WASHINGTON—The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Thursday issued an urgent warning to owners of certain 2020-2026 Volvo plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, urging them to immediately complete an over-the-air safety recall addressing potential brake failure.
NHTSA stated that without the recall remedy, affected vehicles could completely lose their ability to brake while driving downhill. One serious incident related to this defect has already been captured on video. Volvo has advised owners not to drive their vehicles and to turn off regenerative braking until the software update is installed.
Volvo issued recall 25V-392 on June 12, affecting 11,469 vehicles. As of July 15, approximately 1,000 of these vehicles had not yet received the urgent over-the-air software download.
The affected models include:
- 2023 Volvo C40 BEV
- 2025 EC40 BEV
- 2025-2026 EX40 PHEV
- 2023-2025 S60 PHEV
- 2025 S90 PHEV
- 2024-2025 V60 PHEV
- 2023-2024 XC40 BEV
- 2022-2026 XC60 PHEV
- 2020-2026 XC90 PHEV
NHTSA advises owners of unrepaired vehicles to avoid using regenerative braking. This means turning off “B” mode in plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) or one-pedal driving in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) until the repair is completed. The agency warned that if a vehicle is in one of these modes and coasts downhill for at least 1 minute and 40 seconds without pedal application, the brakes may lose capabilities. Owners should download the over-the-air recall remedy if their vehicle information center indicates the software is ready to install.
Owners with questions or those needing to schedule a service appointment are encouraged to call their local Volvo dealership.
The defect reportedly stems from an over-the-air recall remedy for a previous recall (25V-282) that addressed rearview camera failures during backing up. Volvo’s Customer Care Center can be reached at 800-458-1552 for further assistance.
