Simply as Hyundai pulled again the curtains on its bold new electrical automobile initiative final week, it bought a stinging reminder of the perils forward in electrification. The South Korean automaker mentioned it must recall 82,000 EVs due to a possible for battery fires — a recall that may price $900 million.
Information of the recall got here in the future after Hyundai’s world reveal of its new Ioniq 5 EV, a doubtlessly high-volume mannequin that may kick off the corporate’s all-electric Ioniq subbrand this 12 months.
The recall doesn’t pertain to the Ioniq 5 however focuses largely on Kona EVs constructed between 2018 and 2020 that have been offered largely in Hyundai’s Korean residence market. Will probably be needed to interchange the battery programs.
There have been 15 circumstances of fires involving the Kona EV — 11 in South Korea, two in Canada and one every in Finland and Austria.
However the recall additionally shines a light-weight on a altering auto business actuality: In the case of EVs sooner or later, automakers can be extra reliant than ever on the efficiency of a single element provider — the battery module maker.
Hyundai didn’t touch upon the reason for the fires. However South Korea’s transport ministry mentioned in an announcement that some defects had been present in some battery cells produced at a manufacturing unit in China owned by Hyundai’s provider, LG Power Resolution, a division of LG Chem.
LG Power was fast to deflect criticism. The provider mentioned in an announcement that Hyundai misapplied LG’s strategies for fast-charging logic within the battery administration system, including that the battery cell shouldn’t be seen because the direct explanation for the hearth dangers.
Hyundai declined to touch upon LG Power’s assertion.
Unclear within the state of affairs because it developed final week was how the price of the recall can be dealt with or to what extent — if any — the battery provider can be financially accountable.
Hyundai wouldn’t present particulars on the prices, saying solely that it’s going to first watch for the outcomes of the transport ministry’s probe.
“How Hyundai handles this can set a precedent not simply in South Korea but in addition for different nations,” mentioned Lee Grasp-koo, senior researcher on the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Commerce. “It is very important for each Hyundai and LG, as we’re within the early phases of the electrical automobile period.”
Reuters contributed to this report.