2021 Hyundai Kona may have same battery issues as 2019-2020 models

They are using the SK batteries for the EU Konas which are manufactured in Czechoslovakia. But they probably have contractual obligations with LG Chem for the Konas here.

 

I would also assume the supply of something this specific and detailed needs to be planned far in advance. Also, given everything that's happening in the industry, very possible SK's production abilities are stretched thin right now.

 

Dude, Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1992
Czech Republic is the correct name of the country

 

I'm trying to find more information about this fire.. seems nobody else in the news has covered it that I can find. I would think it should be bigger news if it was a fire in a vehicle with a replaced battery. Anyone know any more details?

 

If you weren't counting me in that group, bump it to 8...

It would indeed be distressing to have gone through all that hairball back in May with the crash and recovery
to a new 2021 with all this confidence that its battery was all good, and then find out to the contrary. I'm
assuming these recent "brickings" are due to cell mismatches, but most of those owners probably aren't
peeking inside their BMS via OBD2 and checking voltages. I am, and even under high rapid-charge load and
normal driving I'm seeing everything dead-on so far, so I'm totally not going to worry about it until the
community and industry lays off with the rumors and conspiracy-theories and starts cranking out
some verifiable *facts*. It is curious how a brand-new and presumably capacity-matched pack can
get out of kilter so early in life, nonetheless.

_H*

 

Sadly as far as I'm concerned it seems that the Hyundai EV battery situation is an out of control dumpster fire at this point. I love the EV but the company is atrocious, with abhorrent communication skills. Hearing that the recalled replacement batteries are also catching fire is just crazy. https://www.carindigo.com/news/hyundai-kona-ev-catches-fire-after-getting-back-from-official-company-recall

I suspect Hyundai will eventually figure this out but at this point my advice to anyone lurking and thinking of buying a new or used Hyundai EV is don't. The Ionic 5 might be OK as the batteries are supposed to be sourced from SK and CATL but I suspect they will cock something else up.

 

I think that article may be either fake news or click bait for carindigo. This hasn't been reported by any other site, and the article seems to lack tons of details. Moreover, there have been more than 11 fires in South Korea like the article suggests.

The 11th one (excluding pre-production) was in Daegu however back in Jan 23, 2021 (also a Saturday).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle_fire_incidents#Hyundai_Kona_Electric

 

My word! It reads as though it was written by a child in another language and then translated by computer. I wouldn't put much stock in it either... certainly not until it's corroborated by a more *ahem* reputable source.

 

Definitely a recalled Kona EV that caught fire, difficult to tell if the battery was replaced as part of the recall based on the time line earlier this year.
I was able to find a couple more sites to corroborate http://www01.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210126000935
the other was a paid site.

 

That article from KoreaHerald is referencing the Jan 23rd, 2021 fire. Hyundai didn't start recalling all batteries until February 2021. The article from Cardingo was published in August 3rd and references some fire "Saturday last week". Up until Jan 23rd, I think Hyundai only had software recalls done on all Konas.

There could have been a fire in August, but I'm sure it would have been bigger news if it was a fire on a replaced battery that many other news agencies would have covered it. So far, I can't find any, but perhaps someone can find some Korean news since it seems Google only gives me the English results.

 

I'm in the same boat now and not sure what to do. 2021 Ultimate bought 2 months ago only have 3000 miles on it and would not start. Been at the dealer for 2 weeks with no clear answer from anyone.

Before that when I picked it up and drove home, the tires were shaking horribly. 2 tire replacements, 4 road force and 3 alignments later it still shakes. Had to put in a complaint for that.

What are my options?

 

Sounds like you could be halfway to a lemon law buyback complaint, depending on your state. In California, 30 days out of service triggers it. Between the batteries and the tires, that might be an option.

(If you put your location - and year and trim level - in the location field of your profile, it'd be easier to help you.)

 

Yeah the time line is inconsistent with a recall battery swapped Kona unless it was already swapped as a consequence of upgraded BMS monitoring. Anyways its speculation at this point because Hyundai won't share those details. Looks like the most recent Kona fire was on July 1, 2021 in Boram-dong, Sejong-si, South Korea http://www.naewoeilbo.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=365492

 

@Toolworker thanks for the profile tip.
I travelled 300 miles to Minneapolis MN to purchase the car. From my understanding 4 times for the same issue in the same calendar year qualifies for LL.

