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2017 Kia Soul EV problems & recalls

NHTSA has issued 3 recalls covering the 2017 Kia Soul EV and owners have filed 18 complaints. The most-reported area is electrical system (12 complaints). 1 complaint describes a fire.

Other model years:2019201820162015
Recalls
3
Complaints
18
Crash reports
0
Fire reports
1
Injuries
0

Recalls (3)

Oct 26, 2023#23V724000

Power train › Automatic transmission › Gear position indication (prndl)

Kia America, Inc. (KIA) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Soul EV vehicles. The parking mechanism may be damaged, which can result in unintended vehicle movement when the gear shift lever is in the Park 'P' position and the parking brake is not applied while the vehicle is powered on.

Risk: Unintended vehicle movement can increase the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will update the electronic control unit software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 21, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC287. This recall expands and replaces recall number 20V-389. Vehicles previously repaired under 20V-389 will need to have the new remedy completed.

Mar 29, 2023#23V218000

Electrical system › Propulsion system › Traction battery

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Soul EV vehicles equipped with an E400 battery. The high-voltage battery pack may experience an electrical short-circuit while driving.

Risk: A battery electrical short-circuit increases the risk of a fire.

Fix: Dealers will update and/or replace the battery management system and software, as necessary, free of charge. The new software will illuminate the EV warning light, limit charging capacity, and reduce vehicle power if abnormal voltage is detected. If this occurs, the battery will be replaced, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 18, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC267.

Jan 25, 2022#22V031000

Air bags

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not deploy in a crash.

Risk: Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.

Fix: Dealers will inspect the ACU, and either update the software or replace the unit, as necessary. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 21, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC226.

Owner complaints (18)

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

  • Electrical system12
  • Service brakes3
  • Engine2
  • Unknown or other2
  • Power train2
  • Fuel/propulsion system1
  • Visibility/wiper1
  • Seats1
  • Structure1

Complaints over time

Sep 2017: 2 complaintsOct 2017: 0 complaintsNov 2017: 0 complaintsDec 2017: 0 complaintsJan 2018: 0 complaintsFeb 2018: 0 complaintsMar 2018: 0 complaintsApr 2018: 0 complaintsMay 2018: 0 complaintsJun 2018: 0 complaintsJul 2018: 0 complaintsAug 2018: 0 complaintsSep 2018: 0 complaintsOct 2018: 0 complaintsNov 2018: 0 complaintsDec 2018: 0 complaintsJan 2019: 0 complaintsFeb 2019: 0 complaintsMar 2019: 0 complaintsApr 2019: 0 complaintsMay 2019: 0 complaintsJun 2019: 0 complaintsJul 2019: 0 complaintsAug 2019: 0 complaintsSep 2019: 0 complaintsOct 2019: 0 complaintsNov 2019: 1 complaintDec 2019: 0 complaintsJan 2020: 0 complaintsFeb 2020: 0 complaintsMar 2020: 0 complaintsApr 2020: 0 complaintsMay 2020: 0 complaintsJun 2020: 0 complaintsJul 2020: 0 complaintsAug 2020: 0 complaintsSep 2020: 0 complaintsOct 2020: 0 complaintsNov 2020: 0 complaintsDec 2020: 0 complaintsJan 2021: 0 complaintsFeb 2021: 0 complaintsMar 2021: 0 complaintsApr 2021: 0 complaintsMay 2021: 0 complaintsJun 2021: 0 complaintsJul 2021: 0 complaintsAug 2021: 0 complaintsSep 2021: 0 complaintsOct 2021: 0 complaintsNov 2021: 0 complaintsDec 2021: 0 complaintsJan 2022: 0 complaintsFeb 2022: 0 complaintsMar 2022: 0 complaintsApr 2022: 0 complaintsMay 2022: 0 complaintsJun 2022: 0 complaintsJul 2022: 0 complaintsAug 2022: 2 complaintsSep 2022: 0 complaintsOct 2022: 0 complaintsNov 2022: 0 complaintsDec 2022: 0 complaintsJan 2023: 1 complaintFeb 2023: 0 complaintsMar 2023: 0 complaintsApr 2023: 0 complaintsMay 2023: 1 complaintJun 2023: 1 complaintJul 2023: 0 complaintsAug 2023: 2 complaintsSep 2023: 1 complaintOct 2023: 0 complaintsNov 2023: 0 complaintsDec 2023: 1 complaintJan 2024: 1 complaintFeb 2024: 1 complaintMar 2024: 0 complaintsApr 2024: 1 complaintMay 2024: 1 complaintJun 2024: 0 complaintsJul 2024: 0 complaintsAug 2024: 1 complaintSep 2024: 0 complaintsOct 2024: 0 complaintsNov 2024: 0 complaintsDec 2024: 0 complaintsJan 2025: 0 complaintsFeb 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: 0 complaintsFeb 2026: 0 complaintsMar 2026: 0 complaintsApr 2026: 0 complaintsMay 2026: 0 complaintsJun 2026: 0 complaintsJul 2026: 1 complaint201820192020202120222023202420252026
Complaints filed per month. Peak: 2 in Sep 2017. Hover a bar for its count.
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Recent owner reports

