I initially had the power drain problem one time just over a year ago. At that point, my car was in my garage, unlocked and so when AAA finally got there, we were able to open the hood and charge battery etc. The only real change I made since then, was storing my key fob at night, in one of those Faraday boxes...as my garage is under main Bedroom. I truly thought it had to do with attempting to use my cell phone as a 'keyfob' to enter/start vehicle as I was right after testing that functionality a year ago that I had the problem. Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago, when I was leaving the gym early evening. Car is locked/ parked in outside parking lot with vehicles to the side and in front. Of course it just so happened to be a colder night with winds making it more uncomfortable. I have the 2024 Kona Limited and as normal, the trunk should auto open as I stand behind it, to throw my bag in the rear, before getting in to drive home. So after realizing the auto open wasn't working, I tried the key fob with no luck. I tired the button on the back hatch and again no luck. So when I tried opening the driver's side door and couldn't get in , noticing no lights coming on, I knew I was in trouble. Walked back into the gym, realizing I would need to have access to the front of the car, and the driver was identified and she readily moved her vehicle. So after using the app and calling for remote assistance, the message indicated it would be roughly 45 minutes before they arrived, asking me to stand by the car. Luckily I had an extra sweatshirt with me, but after about 20 minutes was freezing my tail off. Trying to figure out how we would even get to the battery to jump it, without having access to the hood release. (Have read horror stories about trying to use the manual key to get the door opened) So looking at the front end of the car and being 'somewhat' annoyed, I took my key fob , pointing it to the vehicle and using some 'choice' words clicked it to try one last time, when low & behold it unlocked and the lights came on. I wasted no time opening the door, throwing my gym bag in back, jumping in to see it it would start. Luckily it did. As I sat there, starting to thaw, I reached back out to cancel the roadside assistance and drove directly home.

Next week had it in for a 10k service, and found there was a recall order / sw update needed. I'm hopeful that's the last time I I'm stuck in that situation. Don't know why it corrected itself, but I'm grateful. I've previously had two Kia Souls, two Hyundai Velosters and this is my 2nd Kona. Ideally it's my last.

 

I just checked my Dad's 2025 Kona AWD Limited, and no recalls are showing up under his VIN. Do you have more info regarding your recall and what it supposedly fixed? Thanks!

 

Oh my.....Deja vu all over again. Ditto on everything you posted except that my 3 month old 2024 Kona died while I was driving. Had to have two tow companies tow it to two dealerships, which of course took hours and less than eager folks at the first dealership to even want to check it out. Long story short, after two weeks of replacing the alternator (to no avail) and searching for the cause of the battery drain, it was released back to you....BUT, I refused to take it off the lot. I probably got a bad deal, but I traded it for a 2022 Chev Equinox with 7,000 miles on it. (The dealership was a Hyundai/Chevrolet place). Twice the mileage and two years old but I didn't at all feel safe in that Hyundai Kona. At 77 years old, I don't need that kind of stress!

 

I had the same problem. I am in the middle of a lemon lawsuit. Going on 6 months.

 

Are you sure the dealer didn’t put a tracker on it? A lot do that if the car is financed or leased. A few years ago we had a Toyota Avalon in the shop after having back to the dealer many times for a dead battery. Guess what we found wired in BEHIND the OBD II connector, Pin 16, Battery positive hot at all times, and Pin 4 Chassis ground.
Yup. A tracker. Instead of plugging it into the OBD two connector they put it behind the connector. The average person would never even think to look there. Pretty darn sneaky. We neutered the thing and that was the end of the dead battery problems.

 

Battery drained twice on me; Kona 2024 N Line; once at 5 months and was told to lock the car in my garage, which I did. Then again at about 9 months and less than 2500 miles. They said maybe you don't drive it enough. What? No. Leasing a new car so that I can rely on it and not be stuck. Roadside jumped it and said it looks fine after jumping. MyHyundai page shows my car's status and when it was dead, the site literally said all systems normal. Did not detect my battery drained for no reason. I've had multiple issues with the car, including the speed limit set buttons next to cruise control caused my car to only accelerate to like 17 mph and almost caused accident. My horn did not work upon driving new car off lot; also, my auto entry button does not work consistently; and my magnetic phone charger is a no-go. I contacted Hyundai corporate and filed a complaint because dealership is being difficult. They won't give me a loaner car in order to do diagnostics and said the diagnostics may take several days/weeks. Corporate Hyundai said they would push me up to the top of the waiting list as I have been on the wait list for loaner vehicle for couple months. These are safety issues and I suggest contacting corporate. Email: nationalca@hmausa.com It's worth a shot. I told them that if something happens to me while I'm on a waitlist for diagnostics, they will have a lawsuit on their hands. They suggested to me that if the dealership can't diagnose the issues, they will consider asking for a buyout or replacement vehicle. Good luck all and stay safe!

