The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Vision and All American school buses equipped with PowerDrive 7000 EV electric drivetrains. The Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) may unexpectedly shut down the high voltage contactors, resulting in loss of all systems powered by high voltage, including the traction drive system and power steering.
The risk
An unexpected loss of drive and power steering may increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Cummins will notify Blue Bird owners and will update the VCU software with a revised version, free of charge. The recall began July 24, 2019. Owners may contact Cummins customer service at 1-800-286-6467 or Blue Bird at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R19AE (SB).
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018, 2019 |
Components: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:SOFTWARE | HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018 | 0 | 19 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2019 | 2 | 26 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 | 0 | 41 |
Other electrical system recalls in 2019
88 of the 880 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2019 concerned the electrical system; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 19V922000 27 Dec 2019 | Autocar, LLC |
| 19V888000 12 Dec 2019 | General Motors LLC |
| 19V883000 11 Dec 2019 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 19V876000 11 Dec 2019 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 19V882000 11 Dec 2019 | Indian Motorcycle Company |
| 19V881000 11 Dec 2019 | Polaris Inc. |
| 19V871000 9 Dec 2019 | Proterra Inc. |
| 19V861000 4 Dec 2019 | REV Recreation Group |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2019