Low Conductivity Coolant Change Procedure

Unless they find a way to reduce the cost and end customer price dramatically. Which I hear is all-ready going on in some countries around the world where Hyundai has supposedly all-ready halved the price of this coolant.

 

If you can find links to that info, that would be appreciated. Cheers.

 

I have no links but by local dealer has quoted me 360 EUR (approx 520 CAD) for low conductivity coolant change and he said they basically almost halved the price over last months.
This year I will have my regular 60 k km service at which this coolant will need replacement and then I will be able to confim or deny you this by receiving actual invoice.

 

My brother is interested in the Kona Ionic EV, but after being told about this requirement for an $1,100+ “routine maintenance” item every three years, he is most interested to hear (when I hear) about a reasonable price point for this service…and will sit on the sidelines for now because of it.

 

We can all have an opinion on the running costs of any type of automobile.

Since you mentioned Tesla, you should also know that the coolant in a Tesla is designed for the life of the vehicle.

In the end, I compare my spreadsheet data between my TM3 and my wife’s Kona EV.

With my two data points, the anticipated (current) cost of the coolant every three years in the Kona EV will ultimately drive the operating costs per km to equal or exceed my TM3.

The battery warranty on my wife’s Kona is such that I have a total of eight years (two coolant changes) prior to making any decisions regarding using a normal conductive coolant…and IMO (I am not a subject matter expert) mixing the two types of coolant may create other reactive issues.

In the end, we are all pro EV folks here, and my ICE brother has said that this (current) coolant price issue has caused him to reevaluate his “looking at a new Hyundai EV”.

I hope the competition exists to drive down the cost of this line item service, but for now, based on the current regimen of costs for this service and the upfront capital cost of an EV, it doesn’t remove any friction from the mass adoption of EVs.

 

From what little evidence we have, it seems that the non-conductive coolant is intended to be for the benefit of the EV's occupants in the event of a severe accident. For whatever reasons Hyundai/Kia have made this change while other brands haven't. Perhaps it was simply a knee-jerk reaction to the battery fires or the hard word from corporate lawyers after crash testing revealed the risk?

The added maintenance costs especially here at the edge of the world would certainly affect my future EV purchase choices as well as lack of confidence in Hyundai/Kia driven by the other ongoing issues, despite that I've 'only' been affected by the defective battery so far.

 

In my opinion there was a panic switch to new coolant as approx 2 and half years ago there was a public report of a GM Bolt ending up in smoke and flames due to coolant leak preforming short circuit inside the battery.

And as in that time first Hyundais were also ending up in smoke, where they were unable to confirm the root cause, they had a strong panicky reaction by switching to new coolant even though cars were not originally intended to do so.

Why Tesla does not use low conductivity coolant is another issue. Maybe they just do not care or do not believe that 2 cars per 100 k sold ending up in flames due to coolant leaks is worth it. Every car manufacturer has its own calculation and reasoning. And some of the reasoning is also based on situations in specific time and place. For Hyundai it was Konas ending up in smoke with no confirmed reason. But resulted in introduction of low conductivity coolant into its EV range.

 

Interesting then that the new EGMP platform cars (Ioniq5 and Kia EV6) have reverted to water based coolant and 120000 KM replacement intervals - Knee-jerk, indeed!

John.

 

Look under the bonnet. EGMP cars have 2 coolant systems. One with blue, another one with green coolant.

They just reduced the amount of needed low conductivity coolant per service and that's it. On other side they have double complicated for them selves the overall coolant system design as you now have 2 of them. So still signs of paranoia there.
Which of course is understandable. Design process of the car takes years. If they will discover that their paranoia is in vain, it will still take years to consolidate cooling system into one. Maybe for the EGMP facelift in 2/3 years.

 

Just got my battery replaced this week. They replaced the blue coolant fluid that was in the car by the the green one. The schedule for replacement is now every 60k instead of 160k with this new coolant fluid.

 

Oh dear! I've been pooring screenwash in the blue tank.

As far as I can see there is only one cooling system on the EGMP. Early pre production KIA EV6's used blue coolant (with appropriate filling cap), but the production cars are using KIA's standard pink water based coolant.

John.

 

I mismatched the color, but there are two coolant systems visible under the hood/bonnet of Ioniq5.
One is blue with low conductivity coolant, another is pink one with "standard" coolant.
Screenwash is separate.







But yes, your post regarding EV6 and its preproduction/production variations makes me think what the hell is going on inside Hyundai Kia group.
Is there division between paranoid and non-paranoid guys?

 

Cory (in the Munro video) raised the valid point that the two loops may operate over different temperature ranges in the Ioniq 5. Fair enough since heat harvesting presumably gets difficult when temperature differences are minimal but quantities are high, but he didn't question the different colours! There is no reason to make them different colours unless they have differing characteristics.

I agree with EE, this is counter to the advisory in the procedure.

 

Yes, this seems to be the procedure approved by Hyundai Canada, many have reported having the green coolant after battery pack change. At least here in Quebec. I will ask the dealer why they changed for the green fluid.

 

I had my battery replaced last month. The coolant is still green. I checked the invoice and it say one gallon of coolant used. It list the part number as 00232 19010 but it definitely green.

 

Yes I have the appropriate cap for the green coolant. What I find odd is that the part number listed on the replacement invoice is that of the Blue coolant and its only for one gallon.