Battery Replacements for 2020s

Did you check the recalls for your VIN? I thought it said that 2019 will have replacements after being checked again but they don't have a resolution for 2020's yet. But that was a couple months ago that I saw that.

 

Don't believe your dealer. Don't believe the Hyundai hotline operators. Don't believe rumors on these forums. Nobody knows anything. Believe only when you drive away with a new battery. (And a little scepticism even then might be in order!)

 

Hi, I just had an email about getting my battery checked, then possibly replaced. Mine is 2019, I did note my email mentioned 2020 cars up to March only.

 

I received that same message. We had all of our pre-replacement services done for our 2020 Kona in July, the P29, software update, and a check whether our battery needed to be replaced (it did). I called this week asking about when we would be able to schedule the replacement and they told me Hyundai is prioritizing the impacted 2019s and doing those first, then they would schedule the 2020s. No certainty or idea of timeline provided (I didn't expect one given past precedent haha).

I then asked him if they had actually performed any replaement on 2019 Kona's and he said they had done several. Then he gave the standard stiff arm, telling us our car is in the system and we will be notified when they are ready to schedule the appointment. So I have to take a little solace in the fact that the process has started, but until I meet or hear from someone who actually had the replacement performed and they are clear and back to 100%, I remain skeptical and frustrated that I could be sitting here 6 months from now in the same boat, watching, waiting.

Also not so sure I want to have them replace with another LG battery given recent Bolt fires and what seems to be a pervasive manufacturing issue at multiple locations and car manufacturers. Is there any information on the replacement battery they are installing and are they planning to go with the SKI, like in the 2022 EVs?

 

Since LG is apparently paying 70% of the recall costs, it has to be LG batteries. Hyundai is not going to pay 100% of recall by installing batteries from another manufacturer

 

I guess if LG missed the ball on the batteries and GM blows it wide open and these new replacement batteries are flawed and then needs to be replaced again , then Hyundai has mud on their face and they've put ppl at risk, again, even its minimal.
As much as I like the Kona , my confidence level is pretty low. Imo, if Hyundai was really smart, if they wrote these off, they would be better off because a majority of the ppl might stick with Hyundai. If they end up pissing off the customers , there next ev won't be a Hyundai.
I've noticed that Americans who got their buyback money, most of them were not buying a Hyundai ev again.
I'm only keeping mine because the wife likes it and selling it or trading it, is throwing money in the garbage. But my next car is going to be the BMW i4.
In doing this I can easily keep the Kona under 160,000km by 8yrs and if that battery fails Hyundai is on the hook.

 

I JUST received notification that the "REMEDY IS AVAILABLE" for my 2020 KONA Ultimate. I am scheduled to take car to the Service Center (SF BAY AREA) next Wed, the 29th. The Recall says "BATT ASSY.INS, REP & S/W UPD(21-01-046H-1)"

I REALLY hope this isn't just a Inspect & s/w update, but actually the BATTERY gets replaced !! If not, I will always have that fear in my head of burning down the house while charging.

 

Are you saying the 2022's do not have LG batteries?

 

From what I've read (take that at face value), Hyundai is trying to move away from LG. Unlike GM, which made massive future financial commitments/construction of facilitates. The Ioniq, for example, will have an SKI battery. Not sure about all vehicles, including the Kona.

 

Has anyone confirmed what battery is in the 2022?

 

We just received an alert through Bluelink stating the remedy for our 2020 Kona was available and to contact our dealer to schedule an appointment to begin the repair process. Well we actually began the process over the summer, so no points for that.

I called the dealer to schedule and I asked if this was the actual replacement, since we already had previous appointments for software, etc. He said this was a 2 hour appointment to just take pictures of the battery assembly and send to Hyundai so they can order and send the replacement battery. He did mention the replacement would be an LG.

I also asked what the time frame would be from this appointment until the battery actually arrives and we can schedule the final replacement, and he said 1-2 months, since it's coming from the factory in Korea.

Seems like more corporate stiff arming to me. Why couldn't they take picture when they had the car and ran the check back in July to determine if our battery was good or needed to be replaced? I have a feeling we will be here two months from now and get another notice.

 

Fairly certain your claim the '22 Kona has an SK battery is not accurate. The 3 '22 owners I know each received LG batteries.

I would be curious where you read Hyundai is trying to move away from LG. Sounds like speculation based on all the bad press LG is currently getting. Sure with all the bad press, at this point Hyundai likely wishes they could make a phone call canceling the LG orders and have SK start sending over batteries. But one would assume LG has long term contracts with Hyundai. I don't see how they could be short term contracts given the investment LG would have needed to develop facilities to produce them. And it's not likely at this point SK has the production capacity needed to start supplying Kona batteries on short notice.

You also mentioned Hyundai did not make GM's "massive future financial commitments/construction of facilities". You sure about that? Can you elaborate?

 

I never meant to state for certain the 22 Kona EV specifically would be SKI, however, the 22 Ioniq will be SKI and possibly some of their other new EVs in the future, so maybe that part of my initial post was clumsy. Apologies for that.

Here is the article regarding Hyundai and SKI.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/02/25/hyundai-to-replace-kona-batteries-will-use-ski-batteries-for-ioniq-5/

I'm, not pretending to be an authority, I said take it at face value. I'm sure there is a lot of misinformation out there, one article may contradict the other. But the fact they announced in Feb that their next big EV release the Ioniq will have SKI and not LG, should at least suggest they are looking at alternatives for their batteries. That's all.

 

All current production Kona's appear to have only LGs batteries. As far as new models like Ionic 5, Hyundai has already made announcements that SK and CATL will be the battery suppliers. This will affect all of the future E-GMP platform models. If there is a 2023 Kona EV I suppose its possible there may or may not be a complete divorce and SK will supply as it already is for the newer European built Kona's. This is speculation of course.

Based on the relative corporate headache for Hyundai I suspect that there is a good chance Kona EV may be completely removed from their North American lineup like it was in Korea.

 

From a few days ago: https://insideevs.com/news/533411/hyundai-lges-construction-gigafactory-indonesia/

"On September 15, 2021, Hyundai Motor Group and LG Chem's LG Energy Solution officially began construction of the first lithium-ion battery cell plant in Indonesia,"

 

Looks like CATL, is gonna be pretty busy.
https://www.electrive.com/2021/09/06/bmw-places-battery-cell-order-worth-e8-billion/