There’s a big issue plaguing some of this year’s best-selling EVs.
Consumer Reports, which annually ranks vehicle reliability based on survey responses from car owners, recently released the scores for this year’s EVs. Electric vehicles are scored based on trouble areas such as the electric motor, EV battery, and charging systems — the more issues with these in the 380,000 surveys, the worse the score. This led some of the most popular EV brands to place pretty low: Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia.
According to Consumer Reports, the car community found the results quite puzzling. However, the results were largely due to one big, recurring issue: the integrated charging control unit, or ICCU. The data showed that between 2 and 10% of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis vehicles experienced ICCU-related issues compared to the average of 1% or less in the general EV population.
“It’s not unusual for our reliability surveys to uncover so many issues related to a single part, but the fact that we continue to see this year after year is interesting,” said Steven Elek, Program Leader of Auto Data Analytics at Consumer Reports.
Why are Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia EVs losing power while driving?
The ICCU is a small box in the rear of Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia EVs that converts high-voltage to low-voltage. It’s a component that recharges the battery and powers various vehicle functions. The malfunctioning ICCU is used by all three brands.
“Sharing parts and designs across multiple models and brands can bring great efficiency and cost savings. However, that means a single fault can affect several models,” said Jake Fisher, Senior Director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center.
Due to issues with this particular ICCU, Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia EV owners reported that their vehicles weren’t charging properly, leading to a loss of power while on the road. It’s a pretty big issue to keep experiencing, with some drivers even questioning if they want to keep their car, according to Consumer Reports.
Car owners are growing frustrated with ICCU issues
Hyundai told Consumer Reports that the issues are due to the MOSFET transistor blowing a fuse in the ICCU. Kia told them it was due to “thermal loading and transient high voltage.” Both carmakers have noted that software updates and getting parts replaced should fix everything. Unfortunately, repairs have been taking weeks to months in owners’ experience due to a lack of parts availability. And some drivers have reported that this didn’t fix the problem, needing to replace the ICCU multiple times within a few years.
“Hopefully, this serves as a wake-up call,” one driver on Reddit said in response to Consumer Reports’ expose. “I know people love their Hyundais and Kias, but there has been an attempt to minimize this at times. Articles like this will hurt future sales. I badly want my next car to be an Ioniq 5 or EV 6, but with a baby on the way, I can’t risk having ICCU issues. I’ve been putting it off, hoping a true fix will come, but it’s not clear they have even identified the fault.”
Another added: “I deeply love my Ioniq 5, but it’s sitting at the dealer waiting for an ICCU with no estimated date yet. Back-ordered indefinitely. I have no idea what Hyundai’s plan is, but I’m beginning to suspect that they don’t have one.”
Plenty of other EV owners shared similar experiences regarding repeat ICCU issues and indefinite wait times for replacements.
If you notice your EV losing power or experiencing charging issues, check for recall notices, then contact a local dealership. However, as automakers struggle to obtain parts, you could be left without your vehicle for quite some time.
