Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 owners report a dead 12V battery: what the ICCU recalls cover in India

The complaint sounds too small to matter. The tiny 12V battery in an electric car goes flat, and then the car will not wake up, or it throws a string of electrical warnings and loses drive power. The part owners blame is the ICCU, the integrated charging control unit, which steps voltage down from the big traction pack to keep that 12V battery charged. If the ICCU stops doing its job, the 12V battery slowly dies and takes the car with it.

What owners report, and where

Team-BHP's electric cars section carries the main Indian record of this, inside the long Hyundai Ioniq 5 ownership thread and the forum's own news reports on the Hyundai and Kia recalls. The Team-BHP pages would not open for me, so I am going only by what the search listings show, and I am not giving post counts or dates I did not see. Those listings show ICCU failure coming up repeatedly across the pages of that one Ioniq 5 thread, with owners describing cars held at the workshop for weeks because no ICCU was in stock in India, no loaner car offered, and one post putting an out-of-warranty replacement in the ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh range. Search listings also show a thread on a global Ioniq owners' forum about a 12V battery dying again after the ICCU had already been replaced and the firmware updated.

Treat all of that as owners' accounts rather than established fact. It also sits mostly inside a single Indian thread, which is a small base, not a proven pattern across the Indian fleet.

What Hyundai, Kia and the regulators have said

There is an official side here, and it is unusually clear. Autocar Professional reported on 15 June 2024 that Hyundai Motor India issued a voluntary recall of 1,744 Ioniq 5 units built between 21 July 2022 and 30 April 2024 over a potential ICCU issue that "may discharge the 12V battery". The same report notes Hyundai sold 1,400 Ioniq 5 units in FY2024, so the recall was larger than a year of sales.

Kia has gone twice. EVFY reported in February 2025 that Kia India recalled 1,380 EV6 units built between 3 March 2022 and 14 April 2023 for a free ICCU software update at authorised service centres, following a 2024 recall of 1,138 units for a similar ICCU fault. The recall was reported to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and Kia gave its toll free number, 1800-108-5005.

Abroad, the scale is much bigger. NHTSA's record for campaign 24V868000 covers 145,642 Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Genesis electric models, with the defect described as the ICCU becoming damaged and stopping charging of the 12-volt battery, which "can result in a loss of drive power". Campaign 24V867000 covers 62,872 Kia EV6 units from 2022 to 2024. Both recalls expand and replace earlier campaigns, and both say cars already repaired under the first recall must come back for the new remedy, which is inspection, replacement of the ICCU and its fuse if needed, plus a software update.

Two things happened in April 2026. Electrek reported on 21 April that Hyundai extended ICCU coverage in the United States to 15 years or 180,000 miles at no cost, with Kia saying it would announce a similar programme. Days later, CarComplaints reported a class action filed in New Jersey alleging that replacement ICCUs are as defective as the originals. That is an allegation in a lawsuit, not a finding. I found no equivalent India-specific warranty extension announced by either company.

What an owner should do now

Give your VIN to the dealer and ask in writing which recall campaigns have been applied to your car, and what ICCU software version is loaded now. If you own an EV6 built in that March 2022 to April 2023 window, confirm both the 2024 and the 2025 campaigns are closed. Note any warning about low 12V battery voltage or an electrical system check, photograph it, and keep every job card.

Ask whether Hyundai India or Kia India will extend ICCU coverage the way the United States has, and get the answer on paper. Keep a small jump starter in the boot, because a flat 12V battery can lock you out of the car itself. If a repair drags on with no part and no loaner, escalate to Hyundai or Kia customer care with your job cards, then to the National Consumer Helpline on 1915 and, if needed, your district consumer commission.

Ioniq 5 and EV6 owners in the club: has your dealer confirmed both ICCU campaigns on your car, and how long did a replacement take?

Sources

• Hyundai recalls 1,744 Ioniq 5s to inspect integrated charging control unit, Autocar Professional
• Kia EV6 recall: 1,380 units affected by ICCU software issue, EVFY
• NHTSA recall campaign 24V868000, Hyundai and Genesis ICCU
• NHTSA recall campaign 24V867000, Kia EV6 ICCU
• Hyundai and Kia will extend warranties for cars with ICCU issues, Electrek
• Hyundai ICCU problems cause class action lawsuit, CarComplaints