[Signpost]

Over the weekend I contacted Hyundai UK about the strong rumours concerning the above subject matter and put a number of questions for a early consideration, should the recall be extended to the UK.

As requested, I received an immediate acknowledgment and today additional information was received - copied below. Note the phrase ....battery system assembly replacements!

‘Hyundai Motor Company has decided to voluntarily recall certain Kona Electric, Ioniq EV, and Elec City vehicles in Korea for battery system assembly replacements. The issue is being investigated by the company, including to establish the situation in relation to the models sold with a UK specification’

My list of questions, not yet answered, included the likely Battery Warranty after such a recall. This because early production cars had a 10 year/125,000 Battery Warranty which was reduced to 10 years/100,000 for later vehicles.

That said, my main concern addressed the question of compensation for what appears likely to be a new Service Schedule for the cars effected. At the moment my Sept 2018 car requires a relatively cheap Battery Coolant change at 10 years/100,000 miles whereas I believe newer models have an extremely expensive Coolant change at 40,000 miles or 4 years, whichever soonest.

 

[freddym]

Over the weekend I contacted Hyundai UK about the strong rumours concerning the above subject matter and put a number of questions for a early consideration, should the recall be extended to the UK.

As requested, I received an immediate acknowledgment and today additional information was received - copied below. Note the phrase ....battery system assembly replacements!

‘Hyundai Motor Company has decided to voluntarily recall certain Kona Electric, Ioniq EV, and Elec City vehicles in Korea for battery system assembly replacements. The issue is being investigated by the company, including to establish the situation in relation to the models sold with a UK specification’

My list of questions, not yet answered, included the likely Battery Warranty after such a recall. This because early production cars had a 10 year/125,000 Battery Warranty which was reduced to 10 years/100,000 for later vehicles.

That said, my main concern addressed the question of compensation for what appears likely to be a new Service Schedule for the cars effected. At the moment my Sept 2018 car requires a relatively cheap Battery Coolant change at 10 years/100,000 miles whereas I believe newer models have an extremely expensive Coolant change at 40,000 miles or 4 years, whichever soonest.

two things:-
1/be safe, (if there is a problem.,you want it fixed safely)
2/be thankful you are dealing with an honest and competent manufacturer

 

[MrChaz]

The Coolant change cost is a good point.

 

[Electra Glide in Blue]

Good point about the coolant. I would suggest that they will have to drain the old coolant to remove the batteries? If so then I would be miffed if they did not replace using new coolant. If they use the new stuff then common sense says that if mine is replaced at 35,000 miles it does not need replacing again at 40,000 miles and if they replace like for like I will not have the car at 100,000 miles

Mine is also a September. The service book I have says the battery is warranted for 96 months / 125,000 miles.

 

[mikegs]

Good point about the coolant. I would suggest that they will have to drain the old coolant to remove the batteries? If so then I would be miffed if they did not replace using new coolant.

I'm certain the coolant will be drained, just like changing the engine in an ICE car.
Using the new stuff to refill is not a certainty. The old systems may not be suitable for one or more of several reasons, as well as the obvious matter of using the new adding a significant cost to the exchange.

 

[Signpost]

Mine is also a September. The service book I have says the battery is warranted for 96 months / 125,000 miles.

My bad. Fortunately I quoted the correct 96 month period in my email to Hyundai notwithstanding that my Service Book is a converted ICE one that does not mention the Battery Warranty.

I should perhaps add that when the type of Coolant was changed on newer Cars, a specific enquiry with Hyundai UK confirmed that the change would not be retrospective. This makes me think that for some reason the two types of fluid are not interchangeable.

 

[KiwiME]

If they follow the already-documented battery replacement procedure we're not getting new coolant and it won't be updated. They'll just top it off.

When disconnecting the coolant hoses from the Kona EV battery, clamp the hoses carefully from the vehicle side to avoid losing coolant from the reservoir.
Fill the cooling system reservoir to the MAX full mark with the following depending on the type of coolant found in the vehicle.

 

[esprit1st]

Good question! Also what happens to my US lifetime battery warranty?

 

[henryv]

Over the weekend I contacted Hyundai UK about the strong rumours concerning the above subject matter and put a number of questions for a early consideration, should the recall be extended to the UK.

