Brake, electrical, and steering issues are among the top complaints to the NHTSA from vehicle owners
The all-new 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 earned a lot of excitement from the EV community when it was first released. After all, the automaker boasted it was full of “Hyundai quality you can trust.” Yet, there are some less than trustworthy aspects to this model. These include defective service brakes, electrical malfunctions, and steering column issues.
Click on another model year to view more problems: 2021 2023
A total of 88 complaints were filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) between April 7 and June 22, 2023. Of these, 5 report that their 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 crashed because of various malfunctions.
Over half (56) of the complaints are listed under Electrical System, which is disturbing since this is Hyundai’s first dedicated EV line. These range from problems charging these electric vehicles to faults with safety warning systems and a key fob failing to open car doors to ICCU failure.
There are 12 complaints listed under Service Brakes and another under Parking Brake. Additionally, there are another 2 complaints that mention brake problems. All 3 of the complaints listed under Forward Collision Avoidance involve faulty braking.
The problems run even deeper with a recall signifying trouble with the brakes on all IONIQ 5 models. Without a transmission, the parking brakes are electronic and needed to keep the vehicle from rolling away. When voltage fluctuations occur with the vehicle off and in a parked scenario, the signal can inadvertently disengage the parking brakes momentarily, but it’s enough for the car to roll away. A software update to the Shifter Control Unit (SCU) is required to fix the problem. But the car must be brought to the dealer for repair, which doesn’t make sense since it can get over-the-air updates.
This problem, which potentially affects 10,729 IONIQ 5s, isn’t helping anyone rely on the “Hyundai quality” that is pushed so heavily. Disturbingly, there are already several complaints to the NHTSA reporting that cars crashed because of shifter control unit failures.
Other components and systems mentioned in complaints are the powertrain, structure, and vehicle control. Although there are no NHTSA complaints listed under Airbags. But two of the complaints that involve crashes state that the airbags did not deploy.
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
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Electrical System
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Fuel/propulsion System
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Power Train
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Engine
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Service Brakes
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Vehicle Speed Control
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Unknown Or Other
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Exterior Lighting
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Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking
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Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control
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It’s always disconcerting when the majority of complaints about an electric vehicle are about the electrical system. Even more so when they relate to charging the vehicle.
DC Fast-Charging Problems
There are 2 NHTSA complaints that describe how the deadfront (a plastic cap) on the charging pin becomes dislodged after DC fast-charging at public charging stations.
Both complaints say that the owners now can’t find the cap. This is a major problem because the cap is supposed to cover the conductive part of the pin. With it missing, the person charging the IONIQ 5 may be exposed to potentially harmful electric current, which is highly dangerous.
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A Hyundai IONIQ 5 owner from Delaware states that after 5 warnings one rainy day, most of the systems involved triggered a fault. The warning lights that came on were: check battery, lane assist warning, the antilock braking system (ABS) warning, parking brake warning, forward collision warning, and blind spot collision avoidance.
What was more disconcerting was that driving to the dealer, “my brakes became steadily lighter and lighter with the manual brake even clicking at times. My braking distance was doubled by the time that I got there. Other owners are seeing the same issue. It sounds quite similar to the Kona Electric recall (20V-748). My car is unsafe to drive.”
A New York owner tells a similar story after the stop vehicle and check brake system and the check engine light warning went on. The Hyundai dealer “fixed” the issue “by removing a component that is unrelated to the braking and security systems and the car became drivable again.” But not for long. About 300 miles later, “the braking system still functioned, but all electronic features were disabled by the car and braking involved a lot of force on the brake pedal to get the car to stop.”
This complaint also mentions that the “Check automatic lane change system” warning sometimes flashes when the car is turned on. “The car is now back with the dealer who ‘fixed’ the issue originally but their EV tech isn’t always there to look at cars, even though the issue is not necessarily EV related as all cars (should) have brakes.”
Brake problems are a major issue with the Hyundai IONIQ 5. All 5 crashes recorded in complaints to the NHTSA relate to faulty brakes. And, as you can see, the two complaints mentioned above under Safety Warning System Faults both mention brake issues.
One NHTSA complaint says, “The regenerative brakes had an error go off, which caused the brakes to stop working properly. This error went off twice, once in my driveway upon starting my car, then it reset itself. And again while driving, in which I nearly rear ended the car in front of me due to the brakes not working. Hyundai confirmed the error codes but could not reproduce (them). Hyundai eventually replaced components of the brakes, but I do not trust that it won’t happen again. I wanted out of my lease but they refused and made me drive it again, even though I’m terrified of it happening again.”
This IONIQ 5 owner has every reason to be afraid. Here are a couple of complaints that show why. An owner from Arizona was involved in a minor collision. When he rear-ended another car accelerating from a stop light at low speed:
A Florida driver also rear-ended another vehicle, but this time it was because the emergency hand brake didn’t work. It happened while driving at 80 mph. He “was pressing on the brakes while approaching a red light” but “the vehicle would not stop. The complaint goes on to say that “he pulled on the hand emergency brakes to stop the vehicle but the vehicle would not stop.” He rear-ended it, causing the car in front “to lose control and hit another vehicle.” There didn’t appear to be any injuries, but they filed a police report.
In addition, owners state that the brake lights do not turn on when expected.
