Jaguar and Lucid audit query AQ24004
High Voltage Coolant Heaters may fail to defrost windshield. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this audit query about the electrical heating element on 4 model years (2021–2023). Opened Apr 3, 2024 and still open — 2.6 years so far. open
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedIn a Part 573 Report dated July 27, 2023, Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (JLR) notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in 2021-2022 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. This filing was assigned Recall No. 23V-518. JLR noted that the subject vehicles are equipped with High Voltage Coolant Heaters (HVCH), supplied by Webasto Group (Webasto), that can develop cracking and delamination of the heating element, leading to an inability to defrost the front windshield, which may increase the risk of a crash. In a Part 573 Report dated January 11, 2024, Lucid USA, Inc. (Lucid) notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in 2022-2023 Lucid Air vehicles. This filing was assigned Recall No. 24V-011. Lucid noted the subject vehicles are equipped with HVCH, supplied by Webasto, that can delaminate, leading to an inability to defrost the front windshield, which may increase the risk of a crash. The purpose of this Audit Query (AQ) is to: 1. Obtain a complete list of purchasers and the quantities for which the same or similar HVCH were supplied; 2. Obtain copies of all written communications initiated by Webasto and sent to its purchasers regarding the subject equipment; and 3. Request Webasto, per 49 CFR 573.3(f), submit a requisite Part 573 Recall Report for defective HVCH installed into motor vehicles of multiple vehicle manufacturers.
A Audit Query is an audit of whether the manufacturer met its early-warning reporting obligations — the data and reports it must send NHTSA — rather than of a vehicle condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2024 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2024 | 2 files 12 |
| Memo granting a response extension | INRE | 2024 | |
| Filed document | INOV | 2024 |
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Apr 3, 2024, owners had filed 64 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 1 named the visibility/wiper NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal, and more can be filed while an action is open.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one is open. Nothing is owed on the vehicle today; if it becomes a recall, owners are written to and the repair is free. The moment to know is the day the campaign number appears — Recall Watch checks each VIN against every new NHTSA campaign and emails you when one lands, or take a free one-line alert by model year.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themA vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
An investigation is not a recall. Yet.
If NHTSA’s questions become a recall, the campaign lands in the federal file first. Recall Watch checks your VINs against every new campaign the night it is filed.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs AQ24004 a recall?
No. A audit query is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one has not produced one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is AQ24004 still open?
Yes, as of NHTSA’s latest file: opened Apr 3, 2024, 2.6 years ago.
Which vehicles does AQ24004 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 4 model years: 2022 Jaguar I-Pace, 2021 Jaguar I-Pace, 2023 Lucid Air, 2022 Lucid Air. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.