The recall of 10,500 Volvo cars in the UK because their batteries may catch fire is “scary”, the manufacturer’s UK boss has admitted. Volvo UK managing director Nicole Melillo Shaw said a “tiny percentage” of its electric EX30 SUVs have caught fire globally.
A total of 40,000 of the cars are being recalled worldwide. Owners are being advised not to charge their batteries beyond 70%. Ms Melillo Shaw told the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast: “I completely empathise with anyone who’s experienced this. We have a proportion of our EX30 cars that have had risk of catching fire when they’ve been charged beyond 70%.
“So as a safety brand and safety being our top priority, we have advised customers not to charge beyond 70% until we find a fix. I appreciate it’s quite scary to hear that message.”
Ms Melillo Shaw acknowledged it is “very inconvenient” to only charge up to 70%.
She went on: “We’ve been working really hard and quickly to get to a solution, which we now have.
“We found the root cause, and I expect next week to be able to get those cars in and start to fix them.
“We are going to contact the customers who’ve had that issue to then look at how we fix the battery modules.”
She was unable to provide a timeline on when the cars will be fixed.
Ms Melillo Shaw noted there have been “no fatalities” from the fires, and stated there are “significantly fewer electric cars that catch fire than petrol”.
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