It's easy to promise fascinating electric cars, it's hard to build them – Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-PACE Recalls

June 10, 2019 by Steve Hanley

---

Oh, this Tesla. He can not build cars like the big boys and will soon be bankrupt, as traditional automakers catch up and pass Tesla on the road to the electric vehicle revolution. That's what you hear all the time from Tesla's enemies.

Yes, it's true, building cars is difficult – much harder than Elon Musk thought possible when he started his campaign to convert the world to electric transport. "Build competitive electric cars," he urged competition. "No problem," they replied. "We can do it before lunch, then take the rest of the day." But that's not exactly what happened.

Recall of Jaguar I-PACE

Jaguar has recalled approximately 3,000 of its I-PACE * electric SUVs, according to Cars.com, due to a malfunction of the regenerative braking system. "In the event of failure of the regenerative braking system, the delay between the braking of the driver and the slowing of the vehicle will be longer, which increases the risk of an accident," says the recall notice. (Editor's note: do we really need all capital letters? Yes, we are apparently doing.)

There is no report on how the defect was discovered nor on the risk of crash. But every time the driver presses on the brake pedal and gets an answer other than the one expected, the situation can deteriorate quickly.

The fix? Bring your car to your local Jaguar dealer and the defect will be fixed for free! Well, that's comforting, is not it? According to the recall notification, "Jaguar will begin to inform homeowners on July 1. Owners can call Jaguar at 800-637-6837, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 or visit their website to check their vehicle. identification number and find out more. "

The notification does not say that if Jaguar had equipped the I-PACE system with live update features as Tesla did with the Model S in 2012, and has done so with its vehicles ever since, all this could have been taken care of, done and dusted off, in a few hours, or a few days at most – without it being necessary to bring the car to a dealer. So much for the historic builders showing Tesla how to build real cars in the real world!

Audi e-tron Risk of fire

Audi, which considers itself one of the world's oldest premium car manufacturers, has realized that the automaker may not have been as smart as it thinks. Its all-new electric SUV e-tron * has just come out and already has a serious problem. It turns out that water can seep into the car's battery box, increasing the risk of fire. InsideEVs at the full announcement of Audi:

Audi of America takes the safety of its customers and the quality of our vehicles very seriously. In order to ensure the highest levels of safety and quality for our customers, we have issued a voluntary recall for approximately 540 e-tron vehicles delivered to our customers and 1,644 in total. The recall follows a potentially defective seal that could allow moisture to enter the battery compartment, which could result in a short circuit or, in extreme cases, a thermal event. We are very cautious, no incidents of this type having been reported around the world. The recall repair should be available in August 2019.

Customers are contacted directly to inform them of the recall and our reseller network is fully engaged to provide the best possible customer service. We regret the inconvenience to our customers and reservation holders, as we work with all parties to achieve a positive result in the coming weeks. Audi e-tron vehicles not affected by the recall remain available for delivery and our reservation system remains open to receive customer bookings.

We also offer our customers a loan service, a payment card of 800 USD, a free Audi Care service (or a refund) and a dedicated after-sales service.

Sure TwitterMichael Fortson (@michaelf) adds: "It appeared that water could enter the high-voltage load port of the affected vehicles, then heading towards the high-voltage electronics and potentially causing a fire. drums. Yuck. "(Editor's Note: Do we really need all the lowercase letters? Yes, we are apparently doing.)

What's the point?

The announcements of Jaguar and Audi aim to make the construction of high quality cars very difficult. Among Tesla, Audi and Jaguar, one of the three is expected to close within five years. Despite all the press criticizing Tesla lately, it remains well ahead of the rankings of irresistible electric car manufacturers and should stay there.

All other auto companies are trying to catch up, but they have to overcome huge hurdles to stay relevant in the future. There is no free pass to succeed, no matter how long a company has existed or how valuable the brand is. Before starting, belaborques Tesla experts should pay attention to the difficulties faced by other companies, many of whom have almost a century of experience in the construction of cars.

Related: Tesla sells a Porsche and Jaguar worldwide in Q1

Keywords: audi, e-tron audi, electric SUV, jaguar, I-Pace Jaguar, regenerative braking