Model years Hyundai Kona Electric
2020 Hyundai Kona Electric
Complaints about this year name engine far more often than the model's other years — 50% of them, about 124× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 181 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 15 |
| Involving a crash | 9 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 120 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- kona contact — 27% of complaints, 68× usual
- oil — 25% of complaints, 64× usual
- light — 29% of complaints, 9× usual
What owners wrote
The engine shut down when the car stops at a red light or stop sign. There are metal shavings in the oil due to issues with the pistons.
Felt shudder and felt like transmission not catching, later a “ping” sound, then sounded like something dropped or hit (though didn’t see anything in front of me when driving) and then didn’t look behind as on interstate. Then the oil and engine lights and one…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V127000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 20V630000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 20V748000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Hyundai Kona Electric was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric? What happened to yours?
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