What 53 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Hyundai Elantra Hev

My car has done 4 false automatic emergency braking incidents while I was on the freeway (all times). There was no vehicle in front of me or the sides and my car started applying emergency brakes with a message pop up on the digital dashboard. Looks like the system is falsely detecting there is a car in close proximity. When this happened, I noticed the back car hit the brakes and immediately switch lanes. The sudden brake could cause a collision. The car allows me to take control after a couple seconds but when the warning appears I can not. I have not reproduced or verified the case with a dealer but the instant has happen 3 times in the past month. It has not been inspected by any other parties.

NHTSA ODI 11579009

Driving on a highway at 80mph, adaptive cruise control was engaged. It was a clear, sunny day, around 55 degrees F outside. We were 3.5 hours into a 4 hour drive. There were no cars in front of the vehicle. There were other cars in the lanes immediately to both the left and right of us, as well as a car behind us. The car gave a warning for Automatic Emergency Braking, although there was nothing to avoid. No vehicles were merging into us, no one was going to rear end us, and nothing was in front of us in or near our lane. The car then started braking automatically and attempting to swerve/turn automatically. I had to fight the automatic system to stay in our lane and not crash into the vehicles immediately to the left and right. This was extremely dangerous at highway speeds.

NHTSA ODI 11576726

Vehicles electronic key fobs and Bluelink become deactivated every 12 hours after vehicle is parked. Had vehicle since June 2023 and this has happened 163 times. Dealerships cannot recreate the issue and vehicle battery tests reflect no issues. To start the vehicle, car has to be manually unlocked and 12V battery reset. The vehicles security features become deactivated during the lapse in battery/electronic functions.

NHTSA ODI 11573527

Horn has now shut off at 11k miles. Jerky shifting transmission Combustion engine failed to start several occasions. Many error warnings for the lane keep assist

NHTSA ODI 11563527

Auto would not go into reverse or drive gears at startup in regular parking space. Received a Bluetooth message that Drive Train would not function. Towed to dealership where problem confirmed. Electric engine ordered along with high voltage wires. Upon installation of these parts it was discovered that the Assay Harness was severely crimped during construction of vehicle at the factory and had crimped (cut) wires. Parts ordered and repaired. Hyundai refused to install new electric motor, only replaced Harness and wires. Please note this appears to be a defective auto as built at the factory.

NHTSA ODI 11563223

On December 24 2023, the vehicle's forward collision warning failed. My son has a learner's permit. He was driving the car under my supervision. He pulled into a parking lot and hit a light post. We did not receive a warning, nor did the automobile automatically apply the brakes to avert the collision. There were no injuries. There was no property damage, except for our vehicle. I did not notify the police. In retrospect, we never hear alarms or warning when pulling into our narrow garage. Our other vehicles with the same safety feature do offer an alert in that context. I think the forward collision warning system is defective on this Hyundai Elantra. I have filed an insurance claim and notified the dealership by email. Next steps are pending after we hear back from our auto insurance claims adjuster.

NHTSA ODI 11561751

Car still jerks forward after their “repair” attempts. Car will also not accelerate on the highway and won’t go past 55 without engine codes and the car going limp

NHTSA ODI 11556723

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Elantra. The contact had received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V589000 (Electrical System, Vehicle Speed Control) and the recall repair was completed by a dealer. The contact stated while driving at approximately 60 MPH with the cruise control activated, she momentarily disengaged the cruise control to slow for traffic. The contact stated that when the cruise control was re-engaged, the vehicle independently accelerated to almost 100 MPH. The contact was able to slow the vehicle by tapping the brake pedal. The contact stated the failure became a recurring failure. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The local dealer who completed the recall repair was contacted and informed the contact that there was no available appointment until December 16, 2023, for the vehicle to be serviced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.

NHTSA ODI 11556490

Animal chewed the wiring harness causing an airbag malfunction warning and transmission failure. My safety was put at risk because the airbag wouldn't work and the transmission failed while I was driving. The vehicle is being repaired right now with a new harness. Talking with the insurance adjuster. I was informed this was a common issue with this vehicle due to the materials the manufacturer uses. The harness is not properly designed with the proper materials for the environment it is used in.

