Hyundai also wants to preventively replace the batteries in more than 6,000 electric cars in the Netherlands. The recall follows stories from South Korea. Replacement would be necessary to avoid fire hazard.
In late February, South Korean media reported that Hyundai in its home country is recalling electric cars, especially Kona Electric, to replace batteries. There would still be a potential fire hazard, despite an earlier software update that was also carried out here in the Netherlands. Replacing the battery would now be the only option left to avert the danger completely. At the time, Hyundai Netherlands stated to Techzle that it was still investigating whether such a recall action would also be necessary here in the Netherlands. Now the bullet is through the church: in the Netherlands 6,208 cars are being recalled to the garage for a battery change.
It is a voluntary recall, so signs BNR on. It applies to 5,436 units of the Kona Electric and 772 of the Ioniq Electric, all built between May 4, 2018 and March 2, 2020. A slightly smaller group of cars than in the previous recall. Hyundai states that the battery can only fail in very exceptional situations and then cause a short circuit. There are said to be fifteen cases worldwide in which this led to fires. The batteries come from LG Chem, according to earlier Reuters stated that Hyundai has gone wrong in preparing the batteries for fast charging. The battery cells themselves would not be the cause of the fire hazard, according to that company. Hyundai obviously pays for the costs, the brand would now have lost a total of around € 741 million on these two recalls.