I really do like the car, but I don't want to have to deal with a brand new shaking car if and when it comes back.

Now do I have to worry about a garage fire if the battery is replaced with another LG?

Is the new battery pack going to be damaged by internal wear from the shaking as well.

Just some things that are going though my mind. :-(

 

As a 2021 owner who has been waiting 7 weeks for a replacement battery, I feel your pain. My Kona is at the dealership in stasis "parked outside with the 12V battery pulled" probably for safety reasons at the dealership.
The replacement pack will be another pack with LG cells. It remains to be seen if the "new" battery will be a "refurbished" pack or a new one.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Czechoslovakia hasn't existed in almost 30 years.

 

OK, OK, Czech Republic... Geez.

 

Its troubling to hear that the GM/LG packs are affected up to current production. As much as folks will claim they are completely different the production process and LG sites for the pouch cells may be more similar than we think.
Cells in GM, Hyundai EV battery fires linked to several LG plants
"Documents filed by General Motors and Hyundai Motor Co. with the U.S. auto safety regulator show how the two automakers separately identified the same cause of battery fires in their newest electric vehicles, tracing them to similar manufacturing defects in battery cells made at at least two plants operated by a unit of LG Chem." https://www.autonews.com/regulation-safety/cells-gm-hyundai-ev-battery-fires-linked-several-lg-plants

"The original (GM/bolt) recall was blamed on a manufacturing defect at a South Korean factory run by LG Chemical Solution, GM’s battery supplier. But the company said an investigation showed that the defects are possible in batteries made at other(LG) sites." https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-business-health-environment-and-nature-bbe51b0c8e644c4448d634fc3c0f3461
It looks like the LG pouch cells are not just having problems with bent anodes as Hyundai recently indicated the cause of concern but it also appears there is an issue with damaged separators.

Greg Less, technical director of the University of Michigan’s Battery Lab.
“What we’re looking at is a perfect storm,” Less said. The Bolt’s battery packs are made up of pouch-type cells, which are essentially layers of cathodes, anodes, and separators that are flooded with liquid electrolyte and encased in a flexible polymer pouch. The torn anode tab, he said, would create a projection in what should be an otherwise flat battery. The projection brings the anode closer to the cathode. “And that would probably be OK if the separator was where it was supposed to be,” he said. But in problematic Bolt batteries, the separator wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Separators are placed between the anode and cathode to prevent the two electrodes from touching. A torn tab wouldn’t necessarily be an issue on its own because the separator would prevent any projection from bridging the anode-cathode gap. In cells with a folded separator, though, the gap would be missing from at least part of the battery. If the anode bridges the gap, Less said, “you have a short, and it’s all downhill from there.”
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/08/misaligned-factory-robot-may-have-sparked-chevy-bolt-battery-fires/

Now there seems to be several anecdotal reports of Kona/LG battery pack built as late as March of 2021(i.e. similar manufacturing dates to current recall replacement packs) bricking presumably due to a BMS indicated battery short that requires replacement.

"Don't celebrate too early yet.
I am seeing new batteries having the same issue as before. Looks like LG did not get to the root of the problem.
A friend's car, MY2021, Battery Mar 2021, ODO 2106 km only. Now parked at dealer waiting for battery replacement."

"this is a new 2021/22 kona with new battery from lg chem, manufactured in march 2021, i.e. improved version.
i would assume all replacement batteries are the same as the one in this new car"

https://www.hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/2019-2020-ev-battery-recall.4377/page-20

I remain unconvinced Hyundai or LG have a handle on the battery problem yet. I strongly suspect some of the recent recall replacement packs potentially are still defective. Hyundai's only response up to now has been has been mostly silence to it consumers, begrudgingly stating maybe a folded anode and we got it fixed in March of 2020 and "trust us we got this" to regulators with no real evidence to the contrary, well at least none for the lowly proletariat. I don't know Hyundai, it smells and looks like a dumpster fire, I got a feeling its a dumpster fire.

 

Apparently this week sometime, I will be getting a replacement battery.
Will suck , if it is still a defective battery.
It's not even a pleasure anymore, the wife is terrified of driving the Kona.

 

Its probably going to be fine. At worst we will have to do this again at some point in the future. I grow fatigued with this as well and if its any consolation my wife is the same.
I just hate how Hyundai seemingly just throws parts on the their cars like spaghetti on the wall with what seems like blind hope that it will stick.