Mercedes-Benz issues two recalls for EQ vehicles in the US

Mercedes-Benz has recently issued two voluntary recalls that affect EQE, EQS, and EQS SUV electric vehicles in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) counts 8,281 electric Mercedes cars among the affected in its latest report.

The issue is with software that, under certain conditions, could lead to a loss of propulsion. The NHTSA describes the reason for the recall as follows: “Under specific conditions, the fault management response logic may deactivate the electric drivetrain. A loss of propulsion cannot be ruled out, which could increase the risk of a crash.”

The driver will not get any warning before the issue occurs, but when it happens, “multiple warning messages are displayed in the instrument cluster,” according to the recall notice.

The recall affects the 2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 sedan mostly with 5,051 units, followed by the 2022 EQS 580, with 2,736 units, and the 2022-2023 Mercedes-AMG EQS, with 492 vehicles. Only one EQS 580 SUV and 2023 AMG EQE are affected by the recall.

To fix the issue, Mercedes needs owners to schedule an appointment with an authorized dealer, where the cars will get a software update for the electric drivetrain system.

No accidents or incidents have been reported.

Yet, another recall for a different batch of Mercedes-Benz models, including the EQS 450 and EQS 580 EVs. This recall affects 7,558 vehicles, which concerns a possible fault in the monitoring software of the Electronic Stability Program (ESP).

Writes the NHTSA, “Under certain conditions, the ESP monitoring software could erroneously determine a fault condition. In that event, the ESP fault response would limit the functionality of the vehicle’s dynamics control systems (ABS, ASR, ESP, and EBD) and the speedometer would indicate a speed of 0 mph (0 km/h), regardless of the actual vehicle speed. These might increase the risk of a crash.”

To fix the issue, the same procedure applies with a software update being done at a certified dealership.

insideevs.com, nhtsa.gov (1st recall), nhtsa.gov (2nd recall)