Federal regulators are escalating their investigation into brake‑assist failures across GM’s electric‑vehicle lineup, following hundreds of consumer complaints and a rising number of crash reports tied to the company’s eBoost brake‑by‑wire system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has upgraded the probe to a full Engineering Analysis, the agency’s most serious investigative tier and typically the final step before ordering a recall.
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The investigation now covers more than 1.16 million vehicles across GM, Honda, and Acura, spanning model years 2023–2026. Affected vehicles include the Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Blazer EV, Equinox EV, Traverse, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave/Envision, Honda Prologue, and Acura ZDX, among others. Regulators say the failures involve sudden or inconsistent loss of brake assist — sometimes occurring mid‑stop, contradicting GM’s initial explanation that failures only occur after the vehicle comes to a complete halt.
NHTSA filings show 745 unique incident reports, including 22 crashes or fires and six injuries, though no fatalities have been recorded. Many drivers describe a hard brake pedal, flashing warning lights, and extended stopping distances. In one case, a Blazer EV driver intentionally crashed into a curb to avoid entering a busy intersection with no braking power.
GM says it is cooperating fully and maintains that the alleged defects do not pose an “unreasonable risk,” attributing some issues to spindle fractures or sensor‑calibration variations. Regulators, however, say continued reports of immediate brake‑assist loss warrant deeper analysis of both hardware and software components within the eBoost system.
With the probe now expanded to 12 GM models and two Honda vehicles, federal investigators are working to determine whether a widespread safety defect exists — a decision that could trigger one of the largest EV‑related recalls to date.