Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that battery related recalls now account for a growing share of electric vehicle safety actions in the US, even as overall EV fire incidents remain statistically rare compared with internal combustion vehicles.
Still, the latest recalls involving Hyundai and Jaguar underscore a persistent issue facing the industry: low probability thermal events carry high reputational and regulatory risk, particularly as EV adoption slows and consumer confidence becomes more fragile.
The most recent case involves Jaguar Land Rover’s voluntary recall of 454 Jaguar I Pace vehicles from model year 2021. According to NHTSA documentation, the affected vehicles were produced at the Graz, Austria plant between late 2020 and 2021 and are equipped with battery packs that may experience thermal overload. Investigators traced the root cause to a folded anode tab within the battery cell, a manufacturing defect that can increase internal resistance and localized heating. Vehicles that have already undergone battery pack replacement are excluded from the recall, narrowing the exposure but also highlighting that the issue was previously known within the fleet.
While the number of units is limited, the implications are not. The Jaguar I Pace uses pouch cells supplied by LG Energy Solution, the same supplier previously linked to large scale recalls at GM and Hyundai earlier in the decade. Those earlier events resulted in billions of dollars in recall and warranty costs, much of which was ultimately borne by the battery supplier. Even though no fires or smoke incidents have been reported in the current Jaguar recall, NHTSA has advised owners to limit charging to 90 percent and to park away from structures, signaling that regulators continue to treat any identified thermal risk conservatively.
Hyundai’s recall, disclosed separately, points to a different failure mode but leads to a similar regulatory outcome. The affected vehicles include small batches of 2025 and 2026 model year Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 vehicles, totaling 27 units. According to the safety recall report, the issue centers on the Battery System Assembly, specifically high voltage bus bars that may have been installed with insufficiently tightened retention bolts during supplier assembly. Over time, inadequate clamping force can lead to electrical arcing, elevated temperatures, and in worst case scenarios, fire risk.
Unlike the Jaguar case, Hyundai’s issue is not linked to cell chemistry or internal cell defects but to pack level assembly quality. That distinction matters. Cell level failures are harder to detect post production and often require full battery replacement, while assembly related issues can sometimes be resolved through inspection and rework. However, both cases point to the same structural challenge facing EV manufacturers: as battery systems become larger and more complex, quality control across multi tier supply chains becomes a critical safety variable rather than a background manufacturing concern.
NHTSA data shows that most EV fire related recalls are issued before any confirmed incidents occur, reflecting a regulatory bias toward precaution rather than response. In both the Jaguar and Hyundai cases, no vehicles have caught fire or emitted smoke as of the recall announcements. That precautionary approach helps limit physical risk but can amplify public perception that EVs are inherently unsafe, particularly when recalls receive disproportionate media attention relative to their scale.
For automakers already recalibrating EV strategies amid slower demand growth, these recalls arrive at a sensitive moment. Warranty exposure, supplier liability negotiations, and increased scrutiny of battery sourcing all add cost and complexity at a time when margins are under pressure. The industry response has increasingly focused on enhanced end of line testing, tighter torque verification for high voltage components, and expanded use of battery management system diagnostics designed to detect early signs of abnormal resistance or thermal imbalance.
