Hyundai NZ has begun to organise replacement batteries for the car, but doesn’t anticipate remedial work starting before August.

POTENTIALLY more than half of the 800 electric Hyundai Konas so far sold in New Zealand are set to require a battery cell transplant, with surgery unlikely to start before August.

Even this is still something of a guesstimate for Hyundai New Zealand, with the Auckland-based distributor admitting it is still chasing up vital information from the factory, two months after Seoul announced a worldwide plan to replace the drivetrain-vital battery pack.

South Korea’s largest and most successful carmaker is facing spending more than $1 billion dollars on the fix for one of the most popular EVs bought new by Kiwis. In all, around 82,000 cars have been involved in what is being called the most expensive electric car recall ever.

At present, HNZ is only able to say that cars built between May 11 of 2018 and March 13 of 2020 are most likely to require the major remedial work of replacing the powerful 64kWh lithium ion battery – called the BSA (battery system assembly).

It believes 432 New Zealand market cars fall into that space, but cannot yet determine how of those might have a BSA issue.

It has begun to arrange shipment of replacement batteries which, due to the sensitivities around how these are handled, cannot be airfreighted from South Korea but instead require delivery by sea.

Also hanging over this scenario is that this is the second battery-related recall within 12 months for the five-seater model.

The first was notified last October and involves 724 cars in this market. It is still being reconciled.

HMC initially concluded the fault then was to do with the battery’s management system – and so this was replaced, though even then some cars required replacement batteries.

It has now apparently concluded that it in fact the first and latest problems could be related. Poor workmanship by the battery maker, LG Chem’s battery division LG Energy Solution, during assembly in China has been cited, though that has been refuted by the LG Energy, which is co-funding the recall cost.

Hyundai New Zealand spokeswoman Kimberley Waters said the original fix of a software update “was to monitor the HV (high voltage) battery for any electrical deficiencies and safely isolate and shut the HV battery system down.

“We are well under way with Battery System Assembly (BSA) replacements on vehicles which exhibited an EV fault related to the first recall.

“In late February HMC and LG Energy Solutions found the root cause – (a) folded anode tab in the batteries. All the defective cells came from the same LG Energy Solutions factory in China.”

The assembly line issue has now been corrected. Which means a facelifted Kona EV about to come on sale here, with improved range, has been cleared of the issue, as have any first generation Kona EVs built since the end of February. The Niro, a sister car from Hyundai’s subordinate make, Kia, is unaffected by the recall. Kia uses battery cells produced by another South Korean battery supplier, SK Innovation.

The findings of HMC’s investigation have helped narrow down how many cars in NZ hands are likely to require work, but not to an nth degree.

“Since its not practically possible to identify internally any of the defective cells in vehicles already on the road, HMC has initiated a voluntary safety recall which will involve the replacement of the complete Battery System Assembly on a certain production range,” Waters explained.

HNZ being at the point of still working with HMC to reconcile “a number of details and logistics that are involved with the second recall” is why the latest action has yet to be notified with Waka Kotahi Land Transport NZ, as the initial action was.

“We are yet to receive official communication from Hyundai Motor Company for the current recall so do not have final confirmation as to how many vehicles in New Zealand are affected.

“Once we have all the information we will initiate our internal recall process, parts ordering, customer contact, website updates and bookings etc.

“But we anticipate it will be certain Kona EVs produced between 11 May 2018 (and) 13 March 2020, which at this stage would equate to 462 Kona EVs that could be recalled.”

She said vehicles that underwent a BSA replacement as part of the November recall would “naturally be excluded” from the latest action “and they have already been removed from the potential VIN range for the second recall.”

In respect to how long before battery replacement begins; how long will the job take per individual vehicle and what the likely time span for the entire recall would be?

“Due to nature of the recall, there are a number of items to prepare for to ensure the recall campaign rolls out smoothly with minimal customer disruption.

“With regards to the first recall, any vehicles that exhibited a BSA electrical deficiency, BSA replacements are already under way and each replacement takes approximately four hours.” It is unclear if that timeframe is for a singe cell or the entire battery, which effectively fills the car’s entire underfloor area. A NZ Kona owner whose car underwent a complete battery replacement during the first action has told this site his car was off the road for several months, though he was unsure how much of that time was specifically dedicated to replacing the battery proper.

“One of the items we are finalising with … Korea is the logistics schedule on BSA arrivals to New Zealand.

“The current strategy is to receive monthly limited shipments starting from August. This is the current plan and could be sooner. This rollout will continue until the second recall is completed.”

Are affected owners going to be offered vehicles to drive while their Konas are being remedied and will those replacement vehicles be EVs?

“We are working with customers on a case-by-case basis. A handful of customers have opted for a temporary replacement vehicle until their battery can be replaced.”

Hyundai internationally has suggested precautionary measures for cars potentially impacted by the issue. These include not parking in enclosed areas and also not recharging the battery beyond 90 percent.