Image of Hyundai Motor’s’Kona Electric’ battery pack. Hyundai Motor Company
It is pointed out that it will take several years to complete the recall of’Kona Electric (EV)’ due to battery supply and demand problems. Despite the announcement of the recall, the vehicle driver’s anxiety is likely to continue for some time.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport on the 24th, Hyundai Motor Company will launch a’high voltage battery system (BSA)’ for 26,699 units such as Kona EV, Ioniq EV, and Eleccity electric buses that have been found to have a battery fire risk due to manufacturing defects from March 29 Start the replacement.
An official from Hyundai Motor said, “The possibility of a fire due to defective manufacturing of battery cells produced at LG Energy Solution’s Nanjing plant in China is discovered, and a voluntary recall is carried out for customer safety.” “In order for customers to smoothly receive battery replacement, I will do my best.”
Vehicles subject to recall can be repaired free of charge at Hyundai Motor Service Centers or Blue Hands nationwide. Hyundai Motor Company plans to sequentially recall vehicles manufactured before 2018, categorizing by vehicle manufacturing year.
In addition, in order to reduce the likelihood of a fire in a vehicle that has not been replaced, it is guiding customers to “adjust the maximum charging rate to 90%.”
The industry predicts that this battery replacement recall period will take at least 1 to 2 years and up to 3 years. This is because the production capacity of LG Energy Solutions, which must supply replacement BSA, is limited. LG Energy Solutions currently produces electric vehicle batteries of 120GW (about 2 million units) and supplies them to Tesla, Hyundai, GM, and Volkswagen.
However, in response to this, LG Energy Solutions said, “We can complete the recall within a year.” It is to solve the supply and demand problem by distributed production of BSA for replacement at factories around the world such as Poland, China, Korea, and the United States.
The battery capacity required for this recall is about 5GW (about 80,000 units), which is about 4.3% of LG Energy Solution’s annual output. An official at LG Energy Solutions explained, “Usually, the battery factory production is tailored to the order volume, but as it is an emergency, we will try to maximize the production capacity to meet the supply and demand.”
Meanwhile, some believe that Hyundai Motor Company will seek to secure SK Innovation’s batteries to end the recall early. SK Innovation’s battery cells have the same’pouch’ shape as LG Energy Solution, and are already installed in some Kona EVs. In response, SK Innovation dismissed, saying, “There is no decision to supply replacement BSA.”
Ryu Jong-eun reporter [email protected]
News directly edited by the Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver.
