NHTSA investigates 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 over reports of power loss

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has been met with almost unanimously positive reviews from critics and owners, but that hasn’t made it immune to growing pains. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently opened an investigation into the 2022 Ioniq 5 over reports that the vehicle lost power while driving.

More than two dozen owners lodged complaints with the NHTSA. Many claimed they heard a loud pop and saw a warning message in the dash associated with the loss of power. Though it’s not at the recall stage yet, NHTSA’s investigation could wrap in almost 40,000 Ioniq 5 models.

Hyundai’s report to the NHTSA stated that the problem relates to an Integrated Control Charging Unit for the batteries. A current issue could damage the transistors and cause a loss of 12-volt charging.

If a recall should occur, Hyundai is ready. “To address the concern, Hyundai is launching a service campaign in July that will update the affected vehicles’ software and replace the IICU if necessary,” a company spokesperson told Automotive News. They continued by saying, “We value our cooperative relationship with NHTSA and have engaged in a frequent, open, and transparent dialogue with the agency on this topic.”

The Ioniq 5 has been a success for Hyundai, and the automaker is building on that momentum with the new Ioniq 6. The two share quite a bit of their underlying engineering, but it’s unclear if the newer Ioniq 6 is susceptible to the same loss of power issues that its predecessor is dealing with.

This will be the second recall for the 2022 Ioniq 5 if it materializes. That compares to ten for the 2022 Tesla Model 3, three for the 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E, three for the Volkswagen ID.4, and five for the Tesla Model Y. Though some automakers have racked up what seems like a ton of recalls, it’s worth noting that many of the issues have been small and able to be fixed with remote software updates.

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