The defect
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: ELECTRIC PASSENGER VEHICLES AND PICKUP TRUCKS CONTAINING A NICKEL METAL HYDRIDE (NIMH) BATTERY PACK. THESE VEHICLES CONTAIN SOFTWARE WITHIN THE BATTERY PACK MODULE INTENDED TO DISABLE THE VEHICLE FROM BEING DRIVEN IF THE ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE WITH THE BATTERY PACK EXCEEDS A PRESCRIBED VALUE. AFFECTED VEHICLES WILL ILLUMINATE THE "SERVICE NOW" AND "REDUCED PERFORMANCE" TELLTALES AND CONTINUE TO FUNCTION IN A REDUCED PERFORMANCE MODEL INSTEAD OF BEING DISABLED.
The risk
IF THE TELLTALES ARE IGNORED AND THE AFFECTED VEHICLE CONTINUES TO BE DRIVEN, HEAT COULD BUILD UP AND A FIRE COULD RESULT.
The remedy
DEALERS WILL INSTALL REVISED SOFTWARE IN THE BATTERY PACK MODULE.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Chevrolet S10 | 1998 |
| Saturn EV1 | 1999 |
Components: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet S10 | 1998 | 613 | 6 |
| Saturn EV1 | 1999 | 0 | 4 |
Other electrical system recalls in 2000
24 of the 541 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2000 concerned the electrical system; GENERAL MOTORS CORP. filed 1,195 campaigns in all.
| 00V416000 12 Dec 2000 | DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION |
| 00V411000 6 Dec 2000 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY |
| 00V410000 5 Dec 2000 | NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC. |
| 00V373000 13 Nov 2000 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. |
| 00V259002 8 Nov 2000 | HYUNDAI CARIBBEAN-PUERTO RICO |
| 00V351000 30 Oct 2000 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY |
| 00V339000 24 Oct 2000 | MITSUBISHI AMERICA |
| 00V317000 11 Oct 2000 | VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA,INC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2000