Hyundai Is Recalling A Bunch Of EVs Over Battery Issues

Hyundai Is Recalling A Bunch Of EVs Over Battery Issues

Hyundai Australia is recalling a slew of Kona and Ioniq electric vehicles over a battery issue that was first noticed back in March 2021.

A total of 615 Hyundai Konas and 208 Hyundai Ioniqs have been added to the Australian Government’s vehicle recalls website in the last week, with impacted customers also being notified in a follow-up email directly from the company.

According to The Driven, Hyundai first notified customers of the issue via a bulletin in March, urging owners to immediately book in their cars for repairs.

The electric vehicles in question reportedly have issues caused by an incorrectly folded battery cell. Basically, the negative tabs have a possibility of contacting the positive terminals, which could cause a slew of issues ranging from short circuits to vehicle fires.

The issue has reportedly only impacted vehicles with batteries that were manufactured at the LG Chem battery plant in Nanjing, China. In total, 77,000 Konas and 5,700 Ioniqs have been recalled worldwide, but only a small portion of these were ever sold in Australia.

Kona EVs sold between 2018 and 2020 are affected, while the Ioniqs in question were sold during a shorter window of time between 2019 and 2020.

[related_content first=”1715807″]

According to the Vehicle Recalls Australia, “affected consumers will be contacted by Hyundai to arrange a battery replacement.” However, Hyundai’s latest statement seems to assert that not all of the vehicles in question will receive new batteries, depending on their condition.

“Hyundai will inspect, update software or replace the high voltage battery if found to be faulty,” the statement reads.

If your vehicle has been recalled, it’s important to note that Hyundai recommends not charging above 90% and keeping your vehicle parked away from flammable structures until you have had the battery repaired.

Ultimately, only 15 fires have been reported as a result of the issue worldwide, so the risk is relatively low (especially when compared to petrol fires), but it’s much better to be safe than sorry in this situation.

You can read more about the recalls and check if your vehicle has been impacted on the vehicle recall website here.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.