Hyundai Battery Replacement Scandal Continues with 2nd Reported $60k Bill

We reported recently about a Hyundai Ioniq EV battery replacement that cost $60,000 to which was higher than the cost of the car.

The owner mentioned that he had scraped the bottom of the car in an accident and therefore the battery replacement wasn’t covered under warranty.

In that case, Hyundai Canada had mentioned that the pricing was not quoted by them but by a third party and that the insurer had reported those numbers.

Now the same YouTube channel MotorMouth has released a follow-up story that seems to contradict what Hyundai Canada had previously stated.

In the second case, the owner of the Ioniq mentioned that they had accidentally ran over a car’s exhaust which resulted in minor scrapes just like the first case.

This Ioniq was also written off by the insurers in this case which highlights how fragile the bottom of the car is or that there’s a design flaw that’s causing the protective layer to fail.

Though there was some confusion over the price of battery replacement in the first report, MotorMouth found a listing for the pricing of the battery, with the same part number.

The price after labour and tax also adds up to over $60,000.

Of note for the second case however, is that the owner contacted Hyundai Canada beforehand to ask if it’s safe to drive the car since there are no warnings on the dashboard.

Hyundai Canada replied that it was safe and that no replacement would be required. However, the insurers did not think that was the case and wrote off another car due to a dent.

Hyundai HQ remained mum about the issue of battery pricing after the 2nd case and released a general statement to address further issues.

It seems as though, at least in Hyundai’s case, that batteries in Hyundai’s cars can’t be easily repaired. It’s ironic that EVs that were meant to be sustainable are being scrapped for such minor scrapes.

Add to that, the environmental cost to produce a whole new battery unit is way higher than replacing an internal combustion engine.