44 of the
229 complaints filed about the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid
are about the electrical system —
19% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2023.
The vehicle experienced a catastrophic engine compartment fire while safely parked inside an employment parking garage in [XXX] on XXX, at approximately 3:04 PM. I was physically sitting inside the vehicle cabin when heavy smoke suddenly began pouring out from the engine bay. I immediately evacuated the vehicle for my safety. Within moments, the smoke escalated into an active, un-contained fire that completely consumed the vehicle. The local fire department responded to the scene to extinguish the blaze. The vehicle is a total loss. This safety incident occurred exactly one week after I received the official manufacturer safety recall notice by mail for Hyundai Recall 301 (NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V308000), which outlines an overheating transistor defect within the Hybrid Power Control Unit (HPCU) capable of causing a vehicle fire. The vehicle caught fire due to this exact un-remedied defect before I could realistically bring it to a dealership for the required safety software update. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11750544 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Vehicle: 2022 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Safety Complaint: While driving on the highway, my 2022 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid displayed a warning message stating “Check Hybrid System. Stop Safely.” Immediately after the warning appeared, the vehicle lost power and acceleration. The car entered a reduced-power mode, making it difficult and unsafe to maintain traffic speed. The warning instructed me to stop the vehicle immediately. This occurred while I was traveling at highway speeds, creating a dangerous situation for myself, my passengers, and other drivers. The sudden loss of power could easily result in a rear-end collision or other serious accident because the vehicle is unable to accelerate normally and traffic may not have enough time to react. My vehicle currently has approximately 69,000 miles and is within Hyundai’s hybrid system warranty period. I believe this issue represents a significant safety risk and should be investigated, as other Hyundai Elantra Hybrid owners have reported similar failures. I am requesting that this issue be reviewed due to the potential danger it poses to drivers and the public. Mileage at failure: Approximately 69,000 miles.
NHTSA complaint #11742526 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am reporting a serious safety issue involving my 2023 Hyundai Elantra. The vehicle experienced a sudden mechanical and/or electrical malfunction that made it unsafe to operate. While driving, the vehicle began displaying warning indicators and experienced abnormal performance consistent with a system malfunction. Hybrid system failed, radar malfunction, blind spot malfunction. I couldn't control the car , while I was exiting the highway XXX and took a excit on [XXX] where the incident was happend. Stering wheel got licked out , braking system got soft , failure notification on my dashboard. I couldn't do anything, stuck on that car , it was trying to go left , n trying to flip over. I had used my full forced to pull it back on the road. Had to find parking spot , let it coast drive and I had to press on the engine start button to stop the car. Due to malfunction caused me the collusion incident, my driver side got scratched on my rims and the tiers The issue raised concerns about potential loss of power and vehicle reliability during operation. This created a significant safety risk, as the failure could occur unexpectedly while driving in traffic, increasing the risk of an accident. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11733456 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While being driven on a residential street, the vehicle suddenly displayed a 'Stop Safely' warning on the dashboard. Upon an attempted restart, the vehicle suffered a total electrical blackout and complete loss of propulsion power while in the middle of a live roadway. All internal and external lights, steering assistance, and power systems failed simultaneously. The vehicle was manufactured in 2025 and has been out of service since March 16th. The dealership (Napleton Downtown Hyundai) is attributing this total system collapse to 'bad fuel' to deny warranty coverage, despite the failure being a catastrophic high-voltage electrical shutdown. This incident created an immediate safety hazard for the driver and other motorists, leaving the vehicle stranded and unresponsive in traffic
NHTSA complaint #11731402 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH during ice and snow, the engine revved, and there was an abnormal sound coming from the Hybrid battery. While turning, the contact stated that the vehicle had unintendedly accelerated. Additionally, the tire pressure warning light was illuminated. The contact believed that the failure was related to the Hybrid battery. The vehicle was driven to the residence, where it remained parked and was not driven since. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 44,900.
