Remedial action for Kona and Ioniq EVs has begun in South Korea; battery replacement for Kona has been proposed.

POTENTIAL that two popular Hyundai electric cars might be drawn into a massively expensive recall triggered by a fire danger that has made headlines in South Korea has been acknowledged by the make’s New Zealand distributor.

Hyundai New Zealand says it is aware of the situation in the marque’s home market in respect to a spate of battery fires reported there in the Ioniq and Kona electric models.

No such events have been reported in New Zealand.

The tenor of the reply from the make’s representative, an independent distributor, in respect to questions about this seems to leave impression a recall might not be out of the question, all the same.

This is supported by latest reports from Seoul, in which the brand is on record as saying it intends to replace the batteries in 82,000 electric vehicles, including 75,680 Kona EVs, 5515 Ioniqs and 305 buses at a cost of more than $US900 million, a record amount for an EV recall.

This comes after multiple South Korean news outlets have reported the manufacturer will voluntarily replace batteries, made by another Korean brand, LG Chem, in all local market examples.

While ignored by mainstream news outlets, the issue has nonetheless become a hot topic of discussion in recent weeks for EV owners subscribing to a national Facebook forum.

Hyundai NZ spokeswoman Kimberley Waters said today that “to date, there have been no fires recorded in NZ attributable to this condition.”

She did not address a question asking if owners have expressed concern to Hyundai NZ.

In respect to the potential for a recall, she offered: “We are aware of the news that has come out of Korea.

“However, (we) are waiting for official communication from Hyundai Motor Company with regards to this recall and the number of EVs affected here in New Zealand.

“Safety of our customers is paramount, so as soon as we have a list of affected vehicles we will contact those customers to advise next steps.”

A major South Korean news outlet, Business Korea, has reported 15 individual incidents of battery-related fires having been recorded in Kona EVs.

Similar fires have also been reported in Ioniq electric cars. Recently, a Hyundai electric bus caught on fire while operating in Seoul.

Hyundai has also been caught up in an issue with the Tucson sports utility, citing a potential fire risk deriving from a braking circuit board.

The Kona launched in 2018, a year after the Ioniq released here as Hyundai’s first electric car. A heavily updated Kona EV is set for release in NZ soon and, of course, Hyundai has just revealed its first electric car to be sold under a new sub-brand, called Ioniq, that is intended to go on sale here in the second part of 2021.