More than 1,400 luxury electric vehicles are being recalled in Australia over warnings that their batteries could short circuit and catch fire while driving.
The federal Department of Transport on Tuesday issued a recall for electric Mini Cooper SE cars sold in Australia between 2020 and 2023.
The warning follows a recall of more than 140,000 Mini Cooper vehicles worldwide by manufacturer BMW earlier this month.
The Department for Transport has warned that the software defect affecting 1,408 cars in Australia could increase the “risk of serious injury or death to occupants”.
“The high-voltage battery management software does not provide sufficient protection against short circuits,” the report said.
‘If a short circuit occurs, a fire may occur in the vehicle while you are driving or parked.’
The faulty software could be fixed with a software update and owners should contact a local Mini dealer as soon as possible to have the update installed, the transport department said.
The recall in Australia comes two weeks after BMW recalled more than 140,000 electric Mini Coopers globally, including 39,000 in Germany and more than 12,000 in the United States.
“A vehicle fire cannot be ruled out, even if the vehicle is parked,” the company said in a statement.
Mini Cooper SE electric cars sold in Australia between 2020 and 2023 are being recalled
Despite concerns about the safety of electric vehicles, there have been only six electric car fires recorded in Australia since 2010, according to EV FireSafe. These included one arson incident, two collisions and three incidents where cars were parked near a fire.