NHTSA complaint #11708400 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
This 2022 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid poses an imminent fire and safety hazard due to catastrophic high-voltage system failures. On December 11, 2025 (Mileage: 54,527), the vehicle displayed a "Check Hybrid System" warning. The dealership diagnosed a swollen 12V battery and, critically, a melted power relay assembly and melted power cable. This indicates extreme thermal overload. The dealer stated they could not repair it independently and deferred to the Hyundai Engineering Team. This is the second major high-voltage failure. On March 23, 2024 (Mileage: 34,276), the vehicle suffered a total electrical blackout while driving at highway speeds at night. The vehicle lost all motive power, interior lights, and hazard flashers, leaving the car invisible in a high-speed lane. The high-voltage battery was replaced in April 2024, yet the system has failed again with melted wiring less than 20 months later. Despite a previous recall performed in August 2024 (Campaign 9B4 - BMS Software Update for 12V Battery Over Voltage), the electrical system remains unstable. The vehicle currently exhibits signs of thermal runaway. I have been informed by the dealer on Dec 16, 2025, that the wiring has melted, yet they initially refused to provide a repair order documenting these specific findings. This vehicle is a fire risk and a threat to public safety. I am requesting assistance in having this vehicle removed from the road immediately as it constitutes a public safety hazard.
NHTSA complaint #11706009 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The headlights and back lights turn off at random times when the headlights are on the automatic setting. This problem happens very frequently at night, putting my family at risk when the lights go off and cannot see what is ahead of us. In addition to a cop pulling me over for not having my lights on and he asked me if I was playing with the lights since they were going on and off and luckily the cop did not give me a ticket when I explained and he saw the problem (he advised me to get on this website and to make a report). I have reported this problem to the Hyundai dealership for the past 3 years and I don’t even think they take the time to investigate. The dealership just keeps telling me that with another update in the software is going to get fixed. But that is not the case. This is a very dangerous problem that is going to get someone killed. Need to be fixed
NHTSA complaint #11672296 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
On [XXX] and [XXX], while driving at approximately 50 MPH, my vehicle experienced a sudden and complete loss of power, presenting an immediate safety hazard. The incident unfolded as follows: Without warning, the car emitted an alarming sound from the cabin. Simultaneously, a message appeared on the dashboard stating "Check Hybrid System" and instructing me to "Pull Over Safely." This was the first and only warning; there were no prior indications or symptoms of any problem before this sudden failure. Immediately upon this warning, the vehicle experienced a total loss of power. The component that failed appears to be the hybrid system itself, leading to a complete electrical system shutdown. The vehicle is currently available for inspection upon request. After safely pulling over and turning off the car, all electrical functions ceased. This included essential safety features such as hazard lights, rendering the vehicle completely inoperable and "electrically dead." My safety and the safety of other motorists were severely put at risk due to the sudden and complete loss of propulsion and all electrical systems (including safety lights) while the vehicle was in motion. This left the vehicle vulnerable and invisible to other traffic, particularly concerning if this occurred on a highway or at night, as it creates a high risk for rear-end collisions or other accidents. I have personal video documentation of this incident, which clearly shows the dashboard warnings and the vehicle's subsequent electrical failure. I am prepared to share this video upon request. Following this alarming event, I took my vehicle to the Wolfchase Dealership in Memphis on May 16 2025. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by the dealership. Despite their inspection, the dealership claimed they could not find any issue, stating that "no system of record is recording such code in the vehicle. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11669196 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The horn has failed four times on my vehicle, and I have owned and maintained it since November 2022. While Hyundai has replaced it under warranty at no charge, I foresee this being a continuing issue.
NHTSA complaint #11668620 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
This vehicle I am driving has going on 24,000 miles only and over the course of the 23,000 miles it started making me do a 12V reset which very scary when you in traffic, have to pull to the side of the road, the car blinks "Check Hybrid System" with the little what looks like a tire pressure monitor system but it is a exclamation point and says "HEV" inside. My vehicle will die while pulling off to the side of the road, I have to park it, and 12V reset it, and start the car up again, in order to get to where I was going. I can not sit in one place. In fact this battery reset happened two times last night on June 18th at a drive thru while waiting for dinner and once while waiting on a pharmacy drive thru line about two weeks ago. All this is idling. I never had a lockout issue with my car where I had to get in with my key and 12V reset it. It's only when the car is on and idling. I'm well aware of Hyundai hybrids having 2 batteries, so it is definitely not the battery controlling my acc, it's controlling my main controls. I have done so much research on my vehicle and just know this will be such a hassle to get replaced although I paid very good money for my vehicle, and the batteries are under warranty. I will have to roll the dead battery into Hyundai's lot so they do something, but even then they think 12V resetting will be a normal thing, not when I'm travelling down the freeway during rush hour. A 12V reset should be there for utmost emergencies, not to be used on a daily basis multiple times a day. Hyundai needs to take ownership and do something about it. Is it an alternator to the battery or is it their lithium ion batteries they use, is it a wire that sucks, they need to do something and get all the hybrids fix because it's not just Elantras, many Tucsons, sonatas, etc. Have the same issue all across the years I have seen to 2020. Very faulty.
