"Cause of Kona Fire Identified as Battery Cell Defect"…Mass Recall of Kona and Ioniq Models

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Finds Manufacturing Defects in 3 Models Including Kona
Repeated Kona EV Fires Due to Battery Cell Defects
26,699 Units Recalled... Improvement Measures to Be Established in March

Kona EV

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The cause of the series of fires in Hyundai Motor Company's Kona electric vehicles (EV) has been confirmed as a battery cell manufacturing defect. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has decided to recall approximately 26,700 vehicles, including the defective Kona EV and Ioniq EV models.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 24th that production defects were found in three models, including the Kona EV manufactured and sold by Hyundai Motor Company, and voluntary corrective actions (recalls) will begin next month.

The recall targets include 25,083 Kona EVs (OS EV), 1,314 Ioniq EVs (AE PE EV), and 302 Elec City electric buses (LK EV), totaling 26,699 vehicles.

Since its launch in 2018, the Kona EV is known to have experienced a total of 15 fires, including 11 domestic cases and 4 overseas cases.

Ioniq EV

According to the Ministry, the three problematic models, including the Kona EV, were equipped with high-voltage batteries produced at LG Energy Solution's Nanjing plant in China from September 2017 to July 2019. Among these, some cells had manufacturing defects (folded negative tabs) that caused internal short circuits, which were identified as a possible cause of the fires.

In response to the repeated Kona EV fire incidents, the government has been conducting detailed investigations of the high-voltage batteries collected through recalls since October last year, along with fire reproduction experiments, via the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Automotive Safety Research Institute (KATRI).

The expert investigation team confirmed that the fire video generated during the battery cell internal thermal runaway test, conducted as an artificial fire reproduction experiment, was similar to the actual Kona EV fire video that occurred on August 7 last year in Chilgok, Daegu.

Additionally, the interim investigation of the fire vehicle that occurred in Daegu on January 23 confirmed that the fire originated from the battery cell on the left side of pack number 3, and part of the internal positive (+) tab was destroyed by the fire.

Furthermore, a detailed disassembly investigation of defective high-voltage batteries collected through the recall confirmed the possibility of fire caused by cell internal misalignment (folded negative tab). The government is currently continuing fire reproduction experiments.

Illecty

During the voluntary recall last October, damage to the battery cell separator was also identified as a cause, and fire reproduction experiments are ongoing with battery cells that have separator damage, but no fires have occurred so far.

Some have suggested the possibility of battery fires caused by overcharging, but the investigation team confirmed that the Battery Management System (BMS) prevents overcharging.

Although KATRI's defect investigation has not been completed, Hyundai Motor Company and LG Energy Solution decided to replace all existing high-voltage battery systems (BSA) with improved products due to the difficulty of completely extracting some batteries with fire risk through BMS updates and to ensure rapid consumer protection.

Vehicles subject to recall (Data from Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to continue the ongoing fire reproduction experiments led by KATRI and investigate the appropriateness of this recall, taking supplementary measures if necessary.

To secure the increasing fire safety of electric vehicles, institutional improvement measures will also be prepared by next month.

Vehicles subject to this recall can receive free high-voltage battery system replacements at Hyundai Motor Company's direct service centers and Bluehands starting from the 29th of next month.

Regarding this defect correction, Hyundai Motor Company will notify vehicle owners of the correction methods via mail or text message. If a vehicle owner has repaired the defect at their own expense before the correction, they can apply for compensation for the repair costs from the manufacturer.