Nearly all of Cadillac’s Lyriq all-electric SUVs are being recalled by parent company General Motors due to a potentially catastrophic problem with their brakes.
The recall covers 2023 and 2024 all-wheel-drive models, for a total of 21,469 vehicles.
Since the electric vehicle’s debut in 2022, 22,370 Lyriqs have been sold in the U.S., meaning the recall affects roughly 95 percent of them.
The vehicle, which suffered production delays during its early days, was recalled because the vehicle’s anti-lock braking system (ABS) could activate unnecessarily and release brake pressure.
If this happens, the driver may lose the ability to brake, “increasing the risk of an accident,” according to a report on Monday. letter from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to a GM executive.
A 2024 Cadillac Lyriq SUV at the 2024 New York International Auto Show on March 28, 2024. Tens of thousands of these cars were recalled after problems with the anti-lock braking system (ABS) were reported.
GM explained in more detail in its safety recall report that ABS, a safety device that prevents the wheels from locking if the driver hits the brakes suddenly, is susceptible to malfunctioning “during certain braking operations on dry surfaces at speeds below 25 mph.”
‘Under these conditions, if the ABS falsely activates and a specific sequence of wheel movements occurs, the vehicle’s ABS system will continue to release braking pressure to the vehicle’s service brake system.
“A release of brake pressure can cause the service brakes to have reduced braking performance or to stop working, increasing the risk of an accident,” the report said.
The recall will not affect rear-wheel-drive Lyriqs. Of the recalled vehicles, GM estimates that 1 percent have the ABS problem.
Since the defect was caused by a software bug, it will be fixed by a free update that car owners will not have to travel to the dealership to accept.
GM spokesman Bill Grotz told the Detroit Free Press that dealers already have the solution and will update customers’ cars “at the end of this month.”
The Lyriq all-electric SUV starts at $57,000 and will debut in 2022
GM’s report said the company opened an investigation on May 31 into the 2023 and 2024 Lyriq models after the automaker received “two reports of minor crashes resulting from an alleged loss of braking that may have been attributable to a software issue in the vehicles’ ABS.”
GM received the reports on February 15 and March 12. The company also learned of another complaint that did not result in an accident on October 14, 2023.
The Detroit-based automaker decided to issue the recall on Aug. 1 and has not identified any injuries or deaths associated with the failure.
Letters officially notifying affected homeowners of the malfunction are expected to be sent out on September 23.
Lyriq owners can also call Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, according to the document filed with NHTSA. GM’s number for this recall is N242453471.