NHTSA complaint #11667914 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The 2022 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Blue intermittently displays Check Hybrid System Stop Safety in instrument cluster screen, which stops the car from driving in either smart or normal. This happens on the roads and highways. This is very unsafe because at high speed when this happens you could easily get rear-ended because the car drops its speed and cannot accelerate any faster than 30 miles per hour and then it degrades to 20 miles per hour until I can find a safe place to park and turn off the car to do the reset to be able to drive again. This happens because the 12-volt lithium battery is not providing an acceptable amount of charge to the hybrid battery. This was also confirmed when I took the battery to get tested and it failed the test.The next part that is unsafe, is replacing the low 12-volt lithium battery, because it is connected to a high voltage 240-volt lithium-ion polymer battery; there a normal person cannot simply replace it. You have to know electronics to make sure you do not get electrocuted. In addition, it takes hours to take out the battery and then it’s hard to find to purchase. I feel Hyundai makes this process difficult as after spending hours to screw it out, you cannot locate the item anywhere. When I spoke to the Hyundai parts person, they could not locate it until I actually brought in the battery. The 12-volt lithium battery was nonrefundable and cost twice as much ($545.92) as I saw online, as low as $282 once I obtain the part number from the Hyundai order, which again is nonrefundable. I feel they make sure this cannot be found to force you to come to them to buy the battery, because all the labels or characters on the battery were not able to locatable. This was proven by me emailing the battery images to the parts person who was trying to find it, but could not until I bring in the actual battery. I was also told it is a special order and that they do not keep them onsite and have to be ordered and wait 7 to 10 days(pdf attach)
NHTSA complaint #11663314 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The issue involves the hybrid electric powertrain or electrical control system in my 2023 Hyundai Elantra Limited Hybrid. The vehicle has shut off multiple times while driving, with complete loss of power and propulsion. This poses a serious safety risk, as it happens without warning in the middle of the road. Restarting the car requires shifting into Park and trying multiple times to turn it off, but the vacuole turns back on the first try. I have experienced this issue several times, including twice during a 300-mile highway trip. After each shutdown, the dashboard displays multiple warning lights, including the Check Engine Light, Battery Light, Oil Pressure Light, and Hybrid System Warning (orange car icon). I took a photo immediately after the most recent failure to document these warnings. The vehicle has been inspected three times by two different Hyundai dealerships. Both confirmed the vehicle is under warranty but have not repaired or diagnosed the issue, citing that they cannot replicate it. They have driven it ~200 miles without success. However, they have not pulled ECU data or freeze-frame codes, even though warning lights were active at the time of failure. There are no symptoms or warning messages before the failure — the vehicle shuts off suddenly. The car is available for inspection, and I am in the process of opening a formal case with Hyundai. This is a significant and recurring safety hazard that must be addressed. This issue has an occurred a various speeds including during acceleration and braking. The picture attached is the dashboard after the I indent has occurred and have shifted to park after stopping to try and restart the car to get out of the middle of the road.
