What 25 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Mercedes-benz B-class E-cell

DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT 65MPH, EXPERIENCED COMPLETE AND SUDDEN LOSS OF DRIVE/POWER. CAR CHARGE WAS AROUND 1/2 FULL. HAD TO PULL TO THE SHOULDER AS THE CAR ROLLED TO A COMPLETE STOP. FINDING LOTS OF OTHER REPORTS ONLINE, DEALER HAS BEEN UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE ROOT CAUSE AFTER 1 WEEK. DEALER REPORTED OTHER SIMILAR INCIDENTS FROM OTHER DRIVERS.

NHTSA ODI 10778913

UNEXPECTED LOSS OF POWER - WE HAVE EXPERIENCED TOTAL LOSS OF ACCELERATION AND THROTTLE POWER RESULTING IN THE VEHICLE ROLLING/DRIFTING TO A STOP. IN ORDER TO REGAIN THROTTLE POWER, THE CAR MUST BE PLACED IN PARK AND THE ENGINE START BUTTON DEPRESSED. THIS LOSS OF POWER HAS OCCURRED TO ME AT LEAST 3 TIMES AT LOW SPEEDS (10-25 MPH), ONCE AT 45 MPH AND ONCE AT 65 MPH WHILE DRIVING IN THE FAR LEFT LANE OF 73 SOUTH TOLL ROAD, CALIFORNIA. ALSO IMPORTANT IS THAT AT THE TIME FORWARD POWER IS LOST, THE REGENERATION GAUGE ON THE FAR RIGHT OF THE DASHBOARD MOVES IMMEDIATELY TO MAXIMUM INDICATION AND ALL WARNING LIGHTS BECOME ILLUMINATED. DURING THE FIRST DEALER SERVICE ON JULY 24, 2015 THE DEALER FOUND CODE MESSAGE U029887, U016883 AND U029287 MISSING. DEALER PERFORMED A SOFTWARE UPDATE AND UPDATED PTCU DRIVETRAIN N127 MODULE. THE DEALER HAS REPLACED THE PTCU DRIVETRAIN N127 TWICE - ONCE ON SERVICE DATED JULY 29, 2015 AND AGAIN ON SERVICE DATED AUGUST 28, 2015. ON SERVICE DATED JULY 29, 2015 DEALER REPLACED DRIVETRAIN GATEWAY MODULE N93/8. FOUND CODE C10C800 NOT RELATED. ON SERVICE DATED AUGUST 28, 2015 DEALER RETRIEVED ALL DATA FROM PTCU DRIVETRAIN MODULE N127. OWNER HAS VIDEOTAPED THE LOSS OF POWER OCCURRING AND PROVIDED IT TO DEALER. OWNER'S CHILDREN ARE FRIGHTENED TO DRIVE IN THE VEHICLE. TEENAGE DAUGHTER WAS VERY FRIGHTENED DRIVING AT 65 MPH WHEN SHE EXPERIENCED UNEXPECTED TOTAL LOSS OF POWER AND HAD TO DRIFT INTO THE THE LEFT SHOULDER OF A BUSY FREEWAY AND RESTART THE CAR AFTER COMING TO A STOP. MERCEDES AND TESLA - YOU HAVE A LEMON!