As requested, I received an immediate acknowledgment and today additional information was received - copied below. Note the phrase ....battery system assembly replacements!

‘Hyundai Motor Company has decided to voluntarily recall certain Kona Electric, Ioniq EV, and Elec City vehicles in Korea for battery system assembly replacements. The issue is being investigated by the company, including to establish the situation in relation to the models sold with a UK specification’

My list of questions, not yet answered, included the likely Battery Warranty after such a recall. This because early production cars had a 10 year/125,000 Battery Warranty which was reduced to 10 years/100,000 for later vehicles.

That said, my main concern addressed the question of compensation for what appears likely to be a new Service Schedule for the cars effected. At the moment my Sept 2018 car requires a relatively cheap Battery Coolant change at 10 years/100,000 miles whereas I believe newer models have an extremely expensive Coolant change at 40,000 miles or 4 years, whichever soonest.

Does their deadline day of March 11th 2020 mean that cars with batteries built after that date are OK?
It would suggest that they knew of the problem at that time, and fixed it from then on??

 

[mikegs]

It would suggest that they knew of the problem at that time, and fixed it from then on??

Yes.

 

[KiwiME]

Or they thought it to be a potential risk at the time and took preemptive action.

 

[Anaglypta]

Does their deadline day of March 11th 2020 mean that cars with batteries built after that date are OK?
It would suggest that they knew of the problem at that time, and fixed it from then on??

Well they certainly knew about it, and implemented it in production on March 3rd 2020 according to the NHTSA recall letter:-

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2021/RCLRPT-21V127-1095.PDF

John.

 

[esprit1st]

It didn't seem like they found the actual cause until much later. I would assume they just made a production improvement at that time which coincidentally fixed the fire problem.

 

[mikegs]

It didn't seem like they found the actual cause until much later. I would assume they just made a production improvement at that time which coincidentally fixed the fire problem.

I think that is stretching the benefit of the doubt to it's elastic limit. But we don't and may never know for sure.
I doubt Hyundai or LG will willingly offer up the full story, even if they know themselves. (There are probably a few layers of managers and workers all busily covering themselves against recriminations.)

 

[esprit1st]

I think that is stretching the benefit of the doubt to it's elastic limit. But we don't and may never know for sure.
I doubt Hyundai or LG will willingly offer up the full story, even if they know themselves. (There are probably a few layers of managers and workers all busily covering themselves against recriminations.)

You're probably spot on with that.

 

[Jflex4]

The important thing is were all getting new batteries for our cars

 

[henryv]

"Cars UK says
MARCH 11, 2021 AT 2:20 PM
As far as we can work out, the March 2020 date coincides with Kona Electric production from the Czech Republic instead of South Korea, and the switch to SK batteries for that production instead of the LG ones used before then."

 

[mikegs]

"Cars UK says
MARCH 11, 2021 AT 2:20 PM
As far as we can work out, the March 2020 date coincides with Kona Electric production from the Czech Republic instead of South Korea, and the switch to SK batteries for that production instead of the LG ones used before then."

That would make sense in one way. While LG had all the production, stopping it to change the process could have been inconvenient. Hence the reduction in pressure when the Czech factory staggered would allow a window to update the line, with the modified production starting soon after.

 

[TGPGBR]

Does their deadline day of March 11th 2020 mean that cars with batteries built after that date are OK?
It would suggest that they knew of the problem at that time, and fixed it from then on??

Hyundai UK is telling your porkies. The Hyundai statement in the USA said "that 75,680 vehicles in total would need batteries replacing – 25,083 in Korea and 50,597 elsewhere" Hyundai know exactly which car's need batteries replacing to get those accurate numbers. I have also emailed and written to Hyundai UK, but no reply as yet on either method.

 

[Anaglypta]

"Cars UK says
MARCH 11, 2021 AT 2:20 PM
As far as we can work out, the March 2020 date coincides with Kona Electric production from the Czech Republic instead of South Korea, and the switch to SK batteries for that production instead of the LG ones used before then."

Do they produce right hand drive Kona EV's in the Czech Republic? A quick check (no pun intended) of your VIN will reveal where your car was built.

First three characters:-
KMH = Ulsan, South Korea
TMA = Nošovice, Czech Republic

John.