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BMW is recalling around 3,500 of its electric vehicles (EVs) for failing to play warning sounds while reversing or travelling at slow speeds, The Verge reports.
As EVs are relatively quiet compared to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, federal safety standards require them to make a certain amount of noise to warn pedestrians of their movements.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the artificial sound generator in specific 2022 and 2023 BMW i4 and iX models doesn’t always work.
“During vehicle start-up, the artificial sound generator control unit may experience a fault and fail to generate the external pedestrian warning sound,” the recall reads.
“As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 141, ‘Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles’.”
The NHSTA’s notice also explains that BMW will remedy the issue via a software update that will be available to impacted customers free of charge.
However, the wording “dealers will update the external artificial sound generator software” indicates that affected owners will have to make the trip to their nearest dealership to fix the issue.
BMW is expected to send notification letters to impacted customers on 17 March 2023.
The manufacturer is taking a page out of Tesla’s book by correcting the issue through a software update — something the Elon Musk-led vehicle maker has done on multiple occasions.
The latest instance involved Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles recalled in China for software issues affecting the cars’ battery management system. Tesla rolled out the fix through an over-the-air update.
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