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World Of EVEditorial

2023 Kia Niro EV problems & recalls

NHTSA has issued 3 recalls covering the 2023 Kia Niro EV and owners have filed 15 complaints. The most-reported area is electrical system (8 complaints). 2 complaints describe a crash.

Other model years:20252024
Recalls
3
Complaints
15
Crash reports
2
Fire reports
0
Injuries
3

Recalls (3)

Jan 17, 2025#25V024000

Seats

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Niro EV, Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV), and Hybrid vehicles. The floor wiring assembly beneath the front passenger seat may become damaged, which can prevent the front air bags and seat belts from deploying properly or cause an unintended side curtain air bag deployment.

Risk: Air bags and seat belts that deploy improperly or an air bag deploying unintentionally can increase the risk of injury in a crash.

Fix: Dealers will inspect, replace and reroute the floor wiring assembly, as necessary, free of charge. In addition, dealers will install wiring covers. Owner notification letters were mailed February 27, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC332.

Apr 16, 2024#24V271000

Power train › Driveline › Differential unit

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Niro EV and 2024 EV9 vehicles. The differential gear bolts in the gear drive unit may not be tightened properly, which can result in a loss of drive power or cause the differential to lock up.

Risk: A loss of drive power or differential lock up can increase the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will replace the gear drive unit, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 17, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC308.

Jan 31, 2024#24V057000

Power train › Driveline › Driveshaft

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2024 Niro EV and 2023 EV6 vehicles. One of the drive shafts may have been improperly heat-treated, allowing it to break under load and resulting in a loss of drive power.

Risk: A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will replace the drive shaft, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC295.

Owner complaints (15)

What owners reported to NHTSA, by component. One complaint can name several components.

  • Electrical system8
  • Unknown or other4
  • Fuel/propulsion system3
  • Service brakes3
  • Power train2
  • Vehicle speed control2
  • Forward collision avoidance2
  • Seat belts1
  • Structure1
  • Seats1
  • Wheels1
  • Air bags1

Complaints over time

Feb 2023: 1 complaintMar 2023: 0 complaintsApr 2023: 0 complaintsMay 2023: 0 complaintsJun 2023: 0 complaintsJul 2023: 0 complaintsAug 2023: 2 complaintsSep 2023: 0 complaintsOct 2023: 0 complaintsNov 2023: 1 complaintDec 2023: 0 complaintsJan 2024: 1 complaintFeb 2024: 2 complaintsMar 2024: 0 complaintsApr 2024: 1 complaintMay 2024: 0 complaintsJun 2024: 1 complaintJul 2024: 0 complaintsAug 2024: 0 complaintsSep 2024: 1 complaintOct 2024: 0 complaintsNov 2024: 1 complaintDec 2024: 0 complaintsJan 2025: 1 complaintFeb 2025: 0 complaintsMar 2025: 0 complaintsApr 2025: 0 complaintsMay 2025: 0 complaintsJun 2025: 0 complaintsJul 2025: 0 complaintsAug 2025: 0 complaintsSep 2025: 0 complaintsOct 2025: 0 complaintsNov 2025: 0 complaintsDec 2025: 0 complaintsJan 2026: 1 complaintFeb 2026: 1 complaintMar 2026: 0 complaintsApr 2026: 0 complaintsMay 2026: 0 complaintsJun 2026: 1 complaint202420252026
Complaints filed per month. Peak: 2 in Aug 2023. Hover a bar for its count.
Complaints filed per month
MonthComplaints
Feb 20231
Mar 20230
Apr 20230
May 20230
Jun 20230
Jul 20230
Aug 20232
Sep 20230
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Dec 20230
Jan 20241
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Mar 20240
Apr 20241
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Jun 20241
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Aug 20240
Sep 20241
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Nov 20241
Dec 20240
Jan 20251
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Jan 20261
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May 20260
Jun 20261

Recent owner reports

Jun 15, 2026Power train, Electrical system, Vehicle speed control

Check electric vehicle system warning light indicator illuminates and car stops driving on highway! A/C and defrost won't work properly and when turned on causes the above warning light and malfunction. Car will not charge at "fast" charging stations and will leave you stranded on highway. I live in [XXX] and the vehicle only does it when humidity is high outside. Issue also causes problems with the 12V battery. SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE WHEN CAR SHUTS DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY DRIVING AT ANY SPEED. It is the system ICCU (Integrate Charge Control Unit) that KIA has a limited warranty c…

Feb 21, 2026Power train, Electrical system, Fuel/propulsion system

The vehicle is a rental vehicle. It experienced two incidents of sudden loss of propulsion within the first two days of operation. During both events, the vehicle became completely unresponsive to accelerator pedal input and would not move despite being placed in Drive. I attempted to shift the vehicle into Park and then back into Drive, but propulsion was not restored. No warning lights, malfunction indicators, or system messages were displayed before or during the failure. The first incident occurred while exiting a car wash. The vehicle became immobilized in an active traffic lane and wou…

Jan 23, 2026Electrical system, Fuel/propulsion system

I did an OTA update that made the rear view camera work intermittently. It would just flash an image every couple of seconds instead of a live stream. I took it into the dealer, and on the way, it totally gave out in the middle of traffic in a very unsafe way. I was flashed with many warning signs and was not able to get it started again for 5min by just turning it on/off again. I finally got it to the dealer and after 6 weeks they told me that something spilled in the cup holders and fried the backup camera and drivetrain components. I find it extremely off the drivetrain and safety critic…

Jan 21, 2025Seat belts, Structure, Seats

I have had the car since May 2023 and every winter moisture builds up on my windows on the inside of the car and over night it gets frozen from the inside. There is mold growing on the inside of the door panels, the back hatch window and under the seat and on the seat belts.

Nov 14, 2024Service brakes⚠ Crash

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Niro. The contact stated when parking the vehicle, the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated and jumped the curb. The contact stated that the vehicle was headed in the direction of the building. The contact noticed that a consumer was exiting the entrance of the building. The contact turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction to avoid hitting the consumer. The contact's vehicle crashed into the side of the building. The contact's vehicle was damaged to the front of th…

Sep 11, 2024Electrical system, Unknown or other, Fuel/propulsion system

While driving on freeway, at a speed of 65-70MPH. Vehicle appeared to lose power. Navigation screen turned off, dash display dimmed and vehicle seemed to coast and not accelerate. Speed did drop down a bit, but then powered came back on, screen turned on and was able to accelerate again. No warning lights or error messages appeared on screen.

Jun 21, 2024Electrical system, Service brakes

When slowing with regenerative braking, there is a ticking sound and shaking until the car stops.

Apr 17, 2024Vehicle speed control, Wheels, Unknown or other

I pulled the vehicle out of my garage yesterday and drove it out and turned it around and put it in reverse to park it on a very slight incline on my driveway close to the garage to clean it, put it in park, and shut if off. I spent a couple hours vacuuming and cleaning it. I then went to turn it on to back it into my garage for the night and it lurched backwards in an alarming scary way - I rolled my passenger window down and asked my husband who was right there if there was something in the way that I had just tried to run over with my car. He assured me there was nothing in the way so I…

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall and complaint records, updated Oct 1, 2026. Complaints are owner reports and are not verified by NHTSA. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.