Let's be clear before getting into this. An electric vehicle catching fire is a rare event. However, a series of electric fires involving the Hyundai Kona EV led to Hyundai conducting one of the largest recalls in its history. It's a voluntary recall of 76,000 units that Hyundai is recalling, citing a battery fire risk. According to InsideEVs, Hyundai has now confirmed a report by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) in South Korea has, indeed, identifyied the issue. Hyundai is conforming that a folded anode tab in the batteries "could allow the lithium plating on the anode tab to contact the cathode, resulting in an electrical short." However, the story goes deeper than that.

InsideEVs has been following the story in detail as it unfolded and contacted LG Energy Solution (LGES), the company that supplied all the batteries in question from its plant in Nanjing. The supplier told the publication that it was still waiting for the official test results from MOLIT, despite Hyundai already having them. Previously, the company said that its "tests could not replicate the issue" and pointed the finger at Hyundai, claiming the automaker didn't follow its advice on how to manage fast charging.

At the same time all of this is happening; Hyundai has confirmed it will be using cells from LGES's direct competitor, SK Innovation, for the battery packs in the upcoming Ioniq 5. Unfortunately, SK Innovation hasn't got a spotless reputation as the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has banned the company from importing batteries for ten years. The charge is over theft of commercial secrets, and the other party in the legal battle is none other than LG Chem.

That ban is a problem because the SK Innovation plant in Georgia could be forced to shut down if President Biden doesn't revise the ITC ruling in its favor. Currently, the battery company has $2.6 billion invested in the plant and is also due to supply battery cells for the Ford F-150 EV and Volkswagen's ID.4.

At the same time, GM is betting hard on LG Energy Solutions and has been using its batteries in the Bolt EV. The Bolt EV has also had its own battery fire risk issues, but GM says its battery's separator is different and is fixing the problem with a software update. GM has ignored potential defects in the past but, hopefully, the automaker learned its lesson from the ignition switch debacle and is genuinely on top of the situation.