BMW recalled 3431 electric vehicles in the United States because it could not generate outside pedestrian warnings.

CTOnews.com, January 31 (Xinhua)-- BMW will recall 3431 i4 eDrive40 and iX xDrive50 electric vehicles from 2022 to 2023 in the United States, according to the US regulatory agency NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).

It is reported that the reason for the recall is that during the start-up of the vehicle, the artificial sound generator control unit may be malfunctioning and unable to produce external pedestrian warning sound. As a result, these vehicles do not meet the Federal Motor vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 "minimum Sound requirements for Hybrid and Electric vehicles". The dealer will carry out a free software upgrade to the artificial external sound generator, and the owner notification letter is expected to be sent on March 17, 2023.

CTOnews.com learned that US federal motor vehicle safety standards require electric or hybrid vehicles to make a certain amount of noise so that pedestrians can know that a car is coming. Because motors are usually quiet, especially at low speeds (tyres make noise at high speeds), carmakers usually make artificial sounds, usually a buzzing or whistling sound.

The recall can obviously be resolved through software updates, but it seems that BMW did not take Tesla's approach to solve the problem through OTA updates. The NHTSA notice said that dealers will carry out free software upgrades to artificial external sound generators, which means that car owners still need to drive their cars for repairs.