If you own a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter from the 2019 and 2020 model years, you might want to check with the automaker if your van needs to be recalled. The Stuttgart-headquartered company has just announced a recall for almost 53,000 Sprinters and Freightliner Sprinter VS30s over a potential fire risk.
The issue isn’t directly related to the engine of the car. However, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system’s blower motor could have an inadequate circuit, which may cause the wiring harness to overheat and potentially start a fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn’t report actual cases of vehicles catching fire so far.
Mercedes says that 52,993 vehicles are potentially affected by the problem and that dealers will relocate and replace the fuse and wiring harness of the blower motor if needed, free of charge. Owners of affected vehicles will be notified via email on April 14 this year and alternatively, they can contact Mercedes-Benz USA or their local Mercedes dealer for more information.
If you own a 2019-2020 Sprinter that is potentially affected by the issue, it’s good to know Mercedes recommends those vehicles to be operated with the HVAC blower motor in manual mode whenever the engine is on. Don’t use the maximum blower speed or lowest/highest temperature settings until your van is inspected by a dealer, too. As a side note, there’s no stop sale order from the NHTSA, which means you can buy a brand new Mercedes Sprinter, which currently has a starting price of $43,500 in the base cargo version.
As far as the future of the model is concerned, the automaker will launch a fully electric version of the van later this year. The eSprinter has a rear-mounted electric motor with either 134 horsepower (100 kilowatts) or 201 hp (150 kW) and a peak torque of 295 pound-feet (400 Newton-meters). In the United States, the zero-emissions van will be delivered with a lithium/iron phosphate (LFP) battery with a usable capacity of 113 kWh. There’s no EPA-certified range announced yet by measure by Europe’s WLTP cycle, the bus will do up to 248.5 miles (400 kilometers) between two charges.
