What is the "final" fix for the battery fire recall?

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Maybe once the BMS updates were came out, and the newer cars had them, they assume those batteries are OK and were not damaged. Hence they don't need replacement.
 
I suspect, based on what I read, that my battery is still in great shape because I only charged 2 or 3 times at > 50kwh speeds..
If this really has to do with the charging algorithm, this may be the reason that I still can't see any degradation despite over 135 DC fast charges (all but 2 or 3 on 50kw chargers as also 25kw chargers). The reason why I mostly charged on 50kw chargers is due to the fact that the only free fast chargers in my area are 25kw or 50kw..
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Do you know how many Konas were sold in Canada?? I believe that in the US, it's about 7000 or so..
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According to the electric brakes recall from December 2020 (which encompassed all years/models of Kona EVs as opposed to the BMS one in October who was for 2019 and some 2020s only) ; at least 10 794 Konas as of December 17th.
Out of these, 4 375 of the 2019 or early 2020 models needed the BMS update in October ... So likely at least 4 375 need a new battery in Canada.
 
MGrognon said:
According to the electric brakes recall from December 2020 (which encompassed all years/models of Kona EVs as opposed to the BMS one in October who was for 2019 and some 2020s only) ; at least 10 794 Konas as of December 17th.
Out of these, 4 375 of the 2019 or early 2020 models needed the BMS update in October ... So likely at least 4 375 need a new battery in Canada.
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So, probably a total number of about 11,000 vehicles for North America.. While this is less than Europe and Korea, it's still significant..
I also wonder what will happen to Kona EV owners in countries where they are not sold.. I remember one of the members here or on the facebook group (don't recall) imported the Kona EV himself into his country and they are not servicing his car there.. I doubt that he will be able to get the pack replacement..
I also wonder if I will have to bring my car out of state for the Pack replacement. While my local Hyundai dealer has a technician trained on doing the work on the All Electric models, I doubt that they have the battery lift and I doubt that they will want to spend the $$$ on it just for one car??? So, it may be road trip time for me once I'm scheduled for my new pack.. I don't see it as a big deal as flights are cheap.. I'd just drive the car up there and fly back.. Flying to the place where I bought the car in Maryland (Hagerstown) is about $70 for a one way flight.. at least that's what I paid when I bought the car.. Let's hope that I can get it done locally... but if not, I don't worry about bringing the car up north to get it done.. No biggie..
 
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Paul LVEVA said:
Just saw this article today. Looks like they're doing one of the most expensive recalls ever.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34317051/hyundai-kona-electric-recalled-korea/
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It's a bit disconcerting that they are replacing the batteries without properly understanding the actual cause as well as not being able to replicate the problem. The assumption is that it is a short circuit in the cells. But what if the issue is not with the cells, per se, but with the BMS software or something related that is inadvertently causing an overcharge under very specific but yet unknown conditions?
 
Jamas said:
It's a bit disconcerting that they are replacing the batteries without properly understanding the actual cause as well as not being able to replicate the problem. The assumption is that it is a short circuit in the cells. But what if the issue is not with the cells, per se, but with the BMS software or something related that is inadvertently causing an overcharge under very specific but yet unknown conditions?
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You right! I expect a clearly explanation where is the faulty. The new battery will correct it . Just not slap in the new battery then it fails later on. Be honest with the owner



Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
BlueKonaEV said:
So, probably a total number of about 11,000 vehicles for North America.. While this is less than Europe and Korea, it's still significant..
I also wonder what will happen to Kona EV owners in countries where they are not sold.. I remember one of the members here or on the facebook group (don't recall) imported the Kona EV himself into his country and they are not servicing his car there.. I doubt that he will be able to get the pack replacement..
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I suspect you may be thinking of Igor from the Ukraine, he bought, shipped to Ukraine and rebuilt one of the first Kona EVs written off in California when a tree fell on it and damaging the roof as I recall. I am pretty sure he is out of luck, but that is the risk with salvage vehicles, typically manufacturers disavows themselves of any warranty obligations when a vehicle acquires a salvage title. Recalls are a little more dodgy, technically manufacturers are still required to replace defective parts as long as the vehicle is road worthy but there are many cases where dealers have refused to do so for salvage titled vehicles.
 
Spoke to my dealership as I started my lease about 1 week ago -- they don't have a single kona that was made after the march 2020 period or they would of switch me out...

