Recall 196 now shows on US Hyundai Recall website..

I must really charge mine up to 100% some time. Have never done it. Build date is Dec 27, 2018. Maybe it will blow up, and I get a new car... Don't want to lose my house though. I keep waiting for an opportunity to do it, just before a longer drive. Don't want to leave it sitting at 100% for too long.

No recall showing up yet for my VIN. I think I will get mine done right away, though. Don't want a bomb sitting in my garage, or in my driveway.

On the bright side, still no clicking after my motor change. Still only 5000 kms though since. When it reaches another 20K kms, then I will assume fixed for good.

 

As mentioned it seems unlikely it's a manufacturing fault in LGs side. I feel a BMS programming fault/bug is more likely. That makes it likely that they will update the BMS and double check on cell voltage/condition whatever thingy-bob and we're good to go.

A 100% charge limit is very unlikely to happen. LG is very adamant about it not being a manufacturing problem which is their bread and butter, so if it was it would be in their interest to get it fixed ASAP.

I'm very certain that my car won't blow up in my driveway. So I'm just going to wait and see what they come up with and go from there.

No need to stress out right now.

 

There are at least two forum members who have reported their estimated range has dropped significantly after the update. However one of them has been reporting the estimated range is gradually increasing again after repeated charge cycles. The hypothesis seems to be that the changes to the BMS software messes with the range estimate (perhaps by deleting history data), and the GOM is temporarily inaccurate, rather than there being actual loss of range. This is based on a data set of one so far, though.

Once again, remember that the 20% reduction rumor is based on a single Korean news article that was edited to remove the part that mentioned it shortly after it was posted. As far as I'm aware, there are no official statements or other news articles discussing it, and we have one anecdotal account on this forum that suggests it's not true.

I guess what I'm trying to say is; Don't panic.

 

Over charging, over discharging and excessive temperature can all cause damage that causes an internal short. The damage is cumulative and can take place over time. Even if BMS algorithms are now correct to protect against additional damage, it cannot repair previous damage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You will be fine, I charged mine up to 100% last night which is really only 4.16 cell voltage (not really 100%) and its still not on fire, lol. Now the clicking noise i'm not so sure about, I heard it briefly again after about 1000km on the new motor when the temperatures dipped again recently, its quite at the moment, so I am going to see how it goes.

 

When you say damage and internal short, are you just talking about deterioration that leads to excessive range reduction, or to a fire. If it is the latter, should that not be prevented by the battery design and the BMS? I don't think a manufacturer should rely on a user to prevent such catastrophic failure. At the least there should be a stern warning in the manual,... and probably on the dashboard.

 

I had thought that the most likely thing that could lead to a fire was a damaged separator in the cell itself. This isn't something that can be visually inspected without totally destroying the cell. If this were the underlying problem, it would sort of be in LG's lap and not Hyundai, but at this point it is all guesswork - it could be something else entirely. A short circuit anywhere could in theory lead to a runaway thermal reaction, quickly leading to a fire.

 

I bought our’s in L.A. in early November of ‘19 and it’s on the list. Our Kona was built in Korea in August of ‘19. I had the original BMS maintenance update in July. I only charge to 70% unless I’m going on a long trip and that has not happened since COVID. Feel ok about it for now. The Kona has been perfect for our needs. Any loss of mileage will not work for me when I start driving to CA again. Hope it doesn’t come to legal wrangling.

 

Ya. If the solution to this is some sort of range limitation being imposed then the value proposition of the Kona changes completely and, for me, the utility of the vehicle would no longer work. A Kona with a limited range would be more comparable to several much less expensive EVs. And there's a reason I didn't opt for those. I hope it's all just rumours. I don't feel like owning a crippled car nor do I relish being party to a class action law suit.

 

Possible. The original BMS TSB really had two checks. One was the cell voltage deviation, the other was to measure the isolation of the batteries to check for a ground fault. Leaking coolant could of course cause a ground fault, especially if it is the old green coolant. This is something they can check from the computer without removing the battery from the car.

 

KiwiMe may be onto something.
Everything from using dissimilar metals , having different factors of expansion, corrosion,
Conductive fluids, and even weird stuff like bacteria that eat copper.
This is all very complex and there could be compound problems.
Knowing the dates when the first heat pumps were installed might be a clue, if we had the dates
of the first fires.

 

Just to note that one early event was a car on a Norway (or Denmark?) dealer's lot, and if I recall correctly with the Canadian event the owner had bought the car not long before.

I would assume that the BMS update should be doing that for us every four hours.

If you don't already have the tools, a bluetooth dongle and SoulEVSpy (android only) is a very easy way to check cell balance now and again. If the variation is no more than 0.02 V, you don't need to charge to 100%.

Heat pumps have been present since day one as far as I know. The Netherlands and us in NZ got the very first cars after S.K. in mid-2018. But also, the HP only cools the coolant outside of the battery pack.

 

Sorry, I meant to say, coolant lines and system.

 

I think heatpumps fitted or not are a regional difference, not build date

 

My VIN is not listed ether. I picked up the car on Aug. 31st (2020). Anyone knows how to decipher the manufacturing date from the VIN? Is it possible at all?

 

VIN doesn't contain manufacture date. Check the sticker inside the driver side door frame.

 

Drivers side, B pillar.