What 381 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

OnXXX, as we approached what I call the 6 o’clock position of a round-about in [XXX], we had braked almost to a full stop (0-5 mph) to wait on the car ahead of us to enter the round-about when we felt increasing movement. Despite braking, to wait on that car, our car with increasing speed started shoving that car into the circle. Fortunately, he was able to drive away from us, but that car had been damaged on the back and right side. With that obstacle out of the way, our car rapidly and exponentially increased speed - all while we were fully braking. Two witnesses said they saw our brake lights as we sped along. We hit the curb as we approached the 12 o’clock exit, and that turned us so that we crossed both lanes of the road and headed towards the far sidewalk and storefronts. When we hit that curb it pushed us diagonally to face the street again. Hard to estimate but we must have been doing 50 mph when we hit a very large brick planter and we finally were wedged to a stop when we slammed in between two vehicles parked parallel to the sidewalk. The motor ran for a few seconds after we stopped, and finally quit on its own. We KNOW the brake was applied the whole time; there were no visual or audible alarms from the car as we entered “UNINTENDED ACCELERATION”. Despite the incredibly strong impact (our car has been deemed totaled) the front air bags did not deploy. Only the driver’s side curtain deployed. The bumper of the parked transport van on our front left was damaged, and the small SUV on our front right was deemed totaled. No people were in those two parked cars; the first car was hit at the initial slower speed so those people were not injured. By some grace, no pedestrians were in our path or they would surely have been killed. The driver of our car (my husband) was miraculously not injured, but CT scans and x-rays showed I had several contusions and a fractured tibia that will require surgery due to brake, propulsion, no air bags. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11743216

When parking in a supermarket parking lot I slowly approached the space while braking. As I turned left into the space and released the brake pedal to allow the car to slowly roll into the space as I always do, the car surged as if someone floored the accelerator. I veered left to avoid a head on collision with the parked car facing me and went diagonally between the right front fender of that car and the left front fender of the car parked in the space to my left. I sideswiped both sides of my car and damaged the front fenders of both cars before I was able to apply the brake and bring the car to a stop. There was a mother with her two young children loading groceries into the car in front of me. Fortunately I avoided hitting anyone, but the witnessed the accident. I was in shock. My car suffered $25 in damages. There is absolutely no way I accidentally applied the accelerator, and if I had I would never have floored it! The car malfunctioned. I reported this incident to Hyundai also. They supposedly were sending someone to inspect the car at the auto body repair center.

NHTSA ODI 11594992

12/30/2023 at approximately 5:30pm I drove home with the iPedal engaged. The iPedal was installed as a download to the car in August 2023. My daughter was in the passenger seat. I began to back into my driveway but shifted to Drive to straighten out the car. The car began to roll forward I took my foot off the accelerator but the car did not stop in spite of the iPedal being engaged. I put my foot on the BRAKE PEDAL which went all the way to the floor to no avail. The car rolled slowly into an electrical pole which brought the car to a stop. I previously filed a complaint here but I have since learned that iPedal may disengage if the car is put into reverse. There is not warning light to alert the driver that iPedal is disengaged so the driver is not aware that the brakes may not work as expected. I believe this may have been the case with my accident. However, this does not address why using the foot pedal for the brakes did not stop the car. Have found many complaints about this on various forums and believe this aspect of iPedal needs to be addressed. It should not disengage unless the driver instructs the car to do so. I have not been able to find documentation of this functionality in the manual, but I have searched and will continue to do so.

NHTSA ODI 11572116

12/30/2023 at approximately 5:30pm I drove home with the iPedal engaged. The iPedal was installed as a download to the car in August 2023. My daughter was in the passenger seat. I began to back into my driveway but shifted to Drive to straighten out the car. The car began to roll forward I took my foot off the accelerator but the car did not stop in spite of the iPedal being engaged. I put my foot on the BRAKE PEDAL which went all the way to the floor to no avail. The car rolled slowly into an electrical pole which brought the car to a stop. Neither iPedal nor the foot brake pedal had any effect on the car. I then put the car in reverse and backed the car into my driveway and the brakes worked as expected. When I then attempted to charge the vehicle, the charging port would not open. I could hear the motor working to open but it would not open. On 1/11/2024, I again attempted to open the charging port and this time it did open. So, TWO different electrical (including the brakes and the charging port) were not working properly. Inasmuch as the charging port again worked and the brakes again worked, there clearly was a malfunction that was random and unpredictable and also nearly impossible to reproduce but if this happened once, it could happen again. The brakes failed. Had we been traveling on a busy road, or at the top of a hill, we would have faced significant bodily harm, death to ourselves or others. This car had been driven locally, predominantly on local roads. The car is available for inspection and has only been driven on the dealer lot since the the incident. There were no warning lights or messages to indicate that any issues existed. The manufacturer has executed an inspected but has not reproduced the problem. The manufacturer and dealership claims the car is safe to drive without addressing the brake failure. I do not believe the car is safe to drive without a determination of how the bake failure happened or without a repair to that issue.

NHTSA ODI 11570778

The car proceeds by itself and does not stop even when brakes are engaged. This happened 2 times. Once in reverse and once forward, both caused severe damages to the car. In the forward incident, the driver was wearing seat belt but air bags deployed with impact.

NHTSA ODI 11561628

Intermittent Electrical / Brake failure . Put vehicle in reverse . Brakes failed to stop vehicle . Vehicle has had electrical issues before . Waring lights came on for steering and tire pressure in the past . Recall then came from Hyundai for the ICCU .45 minutes before the collision, the front collision warning came on when I was stopped at an intersection with no one in front of me . I stopped the vehicle and turned the vehicle off . Turned on the vehicle and it reset the warning lights and sounds , and I continued to drive . Later while pulling out of a parking space in reverse ,I stepped on the brakes but the vehicle did not stop . I pumped the brakes to no avail . After the collision , the brakes worked again when the tow truck driver placed the vehicle on the flatbed .The Hyundai dealer , after the vehicle had been in their possession for several weeks with the battery disconnected, said there was no problem They also had a factory rep look at the vehicle and he made a report . We have not been able to get a copy of the report . Vehicle is still at the dealership . When notified by the factory rep of their claim that the vehicle had no problems , the vehicle had been out of service more then 30 days .

NHTSA ODI 11560959