GM recalls more than 80K Chevy vehicles over serious pedestrian safety risk
More than 80,000 Chevy vehicles are being recalled because their pedestrian alert sound system is defective, federal regulators said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) warned owners in a December notice that certain 2025 to 2026 model year Chevrolet Equinox EV vehicles fail to meet federal traffic safety laws because they do not comply with minimum sound requirements for hybrid and electric vehicles.
General Motors made this determination after discovering that the pedestrian alert sound system in these vehicles may have an incorrect software calibration, meaning they won't be able to "produce exterior sound at the required relative volume when the vehicle is traveling from stationary to 6.2 mph," according to the NHTSA notice.
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The regulator said in the recall notice that some pedestrians may not be able to determine by sound whether an approaching vehicle is speeding up or slowing down under certain conditions, risking their safety.
A GM engineer submitted a report to the automaker's Speak Up for Safety program in September following internal testing of a 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV. That test showed that the vehicle failed the federal requirements under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 141, which dictates the relative volume change when a vehicle travels from stationary to 10 km/h, according to the recall.
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An investigation stemming from that report later determined that while the software calibrations used for the 2025 and 2026 model years differ, both versions of the software may not meet the requirement for relative change in volume when traveling from stationary to 10 km/h.
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The 2025 and 2026 model year calibrations are different from the calibration used for 2024 vehicles and the calibration used to remedy 2024 vehicles.
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The recall was issued on Dec. 11. However, there have been no accidents or incidents linked to this issue, the notice said.
GM told FOX Business that remedying the issue "will involve an update to the body control module software using wireless over-the-air technology or applied by dealership service teams."