Hyundai Kona Electric (electric car)

2021: Recall of 82,000 defective electric vehicles with flammable batteries

At the end of February 2021, it became known about the recall of Hyundai Kona EV electric vehicles due to problems with batteries. In total, the company will have to withdraw about 82,000 cars from markets around the world.

The reason for the service company was 15 cases of fires of defective batteries - 11 in South Korea, two in Canada, one in Finland and one in Austria. The company promises to change battery packs, and for now recommends owners not to charge their Kona electric cars by more than 90%.

Hyundai recalls 82,000 defective electric cars with flammable batteries

The South Korean manufacturer will have to recall 76,000 Kona electric vehicles produced between 2018 and 2020, as well as several thousand Ioniq electric vehicles. Since the fixed software could not cope with the problem of spontaneous combustion, the automaker plans to carry out a more radical fix, providing for the installation of a completely new battery on each machine. Therefore, the recall will be very expensive and will cost the company about $900 million.

While South Korea's Ministry of Transport suggests the fires may have been caused by a manufacturing defect, battery maker LG Chem has denied any faults. According to LG Chem, "Hyundai misused LG's fast charging proposals in the battery management system, so adding a battery pack should not be seen as a direct cause of fires."

Hyundai chose not to comment, but South Korea's transport ministry found defects in some elements made at LG Energy's factory in China. It should be noted that in November 2020, Chevrolet also initiated the recall of some Bolt electric vehicles after five fires. The affected cars also use LG Chem elements, although not Chinese, but South Korean-made.^[1]

2020

Recall of 50,000 electric vehicles due to brake problems

In early December 2020, it became known that Hyundai was recalling 50,000 electric vehicles due to brake problems. Its subsidiary Kia Motors also plans to recall 1,895 Soul electric vehicles due to a similar malfunction.

Hyundai Motor plans to recall a total of 50,864 Kona electric vehicles and Nexo fuel cell vehicles sold in Korea due to malfunctions in electronic brake systems, South Korea's Ministry of Transport said. The ministry said the braking systems of these cars could fail at any time due to software defects. However, officials did not say whether there have already been cases of accidents due to these defects.

Hyundai recalls 50,000 electric vehicles due to brake problems

In South Korea, the recall will cover about 40,000 Kona electric and hybrid electric vehicles produced from May 2019 to November 2020 and 10,138 Nexo fuel cell SUVs manufactured from January 2018 to November 2020. At the same time, it should be noted that the Kona is one of the best-selling electric vehicles in Europe, and its sales outside the domestic market of South Korea account for more than 75% of the total. It is not yet known whether the recall of electric cars will affect other markets.

Despite the fact that Kona Electric appeared on the mass market only in 2020, it is the second time the company has recalled cars for urgent repairs. Earlier, several hundred owners of this model filed a class action lawsuit against the automaker due to cases of spontaneous combustion of batteries observed in Korea, Canada and Europe. Hyundai had to update the software for tens of thousands of electric vehicles, changing the algorithm of the battery temperature monitoring system in such a way as to prevent overheating in the future.^[2]

Recall of 77 thousand cars

In mid-October 2020, automaker Hyundai announced the recall of 77,000 Kona Electric electric vehicle models worldwide. The decision was made against the background of reports of a fire in vehicles; since 2018, 13 incidents have been recorded.

Hyundai is set to recall thousands of Kona Electric cars produced between September 2017 and March 2020. We are talking about over 11,000 Kona Electric cars in North America, more than 37,000 cars in Europe, as well as 3000 Kona Electric sold in other countries.

Hyundai recalls 77,000 defective electric vehicles worldwide due to battery fires

Prior to the global recall announcement, the South Korean automaker reported a recall of 25,564 electric vehicles sold domestically. It comes after South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said a possible short circuit in a faulty battery cell system could ignite an electric car. LG Chem, which supplies lithium-ion car batteries to Hyundai Motor, denied the South Korean regulator's findings and said the exact cause of the Kona Electric fires has yet to be determined. LG Chem intends to investigate incidents with Hyundai.

