NHTSA Complaint #11568210 — 2017 KIA SOUL EV

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 (at any speed) and suddenly lose power and only go 20mph (known as limp mode), a very dangerous situation driving at highway speed and then trying to avoid an accident due to sudden vehicle deceleration. This problem started occurring after a Battery Management System patch was applied by the dealer for a Kia Recall related to battery safety (overheating and fire issue) in July 2023. Upon pickup from the dealer it was immediately evident the car still had the rapid battery discharge issue and this was further documented with Kia USA case #[XXX]. The next dealer was able to reproduce the excess power discharge problem in November and after 3 weeks I was told a battery replacement would be provided per the 10yr/100K warranty the vehicle carries (my vehicle has less than 50K on the odometer). Since November there is no time estimate on when the battery will be replaced. It would appear that the Battery Management System patch (applied to my car in July) and to many other Kia Soul EVs, somehow damages the battery as there are now hundreds of Kia Soul EVs awaiting battery replacement across both the United States and Canada and no promise of when a replacement battery will be forthcoming and it appears Kia has no solution for the BMS issue at this time. Kia says it will refund up to $39.40/day car rental cost AFTER the warranty work is completed (more $ out of my pocket)! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATI