The eCall is in for a recall.
Mercedes-Benz recalls almost 1.3 million cars in the United States and more in Europe over a malfunction concerning its emergency call system eCall. The system in question may fail to communicate the vehicle’s exact location in case of a crash due to a drop in power supply to the system, which would result in it considering the last ignition cycle’s location. Consequently, emergency services would not receive the vehicle’s accurate position and may be deployed to an incorrect area.
Mercedes realizes that every second wasted in an emergency situation could mean the difference between life and death. Fortunately, the eCall issue can be corrected via a software update wherein some customers need not even take their cars into a service station.
The eCall recall affects a wide range of Mercedes-Benz vehicles manufactured between 2016 and 2021, such as the A, B, C, CLA, CLS, E, S, SL, SLC, G, GT, GLA, GLB, GLC, GLE, and GLS-class of vehicles. The total count of affected vehicles is a whopping 1,292,258. Mercedes has also clarified that the eCall defect has been rectified in production, and only cars produced before Jan 29, 2021, need a recall.
Owners of these vehicles need to be careful as if there is a malfunction in your car, you won’t know it until it’s too late. Thankfully, however, there have been no reports of injuries resulting from this defect in the US. A wise thing to do would be to drive carefully and contact Mercedes customer care service or the NHTSA helpline for further assistance. Mercedes expects to begin the recall of vehicles affected by eCall malfunction from April 6 onwards.
The Mercedes eCall feature is an emergency system fitted in all models produced after 2014. The system is very useful as it helps emergency rescue personnel locate a crashed vehicle by transmitting essential data such as the vehicle’s location, number of occupants, and travel direction.
