Toyota Recalls 8,521 C-HR EVs Over Sudden Power-Loss Risk

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing is recalling 8,521 model-year 2026 C-HR battery-electric SUVs in the United States because a software error can shut down the electric drive system while the vehicle is moving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lists the campaign as 26V570000, with Toyota's own recall number 26TA17, and records the manufacturer's defect report as received on September 2, 2026. NHTSA's entry states that a software programming error may cause the drive battery to become overcharged under certain driving conditions, and that the consequence, an unexpected loss of drive power, increases the risk of a crash.

The fault sits in the battery electric vehicle electronic control unit, or BEV ECU, the computer that manages the traction pack. According to the recall documentation as reported by Electrek, the programming error stops that unit from correctly limiting charge: if the battery is already at or near a full state of charge and the driver keeps using regenerative braking, which feeds energy back into the pack each time the accelerator is released, the pack can be overcharged. Electrek reports that warning lights and a buzzer come on before the electric drive system cuts out, and that the recall covers vehicles built between February 6 and July 10, 2026.

Two vehicle counts have circulated, and they came from different moments. Electrek first wrote up the campaign with a preliminary figure of roughly 10,000 cars, then published an update on September 10, 2026 carrying the confirmed total of 8,521, the same number that appears in NHTSA's record of the filing. Reporting by AutoGuide, carried on Yahoo Autos, also puts the campaign at 8,521 vehicles under both the NHTSA and the Toyota recall numbers.

For owners, the practical point is that the repair is not automatic. NHTSA's record flags this campaign as not an over-the-air update, so a dealer has to reflash the BEV ECU in person, free of charge. Owner notification letters are scheduled to start mailing on October 18, 2026, about six weeks after the defect report was filed, which means drivers who think their car may be covered do not have to wait for the mail. A VIN can be checked against open recalls through NHTSA's own lookup tool, and Toyota's customer service line for this campaign is 1-800-331-4331.

Several things are not in the public record. Neither NHTSA's entry nor the reporting says how long the reflash takes, how quickly dealers will be able to book it, or which software version is affected. The paperwork covers US-market vehicles. The next verifiable date is the October 18 mailing, and any change to the vehicle count would show up in Toyota's follow-up filings with the agency.

Correction: an earlier version of this article gave September 10, 2026 as the filing date and said Toyota had reported no field reports, warranty claims, accidents or injuries. NHTSA's record lists the defect report as received on September 2, 2026, and the field-report claim could not be verified.