NHTSA complaint #11661795 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am writing to report a serious and ongoing safety issue with my 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid that remains unresolved despite multiple visits to Hyundai service centers and independent repair shops. I’ve also found numerous consumer discussions online describing nearly identical issues with the same model and newer Elantra Hybrid models, suggesting this may be part of a wider systemic defect. The core issue lies within the vehicle’s hybrid system. Shortly after a recent system/software update performed at a Hyundai dealership, a warning message began appearing at random intervals stating: “Check Hybrid System.” This typically first appears after extended driving — often around 3 hours — but once it occurs, the issue worsens if I continue to drive. Each time the warning appears, the vehicle suddenly and drastically decelerates without driver input, becoming dangerously slow and unresponsive, even while traveling at highway speeds. This creates an urgent safety risk, as I have had to maneuver off the road quickly to avoid collisions. After the initial warning, if I attempt to drive the vehicle again without sufficient downtime, the warning reappears much more frequently — sometimes within minutes. The only temporary relief is to stop using the vehicle and allow it to rest for at least six hours, after which the issue may temporarily subside. In every case, I must use the 12V battery reset button to restart the car, which I suspect may be clearing diagnostic codes before they can be properly recorded. Notably, the check engine light disappears after this reset, even if it was previously displayed. Given that the hybrid battery is located beneath the rear passenger seat, I am deeply concerned that if there is an underlying thermal or electrical issue, it could pose a serious or life-threatening risk to passengers. To date, no dealership or technician has been able to duplicate or permanently resolve the problem.
NHTSA complaint #11661670 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Cluster screen was black. Lasted for 30 minutes the initial time. Happened again, lasted for 3 days before turning back on. No turn signal sound when using turn signals. No speedometer or any of the main screen shows. No blind spot indicator lights or sounds either. No engine lights or any other lights visible before this occures. Safety was absolutely at risk. Couldn't even tell the speed I was going .
NHTSA complaint #11657379 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving in a parking lot. The car wouldn't accelerate. Kept pressing on the gas pedal but the car wouldn't move. After about 5 seconds the car shut down. I had to place the car on P then press the start button, pressed the brake pedal and then the start button again and the car turned back on
NHTSA complaint #11653347 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Driving on interstate at 70mph. Multiple, five or six, warnings pop up in rapid succession mostly dealing with the safety features such as distance to car in front, adaptive speed control, lane keeping. The last one was hybrid system - safely stop. The car then immediately lost all acceleration power leaving us coasting. This all happened within a few seconds. Terrifying. Luckily we had space to get over quickly. 30 miles sooner we would have been in downtown Jacksonville with no place to maneuver. Extremely dangerous. A few seconds warning then nothing. Turned the vehicle off as soon as we stopped and car was completely dead, no electrical power to anything, including flashers. Not sure how you can’t have flashers on a hybrid. Basically no warning to no power at highway speeds and then no flashers. Something is seriously wrong with this.
NHTSA complaint #11653071 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
For the second time in two years, my horn suddenly stopped working. About 6 months after purchasing the car, the horn began to sound high pitched. Then about three weeks later the horn stopped working, requiring the replacement of the horn. A month later, the horn sounded high pitched again. Hyundai advised me the horn is a "two-horn system" in which a high pitch and low pitch horn produce the horn noise. The low pitch keeps failing. About 4 months after the horn was only sounding a high pitched sound, the horn stopped when I hit the horn to avoid an oncoming driver.
NHTSA complaint #11632327 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
We lease 5 Hyundai 2024 Elantra Blue hybrids that were bought new a few months back. We have experienced the same issues with 3 of the 5 so far. Cars will STALL at low speeds and sometimes ENGINE LIGHT goes on. Cars will suddenly not accelerate after stopping at a stop sign. Extreme danger for our drivers who are transporting developmentally disabled clients to outings and shopping, etc. Hyundai REPLACED throttle body replacement but same issues reappeared 2 days after getting car back. Now, Hyundai is claiming the GPS units plugged in may be causing this, but other 2 are not experiencing this issue (2 of 5). They refuse to work on further unless GPS units are out, but customer needs GPS units per insurance. So we need help from Hyundai in dealing with the dealer Zimbrick East of Madison, WI. We need the vehicles, but don't want our employees at risk.
NHTSA complaint #11627453 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The Hybrid charging system fails once the vehicle is above 75 mph. After about an hour or two, the vehicle will die on the highway. This is a reoccurring issue putting our safety at risk. The dealership cannot find what the problem is. Online forums show similar issues with dealerships unable to solve the problem.
NHTSA complaint #11624498 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.