NHTSA ODI 10776495

I WAS DRIVING AT 55 MPH ON THE FREEWAY WITH BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN I LOST POWER TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. NO MECHANICAL PROBLEM WAS INDICATED ON THE DASH: THE CAR WAS 'READY' AND WAS IN 'D' YET I HAD NO POWER WHATSOEVER TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. I COULD NOT PULL OVER TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE BECAUSE I WAS SURROUNDED BY FAST MOVING TRAFFIC AND HAD NO POWER. I COULD NOT BRAKE TO TRY TO RESTART THE CAR WITHOUT BEING REAR ENDED BY THE CONSIDERABLE TRAFFIC BEHIND ME ON THE FREEWAY. MY ONLY OPTION WAS TO CONTINUE TO COAST FROM MY INITIAL SPEED WITH THE HAZARD LIGHTS ON EVEN THOUGH I WAS AT HIGH RISK OF BEING STRUCK BY ANOTHER DRIVER. ONCE STOPPED IN THE FAST LANE OF THE FREEWAY, IT TOOK 2 OR 3 ATTEMPTS AT SWITCHING THE POWER ON AND OFF BEFORE THE CAR WAS ABLE TO MOVE AGAIN. THE FAILURE SYMPTOMS APPEAR SIMILAR TO THE RAV4 EV THAT HAS THE SAME POWER COMPONENTS SUPPLIED BY TESLA, AND SINCE MARCH/APRIL 2015 IS THE SUBJECT OF A RECALL NOTICE FOR THIS POWER LOSS ISSUE. WE PURCHASED THIS NEW VEHICLE FROM AN AUTHORIZED MERCEDES DEALER ON JUNE 30, 2015, THERE WAS NO DISCLOSURE OF THIS ISSUE. THE MERCEDES ELECTRIC VEHICLE FAILURE PUT ME AND MY PASSENGER IN A POTENTIALLY FATAL SITUATION.

NHTSA ODI 10760362

SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER WHILE DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AT 65-70MPH. NO INDICATION OF ANY PROBLEM ON DASH BOARD, EXCEPT AN INDICATION THAT IT WAS AT MAXIMUM REGENERATION. GEAR SELECTION INDICATOR DISPLAYED THAT THE CAR WAS IN DRIVE, NOT IN NEUTRAL. NO RESPONSE FROM THROTTLE PEDAL PRESSING. SLOWLY DRIFTED ACROSS MULTIPLE LANES OF HIGHWAY UNTIL I REACHED THE SHOULDER AND CAME TO A STOP. TURNED CAR OFF AND THEN BACK ON, AFTER WHICH THE CAR BEHAVED NORMALLY AGAIN.

NHTSA ODI 10759022

THUMP! COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER ON FREEWAY. RANDOM SHIFT TO NEUTRAL ISSUE. DRIVING HOME FROM THE PURCHASING THE CAR ON THE 101 SOUTHBOUND IN THE FAST LANE GOING 65 MPH. ACCELERATION WAS SUDDENLY LOST. THE POWER TRAIN MALFUNCTIONED AND SHIFTED ITSELF INTO NEUTRAL. THE GAS PEDAL WAS UNRESPONSIVE. HAD TO PULL OVER AT WOODMAN EXIT ON INERTIA ALONE. WE HAD JUST PURCHASED THE CAR ONLY 2 HOURS PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT AND PUT 30 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. NO WARNING LIGHTS APPEARED. MY RESEARCH ON THIS ISSUE SHOWS THAT IT IS THAT SAME ISSUE THAT HAS CAUSED THE RAV4 EV RECALL. THIS ISSUE IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND IS AFFECTING MANY OTHER B-CLASS OWNERS.

NHTSA ODI 10735507

THIS INCIDENT HAS HAPPENED TWICE SINCE WE GOT THE CAR ON 06/25/2015. FIRST TIME, DRIVING DOWN A STREET AT 35 MPH AND THE CAR WILL SHIFT BY ITSELF INTO NEUTRAL. THE CAR WILL NOT GO BACK TO DRIVE AND THERE IS NOT POWER TO THE DRIVE SYSTEM. THE ONLY WAY TO CORRECT IT IS TO COAST TO A STOP AND TURN OFF THE CAR AND RESTART IT TO CONTINUE DRIVING. THE SECOND TIME, ON 7/10/2015 MY WIFE WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT 55MPH AND SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN, BUT WAS PUT IN A MORE DANGEROUS SITUATION SINCE SHE WAS TRAVELING IN THE LEFT LANE AND THERE WAS NO CENTER MEDIAN. IT HAS BEEN AT THE DEALERSHIP EVER SINCE. THEY STATED THAT THE POWERTRAIN CONTROL UNIT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED, BUT HAVE NOT TIME ESTIMATE ON WHEN THEY WILL BE GETTING THE PART. THEY ARE NOT EVEN SURE IF THIS WILL CORRECT THE ISSUE. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10733740