Nio initiates recall for nearly 250,000 EVs over black screen issue
Nio has announced a recall affecting 246,229 of its pure electric vehicles in China, citing a software issue that could lead to temporary black screens on the instrument cluster and central control display. The recall, registered with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) under recall number S2026M0017I, commenced immediately.
The recall impacts ES8, ES6, and EC6 models produced between March 16, 2018, and January 16, 2023. According to the filing, the software problem may, under specific conditions, cause a brief black screen on both the instrument panel and the central display. During these instances, drivers would be deprived of crucial vehicle information and functions, such as speed readings, fault warnings, and defogging/defrosting capabilities, thereby posing a potential safety hazard.
To rectify the issue, Nio will provide a complimentary software upgrade via over-the-air (OTA) technology. Affected vehicles will be updated to Aspen 3.5.6, Alder 2.1.0, or higher versions. For vehicles that cannot be updated through OTA, Nio Service Centres will contact the relevant owners to arrange for the software upgrade. The company also noted that vehicles that have already received the optimised software update will not require a second upgrade as part of this recall.
Editors’ comment
This latest recall is primarily being conducted as a software upgrade via an Over-the-Air (OTA) update. In many people’s view, this doesn’t count as a “recall” in the true sense of the word, especially when compared to those that require hardware repairs.
Historically, Nio has had two recalls, both more severe than the current one:
On June 27, 2019, Nio announced a recall of 4,803 Nio ES8 electric vehicles equipped with power battery packs manufactured between April 2, 2018, and October 19, 2018. This recall was due to improper routing of the voltage sampling wire harness within the battery pack, which could lead to compression and wear on the insulation. In extreme cases, this could cause thermal runaway and fire.
On January 6, 2023, Nio decided to recall 997 units of its 2022 Nio ET5 electric vehicles produced between September 7, 2022, and October 10, 2022. The reason was that during a severe frontal collision, deformation of the front compartment’s shock tower could compress the high-voltage wiring harness, posing a risk of a short circuit.
