So ALL 462,869 Kia owners somehow modify there cars to make them flammable ? Or is it a manufacturing defect ?
In June 2024, Kia recalled 462,869 Telluride SUVs from the 2020–2024 model years due to a potential fire risk. The recall was issued because the front power seat motor could overheat and catch fire if the power seat slide knob gets stuck. This could happen while the vehicle is parked or in motion. Kia advised owners to park their vehicles outside and away from other vehicles and structures until the recall repair was complete
I would agree that car fires can certainly result from poor maintenance, and damage. Which is true for both gas and electric.
So, are there a half million electric cars under recall for fire hazards ? The Chevy battery issue was 142.000. Not insignificant, but a drop in the bucket compared to a singe vehicle recall for a gas vehicle
It's a manufacturing defect - hence the recall - which by definition means there's a defect - otherwise there wouldn't be a recall - which is always safety related. While this is a ICE vehicle recall, specific to your mention about BEV recalls - The Bolt and and many other examples are why I would not buy a non-Tesla BEV at this time. Maybe eventually, but building a BEV is altogether different than building any ICE vehicle by orders of magnitude. A BEV is a SDV (Software Defined Vehicle), and legacy manufacturers are struggling to make this transition as they are not software companies by any stretch. A few years ago VW hired thousands of software developers to attempt to build a SDV - and announced the entirety of their product line would transition to BEV by 2030. Fast forward three years, and VW just signed a five year agreement with Rivian to use Rivian's SDV tech instead - and VW is laying off most of their software developers in the process - essentially VW is giving up on building SDVs themselves - and outsourcing/buying the tech instead - because they cannot figure out how to do it internally. I'd expect similar moves from other legacy manufacturers moving forward, it's not nearly as easy as most people think to build a SDV BEV. Tesla has been at it in earnest since 2008 - and it shows why they have a measured advantage some 16 years later. The market doesn't want a BEV that behaves like a ICE vehicle - they want a nextgen vehicle that is altogether different than a traditional ICE vehicle. Ford, perhaps the first of the big three to jump into BEVs, is now backing away as well, for much the same reasons as VW. Will GM be next? Stellantis? BMW seems to be making an honest effort to transition, and just this month, BMW sold more BEVs in the EU than Tesla for the first time. The Korean manufacturers have jumped in with both feet - but as you pointed out - it's not without struggle. Doing this too quickly isn't a good idea. It has to be done right. Tesla did it right. Rivian is doing it right. Lucid is trying to do it right but cannot scale - at least not yet.
All this is why, even today, Tesla still owns 55% BEV market share - or a greater market share than all other legacy manufacturers combined. This won't always be the case - but when we look at how quickly most of the legacy manufacturers are pulling away from building BEVs, contrary to popular opinion it's not because consumers don't want BEVs, it's because they cannot build them profitably and cannot figure out how to do what Tesla has already done - build SDV BEVs profitably. So they are backing away and embracing hybrids instead (which ironically have, by far, the highest fire risks), which are still profitable for them, but this approach just gives companies like Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, etc., more runway to take over the BEV marketplace. Long term, I think the legacies are making a big mistake, and they will become a husked out shell of what they are today 10-15 years from now.
