Honda must recall 106,030 CR-Vs produced between 2019 and 2022 over an issue with the design of their 12-volt battery cables. The cables are susceptible to short-circuiting, and could cause a fire.
The issue affects model year 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrids, whose 12-volt battery cables are routed outside of the body frame, and have no fuse. That’s fine most of the time, but if the vehicle is involved in an accident, and the front left fender is damaged in just the right way, the battery could short circuit.
That’s precisely what happened to an owner on May 17, 2021. However, upon investigating the incident, Honda concluded that the circumstances surrounding the accident were highly unusual, attributing them to what it referred to as the ‘extreme crash angle.
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Although Honda and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) decided that a recall campaign wasn’t necessary at the time, the automaker did take the decision to change the design of the cable. In June 2022, it added a fuse to new models, in order to prevent a short circuit from happening.
A few months later, Honda became aware of a second incident involving a pre-update CR-V Hybrid that was involved in a crash, and whose 12-volt battery short-circuited. Again, it determined that the accident was rare, but a few weeks later, it received a warranty claim about another battery issue, and decided to re-evaluate its conclusion.
Ultimately, it determined that the potential for such incidents was higher than it initially believed, and decided to launch a recall. The repair should be a relatively simple one, and Honda technicians will replace owners’ battery cables with an improved part that has a 100A fuse.
The automaker plans to start getting in touch with the owners of 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrids starting on January 29. It is not aware of any injuries or deaths related to this problem.
