Hyundai is having an issue with the hybrid electrics in nearly 55,000 units of its popular Elantra Hybrid sedan. The company has just announced a recall covering model year 2024-2026 vehicles to fix a control unit that could overheat, leading to damage and the risk of fire. Here's what you need to know. Overheating Transistor To Blame HyundaiIn documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Hyundai described a potential issue with what's called the Hybrid Power Control Unit, or HPCU. This unit controls power to specific components in the hybrid system, the company said.Per the documents, one transistor in the HPCU can overheat under high electrical loads. The car company told regulators that in most cases, this failure would lead to a no-start condition, where the vehicle wouldn't run, or that it could set a check engine light and enter a lower-power limp mode.In some cases, though, the HPCU could overheat. That could lead to "localized thermal damage to the HPCU assembly and internal components." For the rest of us, that means a possible fire.Hyundai said that it is aware of incidents in four vehicles. There were no crashes or injuries, but Hyundai reported one fire in a US vehicle.The company first became aware of a problem in December 2024, after what it calls a "Speak Up For Safety" report. The HPCU from that vehicle was sent for testing, which is where Hyundai found damage to the transistor as well as coolant inside the HPCU housing.In July 2025, Hyundai said it had conducted multiple teardowns where it found the same failure. However, it told regulators, the damage varied across the different units and was not externally visible. New Software Should Fix The Issue Jared Rosenholtz / CarBuzz / Valnet From there, Hyundai and its supplier developed new software to reduce the chance of damage. It tested the new software and analyzed telematics data from customers' vehicles to determine whether it could detect unreported faults and signs of a wider-ranging issue.The final fix is new software. The new code will improve cooling of the transistor and limit current delivery through the system when the vehicle is running. This, Hyundai says, should remedy the problem.Hyundai said it plans to notify dealers of the issue and of the fix starting July 13, 2026. Letters to customers will go out the same day. But customers who are concerned their vehicles are affected can reach out to Hyundai now, or search for their VIN through the NHTSA's recall database. The recall did not indicate whether this was a software fix that could be done at the dealer or whether it required a replacement of the computer.According to the recall filing, Hyundai believes that just 1% of the vehicles involved will suffer from the defect. However, like all safety recalls, every vehicle will be fixed at no charge to the customer. For more information about this or other recalls, contact your dealer.Source: NHTSA
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