Recall for Mercedes-Benz EQB over a battery pack issue

Mercedes-Benz has recalled more than 7,000 units of its EQB electric SUV in the United States, all manufactured between December 13, 2021 and January 23, 2025. The reason behind this action by the German manufacturer is to prevent the possibility of a fire in some of these vehicles due to a problem detected in the battery packs fitted to them. Although for the moment this recall only affects the North American market, it seems quite likely that the company will follow the same path in other regions.

In a statement issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, known by its acronym NHTSA, the agency explains that this problem can occur both in parked and moving vehicles. The affected models are certain units of the EQB 250, EQB 300 4MATIC and EQB 350 4MATIC. The NHTSA recommends that owners of these vehicles, to minimize risks, do not charge the battery above 80 percent temporarily, until Mercedes-Benz has offered them a solution.

Fortunately, everything indicates that this problem can be solved via software by updating the current version of the battery management system. A task that Mercedes-Benz technicians will carry out at their workshops at no cost to the customer. According to the NHTSA, Mercedes-Benz will begin contacting owners of the affected vehicles in the North American market starting next April 1.

What has happened?

The report presented by the NHTSA indicates that the combination of variations at an early stage of battery cell production, together with local external factors, may cause some battery packs in these vehicles to not offer the desired level of safety when their charge level is very high.

Apparently, the supplier of these cells is the Chinese company Farasis Energy. Throughout 2023 and 2024, a total of five fires were recorded in vehicles of different brands equipped with these same cells, all of them in China. The authorities of this Asian country have already launched an investigation with the collaboration of the company itself.

In January 2025, a parallel investigation carried out by Mercedes-Benz concluded that these problems were probably limited to local conditions that only occurred in China. However, as it cannot completely rule out that the combination of these factors could perhaps also occur in other regions, the company has decided to recall these vehicles with the aim of installing a new, safer version of the battery management software.

In short, there is nothing to worry about if you own an EQB, since the probability of suffering an incident seems extremely limited. But it is always good for manufacturers to work on improving the safety of their vehicles and minimizing any kind of risk.