Class Action Says Charging Capabilities of Certain Hyundai, Kia, Genesis Electric Vehicles Significantly Reduced by Defect

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A proposed class action claims the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60 are equipped with defective charging systems that significantly limit the electric vehicles’ advertised charging capabilities.

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The 69-page case says defendants Hyundai, Kia and Genesis promise that a Level 2 charger charging at 48 amperes, or amps, can fully charge the cars at home within about six to eight hours, depending on the vehicle. Contrary to these representations, a defect in the electric vehicles’ charging port can cause the chargers to overheat within 30 to 60 minutes of use, the suit alleges. 

Per the filing, the vehicles at issue automatically terminate the charging session when the port gets too hot as a safety precaution, but they do not resume on their own once temperatures have cooled down. As a result, drivers must unplug and replug the charger to restart the charging process, the lawsuit claims.

“This failure leaves Class Vehicle owners and lessors to either constantly monitor charging sessions and manually ensure they complete by repeatedly restarting the charging session after each failure, or else contend with unexpectedly empty batteries when they return to their Class Vehicles, expecting them to be fully charged,” the complaint says.

According to the lawsuit, consumers have for over a year reported that their charging sessions repeatedly fail when using a Level 2 charger at 48 amps, as instructed by the automakers. Some drivers have observed charge failure occurring at as low as 28 amps, the suit adds.

In response to these complaints, the defendants began offering a software “fix” this spring that causes the vehicle to lower the current to 23 amps if overheating occurs, the case says. 

“However, charging at 23 amps means that the Vehicles charge at more than twice the amount of time as advertised, leading to charging times of at least 14 hours,” the filing asserts, claiming that the technical service bulletin the automakers released to address the problem makes no mention of this trade-off. 

The case argues that despite being made aware of the defect from pre- and post-launch testing, online consumer complaints, part sales reports and repair and warranty requests, the automakers have chosen to actively conceal these material facts from consumers prior to purchase.

In addition, the charging port’s tendency to overheat can damage vehicle components and waste energy that consumers must pay for in the form of higher utility bills, the complaint contends.

The plaintiffs, three consumers who have experienced charging problems with various versions of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5, say they would not have bought or leased the electric vehicles, or would have paid less for them, had they known the cars contained a defect that reduced their advertised charging capabilities. 

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who purchased or leased one or more Hyundai, Kia or Genesis electric vehicles.

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