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Hyundai Kona EV Bursts Into Flames, Forces Evacuation in Lebourgneuf, Quebec

Yet another car-b-que is plaguing the world of electric vehicles, only this time around, no Tesla car is involved in the fire. This incident is related to a Hyundai Kona electric SUV that caught fire in an underground parking lot in Quebec, Canada.
Hyundai Kona caught fire in Quebec 6 photos
Photo: Radio Canada
Hyundai Kona Electric caught fire in QuebecHyundai Kona Electric caught fire in QuebecHyundai Kona ElectricHyundai Kona ElectricHyundai Kona Electric
Some of you might remember that, in February 2021, Hyundai issued a massive recall affecting about 82,000 units of the Kona EV worldwide due to fire hazards caused by possibly defective battery packs. Turns out the problems didn’t end for the South Korean manufacturer after the recall, as a new fire incident involving a Hyundai Kona EV was reported at the end of last month.

It happened in the early hours of August 31, when the electric vehicle in question was parked in an underground garage. It is not known whether or not the Kona had been plugged in and charging when it burst into flames.

The firefighters had a hard time putting out the fire due to the location of the car. The underground parking lot had to first be ventilated so they could get to the burning Kona and drag it out of there.

Thankfully, nobody was harmed in the incident, but first responders still decided to evacuate the entire eight-story apartment building in Lebourgneuf as a precautionary measure.

As it turns out, the battery pack was the source of the fire in this case as well, but this particular Hyundai Kona didn’t incur as much damage as other units involved in similar incidents.

Local media notes that the car was parked under the garage’s sprinkler system, but this couldn’t completely extinguish the fire. And that’s most likely because the battery pack is placed under the crossover where water couldn’t reach it. Also because EV battery fires are notoriously hard to put out due to the high flammability of the electrolytes, which lead to high heat release and high toxicity in the form of hydrogen flouride.

It’s not clear what model year this particular Hyundai Kona unit was, so we don’t know if it was included in the recall or, if it was, whether its battery pack was replaced.
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About the author: Ancuta Iosub
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After spending a few years as a copy editor, Ancuta decided to put down the eraser and pick up the writer's pencil. Her favorites subjects are unusual car designs, travel trailers and everything related to the great outdoors.
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