Your Toyota SUV May Have A Fire Risk: Here’s What You Need To Know

Several models of a popular Toyota (TM) SUV are under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a possible fire risk that could stem from the battery.

The investigation involves Toyota’s 2013 to 2018 RAV4 SUVs. The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said it received 11 complaints and had additional data that a fire occurred on the left side of the vehicles’ engine compartment.

According to the agency, the majority of the "thermal events" occurred when driving, with four taking place when the vehicles’ ignition was off. Drivers of the RAV4s experienced a stalling of the SUV before the fires occurred half of the time and while the vehicle was in motion.

The NHTSA has identified the 12-V battery as the source in the majority of incidents it reviewed. The battery in some of the vehicles was improperly installed or had a prior front-end collision repair.

The agency said that despite these influencing factors “the overall number of vehicle fire allegations with the battery as the area of origin is larger than its peer population."

“This Preliminary Evaluation has been opened to better understand the contributing factors and frequency of vehicle fires originating from the battery region of the subject vehicles relative to peer vehicles,” NHTSA said.

The investigation affects over 1.86 million RAV4s, which was the best-selling SUV in the U.S. in 2020 with just under 430,400 vehicles sold, USA Today reported. In comparison, the Honda CR-V, the second-best-selling SUV in America, sold just over 333,500 units.

The NHTSA said no reports of accidents or injuries were reported as a result of the automaker's vehicles.

Shares of Toyota were trading at $149.53 as of 12:26 p.m. EST on Monday, up $1.60 or 1.08%.