KONA EV $500) Hyundai Company is considering a plan to compensate customers ..

[kennykim]

http://www.segye.com/newsView/20201007520739?OutUrl=daum




Hyundai Motor Company outlined the “customer response measures” in relation to concerns over the fire of Kona EV, its flagship electric vehicle model.

First of all, as an emergency measure by Hyundai Motors, a proposal to modify the program of the battery management system (BMS) is promising.
It is a plan to limit the charging amount to 70-80% line by modifying the BMS program.
This method was used as a countermeasure during the ESS fire.
It is unlikely that consumer backlash is expected to prevent fast charging and drop it slowly.
This is because the distance that can be taken with a single charge and the charging speed are key competitiveness that is considered the first priority when purchasing an electric vehicle.
It is known that Hyundai Motor Company is also considering a plan to compensate customers who will suffer from discomfort due to the limited amount of charging.
The proposal to replace parts such as battery cells, cell modules, and packs is expected to be difficult in reality.
The cause of the fire was not identified, and the cost was too high. It usually costs about 20 million won to replace an electric vehicle battery.

It is known that Hyundai Motor Company is also considering a plan to compensate customers (=$500) who will suffer from discomfort due to the limited amount of charging.

 

[ericy]

It looks like the article was updated since the screengrab was taken. An automatic translation - no longer mentions 70-80%, or compensation plans, but instead has this:

First of all, Hyundai Motor Company is expected to encourage all customers to receive the program update service of the Battery Management System (BMS). Kona EV has sold a total of 33,1841 units in Korea by the end of September, and it is known that all of the burned vehicles belong to 30% of customers who have not received the BMS update. By simple calculation, it is estimated to be about 10,000. It seems that it has been decided that additional fires can be prevented with the BMS update.

The results of the survey commissioned by the Transportation Safety Authority of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the Korea Automobile Safety Research Institute (KATRI) are reported to be announced around December, but it is expected to be significantly earlier than expected. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport began investigating manufacturing defects after three consecutive cases of fires in Kona EV parked in August last year. So far, it has completed field investigation and detailed analysis on 9 cases that have occurred in Korea, and is now analyzing 88 batteries and analyzing the cause of defects.

They mention that there have not been fires in cars that have batteries made by a different company (pointing the finger at LG-chem??). For example, they say that there have been no reported fires in the Niro.

 

[hobbit]

I'd happily forgo a "compensation" in favor of getting a STRAIGHT ANSWER as to WTF is
going on with this. They want to suddenly make me own a 150 mile range EV I bought
in good faith with different expectations? They can piss off.

Cell voltage is less than 4.1 at full charge. Why is this even a problem? It makes no sense.

_H*

 

[apu]

I'd happily forgo a "compensation" in favor of getting a STRAIGHT ANSWER as to WTF is
going on with this. They want to suddenly make me own a 150 mile range EV I bought
in good faith with different expectations? They can piss off.

Cell voltage is less than 4.1 at full charge. Why is this even a problem? It makes no sense.

_H*

I'm thinking the BMS change they allude to is already the one in circulation, which did change the DC profile but overall did not have a significant adverse change to speed. It wasn't really fast to begin with. The curious thing is many of these Korean fires seem to be correlated to AC charging scenarios. Its not clear if anything has been modified in that charge profile. Like yourself I wish Hyundai just came clean and stopped being so secretive about everything.

 

[electriceddy]

According to this article:
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.co...yundai-Motor-Kona-auto/20201006185900510.html
points to the fact the cells are provided by LG to HL Green Power (a joint venture between LG Chem and Hyundai Mobis) and assembled into packs.
Hyundai Mobis then takes those packs and adds a BMS modular system into the vehicle.
Question being is the issue is the cells themselves (LG) or the BMS (Hyundai Mobis). A can of worms, hopefully to be answered later this month after Hyundai completes it's tests and issues their results and share follow up measures.

 

[apu]

According to this article:
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.co...yundai-Motor-Kona-auto/20201006185900510.html
points to the fact the cells are provided by LG to HL Green Power (a joint venture between LG Chem and Hyundai Mobis) and assembled into packs.
Hyundai Mobis then takes those packs and adds a BMS modular system into the vehicle.
Question being is the issue is the cells themselves (LG) or the BMS (Hyundai Mobis). A can of worms, hopefully to be answered later this month after Hyundai completes it's tests and issues their results and share follow up measures.

Since LG Chem is a major OEM supplier and no one else(i.e Chevy Bolt) seems to be having an unusual frequency of fires I am going to speculate its probably a BMS issue.

 

[ericy]

Since LG Chem is a major OEM supplier and no one else(i.e Chevy Bolt) seems to be having an unusual frequency of fires I am going to speculate its probably a BMS issue.

I had thought that Kia Niro used cells from SK innovation, and not LG. They made the point that Kia has not had any fires, suggesting the problem was with LG cells.

