Merry Christmas! Kona won't start - HV error :(

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheLight75
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TheLight75

TheLight75

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Imagine my surprise this lovely Christmas Eve morning when I got in my Kona to get coffee and it wouldn't start.... It's throwing the "Check electrical system" error which tells me the HV battery is probably toast. I did try disconnect the 12V battery for 5 mins to see if that might reset it, but nope.

Thankfully this happened early in the day and I was able to get a hold of my local dealer's service department so I'll be getting a loaner, but it sucks all the same. :(

My Kona has about 32,700 miles on it and has had all the recalls done. Never had a problem.
 
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Sorry to hear. One thing to watch out for with the dealership service team from my experience is to make sure they take the time to get more details on the exact alarm the car is throwing since it likely is a new alarm that isn't in their service manual yet. The first dealership I brought mine too was able to clear the alarm and get the car running again without taking the time to find out what the alarm code meant. Then the second dealership it got towed to took the time to contact Hyundai engineering and found out that the alarm was indicating the main battery needed to be replaced.
 
gonzo said:
Sorry to hear. One thing to watch out for with the dealership service team from my experience is to make sure they take the time to get more details on the exact alarm the car is throwing since it likely is a new alarm that isn't in their service manual yet. The first dealership I brought mine too was able to clear the alarm and get the car running again without taking the time to find out what the alarm code meant. Then the second dealership it got towed to took the time to contact Hyundai engineering and found out that the alarm was indicating the main battery needed to be replaced.
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Usually the dealer needs to get Tech line on the phone to help diagnose, and they might need to go back and forth collecting diagnostics. Hopefully it is an easy fix this time.
 
Condolences to the OP, please keep us updated. Its been a couple of weeks since they cleared my EV system code. My dealer with HYTAC( Canadian tech line) guidance is hoping its just a failed firmware flash. I have zero confidence it won't happen again I just hope I won't be stranded in the boonies when it does.
 
Here’s hoping it is a simple fix! Thankfully Roadside Assistance was able to quickly pick it up and my local dealership got me into a loaner in very short order. This is why I wanted an EV from a manufacturer with an established dealer network rather than roll the dice with Tesla.
 
TheLight75 said:
Here’s hoping it is a simple fix! Thankfully Roadside Assistance was able to quickly pick it up and my local dealership got me into a loaner in very short order. This is why I wanted an EV from a manufacturer with an established dealer network rather than roll the dice with Tesla.
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What was your SOC at the time it happened?
 
ttsherpa said:
What was your SOC at the time it happened?
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I had left it charging overnight to 90%. It had 88% this morning when I checked after the EV error.

The bulk of charging happened from 6:24pm to 8:17pm last night with 20.5 kWh added. The rest of the night had a small vampire drain.
 

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Hoping for the best. Best of Luck! If it turns out that the HV battery is toast, I'm watching this to see how Hyundai handles it.... if they will actually replace the battery or buy back the car??? There are VERY few dealers that are equipped to replace the battery and getting a new battery from Korea may take months...
 
TheLight75 said:
I had left it charging overnight to 90%. It had 88% this morning when I checked after the EV error. ... The rest of the night had a small vampire drain.
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If it charged to the limit at 90% and you had 88% in the morning (which could mean between 88.00 to 88.99%) then that's a whole lot more than a "vampire drain". That sounds more like cell leakage, exactly what the software is intended to catch. Also, any drains are tabulated by the BMS using the current shunt while leakage is not.
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Hoping for the best. Best of Luck! If it turns out that the HV battery is toast, I'm watching this to see how Hyundai handles it.... if they will actually replace the battery or buy back the car??? There are VERY few dealers that are equipped to replace the battery and getting a new battery from Korea may take months...
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I’m expecting this to take a couple months.
 
ehatch said:
Any consolation, your Kona electric looks GOOD being loaded onto the flatbed. Have you noticed the battery saver light coming on post the updates? I have had one since,but it started.
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Thanks! Yep, I’ve noticed the HV LED on the front has been coming on more frequently since the BMS recalls were completed.
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Hoping for the best. Best of Luck! If it turns out that the HV battery is toast, I'm watching this to see how Hyundai handles it.... if they will actually replace the battery or buy back the car??? There are VERY few dealers that are equipped to replace the battery and getting a new battery from Korea may take months...
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If the HV battery is toast, I think that I have no choice but to wait for a new one to come in. The lemon laws in MA only cover new vehicles up to 1 year or 15,000 miles.
 
TheLight75 said:
If the HV battery is toast, I think that I have no choice but to wait for a new one to come in. The lemon laws in MA only cover new vehicles up to 1 year or 15,000 miles.
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I wasn't thinking about the lemon law but that it may be easier for Hyundai just to buy back the car instead of going through the hassle with the battery.. They may have to have your car shipped to another location to get the swap done..
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Well, this is normal as the car wakes up frequently since Recall 960, the first one..
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Battery saver function OOSEV048120L comes on,but at some point,it's no longer normal. How frequently,I found something somewhere that said about 6 times?I have hit this number since taking delivery.That light came on pre the recalls.
 
mikeselectricstuff said:
It used to do the top-up every 24 hours, it's now every 4 hours after the update
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Forgot to mention,on my last charge,set to 90%. The infotainment range was supposed to be 425km.Not actual driving mileage, I know. I got about 18% less when the car shut off at the programmed 90% . I have had the battery recalls done.
 
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