The first complaint about an SCU error was lodged with the NHTSA in April 2022, before the May 4 recall was announced by Hyundai. The driver, aiming to exit his driveway, tried to put the car in reverse while in park, but the gear shifter didn’t work. As he got out of the car, with the gear shifter in park, the vehicle accelerated into his garage. The garage door and pillar, and the driver-side door, were all damaged. The airbags didn’t deploy on impact, but luckily the car owner wasn’t injured.
His New York dealership inspected the vehicle, which had only 494 miles on the clock. They claimed the failure “was a result of human error.”
Nearly 2 months after the vehicle was repaired, it happened again. Though the gear shifter did eventually move after multiple attempts. By this time the recall was in place and the owner was instructed to take the car to the dealer for the software update.
An owner from California was lucky not to be in the IONIQ 5 when it crashed. The vehicle was parked and unattended at the time. The shifter control unit failed and the vehicle rolled away just as described in the recall notice. The front of the car was damaged in the crash.
Controlling a vehicle is just as important as being able to keep it parked. Yet, the IONIQ 5 is also suffering from serious steering problems. Even though there are no complaints to the NHTSA about steering (yet), it’s worth mentioning since the problem has been acknowledged by Hyundai in a manufacturer communication.
The notification, a service bulletin, was issued in April 2022. It is only one of two manufacturer communications sent to dealerships about the IONIQ 5 prior to November 2022.
One Edmunds user says, “Purchased the IONIQ 5 Limited last Thursday, 3/24. Over the next couple of days, I noticed that while driving between 60-70 mph that the steering wheel was shaking excessively. I brought it into the dealer on Monday 3/28 and it has been there for 5 days and counting. Now I am stuck paying for a brand new car that I can’t even drive. Was looking so forward to it but am now so disappointed. Please test drive the car multiple times at highway speeds before buying.”
Service Bulletin #22-ST-005H discusses how the vehicle can end up with a bearing noise that’s coming from the Motor Driven Power Steering (MDPS) column worm shaft assembly. When this noise occurs, the worm shaft bearing has to be replaced to fix the issue.
This is one problem that doesn’t only affect the IONIQ 5. It affects 16 models and a total of 51 Hyundai products with model years ranging from 2017-2022. This means that even brand new vehicles may be affected.
Think you have a lemon? If so, why not sit back and let the experts work out your lemon case at no cost to you? After all, the law makes Hyundai pay lemon law legal fees.
Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners like you. So, if your Hyundai IONIQ 5 has issues that affect its use, value, or your safety, call the Lemberg Law Helpline. Alternatively, fill in our contact form so we can assess your problems free of charge.
Brian Jones spent more than 30 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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I’ve never been aware the Hand brake as it was called was supposed to be able to stop a car at 80 miles an hour. I’m 75 and as far as I remember it has been called a parking brake, which would at best maybe stop a rolling car from running into the garage door at 1 or 2 miles an hour and not in gear. I know If I had time to pull it, I would want to make sure my foot was actually only on the brake, also approaching a red light at 80mph sounds like he was going over the speed limit by about 25 mph over? As the limit on roads is “55 mph on all roads and highways unless otherwise posted” in Florida
I have a 2022 Ioniq 5. For at least 4 months, my car hasnt been charging right, ever since I took it in for a service/software update, or thereabouts. My car doesn’t charge over 67 usually, regardless of location or temperature, and quickly/predictably drops to 45KW at 50% in the 30KWs at around 60%. I called Electrify America and they said the handshake was not being accepted, they were trying to give 200+ and that my car would not allow the rate of charge. The dealership had an error message in the Controller. They replaced it but nothing changed. Since I can charge to 100%, and the KW per mile doesn’t seem any different, it’s probably not the battery. It has to be the software. It is RWD, and the AWD drives have a software upgrade in winter, but that doesn’t explain the problem. All evidence suggests programming by Hyundai itself which could represent a bigger unknown issue to buyers that only they know. Such as the degradation with high-speed charging.
We recently were involved in a side collision with our brand new Ioniq 5 SEL, which was not our fault. It took 10 days to find anyone who would work on it and the dealership had no idea of who to use. It has now been sitting at a collision repair facility waiting on parts to fix it and Hyundai Corporate has no idea when & if the parts will be available? It does not fall under the Lemon Law but do we have any recourse against the time it is taking to even be told if the parts are going to come or not. The car was insured but without the parts it is just sitting ther.
Yesterday while I was driving to work early morning in a heavy fog, I crash and my Ioniq 5 got total.
I keep going over the accident considering the fact that I am a careful driver and experienced one, with no citation in last twenty years; only two things come to my mind : 1- the car speeded up- is it possible that the speed of the car was a glitch in automated system , how can we find out?
2- this car supposed to have a safety measure to alarm and stop car from front collisions, though at that morning while I was trying to stop the car there was no alarm system warning me, or assisting to stop the car ; my car collided to a fence and concrete next to it. The air bag opened which I think was the only thing saved me.
When the car speeded up, in a very low visibility on that foggy morning, the only thing I was thinking was how is that my speed is this high that I can not prevent collision on that speed.
Hyundai should be accountable for the accident since I believe it happened because of their computerized system.
I have driven cars for more than 34 years , in snow, under storm and sever fog, I never drive recklessly and I never had accident. How is that I crash my new Ioniq 2022 easily in a street that I drive every day. And I am still clueless how could it happen, I was not speeding, and I could not stop the car.
My question is how can we sue Hyundai ?