2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid

On nine separate occasions between mid-June 2023 (mileage appx. 600) and July 21, 2023 (mileage 1994), my vehicle lost power (decrease or loss of power and/or hesitated, sputtered, or stalled) when I was accelerating from a stop or slow speed. During these times, I have noticed that the air conditioner starts blowing only warm air. The only way to correct the issue has been to turn off the engine and then restart it. No error codes have ever been generated, and only twice did warning lights come on (engine oil light and battery light). I will upload my documentation file (to date) with the specifics of what happened along with dates and mileages this has happened. This happened one time on the freeway; I had to pull over to the side to stop/restart my engine. It was very unsafe and put my family at risk. This is a significant safety issue, and I do not feel comfortable driving because if I pull out into traffic and experience this loss of power, I could easily get hit by oncoming traffic. The vehicle has been at the Hyundai dealer since July 5, 2023 (three weeks tomorrow), and it is still there. They had not been able to replicate the problem. I went to pick up the vehicle on July 21, 2023, and as soon as I left the parking lot, the problem happened. I did a U-turn to come back to the dealer, and the vehicle lost all power. I had the vehicle in reverse, and there seemed to be no engagement of the transmission. Even with the gas pedal pushed all the way to the floor, there was no engine revving and no movement of the vehicle. The Hyundai technician and service advisor came to see the issue firsthand (since they had not been able to replicate it). The issue was only resolved when the vehicle engine was turned off and restarted. The vehicle remains at the dealer for further testing. Yes, I will gladly make my vehicle available for inspection upon request.

This is related to Complaint Number 11526621 filed June 13, '23. Today I experienced the same issue described in my previous complaint but under different circumstances. I was at an intersection of two 2-lane highways, one going east-west and the other going north-south, and was facing oncoming traffic as I waited for a gap in the oncoming traffic that would allow me to make the left turn. Once a gap appeared (perhaps 4 or 5 car lengths long), I pressed the accelerator to turn left but there was zero propulsion for about 2 seconds. I was simply stalled in the path of the oncoming traffic. At the end of the 2 second delay, as the vehicle transitioned from EV (electric) to internal combustion (gasoline) mode of propulsion, my vehicle GRADUALLY accelerated just enough to allow me to complete the turn; however, I came very close to being broadsided by the oncoming traffic. This is a dangerous fault of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid vehicle and needs to be addressed asap! There is obviously something wrong with the EV/internal combustion synchronization/communication causing the momentary loss of power!

The issue I'm about to describe has occurred multiple times during the seven (7) months I've owned the vehicle - including again today. In all cases, I was attempting gradual acceleration to merge onto a highway or high-traffic street (e.g., when exiting a mall parking lot onto a busy city street). When I press the accelerator nothing happens - NO power whatsoever for at least two seconds! And on three of these occasions, I was almost broadsided by oncoming high-speed traffic! I've reported this issue to my dealership (both sales and service) and their response was that this is a known problem with the Hyundai hybrid models BUT that there is NO fix available nor, to the best of their knowledge, is there one in the process of being developed! As stated above, there is sometimes as much as a 2-second delay from when stepping on the accelerator (even when fully depressing) to when the vehicle slowly starts to accelerate. And there are no warning lights to indicate that there is a problem. I've observed that in all cases when this issue occurs, it does so when the power train is transitioning from the EV (electric) mode to the internal combustion mode of propulsion. This should NOT be a difficult issue for Hyundai to resolve and should be addressed with utmost urgency before someone is seriously injured or killed! NHTSA - please intervene by directing Hyundai to launch an immediate recall campaign to resolve this very dangerous issue, or offer to refund the affected owners' purchase price!

Car has a SEVERE Life threatening Hesitation, sometimes as much as almost 2 seconds delay from when you fully step on the accelerator to when it slowly starts to go. No warning lights or bells whatsoever. Regardless of driving mode it dose it. Seems to be especially pronounced when at a dead stop in sport mode. Problem seems to have gotten progressively worse the more we have driven it. The Dealership is denying that there's any problem or issue & didn't want to make an appointment to look at it & keeps trying to tell me this is normal. Car is unsafe to drive like this & has nearly gotten me & my family killed on numerous occasions. I have driven other hybrids by other manufacturers & none have had this issue.

On December 11 and 12, 2022, my 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited Hybrid failed to accelerate in traffic. In both cases I was attempting gradual acceleration to change lanes, or merge onto an another high traffic street and when I pressed the accelerator nothing happened. On second occasion I could not get any power for several seconds. In both cases I activated hazard signals to avoid a collision by vehicles rapidly approaching me from behind in a 50 Mph speed zone. The vehicle has 900 miles on it and I took delivery November 14,2022. I see where this has occurred to other Santa Fr Hybrids, yet when I called the dealer they seemed unaware of any problems.I am scheduled for a long driving trip to Michigan in a week. 567 miles and I am very concerned about driving on the Turnpikes with this problem. I am going to Pohanka Hyundai of Fredericksburg VA tomorrow.