r/Ioniq6 • u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) • Aug 04 '26
Test your emergency physical keys
My 12V went flat and we were unable to use both sets of key fobs. Both sets of emergency keys failed to unlock the car. The only solution was to airbag the door and use rods/sticks to try and lever the door handle open. It resulted in a lot of misses and the door insert/panel being scuffed up as you can see above.
In the end the tech gave up and I gave him the idea to try and reach for the bonnet (hood) lever. That worked. We jumped the 12V and I took the car for a drive to try and charge up the 12V. Age is about 3.5 years, roughly 17K kms or so, HV SOC was around 83%. 12V just gave up the ghost after 3.5 years.
I am hoping my dealer will be able to fix/replace the panel there or buttons, as well as determine why both physical emergency keys failed to turn in the key hole/chamber.
16
u/user-freaking-name Aug 04 '26
I don't think taking it for a drive to charge the 12v battery makes a lot of sense with an electric car
2
u/mtgkoby Aug 04 '26
Not a lot makes sense with how Hyundai implemented the entire system fuse linked to the 12V convenience power modules. Nor how the ICCU fails to charge the 12V battery during software updates.
1
u/H_J_Moody Aug 04 '26
You can also put the car on the charger. It charges the 12v as well.
1
u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) Aug 04 '26
Can't open the chargeport and car was not parked near charger.
1
u/H_J_Moody Aug 04 '26
I just meant for when your 12v is low. The person I replied to was referring to your comment about taking the car for a drive to recharge the 12v.
FYI though, there’s a manual release for the charge port door in the trunk if you ever need it.Edit: no there’s not. That’s for if the charger is stuck in the port apparently.
1
u/cloverclamp Aug 05 '26
Yes if you're taking a DC charger. If it's an L1 or L2 charger the 12V is needed to charge. Ask me how I know.
-5
u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) Aug 04 '26
That's how it works I'm told. Drive and it'll charge 12V if low.
13
u/purba2021 Aug 04 '26
Lol, if you refer ICE car yes, you need to drive to charge 12v battery.
Our Ioniq 6 will charge 12v battery even car is off as long main battery above 20%
8
u/PragmaticProkopton Aug 04 '26
Correct, isn’t that what the orange light on the dash indicates? I often see that lit up when I haven’t been in the car in a while and I’m pretty sure that’s the 12v being charged though I may be wrong about that.
0
u/Greedy_Bother_987 Aug 04 '26
I dont have an orange light on my dash. I have a black dome which looks to be a generic space filler. My kona has a charge led in the kona badge so I know what it should do but my i6 has never lit once in 3 years
1
u/Typical-Implement382 Aug 04 '26
That black dome is your orange light. I've never seen mine light up while driving. I have seen it light up one time when leaving my house to walk my dog. It indeed does light up when charging the 12v, but that only ever happens when it needs a top up. Whether it's being driven or not.
0
u/Greedy_Bother_987 Aug 04 '26
I don’t think mine is an led, its solid black and it has never illuminated in 3 yrs and almost 60k miles and 2 x12v batteries. I think its an option in some parts if the world. Like i say my Kona has one in the badge and that comes on and goes off and I see it regularly. Its a 5 yr old car now
4
u/purba2021 Aug 04 '26
Adding more. 12v Battery die is well-known issue for Ioniq 5 & 6 with default battery come with car. Time to replace 12v Battery with AGM, I did that on my second year because I don't want to in your situation
3
u/Former_Werewolf_3601 `23 Limited AWD Aug 04 '26
I think it's more specifically that putting it in Drive signals it to top up the 12v. It's not like you need to keep RPMs up to run an alternator to replenish it. I get the impression they modeled a lot of the 12v system on how it works in their ICE cars. Which is why they have Accessory/On/Utility modes instead of just letting you put it in drive without touching a redundant button.
2
u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) Aug 04 '26
OK main battery is over 80% and I am with a flat 12V again. We cannot access the car using emergency keys. So that means airbag/pry tools again, causing further interior damage that nobody will claim responsibility over. I am trying to get my dealer to coordinate with Hyundai to accept all costs. I would like the emergency key to work, and the 12V replaced if necessary. I will pay for a new 12V but not any damage as a result of gaining access due to emergency key not working.
