AutoUtility currently tracks 54 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric. Electrical System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 42 complaints (77.8% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash, 2 cite a fire, 1 reports one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 54 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Electrical System (42 reports • 77.8% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Fuel & Propulsion System (10), Powertrain & Transmission (5)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 1 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
54
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
2
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
2
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
1
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 77.8% of complaints

Electrical System

42 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
🔥 2 fire reports
#2 Problem Area 18.5% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

10 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 9.3% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#4 Problem Area 7.4% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report 🔥 1 fire report
#5 Problem Area 7.4% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11688160
Crash Cited 1 Injury Entry Filed: 09/18/2025

"The contact owned a 2019 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while attempting to drive from a complete stop, the vehicle accelerated rapidly through a busy intersection on its own and would not slow or stop, despite the brake pedal being depressed. As a result, the contact briefly lost control of..."

Incident Date: 09/10/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Brakes & Traction Control NHTSA ODI ID: #11680934
Fire Cited Filed: 08/15/2025

"Component Failed: Electric transmission/drive unit failed twice before 150,000 miles. Still in vehicle, available for inspection. Safety Risk: Loss of propulsion while driving creates risk of being rear-ended or stranded in dangerous traffic conditions. Right now the car is not drivable Confirmed..."

Incident Date: 06/24/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11643397
Filed: 02/18/2025

"-the gear drive was diagnosed as needed to be replaced -the GRU may lock up during driving causing the vehicle to stop -dealer confirmed needs replacing -no warnings or lights on vehicle, it was noticed that the vehicle made a louder noise while driving but could be confused with tires or normal..."

Incident Date: 02/14/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11636790
Filed: 01/18/2025

"The Charging unit made by Enel X called a JuiceBox 40 failed to complete a charge. Upon examination of the charger it was determined that the plug from the unit to the 240V receptacle was fused to the outlet and could not be removed. When my electrician opened the box he was able to force the plug..."

Incident Date: 01/08/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11547485
Filed: 09/30/2023

"I started directing the car to the side of the road to park. As I was guiding the car to a stop, with my foot on the brake, I was about 12 ft. from the car in front of me when the car suddenly accelerated. The vehicle accelerated for approximately 10 ft. before the anti-collision system auto-braked..."

Incident Date: 09/30/2023 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Hyundai Kona Electric

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2019–2025)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric Current Page 54 2 3 Current
2020 Hyundai Kona Electric 181 9 3 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Hyundai Kona Electric 0 0 2 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Hyundai Kona Electric 20 1 0 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Hyundai Kona Electric 5 0 0 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Hyundai Kona Electric 15 0 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Hyundai Kona Electric 1 0 1 View 2025 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 18 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 30 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,POWER TRAIN 1 1 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 1 0 1 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (54). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)

1 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
CLOSED Defect Petition (DP) ODI Action #DP22005
Opened: 2023-01-27 • Closed: 2023-08-07

Pedestrian alert sounds

Affected Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 22V063000 Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.