Hyundai Recalls Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 Electric Cars

Hyundai and Kia are recalling about 20,000 electric cars. The background is a problem with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, which can cause vehicles to roll away when parked. The electric cars share the Korean parent company’s E-GMP platform.

That now reports that ArsTechnica online magazine Previously, there were reports that only about half as many cars would have to return to workshops. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 models are affected. A malfunction in the so-called shift-by-wire system can sometimes cause parked vehicles to remain unsecured, as the parking brake function of the electric vehicles can fail.

If a voltage surge occurs in the shift-by-wire system while the vehicle is parked and off, a command signal from the shift controller can release the parking brake, allowing the vehicle to roll away depending on the parking space. The issue was discovered by automakers in Korea after several customers reported the bug. After a review, Hyundai is sure that the EV6 and Ioniq 5 should get an update.

About 20,000 affected vehicles

Hyundai confirmed that they have been notified of four incidents of the type involving the Ioniq 5 and that the issue can be resolved through a software update. According to initial findings, 9,014 Kia ​​EV6 and 10,729 Hyundai Ioniq 5 are now affected by the recall.

Owners are advised to apply the electronic parking brake when parking their vehicle rather than simply turning it off and walking away. The owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted by the car manufacturers to schedule the software fix. There is currently no information about the planned recall from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) responsible in Germany. The KBA maintains a recall database for such cases.

This applies to all cases in which there is a risk for vehicle occupants or other road users due to production-related defects. Manufacturers are obliged to inform the KBA in the event of a recall. The KBA then asks the affected car owners to make the necessary repairs and verifies that all affected vehicles are participating in the recall. Tesla had a similar problem in 2017 and had to recall more than 50,000 Model S and X models from 2016.