Hyundai Motor to Recall and Replace Battery Systems in EVs

The new recall has been done to roughly 76,000 Kona EVs and some Ioniq EV and Elec City models. According to the transport ministry, there have been around 15 cases of fires starting in the Kona EV, out of which 11 were in South Korea, 2 in Canada, 1 in Finland and 1 in Austria.

Hyundai Motor Co is recalling cars to replace battery systems in around 82,000 electric vehicles globally due to fire risks, a problem which occurred earlier as well and resulted in a recall is likely to cost the automaker an estimated $900 million. The latest recall is mostly related to its best-selling electric car, the Kona EV, which was earlier recalled in October for a software upgrade after a series of fires. In the month of January, one of the recalled cars caught fire and the South Korean authorities raised the question that whether the first recall had been fully successful or not.

LG Energy Solution, the battery manufacturing firm, which is a division of LG Chem Ltd, said in a statement that Hyundai Motor has misapplied LG's suggestion for fast-charging logic in Hyundai's battery management system and that the battery cell should not be considered as the direct cause of the fire risks.

The new recall has been done to roughly 76,000 Kona EVs and some Ioniq EV and Elec City models. According to the transport ministry, there have been around 15 cases of fires starting in the Kona EV, out of which 11 were in South Korea, 2 in Canada, 1 in Finland and 1 in Austria. In a statement, the brand said that of the total 1 trillion won cost in the estimated recalls, around 38.9 billion won was due to the first recall itself. Shares of Hyundai Motor and LG Chem have been down 3.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively in afternoon trade compared to a 2 per cent fall for the broader market. ($1 = 1,111.7900 won)