Seeing reports of a Kona Recall in form of Software Update

Actually, a Battleborn or other LFP unit would *not* be happy in the automotive
setting, particularly in the Kona that runs such a high 12V rail voltage all the
time. I talked to Battleborn about this, in fact. Their units do *not* protect
against overcharge in a way that would be useful. LFP units are not intended
to be "floated" all the time, and if they have any overcharge protection they
would simply cut off internally and that's not what you want here.

A different system based around a low-voltage lithium pack and *proper
management thereof* could provide similar functionality, but probably not
at the nominal 12-14 volt range that almost all car electronics want. No
car has such a thing yet to my knowledge.

_H*

 

Both are good points. There is already a power reduction happening to charge the lead acid battery. This must be isolated because it turns on and off after sensing the battery state although a point earlier it may not be a good measure of battery condition. I have used many buck converters that have a wide input voltage and a steady output voltage. These isolate the input voltage usually by transformers but other methods. If I were to guess why it is done with lead acid batteries it would be because "that's what people know". Emergency responders have to have a familiar way to shut off the car's electrical. Lead acid is a cheap way to provide a constant 12v power reserve. I would venture all 12v auto accessories can easily operate anywhere between 11 and 14 volts. If limits were built in and circuits fused like they are, I wouldn't think it would be hard to implement. I would like to see it gone but I understand for now it is here to stay.
Good info about Battleborn. I see it is not designed to replicate totally a lead acid battery and it's charging characteristics. I'm sure they could produce one that would but don't know why they would. At $1k it would not be practical.

 

Apparently the update was not suspended but it appears that the exact procedures may have been not correctly followed, presumably meaning testing the traction battery first for insulation resistance, if applicable by < 22,500 miles on the car. This quote is from Hyundai UK via the UK Kona FB group and the SpeakEV forum.

"HMUK hasn’t withdrawn the update, what has been reminded is that all the relevant and normal care points are followed and the technical service bulletin is read carefully before they carry out the update. Robin Hayles HMUK"
​

Additionally, reported on FB, one or two US owners have gotten notification of the update via Bluelink.

 

Looking at my Bluelink app, there's a little "1" indicating a message at the top of the home page. I don't remember seeing it before, although the message is dated May 2:

​

Ooh, and this just in: The Hyundai website says Service Campaign 960 is open on my vehicle. It definitely didn't say that a couple of days ago.

 

I got the same message about the BMS update. I have no idea when I will get to the dealer - I am not putting many miles on the car these days.

 

I don't think that Hyundai give their dealers much information about these service campaigns other than the TSB, which is just a list of "how to" instructions. I have found it near impossible to get information about what has changed in this update, even though we now have a HMUK employee in the UK Facebook group.

I think more to do with the warning in the TSB to ensure that the 12v battery has sufficient charge to complete the update, since I suspect that if the 12v supply fails the car might well get bricked!.

I checked my car with Torque Pro for Issolation resistance, Cell volt diff and 12v battery condition. It all looks OK - My car is due in on Friday 26th June, and I'll be pushing the service manager as to why he said the update was on hold!

John

Screenshot_20200618-110547_Torque by Anaglypta posted Jun 18, 2020 at 11:46 AM

 

Not surprising your seeing alerts for this in BlueLink. In the Dealer Best Pracrice PDF I posted above it says:-

"Customer Notification
Hyundai will notify owners of the vehicles described above in June 2020 and strongly encourage them to return their vehicles to their Hyundai dealers for the service procedure as soon as possible"

John.

 

I finally see a notification now as well. It just showed up this week even though it is dated May, like Toolworker reported above. I have to call the local dealer to find out if they will be able to do it.

 

I wonder why they don't just put the 12 volt battery on a charger if that's a concern during the update.

 

The recall finally shows up for my VIN.. Scheduled for this coming Monday at my Local Hyundai dealer..

 

Recall reminder showing up here also. Scheduled for the 29th. Anyone know how long it takes to complete this service item by a service technician?

 

Got mine today via Blue Link. Scheduled for Wednesday. Sure would be nice if Hyundai could do stuff like this remotely like Tesla!

 

Should I remove my BM2 before going in next Thursday?

 

I have an appointment kn Tuesday. How long should the update take? Thanks

 

Given how easy it is to remove I think that would be wise. They are unlikely to understand, as we do, that it uses very little power.

 

For those of us still not conversant with the acronyms commonly used here, what’s the BM2?
Thanks.

 

Yesterday they did my software service campaign . Four modules were updated, BMS, MCU, VCULDC and IGPM. I have no idea what the others (besides BMS) are. This was done following my traction motor replacement (E701) to fix the clicking noise. Had my reduction gear replaced a couple months ago, but noise cam back after only 400 kms.

Haven't noticed anything different yet (other than clicking noise gone). But haven't driven it much yet, and no charging, so will have to give it some time to see if all is OK now.

 

Yup, I feel better now about the car. Hope it stays good now...