A Recall Is Underway

A Kona EV is burned down by fire in front of a pension in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, on June 18.

Fire broke out in a Kona EV again, baffling Hyundai Motor Co., which is carrying out, together with LG Energy Solution, a battery manufacturer, a recall of its models that run on LG batteries. The recall costs the two companies 1.4 trillion won.

According to fire and police departments, the fire broke out in a Kona EV parked at a pension near a beach in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, on June 18. The first report arrived at the Boryeong Fire Station at 9:39 a.m. and the fire was put out after burning up the car. The fire was strongly suspected of being a usual high-voltage battery fire. The fire started from a lower part of the car where the battery is located. Firefighters reportedly had trouble extinguishing the fire.


"The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute (KATRI) of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, Hyundai Motor and battery manufacturers," a Hyundai Motor official said.

Much attention is focusing on the manufacturer of the battery and whether the car was recalled for battery replacement. "It is understood that this vehicle is not subject to a recall," said an industry insider. "The vehicle was produced and sold after March 2020." The battery maker was not immediately known. Hyundai Motor mostly used batteries from LG Energy Solution for the Kona EV but used batteries from SK Innovation batteries for some models due to a deepening battery shortage.

If the battery is found to be from LG Energy Solution, it will deal a serious blow to the company as the fire means it has failed to solve the safety problems of its batteries. This is because most of the battery fires -- ESS fires in 2019 and EV fires in 2020 – involved batteries from LG Energy Solution. In addition, government authorities who failed to identify the cause of the fires will be placed under heavy fire again.

Even if the battery is an SK Innovation product, the impact will be the same. Not a single fire has occurred from SK Innovation batteries yet. If it turns out to be an SK Innovation battery, it will have negative effects on the company and the Korean battery makers as a whole.

The number of Kona EV fires has increased to 16 since the model’s launch in 2018 --12 in Korea and four overseas. Hyundai Motor has discontinued the production of the model except for overseas exports. The company sold a total of 33,830 Kona EVs in Korea and 101,574 units overseas as of March this year.

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution