Greater than 1400 luxurious electrical autos are being recalled in Australia amid warnings their batteries may quick circuit and catch hearth whereas being pushed.
The federal transport division issued the recall on Tuesday for Mini Cooper SE electrical vehicles offered in Australia between 2020 and 2023.
The warning follows a recall of greater than 140,000 Mini Cooper autos issued by producer BMW worldwide earlier this month.
The transport division warned the software program defect that affected 1408 vehicles in Australia had the potential to “enhance the danger of great harm or dying to automobile occupants”.
“The high-voltage battery administration software program has inadequate protections for brief circuit occasions,” it stated.
“In consequence, if a brief circuit happens it may result in a automobile hearth while driving or parked.”
The defective software program could possibly be remedied with a software program replace and homeowners ought to contact a neighborhood Mini supplier urgently to have it put in, the transport division stated.
The Australian recall comes two weeks after BMW recalled greater than 140,000 electrical Mini Cooper autos worldwide, together with 39,000 in Germany and greater than 12,000 in america.
“A automobile hearth, even when the automobile is parked, can’t be dominated out,” the corporate stated in an announcement.
Regardless of considerations about electrical automobile security, Australia has recorded solely six electrical automotive fires since 2010, in response to EV FireSafe, together with one case of arson, two collisions, and three parked close to a blaze.