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.

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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.

As impressive as the Kia EV9 is, a growing number of owners are experiencing serious battery pack issues and enduring long waits for repairs. It will be a huge concern for Kia, particularly given that several other EVs from the broader Hyundai Group have also suffered serious powertrain-related faults in recent years.

Reports from EV9 owners have been swirling online since at least last year, and a UK writer from The Verge, who just so happens to own an EV9, has experienced them firsthand. It started with a small issue, where the 12-volt battery was drained, and he was unable to unlock the car. To get it up and running, he had to access the frunk manually and then hook up a booster to the battery. As it turns out, this fault would soon be the least of his worries.

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Several weeks later, he says the SUV’s battery would suddenly jump from 82 percent to 100 percent charge when plugged into his home AC charger. The EV’s estimated driving range at 100 percent also plummeted. After purchasing an OBD-II scanner, he discovered that when the Kia displayed 100 percent charge, it was actually only holding 71 kWh, despite having a 99.8 kWh pack. The scanner revealed that some of the pack’s 38 individual modules were dead.

Long Waits For Battery Replacements

A Kia dealership soon verified the issue and confirmed the SUV would need to have the high-voltage battery pack replaced. It’s been entered into Kia’s battery repair program, available through the eight-year warranty for the batteries in the UK, but there’s no clear timeline for when it will be repaired.

The Verge writer says he’s spoken with more than a dozen other EV9 owners in the country who have had similar problems, and some have been unable to continue driving their vehicles while waiting for a new battery. He says at least one has seen their EV9’s range drop to just 30 miles (48 km). Numerous owners in the US have also complained about battery pack failures, indicating this could be a global issue.

Widespread Faults Across Hyundai’s EV Lineup

For years, EVs from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis have also suffered failures of the Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU). The automaker stayed quiet about the problem for a long time before finally acting in 2024, recalling every e-GMP-based EV sold in the US. That didn’t resolve things. Owners continued reporting faults, and Hyundai eventually extended warranties for electric vehicles with ICCU-related problems.

At this stage, no recall has been issued for battery pack failures in the EV9. However, if more owners start experiencing problems and these reports receive greater media coverage, the South Korean car manufacturer may be forced to act.