Apparently they took over this dealership from a group that had issue when pandemic hit right around march 2020 .. /sigh

At least its brand new ( 13 miles when I picked it up) and so far there haven't been any fires in US (knock on wood)...
 
apu said:
I suspect you may be thinking of Igor from the Ukraine, he bought, shipped to Ukraine and rebuilt one of the first Kona EVs written off in California when a tree fell on it and damaging the roof as I recall. I am pretty sure he is out of luck, but that is the risk with salvage vehicles, typically manufacturers disavows themselves of any warranty obligations when a vehicle acquires a salvage title. Recalls are a little more dodgy, technically manufacturers are still required to replace defective parts as long as the vehicle is road worthy but there are many cases where dealers have refused to do so for salvage titled vehicles.
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No, it was someone in the Middle East.. Dubai maybe?? Not sure..
 
Jamas said:
It's a bit disconcerting that they are replacing the batteries without properly understanding the actual cause as well as not being able to replicate the problem. The assumption is that it is a short circuit in the cells. But what if the issue is not with the cells, per se, but with the BMS software or something related that is inadvertently causing an overcharge under very specific but yet unknown conditions?
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With what they are spending, it is likely that they do have an understanding. They just aren't telling us.

Recall that one of the bugs fixed in BMS was that battery cooling during DCFC wasn't working. That could cause the battery to overheat during charging.
 
Has anyone in the US gotten a positive hit for this recall on a VIN search? I haven’t, but I’m not sure if it means I’m not covered or Hyundai USA hasn’t filed the recall.

I did get recall 196. But my battery was manufactured in February 2020 and my vehicle was manufactured in April 2020. So based on the dates given by that South Korea report, I’m not sure if I’d be covered.

And if I won’t get a new battery, could Hyundai maybe remove the charging restrictions imposed with recall 196?
 
ericy said:
With what they are spending, it is likely that they do have an understanding. They just aren't telling us.
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I concur and I absolutely believe they know, if not how is that every pack manufactured after March 2020 is magically OK? They clearly made a production change.
 
Well its official, Hyundai has acknowledged the cause. The investigation led by MOLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport) in South Korea pointed that the folded anode tab “could allow the lithium plating on the anode tab to contact the cathode, resulting in an electrical short.” It’s this electrical short that would cause the fires. All the defective cells came from LGES’s plant in Nanjing, China.
https://insideevs.com/news/492387/hyundai-confirms-kona-electric-fires-cause/

No software BMS "update" is going to fix this one. Assuming GM sourced its LG cells from the same plant I don't see how they are going to avoid an expensive recall either. Well at least its clear LG is pretty much entirely liable.
 
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apu said:
Well its official, Hyundai has acknowledged the cause.
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Site didn't actually post a reference for this (unless I missed that?) but I assume they wouldn't be publishing this info unless they are 99.99% sure of their source.
I'm still VERY curious how long this recall will take to complete. Now that we know for sure the issue is hardware/manufacturing related, can you really let 80 k EV owners run on a (albeit low risk) potential time bomb for months until all batteries are replaced? Even if you limit to 90% charge (which for me will actually be a problem if they end up doing this as I quite often need the full 100%) to me, the timelines likely won't be acceptable... Still hoping for a buyback program.
 
MGrognon said:
Site didn't actually post a reference for this (unless I missed that?) but I assume they wouldn't be publishing this info unless they are 99.99% sure of their source.
I'm still VERY curious how long this recall will take to complete. Now that we know for sure the issue is hardware/manufacturing related, can you really let 80 k EV owners run on a (albeit low risk) potential time bomb for months until all batteries are replaced? Even if you limit to 90% charge (which for me will actually be a problem if they end up doing this as I quite often need the full 100%) to me, the timelines likely won't be acceptable... Still hoping for a buyback program.
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From the way I read the article InsideEV is directly quoting Hyundai as the source. "InsideEVs has an official explanation for(sic) them. According to Hyundai,"
I think this recall is going to takes years. I will venture to guess there will be more fires while we wait and I don't see how limiting charge to any extent will really mitigate this hardware defect.
 
apu said:
From the way I read the article InsideEV is directly quoting Hyundai as the source. "InsideEVs has an official explanation for(sic) them. According to Hyundai,"
I think this recall is going to takes years. I will venture to guess there will be more fires while we wait and I don't see how limiting charge to any extent will really mitigate this hardware defect.
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Given the scale and potential liability to Hyundai, perhaps it would be wiser to buyback or replace affected Konas with new model (or Ionic). Then they would have a stable of vehicles with some resale value to them once the batteries are replaced (which could be done over a longer timeframe)
 
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