Kona owners claim that Hyundai's battery fire recalls improperly
According to foreign media reports, some Hyundai Kona electric car owners stated that the company performed poorly in an important recall, delayed the recall, and had poor communication with the owners. In its quest to become the world’s third-largest electric car manufacturer, Hyundai may lose consumers due to improper handling of this recall.
Kona (Image source: Hyundai)
Hyundai announced last month that after 15 Kona electric vehicles caught fire, they will replace battery systems in approximately 82,000 vehicles worldwide. The recall will cost US$900 million. However, some car owners complained that Hyundai did not convey a clear plan to the car owners, and did not tell the car owners when they would replace the battery system in the vehicle.
A 34-year-old Kona car owner from Seoul said: “When I asked Hyundai’s repair center when the battery can be replaced in my car, they just told me that they would let me go. I was in front of the waiting line, but I did not know the exact date. When I purchased Kona in 2018, there were not many electric models available on the market at that time, and now there are more choices of electric vehicles. I think I don’t I will choose Hyundai again.'
Modern foreign media said that the safety of customers is its top concern. The company said: 'Hyundai will continue to work hard and take necessary actions to prevent the ongoing recall from causing inconvenience to customers.' However, the company did not answer the delays and lack of communication complained by car owners.
Hyundai said that they will provide battery replacement services in South Korea from next week. However, due to lack of clarity, many car owners have begun to vent their dissatisfaction on social media and seek compensation.
In November last year, 73 Kona car owners filed a class action lawsuit demanding that Hyundai pay each car owner 8 million won (approximately US$7,000) to make up for the reduction in the value of electric cars and other losses they claim.
Lee Hang-koo, executive consultant of the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, said that there may be potential problems with Hyundai’s battery supply and the company should communicate more clearly with car owners.
The Kona fire accident can be traced back to a few weeks after Hyundai released the Kona electric car in 2018. So far, the defect has not caused any casualties.
In October last year, Hyundai provided a software upgrade to solve this problem, but this was strongly protested by consumers, and a vehicle with an upgraded system also caught fire, and Hyundai agreed to replace it. A battery manufactured by LG Energy Solution, a battery division of LG Chem.
Another Kona car owner, a 35-year-old engineer with the surname Lee, said that the software upgrade has greatly reduced the charging speed and usable capacity of the battery. He said that he would never buy a Hyundai car again. Lee said that when he went to a public charging station to charge Kona, he even encountered a charging station that refused to let him charge. He said: 'The recall wastes my time, and when charging the car, I have to worry about catching fire. Most importantly, I have to worry about how other people think of my car.'
