Worldwide recall according to this 11 Oct news item.

I am fully in sync with you on this. Feel the same way abut my car, charging behind me as I write this.

With some experience in manufacturing, it is quite possible that there was a time period when some stuff was not put together properly. That would explain the time frame referred to above.

 

They probably don't, but they have the ability to look up the TSB that describes the work to be performed.

 

It may be worth while to call your dealer. Don't be surprised if they are surprised.

 

I already sent an email to the service manager just to give them a heads-up, and I have no doubt that we will talk at some point tomorrow, and I may learn something further. And perhaps sometime tomorrow the TSB will be on the NHTSA website, so we can see for ourselves what they are up to.

The main question in my mind is does any of this change the previous conclusion that a new battery pack is required? Is there some new BMS software update that would now allow the car to charge without throwing a fault?

If I do get the car back, I will start monitoring cell voltages on a regular basis. Other than the small amount of time it takes to do this, there is no downside.

 

My Mar 2019 build date vehicle also has the recall. So, now I want to know what it involves.

 

Don't we all. I would guess that in the morning we will find the TSB somewhere or another. The people in the U.K. are up earlier than we are, and they might have found it by the time I am up and have my coffee made. But it is possible that this is just another software thing, and that we won't learn squat from it.

The other thing that I just realized - my car hasn't been 'started' in nearly 2 months. The bluelink status shows that the last ping was on Aug 27th. So if they turn the car on for any reason, I will be able to see it right away. My recollection is that the SOC was around 38% or so.

 

Plugged my VIN into https://autoservice.hyundaiusa.com/ and sure enough...

Not feeling any imminent threat, I wonder how long I should put off contacting the dealer about it. Maybe at least until it shows up on the NHSTA site... of course who knows how long it will be before they can actually *do* anything about it.

 

They should contact you - obviously they're not going to contact everyone at once - it was a couple of months after the initial reports that I got the BMS recall notice

 

From the Hyundai Kona Forum

Reuters reports: Hyundai said in a statement on Monday it “is in the final stages of filing a voluntary recall notice with the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) for U.S. Kona EVs and will start the process of informing owners of these vehicles.” . The Reuters article further mentions that the recall is expected to be in the form of a software update, battery inspection, and, if deemed necessary, battery replacement.

 

Yeah, I'm expecting an actual written notice eventually, so it's a matter of how proactive I want to be and if I want to give the dealer a hard time over it or not My first lease payment is coming due today which is kind of awkward... bigger problems to worry about for the next few weeks though.

Sensible and expected. It does confirm my suspicion that the previous software update that tightened the battery testing criteria was barely a band-aid on what was (and apparently still is) a poorly understood problem. Can hardly wait to learn what the new update will change.

 

Just spoke with my dealer's service department. While a recall has been filed, Hyundai has not released a solution yet.

 

On my BlueLink App. I don't see this. But I do still see the (undeleteable) BMS Update from Feb.

However on the https://autoservice.hyundaiusa.com/CampaignHome/ I do see
Recall 196 -- 2019-2020 KONA ELECTRIC (OS EV) VEHICLE BATTERY REPAIR

So.... boo....

If anyone encounters a dealership that actually knows what to do, please post. My state doesn't even sell the Kona EV, so I'm luckily my local dealership got trained and seems to be able to follow directions, but they likely aren't going to be proactive about this campaign.

 

Here is an interesting article that that suggest the recalled EVs will undergo software updates for all affected models and battery replacements of select models after inspections. It also estimates the cost of the recall at $522 million if all 77,000 cars needs battery replacements.
That would put the cost of each pack replacement (presumably new) at $6800. At $108 per kwh that sounds like the raw battery cost and does not include install labor, logistics of moving these 1000 lbs packs around and then rebuilding/recycling them. Still seems like a billion dollar + problem for Hyundai.
I curious if they will divulge what the software updates will do because I know I won't be rushing to get it done unless they are more transparent than usual.
https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/12/hyundai-kona-ev-recall-expands-battery-fire-risk/

 

That's still a big if right now.

 

Got a response from the dealer. Remedy not available, but she did come up with this related to the 196 recall.

 

Just arrived in email, though nothing on the NHTSA site

 

The recall also popped up for me. I have an appointment scheduled for this Saturday, will see if they can address it at that time or not.

 

Would you guys mind also giving us the date your vehicles were made.
Thanks.

 

Mine is May 2019 and has the recall notice on the Hyundai Recall Site and Carfax, but not Bluelink. I personally plan to wait until a few people have had the recall handled and see what the outcome is before doing anything. After all, I generally sit with the car when it is charging anyway, so shouldn't really be an issue for me anyway.

 

If I were in a different position, I might have chosen this path....