Hyundai and Kia recall nearly 20,000 electric vehicles due to parking problems

South Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia recall about 20,000 electric cars to their workshops in the USA. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 can start to move independently despite the active parking lock if they are stopped on a slope, for example. It can be noisy National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), the US Federal Highway and Vehicle Safety Administration, leads to accidents.

The NHTSA writes in its safety recall reports for Hyundai Ioniq 5 as well as Kia EV6That the electronic parking lock can run out due to voltage fluctuations. Both electric cars use the same technical basis (E-GMP), where the transmission is controlled electronically rather than mechanical thanks to “Shift-By-Wire”. Hyundai has recorded four such cases with the Ioniq 5 in Korea, but so far no cases have been recorded in the United States.

Software update for the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6

The US recall affects 10,729 Hyundai Ionic 5s produced between early October 2021 and late April 2022. The Kia EV6 isn’t that many, with 9,014 models built between mid-November 2021 and early April 2022. Affected customers will be notified and should receive a software update In the workshops to fix the parking problem.

Drivers of these electric vehicles are advised not only to turn off the vehicles and run, but to use the electronic parking brake as well as the simple parking lock via adjusting the gears.

Electric parking brake system problems for electric cars are not new. In 2017, Tesla recalled 53,000 vehicles due to parking brake problems. Tesla’s Model X and S, which were built from February to October 2016, were affected. A potential parking brake malfunction could cause the electric parking brake system to malfunction, preventing the brakes from applying.

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