Hyundai is preparing to recall 77,000 electric cars around the world at the risk of battery fires as automaker battles battery supplier LG Chem.
Last summer, a Hyundai Kona EV came out of the flames inside the garage Near Montreal in Canada.
Since then, there have been about a dozen more whose EVs have caught fire – inquiring into the matter.
In an official investigation into the issue in Korea, Hyundai claimed that the problem was found (by Korea Times):
During a National Assembly audit on Thursday, Hyundai Motor President CO Bo-Shin, who is in charge of quality control, said the company “acknowledges the defects in the vehicles” and “found a solution” to correct the defects, although it is not complete. ”
However, different reports are coming to different conclusions.
One is blaming the battery cells while the other is concluding that it has to do with the battery pack:
The ministry said it had found that “the divider in the battery cell was damaged due to errors in the manufacturing process,” suggesting that LG Cam’s battery cell could be the cause of the fire. The National Forensic Service also concluded that ” Electric problems “are believed to have started a fire.”
The battery pack of Kona EV is made by HL Green Power; A joint venture between Hyundai Mobis and LG Cam, where the latter produces battery cells and assembles the previous battery pack.
LG Cam has denied that the cause could be battery sales.
Hyundai has already confirmed the voluntary recall of more than 25,000 Kona EVs in Korea and this recall is now expected to increase to more than 77,000. Electric vehicles worldwide, including North America, most vehicles are in Europe.
Whose EV owners should stay tuned for an official announcement by the NHTSA.
There is no statistical evidence that electric vehicles catch fire at a higher rate than gasoline-powered vehicles. U.S. alone More than 200,000 gasoline-vehicle fires are reported each year.
However, electric vehicles represent an emerging technology, so there is caution around technology and there is a lot of interest when such events occur.
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