Owner Reports - I spilled a Water Bottle In My Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV and It Caused $11,000 in Damages, Now Hyundai Won’t Cover It

Imagine if your water bottle tipped over inside your expensive electric vehicle, and then it stopped working. Now, try to wrap your brain around $11,882 in repairs that your car manufacturer will not pay for under warranty. That’s Michael McCormack’s story as reported by Boston 25 News.

I felt the water bottle hit the back of my driver’s seat. It probably dropped down at that point, and I felt on my ankles a little bit of the water. 

After the water spilled onto the 2023 Ioniq 5 electric vehicle’s floor, the warning lights on the dashboard began to illuminate, and the turn signals stopped working. The local Hyundai dealership said that water was to blame for frying the wiring harness and that sand on the floorboards may also have contributed to the failure. The dealer’s estimated repair costs were $11,882.

“I was shocked. I was like, what am I? That's a huge amount of money and not covered. I'm like that's not right cuz I didn't do anything wrong,” Said Mr. MrCormack.

Hyundai would not cover the failure under warranty. Out of options, Mr. McCormack turned to State Farm, his insurer, which denied his claim, saying that corrosion had built up over time and it was not covered under his auto policy.

After weeks of efforts, Mr. McCormack was able to get State Farm to change its mind, and the insurer now says it will cover the damages and pay for repairs.

Mr. McCormack does not think this issue is actually a failure due to an unforeseen incident, but rather a design flaw of his electric vehicle. “Kids are always throwing things in the backseat and there are cupholders everywhere.” He feels that a spilled water bottle should never cause a problem like this.

This is not the first time we've heard of crazy electricity-related repairs for the Ioniq 5 electric vehicle. There were two reports, including documentation from dealers, which showed $60K battery replacement bills. Also, we reported just last month that a popular EV influencer's own Ioniq 5 failed and requires a new battery.

Our Expert Opinion
Having spilled water bottles in virtually all of the dozens of vehicles I have owned, and in many more test vehicles, I can say with confidence that a spilled water bottle should never be able to damage a car in any way. As Mr. McCormack points out, cars have cupholders in every seating position now. That implies they are water-resistant and should never have any electrical issues resulting from a minor spillage. Look at the image we placed at the top of the page. Hyundai has electrical items located directly adjacent to the cupholders in the Ioniq 5. Nothing I learned as a mechanical engineer helps me to understand how a water bottle can cause almost $12K in damage to a vehicle of any type, electric or otherwise. Furthermore, the car is only a 2023, virtually new. No corrosion should have occurred of any type at this point in the vehicle’s life.

Tell us your thoughts in the comments section on this crazy incident. Do you think the failure was really due to a water bottle spill, and do you think that the vehicle being battery-electric had anything to do with the $11,882 repair bill?

John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools.