Roland Iwuchukwu
Korean automaker, Hyundai on Tuesday (June 20) reinforced its commitment to a transition to Electric Vehicle, EVs as part of a strategy it called “Hyundai Motor Way.”
The plan for the company’s future includes investment of 109.4 trillion won ($85.41 billion) in the next decade, of which nearly a third (35.8 trillion won, $27.8 billion) is earmarked for electrification.
The company aims to sell 2 million EVs by the end of the decade, an increase of about 7 per cent from its current sales volumes.
Key to that goal is a boost in sales in Europe and the US, where the company is currently under being probed for issues related to its Ioniq 5 model.
Dozens of 2022 model-year Hyundai Ioniq 5 owners have complained of completely or partially losing propulsive power, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) notice posted on June 16.
A spell of Hyundai electric vehicles (EV) are coming to a sudden halt in the US, but the company doesn’t seem too concerned about long-term repercussions for its business.
“Many consumers report a loud pop noise followed by a warning displayed on their dashboard and immediately experience a loss of motive power that ranges from a reduction to a complete loss of motive power,” the US agency noted.
Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and other platforms have been flooded with such complaints for the last few months. The highway authority opened an investigation to investigate the scope and severity of the problem on June 8, as per the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) document. So far, no crashes, fires, injuries, or fatalities, have been associated with the blips.
“As it originated from Pony, the IONIQ 5 N—a high-performance EV scheduled for unveiling in July—will embrace and carry forward the enduring heritage of Hyundai Motor Company.” —Hyundai president and CEO Jaehoon Chang in a statement on June 20.
The incidents are linked to the car’s Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU), which charges both high voltage batteries and spare batteries in a vehicle, the Korean automaker told the NHTSA.
A preliminary review indicates too much current within the unit can damage transistors, resulting in the inability to recharge the 12V battery, the roads authority said.
A spokesperson for Hyundai told the Associated Press the automaker was fully cooperating with the agency’s investigation and that it would, starting next month, offer a software update and replace affected components if necessary.