NHTSA ODI 11553759

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking brake light illuminated, and the vehicle experienced phantom braking, causing the tires to skid and the speed to abruptly decelerate. Moments later the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking light turned off, and the vehicle operated normally. The failure had occurred on several occasions. Additionally, the vehicle had experienced unintended acceleration, causing the vehicle to lurch forward. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of failure. The failure mileage was 1,500.

NHTSA ODI 11552088

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking brake light illuminated, and the vehicle experienced phantom braking, causing the tires to skid and the speed to be abruptly reduced. Moments later, the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking light turned off and the vehicle operated normally. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 750.

NHTSA ODI 11552097

I have been encountering a series of troubling and erratic issues with my vehicle. These problems occur under various driving conditions, including acceleration, steady-state driving, and braking. However, the most prevalent and problematic occurrences seem to transpire during acceleration and braking. During acceleration, I've observed inconsistent behavior. Sometimes, the car shifts smoothly, with minimal torque drop between gears. On other occasions, the vehicle accelerates initially but then abruptly loses all power between gears, resembling the sensation of someone engaging the clutch in a manual vehicle and shifting slowly. This results in a temporary power loss lasting 1-2 seconds, followed by an over-revving and clutch slip, leading to an unintended surge in acceleration. The issues I've encountered during braking typically begin with a chattering noise and vibrations that seem to be an imbalanced or shocked reciprocating mass, I can assume maybe one of the clutches/flywheel . This is often followed by decreased brake pedal linearity, requiring increased brake pedal pressure to stop. This normally results in an unintended aggressive forward jerk just before coming to a stop, akin to someone releasing a clutch on a manual transmission vehicle too quickly when downshifting while the engine speed is too low. The steady-state symptom occurs less frequently but occasionally involves a momentary loss of power, almost resembling a backfire without the noise. I can only assume that this is related to brief disengagement of the clutches. I sought assistance by taking my vehicle to a local dealership who kept it for a little over a week. Unfortunately, they were unable to reproduce these issues, and no actions were taken to address my concerns. This unpredictable behavior from the vehicle often catches me and my passengers off guard and really makes it hard to trust the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11549372

While driving down an interstate at approximately 58 miles per hour, I turned on the cruise control and went to adjust it to 65 miles per hour. The car rapidly accelerated and it appeared on the dash that the cruise control defaulted to 110 miles per hour, which appears to be the maximum on the system. I tried to turn the speed down, but the cruise control would not go below 110 miles per hour. I immediately deactivated cruise control and continued to drive at normal speed. I tried multiple times thereafter to set cruise control, and it would again, rapidly try to accelerate the car to 110 miles per hour and would not let me decrease the speed. After stopping at a rest stop, turning the car off and on and driving again, it appeared the glitch was fixed and I was able to operate the cruise control normally. Please note that the "adaptive" part of the cruise control, including steering assist/lane departure worked fine the entire time.

NHTSA ODI 11548907

Have experienced at least half a dozen instances of unprompted initiation of the automatic emergency braking system within having the car for about 3 months. Would say that this system is malfunctioning. Automatic emergency braking occurred for seemingly no reason in all instances while travelling on the highway at approximately 70 miles per hour. There were no vehicles in front of the car and no vehicles switching lanes in front of the car. However, there were vehicles behind the car and in other lanes adjacent to the car but behind the car. The unprompted braking is dangerous for the cars behind and could cause a rear end collision where the car behind the drivers car would not register such excessive braking due to the lack of action prompting the automatic emergency braking. Additionally, this can cause driver loss of control due to the extreme response. Problem has not been able to be confirmed by dealer or independent service center. No messages prior just the indicator on the dash identifying the engagement of the automatic emergency braking.

NHTSA ODI 11548836

I turned on Cruise Control at 60 mph and it immediately set itself to 20 mph, braking fast to slow down quickly. This caused the car behind me to slam on his brakes so he would not rear end me. I tried increasing cruise control speed to no avail. I had to turn it off. Once I did not have any cars behind me, I tried once again so I could take a video and of course, it worked as it should. Not five minutes later, my radio turned the volume down to zero, all by itself. 20 minutes later, when I slowed to turn into a parking lot, my car lagged and acted as if it didn't have gas enough to go up a small incline. Pressing on the gas pedal didn't do very much but I made it up the incline and was able to park. I will be calling Hyundai Dealership tomorrow where I purchased the vehicle last year. I do not have any type of pictures or recordings as it just happened and it was a pretty scary event considering I was almost rear ended.