In South Korea, Hyundai decided to upgrade the battery management system software for the Kona Electric or, if necessary, fully replace the battery system. It is assumed that similar updates for defective electric cars will be undertaken in other countries.

Until March 2020, all Kona Electric cars were produced in South Korea. Since October 2020, the production of electric vehicles has started at a European enterprise in the city of Noshovits (Czech Republic). The recall of electric vehicles assembled in Europe has not been reported.^[3]

2019: Electric car explosion

At the end of July 2019, a sudden Hyundai Kona fire occurred at the Canadian Piero Cosentino. According to electric vehicle the car owner, it exploded, although it was not in the process of charging the batteries and was not connected to the power grid.

Cosentino acquired the Hyundai Kona in March 2018. The incident occurred on July 26, 2019. The motorist was about to have lunch when he suddenly heard an explosion, after which the fire alarm went off. Thick black smoke was coming from the door leading to his garage.

According to the car owner, the electric car exploded, although it was not in the process of charging batteries and was not connected to the power grid

The motorist ran out of the house, immediately called the firefighters and began to extinguish the fire with a garden hose. The roof of the garage in which the electric car was located burned to aphid, and its doors were blown out into the street by an explosive wave. Part of the house was destroyed due to a vehicle explosion and fire.

As soon as I saw a cloud of smoke, I immediately turned off the electricity in the house, "Piero Cosentino told reporters.

Fortunately, no one was injured during the Hyundai Kona fire. But, according to Cosentino, if someone was near the garage, then everything could end in tears.

Hyundai's electric car exploded and destroyed the house. He wasn't on a recharge

By August 12, 2019, an investigation into the causes of the incident continues. It is conducted by law enforcement agencies in conjunction with firefighters and Hyundai Canada.

 Almost nothing remains of the electric car, with the exception of the burned body. According to the head of the fire service involved in the extinguishing, Louis Derozye, the Hyundai Kona was in the epicenter of the fire, and besides the electric car, it  sees no other possible causes of the explosion. But the final answer to the question about the reasons for what happened will be given only by the investigation. This is the first known case of spontaneous ignition of the Hyundai Kona, although, for example,  the cTesla Model has already happened.^[4]

2018: Electric Version Announcement

At the end of February 2018, Hyundai presented an electric version of the Kona crossover, the public presentation of which will be held at the Geneva Motor Show (March 8-18).

Hyundai Kona Electric electric crossover will be able to overcome 470 km

The Hyundai Kona Electric model will be sold in two versions. The basic version involves the use of a block of lithium-polymer batteries with a capacity of 39.2 kilowatt-hours and an electric motor with a capacity of 135 liters. from. and with a torque of 395 N-m. In maximum equipment, the electric car will receive a 204-liter motor. from. and a set of batteries for 64 kilowatt-hours. The maximum range for the versions will be 300 and 470 km, respectively.

Hyundai Kona Electric can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.6 seconds, and the speed is limited to 167 km/h.

The interior of an electric car is not much different from the regular version of the Hyundai Kona with ICE

Charging batteries from a household power grid takes almost 10 hours in the case of a top-end modification of an electric car. When using a 100-kilowatt charger, the battery's charge margin can increase from 0% to 80% in less than an hour.

In addition to the electric power plant, the Kona Electric differs from the usual version of the crossover with the ICE closed grille, modified bumpers and proprietary 17-inch wheels. Changes in the interior are minimal.

Hyundai Kona Electric gets fast charging function - 80% in less than an hour

The set of safety systems of the car includes adaptive cruise control with a full stop function, a frontal collision prevention system capable of detecting pedestrians, as well as a function to monitor blind spots and cars moving in the transverse direction. There is an infotainment system with a 7-inch touchscreen display and support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mobile interfaces.

Hyundai plans to start selling the Kona Electric in the first half of 2018. The cost of an electric car is not called. It is also unknown whether it will be sold on the Russian market.^[5]

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