Hyundai, Kia, Genesis EVs Hit by Major Global Recall
A problem involving the charging system and the 12V battery on several electric vehicles from Hyundai, Kia and Genesis is now forcing the automaker to recall a large number of units.
Possibly up to 600,000 vehicles could be affected globally, including 170,000 in South Korea, 147,000 in the U.S. and 26,000 in Canada.
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The EVs we’re talking about include models based on the e-GMP architecture, namely the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6, Kia EV6 (but apparently not the EV9) and Genesis GV60, as well as the Genesis Electrified GV70 and Electrified G80, covering the 2022-2024 model years.
So, what’s the issue, exactly? The vehicle may stall if the 12V battery gets depleted, even though the latter doesn’t send power to the motors. More specifically, the Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) may become damaged over time from transient high voltage and thermal cycling and stop charging the 12V battery, which can result in a loss of drive power.
Hyundai first became aware of the situation in October 2022. As we’ve previously reported, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened its own investigation in April 2023 after getting a series of complaints from drivers saying they experienced a partial or total loss of power.
Thanks to a “fail-safe” driving mode, drivers have up to 45 minutes after a warning appears on the display to find a safe place to stop the vehicle.
Affected owners will be notified later this spring and advised to take their EV to their local Hyundai, Kia or Genesis dealer. The fix is an update to the ICCU software to prevent overcurrents and implement voltage peak reductions at the end of the high-voltage battery charging to protect the component. If necessary, the ICCU fuse will be replaced, too.