Hyundai Ioniq 9 Problems

Hyundai's flagship family electric SUV is under investigation for a safety concern in Australia, following similar reports overseas.  The South Korean brand is looking into an issue on its Ioniq 9 in Australia over a potentially dangerous problem with the second-row power-folding seats. It relates to the seat assemblies failing to detect passengers or objects on the seats and continuing to close even when using excessive force. This can lead to the seats squashing occupants and cause serious injury or worse. The Ioniq 9 is Hyundai’s most expensive car on sale, and is its biggest electric SUV offering Down Under. Virtually every Ioniq 9 sold in Australia could be affected by the issue, with more than 100 vehicles being looked into. The issue is expected to be able to be fixed with an over-the-air software update like in other markets, or owners can option to have it resolved at a Hyundai dealer. Owners should take extra care during the folding of seats in the meantime, according to the brand.  In the United States, 5360 Ioniq 9 examples have been recalled, according to reports. The brand said all vehicles recalled have the fault.  It’s not just the Ioniq 9 impacted in the United States, with it also linked to power-folding seats in the Palisade and the Telluride SUVs.  At this stage, only the Ioniq 9 is under investigation in Australia.

Hyundai has recalled thousands of examples of its Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe, Palisade and Ioniq 9 SUVs, as well as the Sonata sedan. It affects 3445 units for the 2025 model year in relation to a software issue with the digital driver display, according to a notice from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications Sports and the Arts.  “Due to a software issue, the Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC) may fail to illuminate the visual vehicle speed, fuel level and other critical safety information,” the notice reads. “A loss of safety system warnings whilst driving, could increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death to vehicle occupants, other road users and bystanders.” A spokesperson for Hyundai Australia said there have been no reported instances of the issue in Australia. The brand will contact owners of affected vehicles to arrange an appointment to rectify the issue via a software update.  If the vehicle is Bluelink enabled, the update will be delivered automatically over-the-air (OTA). Hyundai has had a solid start to 2026, with models such as the Kona and Tucson some of the most popular SUVs in Australia currently.  The brand recently recalled nearly 5000 examples of its Ioniq and Kona EVs earlier this month.