Nissan is recalling the 2023 model year Ariya electric crossover in the US for a software issue that could cause the loss of drive power.

Green Car Reports said there are 9,813 potentially affected units including both single motor front wheel drive and dual motor all wheel drive versions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said "there is a potential that conductive fibrous shavings from the drive motors' slip ring assembly can momentarily short circuit the two slip rings". While these shavings instantly burn out without causing damage, a fail-safe protocol reducing power still occurs because the inverter detects the momentary over current due to the short circuit.

If this fail-safe protocol is triggered, torque to the driven wheels will be cut off until the vehicle is powered off and restarted, the NHTSA said. The loss of power will be accompanied by an 'EV System Off' message on the dashboard.

The Ariya is compatible with over the air updates for the entire vehicle, Nissan told Green Car Reports, but it appears that the brand might not have yet enabled inverter related changes. Nissan is telling owners of affected vehicles that they will have to take them to dealerships where the inverter software will be reprogrammed free of charge.