Jul 25, 2026Electrical system, Fuel/propulsion system

My car has had intermittent faults of codes P1B25 and P1CF2 and are showing check EV system on the dash. This happens after about 30-45 minutes of driving and then restarting the car. It has been identified that the power relay assembly needs to be replaced on the vehicle, which lives in the high voltage battery pack. However, Kia does not want to replace this under warranty , claiming that it is not an EV system component. I am not going to pay out of pocket for this repair as it goes against their own warranty information, but continuing to drive the car would be dangerous as it could drop H…

Aug 2, 2024Electrical system, Service brakes, Engine

When I apply brake the vehicle doesn’t stop it jumps out (as if someone has crashed hitting the rear of the vehicle) and the vehicle shuts down. Then I have to park the vehicle in the middle of the road and restart the vehicle. Luckily I avoided many accidents by defensively driving. Talked with Kia customer care and complained about this safety issue . I took it to near by Kia dealer for the recall and complained on 25 July 2024. 2017 Kia soul + EV Only 30 thousand miles I’m scared to drive and conserned about the safety of others around me. Please help me

May 15, 2024Electrical system, Engine

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul EV. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal battery voltage warning displayed. The vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The contact stated that the battery failed to charge. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The message to “Pull Over Immediately” was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that an update, BMS, and wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed back to the local dealer, where an unknown diagnos…

Apr 26, 2024Visibility/wiper

Driving down open road with no vehicles in front or back when suddenly the rear window made a huge bang. It was raining at the time. Once home I took the attached photo. Don't remember turning the defrost on.

Feb 8, 2024Electrical system, Service brakes

Application of the brakes causes complete vehicle shutdown along with message to check electrical system. Brakes appear to fail for a brief moment, then mechanical brakes kick in. Car has zero power until stopped and restarted. Problem is reproducible a high percentage of the time provided the brakes are pressed more than just lightly or briefly. At nearly full charge, this defect can also be triggered by just the engine brake (which is triggered every time your foot is taken off the accelerator). Appears to be an electrical short circuit of some type. Other faults occur upon application of p…

Jan 27, 2024Electrical system

The 2017 Kia Soul EV+ vehicle turned off coming down a steep hill (at the bottom of the steep hill is both a school bus stop and and entrance/exit to a condominium community). When the car shut off all power steering and power brakes were lost, making control of the vehicle very difficult and unsafe. The dealer reported finding a code for the battery overcharging but cleared the code and did not offer any explanation. This has happened multiple times including when I was videotaping the dash to document irregular discharge occurring from the battery. Similarly the vehicle will be driving fine…

Dec 1, 2023Electrical system

This is an update of the below. I have had several email exchanges with Kia Customer Service. They contacted the dealer and report that they could not get a response from their own dealer! They said I could try another dealer if I want. I asked for a recommendation of a dealer that would be responsive and got no further communication. Meanwhile, my car continues to show low charging pattern, which the recall warns is a symptom of a fault. ====================================== Received an "Important Safety Recall" notice from Kia recall number 23v218 in May 2023. This indicates my Kia Soul EV…

Sep 13, 2023Electrical system

Received an "Important Safety Recall" notice from Kia recall number 23v218 in May 2023. This indicates my Kia Soul EV by VIN. The notice warns of a possible short in the main battery that can cause a fire. The notice says Kia is working on a remedy and that another letter will follow when the remedy is ready. No second letter yet, as of 9/13/23. The recall notice states that if in the meantime owner experiences "incomplete high voltage battery charging, loss/fluctuating vehicle EV battery range" to seek assistance from nearest authorized Kia dealership. My vehicle experienced rapid decrease 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.