2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid. Drop in power/acceleration! Upsetting, stressful & unsafe. Purchased brand new, Nov 2023. When this occurred approx. 35695 miles. I left work, got on the freeway, (only maybe 1-2 miles away) and was trying to accelerate to merge with traffic flow and could only go approx. 52-54 MPH. I tried to "floor" the pedal, but with no further acceleration. No check engine light turned on, only display message noting depleted battery/drained warning. Since power was limited, and unsure of safety of driving further or if the car would literally stop, I pulled to the shoulder of the freeway. It is a miracle that I was in the slow lane already! Unsettling! It was towed to a Kia Dealership. They had it for 2 days. The technician said there were two error codes (P017100 - System Too Lean, and P019100 Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor Circuit Range/Performance). They were unsure how/why this incident occurred. They said some kind of glitch in the system. I asked if they have had other cars with this similar issue brought in, and the technician said he did not know of any. The issue was not replicated upon initial diagnostics. Technician cleared codes, reset the engine adaptive values and road tested, and deemed the vehicle "safe to drive". But said if it occurs again, try turning off the engine, wait a bit and try driving! WHAT?! Also if it occurs again to bring it back and a technical ticket should be opened to investigate further. I have read online forums of this SAME issue, and it is a KNOWN ISSUE "especially early-production 2023-2024 models, and hard for dealers to reproduce issue after a reset". It is also noted that "many cases resolve with the free BMS software update or related module/control unit work under warranty. Some report reoccurrence even after updates". I found this information AFTER the fact, otherwise I would have pushed for the software update or related work to be done. I plan to seek that out next!

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11758663 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

I was driving my 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid when the vehicle displayed a "Check Hybrid System"/ "Stop Safely" warning and suddenly lost motive power/acceleration. I was unable to accelerate normally. I had luckily pulled of the road that I was going 55 mph into a parking lot prior to the lass of power or I would have stopped right on the roadway with cars going the same speed directly behind me. This created a serious safety concern because if this had occurred while traveling at highway speed or in heavy traffic, the sudden loss of power could have resulted in a collision. There had been no indication to me that the vehicle was about to lose motive power before the hybrid-system warning appeared. The vehicle is currently at an authorized Kia dealership for inspection and diagnosis. The cause has not yet been provided to me. The vehicle is available for inspection. I am reporting this because a sudden loss of motive power associated with a broad-system warning presents a significant safety risk. I have also learned that other Kia Sportgage Hybrid owners have reported similar hybrid-system warning and loss-of-ower incidents.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11760098 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Electronic parking brake switch has failed. Yes the switch is available for inspection. Electronic parking brake can no longer be manually activated. Failure of the electronic parking brake switch has been confirmed by a dealer (Citrus Kia, Ontario, CA). Electronic parking brake switch has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. No warnings have been given regarding function of the electronic parking brake switch.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11756367 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

There is no adaptive cruise control or front sensing collision avoidance. With the Lane Keeping Assist, the vehicle does not detect anything in front of it (cars, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.). If the road line veers, the vehicle will follow the line into the next lane, while not avoiding other vehicles in the lane. We have to manually steer the vehicle back into our lane. This has been occuring since we purchased the vehicle from [XXX] in Boise, ID. We have taken it in for 2 service checks, called Kia Consumer Affairs, explaining this situation, and they just tell us they didn't find any issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11662618 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

REAR PASSENGER SEAT BELTS ON BOTH DRIVERS AND PASSENGER SIDE: The seat belt would not fully pull out/extend, and allow the passenger OR the child safety seat to be properly secured. It would lock up, and once the belt was pulled out, it would lock up on the retraction and not allow any extension. I took to the KIA dealership - which took a total of 3 visits- DEMONSTRATED and recreated the issue- which confirmed there was a problem. This did not happen on each use, but once I realized the child safety seat could not be installed properly (fully extended seat belt, retraction/ratcheting of belt to secure seat) I returned, and asked the service manager also observe along with at least one of the service techs. They were skeptical and not even fully aware of how a child seat should be installed, and the full extension of the seat belt, and the SOUND of the ratcheting/locking of the belt once fully extended. A repair/replacement was eventually done- parts had to be ordered and I could not find this “defect” on any KIA or other websites. It took a number of days for the replacement/repair. There were no warning lights that there were any problems with the safety belts. I (retired) police officer with NHTSA safety seat instructor certification (not current) and have knowledge of this, and it wasn’t until I explained and demonstrated the system to these dealership employees the proper function did they “believe” me. I just read of the a KIA recall on their Telluride models, and it sounds like a similar problem. Until it was fixed, I had a couple of occasions where the passenger was unable to secure their belt, which was before I realized that there was a manufactured problem with this system.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11742895 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

This morning, when I got into my 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX-Prestige to go to work, I started the car to let it warm up. Suddenly, I heard a noise that sounded as if something had fallen on the roof or struck the windshield. While the car was warming up, I was looking directly at the windshield and did not see anything hit it. I opened the sunshade to check the roof, but there was nothing there. A few minutes later, while driving, I heard a similar sound. Again, I looked around and saw no sign of debris. Shortly after, I noticed a crack forming at the bottom of the windshield. This was extremely surprising because I did not see anything strike my windshield while I was parked or driving. After researching online, I found that this seems to be a frequent issue with my particular model. I am concerned that this may be a stress crack caused by a manufacturing defect or an installation error.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11681117 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

The AC compressor failed on my 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid after 2 1/2 years of service and 59,800, mostly highway, miles. This affected the vehicle's drivetrain and it ground to a halt many times with a message "Check Hybrid System" displayed on the dashboard. The problem occured randomly and initially every few minutes when the vehicle was stopped at traffic lights, creating a real danger of being rear-ended by other cars.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11732100 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov