Misaligned battery electrodes can create an internal short circuit. Hyundai and Kia both sourced affected battery cells from SK On. Owners are also advised to charge the batteries up to 80 percent. Battery fires rank among the worst things that can befall an everyday motorist. Kia and Hyundai have each just issued a fresh recall tied to exactly that danger. Both companies say misaligned electrodes can create an internal short and start a fire in the affected cars. The two campaigns cover just 14 vehicles in total, but every owner still needs to park outside until the problem is fixed. Hyundai says six Ioniq 5 models from the 2023 and 2024 model years may carry high-voltage battery cells with these skewed electrodes. The automaker warns the defect could eventually spark a blaze whether the car is parked or on the move. More: Fuel Leaks Spark Recall Of Nearly A Quarter Million Kia And Genesis Vehicles Kia’s recall identifies the same root cause. According to documents filed with the NHTSA, the supplier, SK On Co, blames a quality deviation for the problem. The automaker says the issue affects seven 2022-2024MY EV6s and a lone 2024MY EV9 SUV. Hyundai has not yet detailed its repair procedure. The normal NHTSA documentation isn’t viewable as of this writing, but Kia will replace the entire high-voltage battery pack with one containing properly aligned battery cells. We expect Hyundai will do the same thing given that the issue is basically identical and from the same supplier. Until that work is completed, the automaker is instructing owners to limit charging to 80 percent and park their vehicles outdoors and away from structures as a precaution. While it’s not explicitly stated in the recall, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to park away from other vehicles even when outside and away from structures. Much like the recall of nearly half a million Tellurides we reported on earlier today, dealer notification letters for this recall went out on July 6. Owner notification correspondence will go out on August 7. Photos: Kia / Hyundai
