Hyundai to recall Kona EVs in S.Korea over fire risk

Hyundai Motor Co. will voluntarily recall certain Kona electric vehicles as a possible short circuit due to what may be faulty manufacturing of its high-voltage battery cells could pose a fire risk, South Korea's transport ministry said Thursday.

The recall of 25,564 Kona EVs built between September 2017 and March 2020 starts Oct. 16 and will involve software updates and battery replacements after inspections, the ministry said in a statement.

The safety recall "is a proactive response to a suspected defective production of high-voltage batteries used in the vehicles, which may have contributed to the reported fires", Hyundai said, adding that it will deploy all necessary measures to identify the cause of the fire risk and address customers' needs.
 

Some 13 incidents of fire involving the Kona EV, including one each in Canada and Austria, have been documented, the office of ruling party lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae said in a statement.

Kona EVs use batteries made by LG Chem.

LG Chem said the exact cause of the fire had not been determined and a reenactment experiment conducted jointly with Hyundai had not led to a fire, so the fires could not be attributed to faulty battery cells.

It would actively participate in future investigation with Hyundai to find the cause, LG Chem added in a statement.

In July, Hyundai Motor Group leader Euisun Chung said Hyundai Motor and sister company Kia Motors aim to sell 1 million battery-driven electric vehicles in 2025, targeting more than 10 percent of the global market share for such vehicles.