These electric vehicles are getting rolled back.
Toyota issued a recall for 2,700 of its first electric vehicles on Thursday, according to Reuters. The bZ4X SUV is Toyota’s first electric vehicle to be mass-produced, the news agency reported.
The recall follows safety concerns that Japanese regulators communicated to the company.
They’ve discovered sharp turns and sudden braking can lead to a hub bolt loosening, potentially allowing the vehicle’s wheels to roll away from the vehicle, according to Reuters.
The regulators aren’t aware of an accident of this kind happening yet, but the Japanese authorities fear it could when the electric SUVs hit the road en masse.
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“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes you,” Toyota said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Would you trust an electric vehicle?
“We would have repaired it as soon as possible, but we are investigating the details.”
Most of the vehicles, 2,200, were intended for sale in Europe, according to Reuters. Of the others whose destinations were reported, 260 of the vehicles were intended for the U.S.; 20 for Canada; and 110 for Japan. None had yet left Japan, according to Reuters.
Even in Japan, the cars haven’t been distributed to drivers in Japan yet, according to Reuters. They’ve reached the hands of dealers for test drives and advertising displays.
Toyota is urging those who have the cars to refrain from driving them until a permanent fix to the problem is in place.
Japanese automaker Subaru is also recalling its Solterra electric car for the same reason, Reuters reported. The Solterra was developed jointly with Toyota.
Toyota had been hesitant to create a line of electric vehicles, with the company traditionally making gasoline-powered and affordable cars for middle-class consumers.
While politicians have keenly promoted electric vehicles as an alternative to gasoline cars, the technology is yet to be perfected.
The average price of an electric vehicle was more than $60,000 in February. That’s well out of the price range of the average middle-class American consumer.
Electric vehicles are reliant on charging stations in order to replenish their batteries.
The charging infrastructure isn’t always available, and drivers of electric cars have described frustrating and arduous waits to power their vehicles.
Government officials have bragged about escaping punishing gas prices in their own electric vehicles.
