Hyundai to expand Kona EV recall to North America, Europe over fire risk

Hyundai Motor is set to triple the amount of recalled Kona electric cars over the risk of battery cell fire with plans to recall around 51,000 vehicles in North America, Europe, China, and other regions.

The recalls would come after the automaker declared last week a voluntary recall plan for 25,564 Kona EVs in South Korea will be starting from October 16.

Hyundai said on Monday it “is in the final stages of filing a voluntary recall notice with the NHTSA for U.S. Kona EVs and will start the process of informing owners of these vehicles”.

The automaker will recall 37,366 vehicles and 11,137 vehicles in Europe and North America.

The automaker’s statement did not mention the other markets, the total number of additional electric vehicles it intends to recall, or the dates of the recalls.

South Korea’s transport ministry said the earlier week that Hyundai will voluntarily recall its Kona EVs as a possible short circuit because of what may be defective manufacturing of its high-voltage battery cells could pose a fire risk.

LG Chem, which provides batteries for Kona EVs, said last week faulty battery cells were not the reason for fires in Kona EVs, and the exact cause had not been figured out.

It said a re-enactment experiment carried out jointly with Hyundai had not resulted in a fire, so the fires could not be attributed to defective battery cells. LG Chem refused to comment on Monday to beyond what it said last week.

Recalled Kona EVs in South Korea will go through software updates for all affected models and battery replacements of particular models after inspections.