LG Energy Solution "Hyundai Motor Misapplied Fast Charging Logic... Will Verify Fire Correlation"

Last October, a fire broke out while charging the battery of a Kona electric vehicle (EV) parked in the parking lot of the Wabu-eup Resident Autonomy Center in Namyangju City.<이미지:Yonhap News>

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Regarding the voluntary recall of the Kona electric vehicle (EV), the battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution stated that "since no fire occurred during reproduction experiments, it is difficult to consider it as a direct cause."

On the 24th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that a manufacturing defect was found in 26,699 units across three models including the Kona EV, leading to a voluntary recall. Following a series of fires in Hyundai electric vehicles using LG batteries, including the Kona EV, related authorities such as the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, Hyundai Motor Company, and LG Energy Solution have been analyzing the causes of the fires.

After the Ministry's announcement, LG Energy Solution said, "Although the investigation to identify the cause is not yet complete, we will prioritize consumer safety and actively cooperate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Hyundai Motor Company to ensure the recall proceeds smoothly." However, they added, "In the case of the battery cell internal misalignment (anode tab folding) cited as the reason for the recall, no fire occurred during reproduction experiments as announced by the Ministry. This was an early production issue on the dedicated Nanjing Hyundai production line, and improvements have already been applied."

LG stated that the investigation confirmed errors made by Hyundai Motor Company during the application of the Battery Management System (BMS). LG Energy Solution said, "Regarding Hyundai's BMS charging map misapplication, we confirmed that Hyundai incorrectly applied the fast-charging logic proposed by us to the BMS," and added, "We will continue to cooperate with relevant organizations to further verify whether this is related to the fire incidents."

Regarding the separator damage, which was suggested as the cause of the fire last October, LG reported that joint investigation team simulation experiments confirmed it was unrelated to the fires.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.