Owners of Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles are reporting increasing frustrations with battery problems and reliability, according to InsideEVs.
The Hyundai Motor Group, which encompasses the Kia and Genesis brands, shifted its reputation in the late 2010s. The group moved from being maligned to producing award-winning electric vehicles and successful crossovers, InsideEVs reports.
The Airbag Control Unit Failure
The technical reality of this rapid growth now includes a recall of 37,901 vehicles. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), airbags and seatbelt pretensioners in these vehicles may fail to deploy during a crash.
The recall affects 29,058 Kona Electric models from 2019 to 2023 and 8,843 Veloster N models from 2019 to 2022. The issue originates from a software error within the Airbag Control Unit (ACU), which is the component responsible for detecting crash signals and triggering safety deployments.
Looking under the hood, the detail that matters is how the ACU handles its internal memory. According to NHTSA documents, data can become corrupted if the system reboots or experiences a power interruption while writing to that memory. It is a curious state of affairs when a vehicle’s primary safety system requires a software patch to remember how to function.
When this corruption occurs, the airbag malfunction indicator light illuminates on the dashboard to warn the driver, according to Electrek.
Incidents and Remediation
As of October 22, 2026, Hyundai is aware of 331 alleged incidents related to this software error. The company states that these incidents have not resulted in any injuries, fires, or crashes, according to Electrek.
As ever, the solution is a digital one. Owners can take their vehicles to a dealer for a free ACU software update, according to Car and Driver.
Hyundai expects to mail owner notification letters on January 1, 2027.
Sources
- Hyundai
- I Love EVs, But Kia and Hyundai Are Making That Harder
- Hyundai Issues a Recall for 38,000 Vehicles Due to Potentially Faulty Airbags and Seatbelts
- Hyundai is recalling nearly 30,000 Kona Electric vehicles due to an airbag software defect
- We Took Hyundai’s Off-Road Family SUVs to the Trail. Here’s How It Went.
- Hamburg Police: Speed and alcohol were contributing factors in fatal Camp Road crash
Photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
