Audi has issued another recall for the E-Tron GT and RS E-Tron GT electric vehicles for potential battery problems that could lead to short circuits and fires, NHTSA revealed Monday.
The recall of 6,499 vehicles from the 2022-2024 model years follows a similar recall for the related Porsche Taycan affecting more than 27,000 vehicles. I Audi and Porsche EVs it shares the Volkswagen Group J1 platform and fast-charging hardware, which means recalls for one model often affect another.
In this case, “manufacturing problems” with battery modules can lead to damage that can allow internal short circuits, which can lead to overheating and firesaccording to NHTSA.
2024 Audi e-tron GT
Battery concerns prompted another recall of the same models in April, albeit with fewer people including 1,042 E-Tron GT and RS E-Tron GT electric cars and 606 Taycans. It's unclear if the new Audi and Porsche recalls are related to April's recalls, but the issues and remedies remain the same.
Like Porsche with its recent Taycan recall, Audi will have one install new diagnostic software for affected vehicles, free of charge. That software isn't expected to be available until the first quarter of 2025, however. As a temporary measure, dealers will carry out tests and, if problems are found with the battery modules, they will instruct owners to charge their cars only up to 80% until those modules are replaced free of charge.
Some vehicles already have online data monitoring, where dealers will monitor problematic battery modules. If the problem is found, the owners will only be instructed charging their cars to 80% until the affected module can be replaced by an Audi dealer, again, free of charge.
2024 Audi e-tron GT
Audi plans to send notification letters to owners on November 29. Owners can also contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834 for more information. Audi has two reference numbers for this recall: 931A for vehicles with online data monitoring already enabled and 931B for those without.
In addition to the battery short-circuit recalls, the E-Tron GT/RS E-Tron GT and Porsche Taycan were jointly recalled for a battery short-circuit problem last year. Later in the year, Audi and Porsche also recalled the portable charging cable for these models and some EVs and plug-in hybrids, replacing it with a new version that brought better thermal safety.