On Friday, BMW announced a recall for charge cords affecting 3,501 cars.
The report, from the NHTSA via Green Car Reports, says that the capacitors in the charge cords on the plug-in hybrid models can fail, causing a shock or fire. Models affected include “2018 BMW 330e iPerformance, i3 Rex, i3 Sport Rex, X5 xDrive40e, i3 BEV, i3 Sport BEV and MINI Cooper Countryman SE All4 PHEV vehicles, 2019 i8 and i8 Roadster vehicles and 2018-2019 530e iPerformance, 530e xDrive iPerformance, and 740Le xDrive iPerformance vehicles.”
The recall order begins Nov. 12, 2018. BMW will inspect and replace the cord, if necessary, for free.
BMW on Thursday announced a major investment ($3.5 billion) in its China joint venture. As part of the investment, BMW plans to expand plants in Shenyang and create new plants, including one that can produce conventional, hybrid, and electric vehicles on the same line. The investment is poised to take advantage of a Chinese governmental policy that will use a credit system to favor automakers that produce a higher sales mix of battery-only and hybrid cars as well as conventional vehicles.
