GM Recalls 67,380 EVs That Can Briefly Lose Braking at Low Speeds

• General Motors is recalling 67,380 Cadillac Lyriq, Vistiq and Celestiq and Chevrolet Blazer EV vehicles under NHTSA campaign 26V717 for brake software that can cut braking for a moment at low speed.
• The free fix is a software update, sent over the air to owners who accepted GM’s terms or installed at a GM dealer, and owner letters are scheduled to start on December 14, 2026.
• Owners can run a VIN search at nhtsa.gov/recalls now, as the affected VINs have been searchable from October 29, 2026.

The Driveway Bump That Can Cut Braking in 67,380 GM Electric Vehicles

Think of the end of your driveway: a sharp turn, a light touch on the brake pedal, a dip where the pavement meets the street. General Motors found that this sequence can make the brakes of its performance all-wheel-drive electric vehicles drop out for a moment. The company filed a safety recall report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on October 29, 2026, and NHTSA posted the document on November 4. GM estimates that 100 percent of the 67,380 vehicles in the recall carry the defect.

In the Part 573 report, GM describes the fault in two sentences: “The brake system control module (BSCM) in these vehicles contains a software defect that may cause a temporary loss of braking at low speeds following a specific sequence of events. Normal brake function returns on the next brake press.”

The risk statement in the same filing runs to one line. GM writes: “Temporary loss of brakes at low speeds increases the risk of a crash.” The cause sits in the software that calculates wheel slip, which does not always read wheel movement correctly under this one sequence of events.

Which Cadillac and Chevrolet Models Are Covered

Four models are on the list, and the Cadillac Lyriq is the biggest group by far. GM’s filing breaks the 67,380 vehicles down by model year.

The Lyriq accounts for 44,585 vehicles, or 66.2 percent of the recall: 474 from the 2023 model year, 22,819 from 2024, 11,926 from 2025, 9,322 from 2026 and 44 from 2027. The 2024 Lyriq alone makes up 33.9 percent of the whole recall, with production dates running from January 20, 2023 to September 20, 2024.

The Cadillac Vistiq follows with 18,802 vehicles (27.9 percent): 13,627 from the 2026 model year and 5,175 from 2027. The Chevrolet Blazer EV adds 3,911 (5.8 percent): 562 from 2024, 2,012 from 2025, 1,314 from 2026 and 23 from 2027. The Cadillac Celestiq counts 82 vehicles: 51 from 2025 and 31 from 2026.

The filing is specific about which versions are involved. For the Lyriq and the Blazer EV, only vehicles with performance all-wheel drive (pAWD, RPO X0E) are named, and on the Blazer EV that configuration is sold only on the SS and PPV trims. PPV is the police pursuit version, so fleet managers who run Blazer EV pursuit vehicles need to check their VINs along with private SS owners. Every other Blazer EV trim, and any Lyriq with a different drive configuration, is outside the recall.

One gap in the paperwork deserves a note. The pAWD sentence appears under the Lyriq and Blazer EV entries in the filing but not under the Vistiq and Celestiq entries, and GM’s description of the cause ties the condition to pAWD vehicles. A Vistiq or Celestiq owner cannot read the drive question off the filing, so the VIN search is the quick way to learn where a particular vehicle stands.

Why the 2024 Lyriq Brake Recall Did Not Settle It

The Lyriq has been recalled for a brake software fault before. NHTSA recall 24V589, reported to the agency on August 8, 2024, covered 21,469 model year 2023 and 2024 Lyriq all-wheel-drive vehicles whose anti-lock brake system could activate unexpectedly and release brake pressure. The remedy was a software update, over the air or at a dealer, and owner letters were mailed on September 3, 2024.

The 2024 update left one case uncovered. The trigger for the new recall came on April 10, 2026. A GM technical expert sent the company’s Speak Up for Safety program a report on a 2024 Cadillac Lyriq that had hit a garage at low speed, and that car already ran the software from the earlier recall. GM’s preliminary testing duplicated the condition. The filing describes the conditions: “When the brakes are lightly applied at low speeds during a sharp turn and the vehicle encounters a bump or depression – such as at the end of a driveway – a momentary release and reapplication of the brakes may cause the software’s slip calculation to misinterpret wheel movement. In some instances, this may result in a temporary loss of braking.”

GM draws the boundary of the problem in the next sentence of its report: “The phenomenon is unique to certain vehicles equipped with performance all-wheel drive (pAWD, RPO X0E) and is resolved when the brakes are applied again.” The company confirmed that the garage case involved a specific set of conditions in certain pAWD implementations that the remedy for 24V589 did not address. A pAWD Lyriq that already received the 2024 update is still in this recall. GM says pAWD vehicles covered by 24V589 are included in 26V717 and closed under 24V589, as the one software update addresses both conditions.

