By Michael Elkins
General Motors (NYSE:GM) has issued a recall for 735 of the company’s electric Hummer models and 89 BrightDrop EV600 electric vans after a fault was found in the battery seal that could allow water into the battery pack. If water were to enter the battery pack, the vehicles may become undrivable.
On July 26, 2022 and August 9, 2022, GM received Speak Up For Safety (SUFS) submissions relating to potential electrocoating and urethane-sealing issues in certain Hummer EV battery packs. GM opened product investigations to investigate these related allegations on August 2, 2022 and August 19, 2022.
The investigations identified two manufacturing errors—uncured electrocoating along certain portions of the battery tray and improper urethane seal repair. These defects could result in poor urethane seal adhesion in battery packs built during specific build windows.
At present, GM is aware of three confirmed reports of water entering improperly sealed battery packs in the GMC Hummer EV. In two of these cases, the vehicles affected would not start, while in the third case, the vehicle lost propulsion while driving. GM is now working on a remedy for this condition.
To note, the GM recall number associated with this issue is N222380030. There’s currently a stop-sale order on affected vehicles.
Shares of GM are up 3.23% in mid-day trading on Tuesday.