Hyundai and Kia Recall 14 EVs Over a Battery Cell Fire Risk

Hyundai and Kia are telling owners of 14 electric vehicles to park outside and away from buildings after finding a battery cell defect that can spark a fire. The recall is tiny by industry standards, but it points to a supplier problem that owners of far more common EVs should understand: the defective cells came from SK On, one of the largest battery makers supplying the US EV market.

Which Vehicles Are Covered

The recall covers six 2023 and 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 models, seven 2022 through 2024 Kia EV6 models, and a single 2024 Kia EV9. In a letter to NHTSA filed July 9, Hyundai said the fault comes from misaligned electrodes inside the battery cell that can create an internal short circuit and lead to a fire. Hyundai launched its own investigation last month and traced the problem to a limited number of US vehicles built with defective battery modules from SK On in a specific production window. As of the filing, Hyundai says it is not aware of any US incidents, crashes, fires or injuries tied to the defect.

Both companies are advising affected owners to keep the battery under 80 percent charge and to park outdoors, away from structures and other vehicles, until a dealer replaces the battery system assembly. The repair is free regardless of whether the vehicle is still under Hyundai’s new-vehicle warranty. Hyundai plans to mail owner notification letters on August 31, and Kia will mail its letters August 7.

Why a 14-Vehicle Recall Still Deserves Attention

Recall size does not always track with the seriousness of the underlying problem. Hyundai and Kia isolated this issue to a narrow production run, which is why only 14 US vehicles ended up on the list, but the root cause sits at the battery cell supplier rather than at either automaker’s own assembly line. SK On supplies battery cells to a range of vehicles sold in the US beyond the Ioniq 5, EV6 and EV9, and a manufacturing defect discovered in one production batch raises a reasonable question for any owner of an EV built around the same supplier’s cells: was my car part of the same batch, or a different one that never had the misalignment problem in the first place.

For now, Hyundai and Kia say the fix applies only to the specific vehicles identified through their investigation, and there is no broader recall affecting other Ioniq, EV6 or EV9 model years. Owners of similar vehicles built outside the flagged production window are not part of this campaign, but the episode is a reminder that even mainstream, well-reviewed EVs can carry a component-level defect that has nothing to do with the vehicle’s overall design.

How to Check Your Vehicle and What to Do

Owners can enter their VIN at NHTSA.gov/recalls to confirm whether their specific car is included. Hyundai’s recall number for this campaign is 305, and its customer service line is 855-371-9460. Kia’s recall number is SC375, and its customer line is 1-800-333-4542. NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline, 1-888-327-4236, can also confirm recall status and log a complaint if an owner notices battery warning lights, unusual heat, swelling, or an odor coming from the battery pack before a dealer has completed the repair.

Owners who confirm their vehicle is affected do not need to stop driving it, but should limit charging to 80 percent and avoid parking in an attached garage or next to another car until the dealer swaps in a corrected battery system assembly. Anyone who notices a burning smell, smoke, or a battery warning message should stop driving and contact roadside assistance rather than waiting for a scheduled dealer appointment.

A Pattern of Battery Fire Recalls in 2026

This recall lands in a year that has already produced several unrelated battery and fire-risk campaigns across the industry. Chrysler told Pacifica plug-in hybrid owners to park outside over a separate battery fire concern, and BMW has twice recalled vehicles for a corroding starter relay that can overheat and ignite. None of these problems share a common cause, but together they illustrate how electrified vehicles, whether fully electric or plug-in hybrid, introduce fire-risk failure points that a conventional gasoline car simply does not have: high-voltage battery packs, dense wiring harnesses, and, in hybrids, two separate propulsion systems packed into the same engine bay.

Consumer advocates who track EV safety data say the actual rate of battery fires per vehicle remains low compared with gasoline vehicle fires overall, which are still far more common on a per-mile basis. The difference is that an EV battery fire burns hotter, is harder for firefighters to extinguish, and can reignite hours after appearing to be out, which is why regulators lean toward a cautious park-outside instruction even for a defect confirmed in only a handful of cars.

How Automakers Spot a Defect in Just a Handful of Cars

A defect confined to 14 vehicles out of the tens of thousands built on the same platform sounds nearly impossible to trace, but battery manufacturing runs in discrete batches, each tied to a specific set of raw materials, tooling calibration, and shift crew. When a manufacturer flags a quality issue on the production line, engineers can usually pull the exact date range and batch numbers involved, then cross-reference those batch numbers against the vehicle identification numbers of every car that received a module from that run. That is how Hyundai narrowed a supplier-wide manufacturing question down to a precise list of 14 US vehicles rather than issuing a broad, precautionary recall across every Ioniq 5, EV6 and EV9 on the road.

The tradeoff is time. Batch tracing takes weeks of internal investigation before a manufacturer can file anything with NHTSA, so owners sometimes hear about a supplier-level battery concern in the press well before any formal recall notice exists. Hyundai’s own account bears this out: the company says it opened its internal investigation in June after a broader quality flag on SK On cells, and only filed the narrower 14-vehicle recall with regulators in early July once the batch analysis was complete.

What to Watch For if You Own an SK On-Equipped EV

SK On supplies battery cells to several automakers selling in the US beyond Hyundai and Kia, and owners of any EV built on its cells can watch for the same early warning signs that a battery cell short circuit tends to produce before it becomes a fire: a battery state-of-charge reading that drops faster than usual, a dashboard warning tied to the high-voltage system, unusual heat coming from the floor of the vehicle near the battery pack, or a faint chemical or burning smell with no obvious source. None of these signs guarantee a defect, and most EV owners will never see any of them, but any one of them is worth a same-day call to the dealer or manufacturer rather than a wait-and-see approach.

Owners who are simply shopping for a used Ioniq 5, EV6 or EV9 built in 2022 through 2024 can ask the seller or a dealer to run a VIN check for open recalls before completing a purchase, the same way a buyer would check for any other outstanding safety campaign. A car with an open recall is not unsafe to buy, but the free repair should happen before or immediately after the sale closes rather than being left for a new owner to find out about later.

What Happens Next

Hyundai has not issued a matching recall in any other market, though local reports in South Korea, where SK On is based, suggest the supplier is watching for similar issues in vehicles built for other regions. Both Hyundai and Kia say they will keep NHTSA and the public updated if the investigation widens beyond the 14 US vehicles currently identified.

Owners of any Ioniq 5, EV6 or EV9 who have not received a letter but want peace of mind can check their VIN directly rather than waiting for the August mailings: the federal recall database is typically updated before individual notification letters go out. For everyone else driving an EV built on SK On cells, the more useful lesson is procedural: register your vehicle with the manufacturer, keep your contact information current with the dealer, and download NHTSA’s SaferCar app so a future recall on your specific vehicle reaches you the day it is filed rather than weeks later in the mail.

Sources:

• Electrek: Hyundai Recalls 14 Ioniq 5 and Kia EVs, Warning Owners to Park Outside
• Autoblog: Hyundai and Kia Tell Some EV Owners to Park Outside Over Fire Risk