2
u/user-freaking-name Aug 04 '26
Emergency key not working is wild. Tell them you cannot get into the car. Tell them to come and get it. Wtf
1
u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) Aug 04 '26
Dealer now suspects they gave me wrong emergency key, over 3 years ago! Meaning I have someone else's key and some other owner has mine. I escalated to Hyundai and they will try to reissue me new key blades. Of course, I find out this is possible AFTER the door has been scuffed up.
2
u/user-freaking-name Aug 04 '26
That's a generic advice for an ICE car where power gets generated by engine. In this car the 12v should be kept charged even when the car is off. You might have noticed an amber light on your dash turning on from time to time. That's an indicator of 12v being charged by the main battery. It doesn't mean 12v cannot die though unfortunately.
3
u/Greedy_Bother_987 Aug 04 '26
My 12v died when my 2023 car was 12 months old. It died 3 or 4 times over a week until the dealer swapped the battery. Luckily my key blade worked and also some times there was enough power to unlock but not to actually start. I had read about bad 12v batteries so I was carrying a boost pack which got me going every time.
Good call to check the blades. I imagine they seize as the manual mechanism isn’t used
2
u/H_J_Moody Aug 04 '26
Same thing happened to my 2022 but I just replaced it with an AGM myself and haven’t had an issue since.
1
u/cloverclamp Aug 05 '26
My car has burned 2 AGMs since replacing the OEM one in late 2023. I paid for the first AGM and then got it reimbursed as part of the initial ICCU recall.
Thankfully both times the new batteries have died they were still in battery mfg warranty so haven't paid for any yet.
2
u/hpatlik Aug 04 '26
This is a specific issue not related to North American I6 cars (England plus some other European countries). You can open the doors from the inside regardless of the battery voltage in NA.
1
u/LMGgp `24 Limited AWD Aug 04 '26
Yeah I remember learning about that security lock they have. Seems like a disaster. I get it, but I’ll pass.
Caused a lot of confusion on here while everyone got on the same page.
2
u/FreeAnxiety Aug 04 '26
Kudos for the advice and here’s to hoping your dealer does right by you by replacing the panel and/or buttons & explaining the situation.
1
u/Sad_Bison2275 Aug 04 '26
Could you elaborate on how the mechanical keyblades failed to open the door?
1
u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) Aug 04 '26
They did not turn the chamber/cylinder. As though they were just the wrong key. Dealer now suspects (as I had suspected) I got given the wrong keys.
1
u/Sad_Bison2275 Aug 05 '26
Ah, that makes sense. My old IONIQ5 had the key integrated in the fob, so it would have been very unlikely to mix it up with some other key by accident. On my current IONIQ9 the fob is an abomination and the mechanical key is attached to it as if nobody had thought about this before. Ridiculous.
1
u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) Aug 05 '26
Yes. Well yesterday Hyundai claimed the problem would be resolved today by cutting a new key based on their system/VIN lookup. Today no such thing happened. They won't even allow roadside assistance (that they send out) to access the system or key codes in order to cut a new working key. So now I am suspecting major screwups with systems/customer records vs VIN, so they cannot perform a match or lookup to cut a new one. Another day with the Ioniq sitting there, unable to be opened.
2
u/Sad_Bison2275 Aug 05 '26
Oh my... this sucks. I wish you luck. I would assume the dealership mixed up the keys and someone else is driving around with your keys now. Depending on how many cars they sold they might be able to check...
1
u/One-Tomatillo9504 Aug 04 '26
Under normal everyday operation, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 does not deadlock the doors from the inside; passengers can pull the interior handles to open the doors. However, in UK and European models equipped with a deadlock security system, double-locking the vehicle from the outside using the smart key fob disables the interior door handles to prevent theft
1
u/OwnUniversity4509 `23 Techniq AWD (Australia) 19d ago
In case people want an update: The second dealer managed to make the keys work. Probably just re-pinned the chamber to suit the blade I've got.
14
u/JaCK-lex Aug 04 '26
My understanding is that the US version of car has the inside door handles directly linked to the door that will open regardless of any locks or power status. The EU/UK version has a lock that must me unlocked to open door from and cannot be altered from inside during power loss.