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Hyundai’s EV Recall Among The Most Expensive Recalls In History

Hyundai’s recall of 82,000 electric vehicles prone to battery fires will cost the automaker $900 million, making it one of the most expensive recalls in history when accounting for cost per vehicle.

A car is engulfed in flames. The fire itself does not illuminate its surroundings. It is presumably nighttime. The average cost per vehicle, an extremely high $11,000, is due to the cost of replacing an entire battery in an electric vehicle. Though recalls of gas-powered vehicles could cost an automaker far more than $900 million overall, the average cost per vehicle is much lower, save for recalls of gas-powered vehicles that required replacing entire engines.

The average cost per recalled vehicle in the last decade was about $500, according to Michael Held, director at AlixPartners and expert in the automotive and industrial manufacturing.

“Overall, battery safety and durability will be increasingly important if auto companies want to avoid some of the large battery-recall costs that have befallen the consumer-electronics industry,” Held told CNN.

Hyundai’s recall affects Hyundai Kona, Ioniq EV and Elec City vehicles, with Konas being the vehicle most affected in the United States.

This comes after Hyundai conducted an investigation revealing that the vehicles’ LG batteries could short circuit and cause the vehicles to catch fire.

Hyundai and LG disagreed on who was to blame for the vehicle fires.

Source: CNN


Lemon Law Help by Knight Law Group is an automotive lemon law firm that exclusively practices in California. If you are a California resident who purchased or leased a defective vehicle from a licensed dealership in California, we may be able to help you get rid of your potential lemon and recover significant cash compensation. Model year restrictions apply: 2017–Present vehicle models only.

However, we cannot help those who reside outside of California or purchased their vehicle outside of California unless they are active duty members of the Armed Forces, nor will we be able to refer those to a lemon law firm in their states.

To learn more about the California Lemon Law and your legal rights, visit our guide on the California Lemon Law for more information.

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