Due to a potential unintended acceleration issue, Hyundai has been forced to recall some Ioniq electric vehicles in the United States. A total of 2,679 units of the zero-emission car are being included in the Korean automaker’s and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) safety campaign in the United States. Apparently, only cars built between January 21, 2016, and June 24, 2019, are affected and that represents only 1% of the grand total of EV Ioniq models sold so far.
The car cam enter a ‘fail-safe’ mode during operation, causing the ‘EV Ready’ lamp to flash, according to the safety watchdog. Reduced acceleration and overall power output are frequently associated with this process. However, “a slow, unintended acceleration can occur following the accelerator pedal release in rare situations,” according to the NHTSA. Because of this issue, the risk of an accident has increased, prompting the recall. However, the steering and braking systems are unaffected.
That said, what’s the actual source of the problem? According to the NHTSA, an unstable electrical ground might cause “a communication problem within the vehicle’s Controller Area Network (CAN) bus.” The fault will be fixed with a simple software update and ground wiring repair, and as always, all work will be done for free.
The company learned about the problem via a Korean media report about an occurrence of accidental acceleration in a car in its domestic market, and after completing an investigation, they uncovered the cause. Last month, the decision to issue a safety recall was made. Hyundai is expected going to contact owners of the aforementioned Ioniq EVs by February 4, 2022.
The problem will also be communicated to their dealers within this time frame. Concerned owners can reach out to the automaker’s customer support at 1-855-371-9460, referencing the official recall number 215, and/or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 1-888-327-4236.
