Back in May 2023, the peeps at Jaguar Land Rover North America recalled 6,367 units of the I-Pace crossover due to a high risk of thermal overload. The remedy came in the form of updated software for the battery energy control module.
What kind of software? According to the British automaker, it’s designed to monitor the high-voltage battery for conditions that may lead to thermal overload. The BECM limits charging capacity to 75 percent if a risk is identified. Vehicles that experienced this warning message had their battery packs replaced by the folks at Jaguar Land Rover North America at no cost to the owners.
Fast forward to October 2023, and the British manufacturer issued yet another recall comprising vehicles that had the recall action incorrectly completed by a retailer. Jag became aware of this condition in September 2023 by means of a field report over thermal overload. Otherwise said, a battery fire. As per documents filed with the federal watchdog, the thermal overload in question led to a vehicle fire. Jaguar did not detail how serious of a vehicle fire, though...
Following this event, Jag looked into the matter, determining that a retailer used a non-approved service diagnostic tool for updating the BECM software. By using the wrong tool, the update failed. No fewer than 199 vehicles are included in this follow-up recall, I-Pace vehicles with production dates ranging between February 2018 and February 2023 for the 2019 through 2023 model years.
Not surprising anyone, the remedy comes in the form of a software update via the correct service diagnostic tool. Jaguar Land Rover’s North American division further recommends owners to park away from structures for 30 days after the update. Care to guess why? Obviously enough, a thermal event may occur at any given moment, and the battery fire could spread rapidly.
Photo: Jaguar
Dealers will be notified of this recall no later than November 2, whereas I-Pace owners will be informed by first-class mail on or about December 15. In the meantime, said owners can use the NHTSA’s VIN look-up tool to determine whether their all-electric crossovers are recalled or not.
A poor-selling vehicle from the outset, Jaguar’s only electric vehicle moved a meager 439 units last year in the United States of America. The best calendar year for the I-Pace in this part of the world was 2019 thanks to a grand total of 2,594 deliveries in the US and US territories.
The numbers for Europe are obviously higher, yet still abysmal compared to the likes of the Tesla Model Y and more affordable EVs from mass-market brands. Part of the reason the I-Pace failed is the poor driving range, and another part comes in the guise of exorbitant pricing. Think £73,495 in the United Kingdom, €92,400 in Germany, and $72,000 (excluding freight charge) in the United States.
Rated at 394 horsepower and 4.5 seconds to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour), the I-Pace flaunts a 90-kWh battery pack. Estimated range? According to the EPA, that would be 234 miles or 377 kilometers. By comparison, the Tesla Model Y in base spec offers 260 miles (418 kilometers).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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