Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Recall: 38k Vehicles Affected

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【Summary】Hyundai is recalling 38,000 Elantra Hybrid vehicles due to a software issue that may cause unintended acceleration. The problem was first reported last year and has since escalated, with 24 unconfirmed cases of unintended acceleration. Hyundai will update the motor control unit software to fix the issue. No crashes related to the problem have been reported. The affected vehicles were produced between December 2020 and July 2023.

FutureCar Staff Aug 22, 2023 10:42 AM PT

Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Recall: 38k Vehicles Affected

Hyundai is recalling a total of 37,997 examples of the 2021 to 2023 model year Elantra Hybrid due to motor control unit software that may cause unintended acceleration. The issue was brought to the automaker's attention in August 2022 when a vehicle owner questionnaire alleged unintended acceleration. By February 2023, the number of questionnaires had increased to eight in the US alone. The Technical Review Committee (TRC) investigated the issue and found 24 unconfirmed cases of unintended acceleration. However, despite accumulating over 2,000 miles in subject vehicles, the TRC was unable to replicate the condition. In July 2023, Hyundai determined that the motor control unit software was the root cause of the unintended acceleration events.

The motor control unit software's fail-safe logic is designed to activate when a drive motor/transmission synchronization fault is detected. Hyundai states that unintended acceleration occurs after releasing the brake pedal. The software and hybrid power control unit reservoir module are supplied by Hyundai Mobis, the parts and service arm of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis Motor. Hyundai Motor America will instruct dealers to update the motor control unit software by October 17, and the updated software has already been deployed in Elantra Hybrid series production as of August 10. At the time of reporting, there have been no reported crashes related to this issue.

Owners of affected vehicles will be notified by first-class mail around October 17. The affected vehicles were produced between December 15, 2020, and July 29, 2023, for the 2021 to 2023 model years. These sedans have VINs beginning with K, indicating they were manufactured in South Korea. The Elantra N, a performance-oriented variant of the compact sedan, also comes from South Korea and is powered by a 2.0-liter turbo engine. It is available with a dual-clutch transmission or a manual and has a starting price of $33,000.

The base specification of the Elantra has a sticker price of $21,000, excluding the destination freight charge, while the Elantra Hybrid starts at $24,550 as of August 2023. The Elantra Hybrid is available in two grades: Blue and Limited. The Blue variant returns up to 54 miles per gallon (4.4 liters per 100 kilometers) on the combined test cycle, while the Limited variant has been rated at 50 miles per gallon (4.7 liters per 100 kilometers) by the Environmental Protection Agency.