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2022 World Car of the Year in Trouble Due to Defective Chips

As if the chip shortage wasn’t already a major concern for Hyundai, the South Korean company is now struggling to deal with another problem.
Hyundai IONIQ 5 44 photos
Photo: Hyundai
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Infineon, the world’s largest automotive chip supplier and the company that’s building the semiconductors needed by Hyundai for the IONIQ 5, has recently discovered a manufacturing defect that affected its production output between April and June 2022.

In other words, all the insulated gate bipolar transistor chips, also known as IGBT, come with a defect that makes them impossible to be installed on cars. IGBT chips are specifically designed to be used on electric vehicles, and in the case of Hyundai, the South Koreans planned to use them precisely on the IONIQ 5.

After discovering the manufacturing defect, Infineon decided to pull all the chips that it produced during the said timeframe.

Needless to say, this can’t be good news for the production of the cars that were supposed to use the chips. Including the IONIQ 5, that is, as Hyundai is now in a position where it must find a way to prevent major disruptions from hitting the model that was crowned the 2022 World Car of the Year.

As it turns out, the South Korean carmaker is ready to rapidly switch to plan B and buy the necessary chips from another supplier. STMicroelectronics appears to be in pole position right now, though it’s not yet clear if Hyundai and the French company have already signed a supply deal.

Without a doubt, Hyundai wants to do the whole thing as fast as possible, as it’s pretty clear that Infineon’s manufacturing problems could also cause some disruptions in the production of the IONIQ 5. It’s hard to tell if the IONIQ 5 would end up hitting any major delays, but given the car already needs some 12 months to reach customers, the waiting time could therefore increase until the chip problems are resolved.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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