Struggling with recall training

Hello, we have a 7 month old mixed breed (mostly husky) who recently got into a dangerous situation because he has very little recall outside of our home and known places. We are in group training classes and have been for the last few months (7 weekly classes total) and he does very well when training in class and at home. We recently went to take him to the coast (his first car ride outside of town) and he jumped into the trunk of my suv so we pulled over so I could make room for him to be more comfortable back there. When I went to open the trunk he rushed out of the car and ran after a bird straight down the highway and would not listen to a single thing I said. I was terrified and definitely could have handled the situation better but my only focus in that moment was making sure he did not get hit on the busy highway. Thank god it was an area through a small town where the speed limit went down to 45 so people stopped and made sure I had him before continuing. He normally listens off leash at my parents house or at the dog park so this was a big shock to me. I would eventually love for him to have off leash recall for camping and hiking but was wondering if anyone has any other tips for recall cause this incident almost gave me a heart attack. We got him at 3 months old and have been working with him consistently but he definitely has that husky stubbornness in him. Any help or advice is welcome. We are looking into car crates now as well so this incident doesn’t happen again.