A fresh product investigation began at GM on August 18, 2026, 130 days after the April report. Its Safety Field Action Decision Authority decided on October 22, 2026 to conduct a recall, 195 days after the garage report and 65 days after the investigation opened. The filing reached NHTSA seven days after that decision.

GM’s review of its legal files, its TREAD data and NHTSA owner questionnaires turned up 24 field complaints potentially related to the condition. Twenty involved minor accidents, and two of those 20 carried allegations of minor injuries. GM received the complaints between February 28, 2024 and June 11, 2026, a window that opens five months before the August 2024 report of recall 24V589. Set against 67,380 vehicles, 24 complaints is about 0.036 percent, or one for every 2,800 vehicles. The filing reports no crash count beyond those 20 minor accidents.

Federal regulators have a separate and larger look at GM brakes underway. The GM 1.16 million vehicle brake probe opened after brakes suddenly failed in crashes, and it is a different action from recall 26V717 with its own vehicles and its own fault.

The Free Software Fix and the Dates That Apply

The remedy is the same for every affected vehicle. GM will update the software in the brake system control module so the slip calculation reads wheel movement correctly. The repair costs the owner nothing, and the filing states that GM is using its general reimbursement plan on file.

Delivery has two routes. A vehicle that can take wireless over-the-air updates, with an owner who has accepted the applicable terms and conditions, can receive the new software without a dealer visit. Any owner can instead have a GM dealer install it, and for an owner who has not accepted the terms the dealer is the route to use.

GM has already fixed the problem on the assembly line. The Celestiq received the correction in 2027 model year production, the 2027 Blazer EV from August 8, 2026, the 2026 model year Lyriq from September 7, 2026 and the 2027 model year Vistiq from October 21, 2026. Vehicles built before those changes carry the old software, and they are the ones in the recall.

The schedule is already moving. The filing schedules dealer notification for October 29, 2026, the same day the VINs became searchable. GM expects to start notifying owners on December 14, 2026, 46 days after the filing. NHTSA’s recall record sets neither the Do Not Drive flag nor the Park Outside flag for this campaign; both read false.

Brake software is not the only code behind an EV recall. Toyota’s C-HR EV software recall covered 8,521 vehicles with a bug that cuts power while driving.

What Owners Should Do Now

Start with the VIN. The 17-character number sits on the lower left of the windshield and is printed on the registration card, and an insurance card can show it too. Enter it at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The search lists any unrepaired recall on the vehicle, or shows the message “0 unrepaired recalls associated with this VIN” when none is open. The result leaves out recalls already repaired, and a recently announced recall can be missing VINs, as they are added continuously. Check again in a few weeks if the first search comes back clean on a Lyriq, Vistiq, Celestiq or Blazer EV SS. The NHTSA page also takes up to 100 VINs in one search, which suits a fleet, and its free SaferCar app sends an alert when a recall appears for a vehicle you have entered.

Ask a GM dealer whether the update is ready for your vehicle rather than waiting for the December 14 letters. The filing says any owner can have the update installed at a GM dealer. Cadillac owners can reach customer service at 1-800-333-4223 and Chevrolet owners at 1-800-222-1020. Quote GM recall number N262570900 and NHTSA campaign number 26V717. The NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline is 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-888-275-9171).

Owners who want the update without a dealer visit need to accept the applicable terms and conditions, as the filing ties the wireless route to that acceptance.

Until the repair is done, GM’s filing is the guide to the failure itself. The loss is temporary, and normal braking returns on the next press of the pedal. The trigger is light brake pressure, a sharp turn at low speed and a bump or dip such as the lip of a driveway. A Lyriq owner whose vehicle was repaired under the 2024 recall should not assume the job is finished, as the earlier update is the one that missed this case.

Anyone who has felt braking drop out in one of these vehicles can file a complaint through the Report a Safety Problem form on nhtsa.gov. NHTSA reviews every submission, and the complaints help its investigators find defects that lead to recalls. A VIN check costs nothing, takes a minute and works for every make, and NHTSA advises checking twice a year: Toyota’s RAV4 plug-in hybrid recall covered 30,978 vehicles with a sudden power loss risk.

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Sources

• NHTSA: Part 573 Safety Recall Report 26V717, General Motors, LLC
• NHTSA: Recalls API, campaign 26V717
• NHTSA: Check for Recalls

Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar