Seeing reports of a Kona Recall in form of Software Update

Interesting.. IN US as well .. Haven't heard anything, yet ...

 

Hyundai website does not show a recall or service campaign (yet) for my 2020 VIN.

I'm eager to get this. When plugged into an EVSE, my car doesn't run Auto Battery Saver, and sometimes drains the 12v battery. This might contain a fix.

 

The fact that it's documented as a "recall" is encouraging. All three FB reports so far seem to be in Canada.

 

Checked my VIN at the Hyundai recall check and nothing....

 

I agree with you, I think this is a flaky software telematics issue. For quite some time now and despite me turning off all alerts I will get random multiple alerts that my doors are unlocked. It may be just an out sorts door sensor but ultimately I think the hung telematics unit keeps the car's 12V system awake enough to drain it. Unfortunately when I brought it up with my Hyundai EV tech, he pretty much dismissed it right away. It was also interesting on his last diagnostic for the repeated dead 12 volt battery he makes notes of my dashcam and aftermarket HID lights as possible contributors. My dash cam is powered independently by its own lithium battery and I am not sure how HID lights may be draining the 12V battery when they are turned off or that the charging system is not capable of managing the possible extra 30 watts of load while they are on. Come on really, this is the best explanation you have. I just got the impression they are interested in low hanging fruit to explain the problem.

 

You guys understand these systems and I don't. Does the 12v design have to be this complicated?

And am I wrong in my overall impression that the engineering on this car is generally not robust?

Besides 12v charging, I see complaints about motor noise and automatic braking system anomalies, and issues with controls layout and the Android Auto windowing. Any new design is going to have teething problems. But I had one of the first plug-in Priuses and an early Volt. They both had issues, but neither of them gave me this beta test feel.

Please tell me I'm overreacting.

 

You're overreacting. You're welcome.

 

Was that 10x limit ever confirmed on the Kona? I've had my eNiro sitting parked for 2 weeks at one point and still saw the automatic 12V charge cycle trigger past the 10th day. Car was not plugged in, unlocked, and completely untouched (not even to open doors). Maybe error in the manual?

Regarding being a beta tester... that seems to come with the territory when you're an early EV adopter. Ask any Tesla owner. At least they have an efficient way to send out bug fixes vs. having to drag the car to the dealer.

 

The manual also says that a message is displayed when ABS runs, but I've never seen it.

 

My Kona has been sitting for a month now without driving or charging and the aux battery saver has continued working, creeping ahead 20 minutes each day, changing its timing once when I reset the clock for daylight savings and another time jumping ahead an hour for no obvious reason, although I might have changed the DST checkbox. No sign of a 10-event limit; see attached video.

I think the problem is that it lacks intelligence. It seems to have no way to compensate for unexpected drains. Charging is 20 min on ABS and 30 min when driving, whether that's enough or not. Not sure how long it is when the traction battery starts charging, but similar.

Unrefined in some areas but the hardware seems to be of good quality. The puzzling lack of utilisation of space under the hood and in the back underfloor area were immediate clues to me of a rushed product.

 

I went in to raft for my service. Technically is was my 1st service even thou I had already racked up 15000km since 26th October 2019.

They advised me that normally it’s about 45min for the 1st service but that there is a recall in form of a Software Update/Upgrade and that will be an additional 45-60min. I said go ahead.

Once I picked up the car the first thing I noticed was GOM went from 380km this morning(100% battery charge using my Morec 32amp charger 240v at home) to a mind blowing 482km!!!! I wish I had taken certain pictures BEFORE the Update so we can actually see if there was some update to OS or not. Here are a few pictures below.

FYI the 482km range is using ECO Mode and AC/Heat OFF but with WINTER MODE ON.





Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

The GOM increase may just be it resetting your driving history after a firmware update

 

But all the previous driving record still shows in the history. Including me driving under Sport mode.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

I had these updates. The GOM was reset to over 480 but the driving history was still intact. Since the update the GOM has been trending downwards to where it was before the service.

This winter the GOM was estimating about 370km with winter mode ON. A few weeks before the update I had turned winter mode off and watched the GOM rise on a daily basis as the warmer weather returned. The GOM was at 408 when the update was installed.

 

In case many of your don't read the European forums, there was a GOM algorithm software update issued for European Konas many months ago - probably close to a year ago (see this UK thread and others on same forum). Maybe north american cars are finally getting the same update. Don't remember what else was included.

There is a good reason why many EVs are rushed to market. In Europe, Hyundai/KIA are facing 800 million euros in fines due to emissions regulations. Most other automakers are in similar or worse shape as seen from the table in this article. Look at VW - no wonder they are suddenly so interested in selling more EV models.

 

I see from your video that your voltage drops down to about 12.75V without any load before the next 20-minute charge cycle. What's the lowest aux battery SOC % that this corresponds to? My Niro 12V battery seems to be hovering around 68-70% SOC according to the OBD2 stats. I wonder if that is going to impact the long-term health of the lead-acid battery since they prefer to remain fully charged.