Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byun Chang-heum said at the general meeting of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at the National Assembly, when asked when the results of the investigation of defects related to the Kona fire would come out, “It has been almost investigated and the results will be announced soon.”
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Kona EV has had a total of 11 fires in Korea since its launch in 2018. Following a series of fires, in October last year, Hyundai Motor Company recalled 77,000 Kona EVs manufactured from September 2017 to March 2019 from around the world. At the time, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport estimated that a fire would occur due to defective battery cell manufacturing of the Kona EV high voltage battery.
However, LG Chem, a battery maker, protested, saying it could not be determined as a battery problem. Currently, the Automotive Safety Research Institute is conducting an investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire. In addition, last month, a fire occurred at the Kona EV, which received a recall, and controversy arose over the appropriateness of the recall. On the 15th of this month, a fire broke out in an electric city bus made by Hyundai Motor Company.
Rep. Heo pointed out, “Currently, only 5 out of 38 researchers who majored in electric vehicles are among the investigators of Katri (Automobile Safety Research Institute).” He said, “Can we verify the safety of automobiles in this way?” He asked, “Please make sure to improve the system, including the composition of experts.”
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