NHTSA Complaint #11573068 — 2023 KIA EV6

I leased a 2023 Kia EV6 vehicle and on October 30, 2023, I was 45-60 minutes into my first road trip when a warning displayed in the dashboard followed immediately by a reduction of motive power. The warning displayed was a turtle icon and the words “Power Limited.” Traveling on CA I-5 when this occurred putting me in a very dangerous situation. I navigated several lanes of traffic, vehicle decelerating, to reach the shoulder and pull over then to merge into existing traffic traveling at a high rate of speed only to advance 7-10 miles before the warning display reappeared. I then repeated the process another 7-8 times until I reached my destination. Later that day, again, 45-60 minutes non-stop when the warning display reappears for the second time and I’m forced to repeat the process another 7-8 times to make it to the dealership. I was told the vehicle had a warranty defect in the VCSM which had to be replaced. On January 25, 2024, the issue reoccurred for a third time after and I drove the vehicle directly to the dealership. I was told the diagnostic test did not reveal any codes and they had a service advisor drive the EV6 home, over an hour to see if he could recreate the problem. The service advisor experienced the same issue, twice, and the diagnostic scan did not reveal any codes. My safety and well-being have been compromised on three-separate occasions and twice with a dealership service advisor. I contacted Kia Customer Care Center and opened a case #15946871 and a tech-line case #16141516 was opened with Kia America. NHTSA opened an investigation on the 2022 Kia EV6 and the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 which shares the same E-GMP electric vehicle platform. The investigation confirmed “a range of loss of power and varying time intervals between the warning message and loss of power and all power to the vehicle was subsequently lost, immobilizing the vehicle.”