About · Coverage & Methodology

How we track EV recalls

Destination Charged tracks battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle recalls reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States and Transport Canada in Canada. Every record passes through an automated filter before publishing, and the database refreshes daily.

This page explains what we cover, how we cover it, where the filter can fall short, and what to do if you spot a gap.

What's in scope

Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) — every model with no internal combustion engine. Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, Polestar, Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevrolet Bolt EV, Hyundai IONIQ 5, Kia EV6, Volkswagen ID.4, Volvo EX series, and so on.
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCEVs) — Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo, Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, Honda CR-V e:FCEV, and similar. These have an electric drivetrain and no internal combustion engine; they're powered by a fuel cell rather than a battery, but they're still 100% electric in operation.
Light-duty passenger vehicles, commercial vans, and motorcycles — provided they're 100% electric.
Vehicle recalls only — not equipment recalls (chargers, battery accessories, J1772 adapters).

What's out of scope

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and conventional hybrids (HEVs) — these have an internal combustion engine and aren't 100% electric.
Range-extended EVs (REEVs) with onboard ICE generators — including the Ram 1500 Ramcharger and similar configurations.
E-bikes and other vehicles that don't appear in NHTSA or Transport Canada datasets.
Aftermarket EV equipment recalls — chargers, adapters, replacement batteries.

How we filter

Every recall record passes through a three-layer evaluator before it's published:

Brand allow-list. Manufacturers that build only EVs (Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, Polestar, Fisker, VinFast US, Scout, Slate, and others) are matched on the regulator's make name alone. Every recall on these brands is in scope.
Model allow-list. For brands that sell both internal-combustion and electric vehicles (Ford, GM, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, Volvo, and others), every model that we consider in scope is enumerated by name. Examples include the Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E, the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Equinox EV, the Hyundai IONIQ 5/6/9, the Kia EV6 and EV9, the Toyota bZ4X and Mirai, the Volvo EX30 and EX90, and so on.
Component-text classifier. A final pass scans the defect summary, consequence, and remedy text for EV-specific markers (high-voltage battery, electric motor, BMS, fuel cell, regenerative braking, traction inverter, on-board charger) and ICE-only markers (fuel pump, exhaust manifold, transmission gearbox, oxygen sensor, catalytic converter). When the model allow-list match is ambiguous, this layer is the tiebreaker.

Where this filter can fall short

Automated filtering against open government datasets isn't perfect. Specifically:

Some genuine EVs may be missed. If an automaker uses an unusual model name in its NHTSA or Transport Canada filing — or if our model allow-list hasn't been updated for a brand-new model year yet — that recall might not appear here until we add it.
Some non-EVs may slip through. Models like the Volvo XC40 and the Chrysler Pacifica are sold in both EV/PHEV and ICE configurations under similar nameplates; in rare cases a recall on the ICE variant may be misclassified as EV. The component-text classifier catches most of these, but not all.
Multi-powertrain campaigns are a known edge case. When an automaker issues a single recall covering both EV and non-EV variants of the same model, you'll see the recall here even though most affected units may not be EV. We display the regulator's full description verbatim so you can see exactly which variants are involved.
PHEVs are explicitly out of scope but occasionally appear in mixed campaigns. When that happens, the EV portion is surfaced; we don't try to remove the PHEV detail from the official text.

We're continuously improving the filter. If you spot a recall that shouldn't be here, or know of one that's missing, please contact us. We read every submission and update the model allow-list as new EVs reach the market.

Where the data comes from

United States: NHTSA's bulk recall flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), refreshed daily.
Canada: Transport Canada's vehicle recall database, refreshed monthly.
We do not edit the defect description, consequence, or remedy text — what you see is verbatim from the regulator's record.
Each recall page links to the original government record for verification.

This is not safety advice

Destination Charged is a journalism-first publication. The recall tracker exists to make safety information findable and contextualizable. It does not replace:

Your manufacturer's official recall notification (mailed letter, email, or in-vehicle alert).
NHTSA's VIN-specific recall lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Transport Canada's recall database.
Your dealer's confirmation of whether your specific vehicle is affected.

If you believe your vehicle has an open recall, contact your dealer with your vehicle identification number (VIN). Recall remedies are free of charge regardless of where you bought the vehicle or whether the warranty has expired.

Disclaimers

Independent publication. Destination Charged is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NHTSA, Transport Canada, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Canadian government, or any vehicle manufacturer.

Best-effort accuracy, no warranty. Data is sourced from public government datasets and republished as faithfully as we can manage. We make no guarantees about completeness, currency, or accuracy. The government source records are authoritative; ours is a derivative view.

Not safety, legal, financial, or engineering advice. Read NHTSA, Transport Canada, and your manufacturer's notifications for those.

Trademarks. Brand names and model names are trademarks of their respective owners. Use here is descriptive only.