NHTSA ODI 11542784

Dealership says there is no recall tied to this vehicle. But hyundai recall website, says yes my vin/vehicle has an incomplete recall.

NHTSA ODI 11541977

when on a test drive before the purchase of my vehicle, I and my family smelt a burning smell in the cabin. On return from the test drive, we informed our sales person who told us this was characteristic of a hybrid vehicle, and the smell will go away. It has been almost two months and 1,400 miles; the smell is still there. I don't know how and why it comes, but it definitely is smelt from time to time. I cannot duplicate it at will. I did take it to the dealership's service department, they kept it overnight and could not find any issues. When the technician took me for a test drive, it was there when I started the vehicle, but he said he did not smell burning smell, instead he said it was leather smell. I have had several people in my vehicle smell the burning smell, the problem is I cannot duplicate it on demand.

NHTSA ODI 11541296

There are have been three significant safety issues with the car. 1. The forward collision alert system goes off without warning and with zero debris or cars in front of me. This has happened three times, putting my safety and those around me at risk. 2. The car has suddenly had what feels like the rear brakes locking up without warning midway through a turn. The car wheels were still spinning but the car stopped moving. This put me directly in harm's way. 3. While my foot was OFF the accelerator while I was approaching a stoplight, the car suddenly accelerated and lunged forward, nearly causing me to hit the car in front of me. I have taken the car in three times and called the dealership about this one more time and have had no resolution; they claim to be unable to replicate the issue. There were no warning messages prior to the failures.

NHTSA ODI 11539145

Your board ordered Hyundai to do a recall on 50,000 2023 vehicles due to a chance of oil pump fire. In the news brief it was mentioned that Hyundai wouldn’t start sending out recall letters till the end of September so therefore no info exists for my VIN number. My efforts through Hyundai to find out if my vehicle has been affected have been fruitless although they did open a case number. Your warning suggested not parking vehicles near residences. Impossible to follow where I live. I reside in a part of California regarded as extreme fire risk and this recall has made me quite nervous. I asked Hyundai to provide me with a rental car until they were ready for repair and replacement and this too was fruitless. Does your board have have any suggestions or can you offer assistance? If you need the case number I can provide that. I cannot quite understand why they can’t provide the affected VIN numbers if they know the total number of vehicles affected. Regards, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11538892

On my way home waiting for the green light the car would not respond to the accelerator.. the engine would rev up on the tachometer but would not move. Finally the engine responded and the car took off reaching 83mph in a matter of seconds. After release of the accelerator I was able to get the car under control. At the next traffic light even with my foot on the brake the vehicle lunged forward nearly striking the car in front. I put the car in neutral and was able to use neutral and low gear to get it back home...the car was towed to the dealership the next morning.

NHTSA ODI 11535343

On highway, no issues/no bad weather emergency brake came on for approximately 20 seconds for no reason while travelling 70 MPH

NHTSA ODI 11533164

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle independently accelerated to 110 MPH and seized at that speed. Additionally, the contact was unable to deactivate the feature. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was able to duplicate the failure; however, the dealer was unable to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50.

NHTSA ODI 11532097

I was rear ended and the air bags didn't deploy. The police and body shop said they should have. The car is unmodified and dealer serviced

NHTSA ODI 11526901

In the 4 corners of the moonroof where the metal roof meets the moonroof, there is a visible dent/metal tension in each corner. After receiving professional opinions for local body shops, they've all come to the same conclusion: The moonroof was improperly or poorly installed at the factory, which is leading to the moonroof dragging down on the metal corners of the roof leading to visible tension/dents in these spots. Furthermore, the issue is continuing to worsen as time goes on.

NHTSA ODI 11515835

There have been multiple occasions, both on highway and urban roads, when the Lane Keeping Assist system has forced me out of my lane, both taking control of my car's steering wheel to move me out of the lane while also failing to trigger my Lane Departure Warning. One time, LKA jerked over into a lane of oncoming traffic, another time it jerked me out of my lane into a near collision with a concrete lane barrier, and another time the LKA jerked out of the lane almost into a curb.

NHTSA ODI 11512598