Fountain Valley, CA – December 28, 2020 – Hyundai Motor Company (NASDAQ:HYMTF) has recalled 8,176 vehicles, due to a sensor signal malfunction that may “significantly” reduce braking power, increasing the risk of a crash. The recall includes 2019-2020 Nexo Fuel Cell sedans and 2019-2021 Kona Electric SUVs.

Recall summary  

These vehicles operate with an Integrated Electronic Brake (IEB) system which is designed to automatically reduce the speed of a car when the system determines that the risk of a crash is increasing.  

Recalled vehicles’ IEB may receive a faulty “sensor signal,” which may illuminate the malfunction indicator lamp and increase the time it takes the vehicle to slow down after applying brakes.

Hyundai recalled the 2020 Nexo due to a self-parking system issue in April of 2020. Several model years of Hyundai Kona electric vehicles were recalled in 2020 for a battery issue that could lead to a fire.

Risks 

If the brakes do not work as designed, the driver may not brake in time to avoid hitting another vehicle, a pedestrian or a stationary object, such as the curb, railing or a tree. A crash may injure the vehicle occupants or passengers in other vehicles.

An owner of a 2019 Nexo logged a complaint of last year that mentioned that the brakes would intermittently fail, causing the braking power to fall dramatically and the car speed to be limited to 13 mph. The failure also seemed to allow the car to “roll backward when the brake is not applied.” The complaint was logged before Hyundai started its investigation.

The repair

To fix the issue, dealers will need to update the IEB software. The repair is free of charge. Hyundai expects the recall to begin on January 22, 2021. 

Is your vehicle part of this recall?

Over 8,100 vehicles are included in this Hyundai Kona Electric and Nexo recall. To see if your car is one of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.