Hyundai Repair: brake light & battery light, hyundai sonata gls, sonata gls v6

Question
I was drivng my 2000 Hyundai Sonata (GLS, V6)and my car started smoking (looks like it was coming the hood or under the front, left side of the car). When I looked at the dashboard, my battery light and brake light were on. I had a new battery installed about 6-8 weeks ago, so I'm pretty sure that's not the issue.Whatdo you think the problem might be?

Answer
Your alternator is not charging.  The battery lamp is controlled by the alternator.  When the voltage regulator (in the alternator) detects the alternator is not charging, it grounds the battery lamp causing it to come on.  

The brake lamp comes on in conjunction with the battery lamp because of the design of the cluster for bulb check operation.  The cluster is designed such that the brake lamp is grounded whenever the battery lamp is grounded.  This way, when you turn on the ingition key without starting the engine, the alternator (because it is not running) turns on the battery lamp, and this also turns on the brake lamp.  Thus, when you turn the key on without starting the engine, you can see that both the battery and brake lamps are functional.