Several Volvo Models Recalled for Very Specific Braking Issue
Recalls can sometimes be so specific that it’s difficult to tell what’s going on. That’s the case with Volvo’s recent recall of 14,014 electrified vehicles, which relates to braking failure in an extremely specific situation.
The potential brake failure is caused by a software glitch in the brake control module of some Volvos from the 2020 through 2026 model years. If the driver coasts downhill for at least one minute and 40 seconds in the B driving mode (PHEVs) or one-pedal driving mode (EVs) without using the brake or accelerator pedals, the brakes could fail. Got that? Didn’t think so.
Volvo’s recall impacts several models, including the S60, V60, S90, XC60, XC90, XC40, C40, EX40, and EC40. The automaker will update the vehicles’ software to fix the issue. Thankfully, the buggy software that caused the recall was not released via an over-the-air update and could only be installed at dealer service departments, limiting its presence in the wild.
We don’t know how or when Volvo discovered this problem, but the automaker did not say that it had recorded any accidents or injuries related to the problem. Some of the vehicles in this recall have seen several other actions in their short histories, including the 2024 Volvo XC90, which was recently recalled for a malfunctioning rearview camera system.
[Images: Volvo]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Brakes are for weaklings anyway.
Volvo was once tantamount to safety. We had their wagons when I was a kid because they had seatbelts at all seats, crumple zone design, four wheel disc brakes and dual diagonal hydraulics for safety, unimaginably not at all universal concepts.
Geely, like Chery w/ JLR, seems so tech and luxury-immersed that they produce unexpected things like code based glitching they couldn't imagine (or test for).
Execution and performance is where reputation is earned and lost.