 

[CharlyM]

I'm thinking the BMS change they allude to is already the one in circulation, which did change the DC profile but overall did not have a significant adverse change to speed. It wasn't really fast to begin with. The curious thing is many of these Korean fires seem to be correlated to AC charging scenarios. Its not clear if anything has been modified in that charge profile. Like yourself I wish Hyundai just came clean and stopped being so secretive about everything.

If anything, the BMS update made charging faster ? If they limited my charge to 80%, I think they're going to have a lot of lemon law returns on their hands...

 

[FloridaSun]

If anything, the BMS update made charging faster ? If they limited my charge to 80%, I think they're going to have a lot of lemon law returns on their hands...

If that would be the case, I would want them to buy back my car and I'd get a Tesla Model 3 LR... I need the full range..

 

[electriceddy]

I had thought that Kia Niro used cells from SK innovation, and not LG. They made the point that Kia has not had any fires, suggesting the problem was with LG cells.

Providing the same model/manufacture BMS is common between the 2 makes, I might be persuaded in that same direction.
If the part numbers are different, then back to square 1.
As a side note I would like to thank Hyundai for reminding me to check my smoke detector

 

[cmwade77]

I'm confused here, is the article saying that the fires are happening o my to cars that haven't done the BMS Update or that they plan to limit charging to 80% and is that on level 2 EVSEs or including quick chargers too?

I would not accept a limit of 80% and I would push back hard on that one. Good thing they can't do over the air updates.

 

[cmwade77]

Ok, reading the article, they aren't saying they want to limit charging to 70% to 80%, but rather that the fires are occuring in vehicles without the BMS Update and that is 20% to 30% of all Hyundai EVs in Korea.

Since my Kona already has the update, I should be good. Please tell me if I am reading it wrong.

 

[GeorgeS]

It is well known that lithium-ion batteries are susceptible to failure and sometimes can ignite due to it. It will be interesting to see if a defect in manufacturing will be identified in the batteries.

 

[ericy]

Providing the same model/manufacture BMS is common between the 2 makes, I might be persuaded in that same direction.
If the part numbers are different, then back to square 1.
As a side note I would like to thank Hyundai for reminding me to check my smoke detector

BMS could also be related - we just don't know. The hard part is that when there is a fire, it pretty much destroys the car, making it a lot harder to figure out what the underlying problem really is.

 

[lars2885]

According to this article:
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.co...yundai-Motor-Kona-auto/20201006185900510.html
points to the fact the cells are provided by LG to HL Green Power (a joint venture between LG Chem and Hyundai Mobis) and assembled into packs.
Hyundai Mobis then takes those packs and adds a BMS modular system into the vehicle.
Question being is the issue is the cells themselves (LG) or the BMS (Hyundai Mobis). A can of worms, hopefully to be answered later this month after Hyundai completes it's tests and issues their results and share follow up measures.

Automotive News reported in today's morning briefing that the problem is related to assembly of the battery cells. That suggests the problem relates to HL Green Power's role and not to LG's cells. They said that a recall would take place in Korea, without mentioning anywhere else in the world.
.

 

[ericy]

Automotive News reported in today's morning briefing that the problem is related to assembly of the battery cells. That suggests the problem relates to HL Green Power's role and not to LG's cells. They said that a recall would take place in Korea, without mentioning anywhere else in the world.
.

Interesting. The article doesn't mention anything about this being limited to Korea however.

Hyundai will voluntarily recall Kona full-electric vehicles because a possible short circuit due to faulty manufacturing of its high-voltage battery cells could pose a fire risk.

The recall involves 25,564 Kona EVs built between September 2017 and March 2020, South Korea's transport ministry said on Thursday.

It starts on Oct. 16 and includes software updates and battery replacements after inspections.

Is this recall just a way to try and get the previous BMS update out to more cars? Or is this yet another set of software changes?

I wonder if this means that I might I might actually get my car back.

 

[lars2885]

Automotive News did say that the recall would apply to vehicles made between Sept. 2017 and March of this year. So maybe the BMS service campaign rolled out earlier this year is enough, and we can expect the service campaign to be upgraded to a recall.

 

[KiwiME]

No doubt the importers of our Konas will be negotiating terms with Hyundai SK as to how to respond to owners in the countries they operate in. I suppose I better get that BMS update done and stop parking next to my LPG cylinders.

Another article for the record.

 

[CharlyM]

No doubt the importers of our Konas will be negotiating terms with Hyundai SK as to how to respond to owners in the countries they operate in. I suppose I better get that BMS update done and stop parking next to my LPG cylinders.

Another article for the record.

Eh that BMS update gets you faster fast charging too, it’s a pretty good deal.

 

[TheLight75]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34317051/hyundai-kona-electric-recalled-korea/