Hyundai has issued a massive recall affecting 82,000 vehicles. The vehicles contain battery packs built by LG, which can catch fire under circumstances that are not yet fully understood. Hyundai will replace the battery packs free of charge.
Most of the vehicles affected are Hyundai Kona EVs, though some Ioniq EVs (but not the Ioniq hybrid) are also included. Many of the affected vehicles have already been recalled once over fire risk. At that time, dealers installed a software patch meant to solve the problem, but after a recalled Kona caught fire in January, Hyundai has decided to simply replace the batteries in every potentially affected car.
At least 15 vehicle fires have been blamed on the Kona battery – 11 in South Korea, two in Canada, one in Finland, and one in Austria.
The recall will be an expensive one for Hyundai – over $900 million by some estimates – but costs owners nothing. Check our recall center to see if your car has been subject to any repair orders.
