Thailand halts new Volvo EV registrations after battery defect
New registrations of the Volvo EX30 in Thailand have been suspended after the Department of Land Transport found that a recent fire involving the electric vehicle was linked to a defect in its high-voltage battery cells.
The order was issued after Siripong Angkasakulkiat, deputy transport minister, instructed the Department of Land Transport to investigate the case.
Thitiphat Thaijongrak, director of the Bureau of Automotive Engineering and spokesperson for the Department of Land Transport, said yesterday, May 21, that representatives from Volvo Car (Thailand) were called in to provide an engineering explanation.
The inspection found key evidence indicating that the fire was caused by a defect in components inside the high-voltage battery cell system.
Volvo Car (Thailand) has prepared replacement parts and will begin a recall of the Volvo EX30 covering all 1,668 affected vehicles currently in use in Thailand. Owners will be able to have new battery modules installed at service centres from May 25.
Thitiphat said the department had instructed Volvo to urgently replace the batteries in all affected vehicles and open a special public information channel to advise EV owners on safe usage while waiting for repairs.
He said the company must also submit progress reports to the department periodically until all repairs are completed 100%.
To protect public safety, the department has immediately suspended new registrations for Volvo EX30 vehicles until the company fixes the defect and submits the vehicles for safety testing.
Thitiphat said the suspension of the vehicle type approval certificate means all newly produced or newly imported Volvo EX30 vehicles cannot be registered in Thailand until the issue is resolved.
Thairath reported that the measure applies only to future new vehicles and will not affect the rights of Volvo EX30 vehicles already registered and in use.
In an earlier incident, an EV charging station fire in Samut Prakan damaged a small electric truck at a factory in Bang Sao Thong district, with no injuries reported. Initial checks suggest an electrical short circuit may have caused the fire.
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