Hyundai Motor Company’s Kona EV fires in 11 domestic and 4 overseas cases after launch in 2018
As a fire broke out again in Hyundai Motor’s Kona Electric Vehicle (EV), which had recently been recalled due to a series of fires, the anxiety of electric vehicle owners has not gone away.
There are also concerns that if such quality and safety issues are repeatedly raised, it will hurt a considerable amount of damage to Hyundai Motor Group, which has made this year the’first year of electric vehicle leap forward’.
According to the industry on the 24th, at 4:11 pm the previous day, a fire of unknown cause broke out in the Kona EV, which was being charged at a public electric vehicle charger installed at a taxi company in Yucheon-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu.
Hyundai Motor Company said, “We are investigating the cause of the fire with related agencies.”
Accordingly, the cause of the first fire will be announced as early as the 25th.
Including the fire on that day, it is known that a total of 15 fires, including 11 domestic and 4 overseas cases, occurred since its launch in 2018.
Hyundai Motor recalled 77,000 Kona EVs manufactured from September 2017 to March last year from around the world as the safety controversy spread over the previous Kona EV fires.
Hyundai Motor Company first updated the battery management system (BMS) of the vehicle to be recalled by reporting the defect in battery cell manufacturing of the high voltage battery as the cause of the fire.
However, after updating the BMS, consumer complaints did not end with Hyundai Motor’s recall policy to replace the battery if there is a problem.
Naver Café’Electric Vehicles Club’ posted a controversy about the so-called “brick car” with articles stating that the vehicle was inoperable, such as not starting the car after the recall.
The 279 owners of Kona EV also filed a class lawsuit against Hyundai Motor Company seeking compensation for damages for reasons such as a decline in vehicle value.
The rumors of Kona EV’s discontinuation flowed, and complaints were aggravated.
In particular, as a fire breaks out in a vehicle that has been recalled this time, consumers’ anxiety is expected to increase for some time.
There are already postings in cafes such as “Hyundai Motor’s response is not easy”, “If the temperature rises, it will become more problematic” and “I feel anxious every time I ride a car.”
The Kona EV sold 84,735 units worldwide last year, the most among Hyundai and Kia’s electric vehicles.
This year, the government’s electric vehicle subsidy system changed, and the largest government subsidy (8 million won) was set along with Niro EV.
If you include local subsidies of up to 11 million won, you will receive up to 19 million won of subsidy at the time of purchase.
In the event of repeated quality and safety issues such as fires, the strategy of Hyundai Motor Group, which set this year as the first year of the electric vehicle leap forward and accelerated to dominate the electrification market, could also be disrupted.
The Hyundai Motor Group plans to introduce three next-generation electric vehicles one after another, including Hyundai Ioniq 5, which is based on E-GMP, an electric vehicle exclusive platform this year, Kia CV (project name) and Genesis JW (project name).
Hyundai Motor Company plans to release a total of 12 electric vehicles by 2025 and sell 560,000 units per year, increasing the proportion of electric vehicle sales in the global market by 10%.
The goal is to achieve 8-10% of the global electric vehicle market share by 2040.
/yunhap news