A Canadian driver from Vancouver who owned a 2022 EV model was told that a replacement battery would cost more than the vehicle itself due to some suspected damage.
Documented by Motormouth, a Canadian automotive-focused YouTube channel, the cautionary tale involving a Hyundai IONIQ 5 is one to keep in mind for current and future EV owners of any make and model.
The 2022 IONIQ 5 runs for $55,000, and the replacement battery would’ve cost over $60,000 — more than the car itself!
According to the Motormouth video, the situation revolves around a potential warranty being voided by suspected damage to the battery protection cover. The insurer wrote the car off.
Motormouth felt the damaged battery protection cover didn’t look that bad and that a replacement should’ve been covered by insurance if the battery itself wasn’t damaged.
The crux of this situation revolves around an independent dealership that Hyundai Canada told Daily Hive misquoted the driver.
“Our battery costs are in line with most batteries of this size and output regardless of manufacturer. That said, when these instances come to Hyundai, we do try to work with customers based on their individual circumstances to find a reasonable solution,” said a Hyundai Canada representative.
They added that the damage was worse than the scratches that Motormouth reported.
“Upon inspection, the battery case was impacted to a degree where it warped the case with a deviance of 15mm, causing a rupture of the internal cooling system.”
Hyundai Canada said that the issue is unrelated to the warranty as the damage was caused by impact, not a manufacturer issue.
“The eight-year, 160,000 km warranty on the high voltage battery covers the customer versus defects in manufacturing.”
The Hyundai rep added that the company attempted to help the impacted customer with a discount towards purchasing a new vehicle. The customer refused, but Hyundai stated that it was still willing to continue to work with the customer on a solution.
In its video, Motormouth added that the issue isn’t specific to Hyundai but is an industry-wide issue in determining a fair price for replacement batteries.
Hyundai Canada also told Motormouth that future occurrences of this kind of issue will no longer be dealt with at the dealership level.
Watch the video below for the original Motormouth report:
Are you a Canadian EV driver who has had to deal with battery replacement issues? Let us know in the comments.
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