 

Battery drained twice on me; Kona 2024 N Line; once at 5 months and was told to lock the car in my garage, which I did. Then again at about 9 months and less than 2500 miles. They said maybe you don't drive it enough. What? No. Leasing a new car so that I can rely on it and not be stuck. Roadside jumped it and said it looks fine after jumping. MyHyundai page shows my car's status and when it was dead, the site literally said all systems normal. Did not detect my battery drained for no reason. I've had multiple issues with the car, including the speed limit set buttons next to cruise control caused my car to only accelerate to like 17 mph and almost caused accident. My horn did not work upon driving new car off lot; also, my auto entry button does not work consistently; and my magnetic phone charger is a no-go. I contacted Hyundai corporate and filed a complaint because dealership is being difficult. They won't give me a loaner car in order to do diagnostics and said the diagnostics may take several days/weeks. Corporate Hyundai said they would push me up to the top of the waiting list as I have been on the wait list for loaner vehicle for couple months. These are safety issues and I suggest contacting corporate. Email: nationalca@hmausa.com It's worth a shot. I told them that if something happens to me while I'm on a waitlist for diagnostics, they will have a lawsuit on their hands. They suggested to me that if the dealership can't diagnose the issues, they will consider asking for a buyout or replacement vehicle. Good luck all and stay safe!

As far as the cruise control limiting the speed to 17 mph, read the manual. That’s pilot error. On setting for the cruise IS a speed limiter by design. Here’s a video that explains it. Hope it ends the confusion. I love the Hyundai Cruise control. A lot better than our 2022 Lincoln Navigator.

 

Had much same problems on my 2022 Peugeot 308, even after a very long drive the car wouldn't start,and like you AA told me it was a parasitic draw, in n out garge for months till finally replaced battery and problems solved

 

Might not have even be a fault in the car - flooded lead acid batteries sometimes develop internal shorts that drain them. They charge properly, they'll maybe even test okay after a charge but left alone unplugged they just go flat in a matter of hours. Not unusual for an aged battery, happens occasionally to newer batteries. I'm talking lead acid batteries, not lithium or any other types.

Every chemistry has it's own quirks.

 

Sorry, just seeing your post/question. Let me circle back to the service advisor I trust to get you an answer. (Mine is FWD, But will let you know what I hear.)

Sorry, just seeing your post/question. Let me circle back to the service advisor I trust to get you an answer. (Mine is FWD, But will let you know what I hear.)

I just checked my Dad's 2025 Kona AWD Limited, and no recalls are showing up under his VIN. Do you have more info regarding your recall and what it supposedly fixed? Thanks!

I pulled up the paperwork from that service appointment. All it shows: PERFORM CAMPAIGN TCL S/W UD MULTIMEDIA KYBD LOGIC 24-01-090H
then below that it shows
40D214R0 MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD SOFTWARE UPDATE 22332. W
then below that it repeats
10125 CAMPAIGN TCL 0.30 PERFORMED TCL MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD LOGIC SOFTWARE UPDATE FOLLOWING CAMPAIGN PROCEDURES.

Hope that is of some use.
pk

 

Well, after a year of trouble free driving, the battery was completely flat when I went to go out this morning. I first posted about this in March 2024. I gave up looking for answers as Hyundai don't seem to care, I'm still convinced that it is a software issue. Luckily I purchased a jump start unit after the first incident in October 2023, this is the fourth time that I've had to use it. Just warning everyone that this problem hasn't gone away yet.

 

I think I’d vote the bullet and just replace the battery with good name Brand like Intrrstate or equivalent. Most all batteries in the US are manufactured by Clarios formerly Johnson controls or Exide. They’re sold under all kinds of different brand names.

 

I leased a 2024 Kona ltd FWD for my 84 year old Dad late December 2024. He has had ot for less than 5 months. The 12v has died twice. Both times the dealer has held onto it for a few days then said that they could find anything wrong. Totally uncool for a new car. I cannot have my dad driving a car that can leave him stranded. His 2007 accord never had one such issue. Ever.

Hyundai seriously needs to up their game here.

 

I leased a 2024 Kona ltd FWD for my 84 year old Dad late December 2024. He has had ot for less than 5 months. The 12v has died twice. Both times the dealer has held onto it for a few days then said that they could find anything wrong. Totally uncool for a new car. I cannot have my dad driving a car that can leave him stranded. His 2007 accord never had one such issue. Ever.

