NEV-P102 modules and have different internal structural designs. These packs do not present the aforementioned risks.
The company said it will compensate all users that incurred property losses in the incidents caused by battery quality and safety issues, in accordance with relevant laws.
