Posted on 4/7/2020
Traditionally, electrical wiring has been insulated by being coated with plastics – the multi-color wire insulation you see on most electrical wiring comes from petroleum-based plastics. Hyundai decided to change this by moving in a new direction (and so apparently did Kia, Toyota, Honda, and Subaru). Hyundai decided to change their vehicle wiring harness insulation to a soy-based “bioplastic”. This new soy-based material not only costs less to produce but functions just as well as regular plastics when it comes to electrical insulation, however, it is biodegradable – it will decompose in a landfill. Unfortunately, it turned out that rats and mice discovered the new soy-based insulation – they found it tasty and also a great nesting material. As a result, many Hyundai owners found new issues with their otherwise reliable vehicles: dash lights coming on, no start problems, sub-system shutting down, pretty much anything that relies on electricity sent thro ... read more