Hyundai seriously needs to up their game here.

Bluelink is supposed to send a notification to the app that the battery is dying. For some reason Hyundai has never been able to make that alert work. If they got that working it would minimize the issue by allowing the owner to remote start the car before it was too late to charge up the battery.
When there is a battery issue, the dealer is supposed to run this TSB to help determine if the cause is the battery itself or parasitic drain. You might check to see if that TSB was performed.
There is a known issue with something called the Multimedia Keyboard not going to sleep state and draining the battery. There is a software update campaign called Multimedia Keyboard Logic update #24-01-090H. Should make sure your dealer has done that update too. This update seems to have resolved the issue for many Kona owners.
My 2024 Kona only had the battery die when I was using an insurance dongle plugged in the OBDII port. When it was in use my battery would die if I didn't drive the Kona for 3 days. Since I removed the insurance dongle I haven't had a dead battery issue.
I know this is not an ideal solution but if the battery is dying after a few days of not using the Kona, you could get your Dad to remote start his Kona everyday and let it run until it stops to give the battery some extra charge.

 

I bought mine very recently, the 1st of this month in fact. Haven't had it for three weeks and this current week is when the battery starts to have issues with the drainage. It has an open recall on it that’s supposed to fix the software that keeps a keyboard running when the car is off (resulting in the drain), but I’ve read a lot on this forum that apparently there could be numerous causes. My car also has it where the cabin fan turns on at times when the car is off (which I didn’t know you could turn off), I didn’t know about having to click lock twice on the key fob (which seems like a hassle with a brand new car), and I’m also wondering if having anything plugged into the UBI port could drain it as well (I have a T-Mobile sync-up and drive unit that monitors the car and where it is).

I’m supposed to take it in Monday for the recall, but my main concern is if I will have to pay for a new battery if it needs to be replaced (the car is under warranty and I was told the battery is still good as it instantly powers on and starts as soon as the jumper cables attach to the battery). Does anyone have any answers concerning how it is after the recall is done? And are there any other potential parasitic drainers that can prevent this? I love the car, but I may invoke lemon law if this happens two more times because I can’t live with a car with the worry of if it will start or not.

 

There is a comprehensive test that the service tech is supposed to run that determines the state of the battery and whether warranty repair is necessary. Here is a copy:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/MC-10243340-0001.pdf

My Kona had the battery die a couple of times. I determined it was the insurance dongle I plugged in to the OBDII port that I was trying to use to get a reduced insurance premium that was killing the battery. When I stopped using the insurance dongle, I had no more battery issues. Dash cams and lease/finance non payment repo locating, kill switch devices, if installed in the Kona, are known to potentially kill the battery.
I run the cabin AC fan to autodry the AC drain pan on auto, it reduces potential for mold and associated odors. The program checks to make sure the battery has sufficient charge to run so it won't kill your battery. It runs the AC blower for only 10 minutes, 30 minutes after you leave the Kona, if you have been using AC. It runs only one time.
Here is how it works.

I never double lock my Kona, I don't believe it makes any difference.
Even though my battery has not been dieing, the dealer service tech installed the multimedia keyboard update anyway. If it is somehow causing your problem, that update should correct it. Many owners have reported that battery issues went away after the update was installed. Sometimes the multimedia keyboard module was not going to sleep and would slowly drain the battery, the software update corrects that.
Get the service department to check for a locating device installed up under the dash. Some banks, finance or leasing companies require one to be installed, these can kill a Kona battery. Sometimes the locating device will be listed on finance documents as "GPS" or something. The device contains a full on GPS locator and cell phone. If installed and it doesn't go the sleep when you shut off the vehicle, it will kill the battery.
This video talks about GPS locating devices:

The USB ports power off soon after you leave the car, anything plugged in cannot kill your battery, unless the port relay is broken and stuck on.

 

This solution comes directly from a corporate Hyundai product trainer: How to stop the pinging from the key fob: Hold lock and unlock on fob until lights on vehicle flashes. Then vehicle doesn't ping fob.(until you hit unlock on fob) Still might be a good idea to put your spare key fob into a Faraday key pouch though. Digital key does still communicate with the vehicle, if you arent planning to use that feature might be best not to activate it. Its a bit irritating but cars arent going to get any less technologically advanced. If you are dealing with a parasitic drain, this is likely the culprit.

 

When I tested that function in April 2024, the door handle unlock feature was disabled until I unlocked with the key fob. I suppose that means the fob and the car are not looking for each other. I don't have any battery issue so didn't pursue it any further and don't bother activating it each time.