- Annabel Lang
- Business Correspondence
24 June 2022
Auto giant Toyota has decided to recall 2,700 electric vehicles, from the company’s first mass-produced all-electric cars, due to tire separation concerns.
A spokesman for the company told the BBC that the bolts on the tires of the Toyota Bz4x “may loosen to the point where the tire comes off” after “a short distance”.
The recall comes less than two months after it was put up for sale in Japan.
For the same reason, automaker Subaru said it would recall 2,600 vehicles it developed with Toyota.
On Friday, Toyota said in a statement that it had issued a recall decision due to safety concerns for 2,700 bZ4X four-wheel drive vehicles from the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan.
A spokesman for the company said: “If a tire breaks off the vehicle while driving, this may result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of an accident. No one should drive these vehicles until the problem is resolved.”
The BBC has learned that some bZ4X cars have not been recalled. However, a Toyota spokesperson declined to answer a question about how many electric vehicles of this type have been produced.
Toyota said it notified Japanese safety authorities about the defect on Thursday, and that the cause of the problem was “still under investigation.”
photo released, Toyota
Toyota has notified the relevant Japanese authorities about the tire problem in its electric car
Subaru said it was recalling 2,600 units of the Solterra, its first fully electric car jointly developed with Toyota, over concerns about poorly installed vehicle bolts. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
Toyota is seen as a relative newcomer in the electric car market, compared to rival manufacturers such as Tesla, which launched its first electric car 14 years ago.
bZ4X was launched in Japan last month. Toyota said earlier this year that the car was only available for rent to “remove customer concerns about battery performance, maintenance and residual value”.
The company said this week that it will reduce the number of vehicles it plans to produce next month by about 50,000 vehicles due to a shortage of computer chips and supply disruptions due to the epidemic.
Although Toyota currently aims to manufacture a total of 9.7 million vehicles worldwide this year, it has indicated that it may have to cut that number.