Battery Recall 196 - Dead after recharging

You might be the lucky winner of a new traction battery! We have had only a few winners outside of South Korea and only one in NZ so far. One in 1000 cars they say.

The other possibility it that the dealer drained the 12V battery while dithering around doing the updates and damaged it.

 

I'm thinking the High Voltage battery has a cell on the verge of failing. Fails when charging but not when diagnosing. You may need them to hold it for a period to view the failure first hand. I totally agree with KiwiME. Let us know what happens.

 

If there is a faulty cell where it is intermittent then I think using an obd2 device with an app makes so much sense, not least for your sanity. It can also show you how the 12v is doing.

 

My turn, awoke to a bricked car and "Check EV system" warning. It was cold this morning -15C, the car was not plugged or charging. 12V battery voltage seems fine. Tow truck is on its way. Man I really can't believe my luck with this car.

 

Oh man,... so sorry to hear that. Can't remember but did you have Torque Pro or SoulEVspy battery cell map readings from before this happened?

 

Oddly enough I charged yesterday at work to 100% and did check torque pro all the cells were evenly balanced at 4.16, with total pack reading showing 408.6V. BMS voltage at 100% display was my typical 95.5%. The battery heater had warmed up the battery to +12C during the charge session( ambient was -5C). I noted the internal surge resistance measurement was 3000 k ohms which I think was higher than typical 2000 but did not pay much attention to it as I am not really sure what the tolerance values are for this. Anyways when I parked at home outdoors last night with a 90% SOC all was well. It was actually colder than I thought last night -22C so perhaps the cold has something to do with this. That said short of the 12V issues it survived last Winter's extremes pre BMS update without issue.

Sadly, I am starting too feel like this car is a bit of a problem child. That said I have been really enjoying my car that last couple of months since I got back my car from the last service fiasco and kinda felt maybe they finally fixed all the problems for good. I will wait to see what they have to say. I am going to guess based on my past experience they will probably clear the code, tell me all is good and have me rinse and repeat the problem a couple of more times before they take it seriously.

This experience has confirmed my fear about the new BMS update, in that your car can be randomly bricked without any real warning or knowledge what the problem is. I suppose its great if your within warranty and close to a dealer that can service your EV. I am glad this did not happen at my work 200Kms from the nearest dealer but it really makes wonder if I would keep this car past warranty.

I thought about the trade up but the only 2021 4 Kona's EVs nearby are either black or battleship grey, neither of which I am a fan, plus I am not looking forward to the depreciation bath on car that is one week short of a year in my possession. I guess we will see what's wrong first and I am driving my dead nuts reliable 14 year old Tundra in meantime because of course no loaner available.

 

I called it(I really hate that I can predict their behavior now). The dealer contacted me just now and claimed they contacted HYTAC and were instructed to clear the code and reflash the BMS update. They could not find anything wrong and report everything as hunky dory now. Sigh I seriously doubt it but I guess I will likely just have to go through with this song and dance a couple of more times, thanks Hyundai.

 

Well, if the traction battery is at fault perhaps it won't pass the test this time during the update. I'd be surprised if a bad update would result in intermittent faults.

Because I've already suffered a Chevy Vega and a nikasil-cylindered BMW I seem to have paid my bad-luck dues.

 

Just thought I'd pass this on from Reddit:

 

Picked up the car, at least they washed it for me, nice. I spoke with the service advisor and he sheepishly admitted that I likely will be back, nice.
Anyways the paperwork gives a little more details. The BMS code it threw was P1AA600 which translates to " the code is not defined or cannot find active" Very helpful, lol.

 

Interesting, but in my case I was not charging or plugged in. It threw the code either before or while I pressed the power on button. Its rubbish nonetheless as I am kind of worried about getting bricked on my usual 2 hour drive out of town for work. I can get the car towed from wherever but because of COVID restrictions I can not ride in the tow truck I would have to try and find my own way home, great.

 

Well from the TSB:-

 

Hmm, there is that.
apu, have you checked the cell balance?

We're now got one battery failure in NZ, reported on FB. Replacement expected late January.

 

Thanks Anaglypta

I did check the night before it threw the code and all seemed fine. The only odd thing when I did charge it last was that the last 1%(99-100%) took 30 minutes which was weird.
I have her back on the charge, she either throws another code or catches fire ... naw it will be fine If its really an issue it will declare itself sooner or later.

 

Apu, was the car like this after you got your 196 recall update? I thought earlier, you said you will wait and see from other owners before getting the 196 done?

Now, I am having second thoughts about doing the 196 near the end of the month. My car works perfectly fine, and I don't see why I have to be dragged in to have them screw it up. I also have a two-hour drive to my work, and towing it to the nearest dealership is like a no-no long distance.

I might just skipped the recalls, and sell the car back to Hyundai by year 5, when the warranty runs out. Then they can do whatever they want with a car that might brick itself anytime without warning.

 

Yes it was after the 196 update, and yes I did say I was going to wait and see. I capitulated to the multiple calls from my dealer and finally a personal call from the service manager who offered concierge pickup and delivery of a loner vehicle. I honestly ran out of excuses not to do it.
I don't know what the right answer is anymore but in retrospect I suspect the update is more hassle than its worth.

 

I let this go as long as I could but had to eventually take it in (2 days ago) to keep the warranty intact and maintain resale, whatever's left of it. I have to believe that the vast majority of examples continue to run just fine afterwards and don't get damaged during the updates. So far so good, although I just got the letter for recall 199, IEB brakes.