CR5461 – High Voltage Battery May Short Circuit – 2022-2023 Nova LFS Battery Electric Transit Buses

SEOCONTENT-START

OMB Control No.: 2127-0004 Part 573 Safety Recall Report 23V-540 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 Manufacturer Name : Nova Bus (US) Inc. Submission Date : AUG 02, 2023 NHTSA Recall No. : 23V-540 Manufacturer Recall No. : CR5461 Manufacturer Information : Manufacturer Name : Nova Bus (US) Inc. Address : 260 Banker Road PLATTSBURGH NY 12901 Company phone : 450-472-6410 Population : Number of potentially involved : 13 Estimated percentage with defect : 15 % Vehicle Information : Vehicle 1 : 2022-2023 Nova Bus LFS Vehicle Type : BUSES, MEDIUM & HEAVY VEHICLES Body Style : OTHER Power Train : NR Descriptive Information : All battery electric vehicles equipped with Akasol Gen3 high voltage battery packs manufactured by Akasol US.and that were assembled and/or reworked with improper torque control for the bus-bars assemblies connecting battery modules in the battery pack. Production Dates : MAR 15, 2022 – FEB 24, 2023 VIN Range 1 : Begin : NR End : NR Not sequential Description of Defect : Description of the Defect : Certain bus-bar terminal blocks may be over torqued and could fail. Under certain conditions, the failed terminal block portion can become a loose metallic debris in the battery pack. FMVSS 1 : NR FMVSS 2 : NR Description of the Safety Risk : Under certain conditions, loose metallic debris in the battery pack may cause a short circuit and may lead to a thermal event of the battery pack which may increase the risk of a vehicle fire. Occurrence may happen with vehicle is in operation, charging or parked. Nova Bus has not received any consumer complaint, field report, warranty claim, property damage claim, and neither notice or claim of injury or death associated with this defect. Therefore, we consider this as a proactive measure to protect the public from the potential safety risk associated with this defect. Part 573 Safety Recall Report 23V-540 Page 2 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 Description of the Cause : Battery pack supplier manufacturing defect during certain assembly and rework operations due to inadequate process control and detection related to those defects. Identification of Any Warning that can Occur : When the vehicle is in operation or charging if a thermal event is developing in the battery pack, the thermal runaway detection tell-tale warning to the driver will illuminate. Safely stop and park the vehicle outside away from any property. Involved Components : Component Name 1 : Battery Component Description : High voltage battery pack Component Part Number : 23962990 Component Name 2 : Battery Component Description : High voltage battery pack Component Part Number : 24264513 Supplier Identification : Component Manufacturer Name : Akasol Inc. Address : 1400 E. 10 Mile Road Suite 15 Hazel Park Michigan 48030 Country : United States Chronology : 2023-07-05: Volvo Trucks NA Manufacturing and Purchasing report that they have discovered a battery pack on their property that had a thermal event (contained in the battery pack and no propagation in the battery pack). 2023-07-11: Nova Bus Product Safety Evaluation Committee is informed, investigation opened together with Trucks NA and Akasol supplier. 2023-07-13: Nova Bus issues a preventive delivery stop for its plants. 2023-07-19: Volvo/Mack Trucks NA Product Safety Working Group reviews the product safety investigation results and recommends that this be brought to Trucks NA Product Safety Committee as a potential product Part 573 Safety Recall Report 23V-540 Page 3 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 safety defect. 2023-07-19: Trucks NA Product Safety Committee meets and decides that a product safety defect exists. 2023-07-20: Nova Bus Product Safety Evaluation Committee evaluates this Potential Safety-Related Issue and raise it to the Nova Bus Product Safety Committee. 2023-07-20: Nova Bus Product Safety Committee evaluates this Potential Safety-Related Issue and decides more information is required to make a determination. 2023-07-28: Nova Bus Product Safety Committee evaluates this Potential Safety-Related Issue and determines a Safety-Related Defect exists. 2023-08-02: Nova Bus submits a vehicle recall report to NHTSA. Nova Bus has not received any consumer complaint, field report, warranty claim, property damage claim, and neither notice or claim of injury or death associated with this defect. Therefore, we consider this as a proactive measure to protect the public from the potential safety risk associated with this defect. The battery pack incident which initiated the investigation involved one battery pack which was on a trailer in shipment to Volvo Trucks NA assembly operations. The battery pack was the only one found damaged with no spread of damage to the other battery packs in the shipment, or to the trailer. Description of Remedy : Description of Remedy Program : Nova Bus will release a service document to replace the suspected battery packs. All costs associated with this corrective measure will be covered by Nova Bus. All affected vehicles are still under warranty. Pre-notification remedies will be addressed using the Nova Bus general reimbursement plan on file with NHTSA. Synchronization with the existing 23V291 CR5406 service document to be evaluated. How Remedy Component Differs from Recalled Component : The battery packs manufactured after 2023-04-10 and that have not been reworked at the supplier are certified good since the bus-bar torquing manufacturing operation was in control with proper tooling on the production line. All battery packs manufactured or reworked at the supplier after 2023-07-11 are certified good. Identify How/When Recall Condition was Corrected in Production : There is a delivery stop in place since 2023-07-13. The vehicles released will have a battery packs replacement with certified good battery packs. Recall Schedule : Description of Recall Schedule : Note Nova Bus does not have a dealer network and the dates entered for the planned dealer notification begin/end date are only to avoid NHTSA Recall Portal error while submitting the recall report. Planned Dealer Notification Date : AUG 31, 2023 – AUG 31, 2023 Planned Owner Notification Date : AUG 31, 2023 – AUG 31, 2023 Part 573 Safety Recall Report 23V-540 Page 4 The information contained in this report was submitted pursuant to 49 CFR §573 * NR – Not Reported

**************************************************************************************************************

**************************************************************************************************************

**************************************************************************************************************

**************************************************************************************************************

SEOCONTENT-END