The Kia Soul has been subject to at least five recalls in the United States this year and sadly for owners of 2015-2019 Soul EV models, a new recall has just been announced, this time impacting 6,262 units.
Kia’s recall notice issued with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals that if a vehicle is left unattended and the parking brake is not manually engaged, it could move even if it is sitting in Park. The car manufacturer says the issue can be triggered by the intermittent failure of the parking pawl used to engage the parking gear because of damage sustained to the parking mechanism of the Gear Drive Unit (GDU).
As mentioned, 6,262 Kia Soul EV models are involved in the recall. These vehicles were manufactured between July 15, 2014, and September 28, 2018.
Read: Kia Is Calling Soul EVs Back To Dealers Again Because They Still Keep Running Away
A chronology of the issue reveals that Kia has been dealing with the issue since July 2020. Back then, the problem was thought to be limited to 2015-2016 models and Kia instructed its dealers to update the ECU software for the electronic parking brake so it would automatically activate when the car was turned off. In June this year, the NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigation received a report of the issue occurring on a 2017 Soul EV, prompting Kia to launch an investigation into it.
As the investigation and analysis continued, Kia’s North American Safety Office was able to reproduce the vehicle movement issue in 1 of approximately 50 attempts. It later tested the fault in a 2017 Soul EV and replicated it in one of around 200 attempts. It was also able to replicate the issue on a 2016 Soul EV in three of roughly 100 attempts and has identified 12 unintended vehicle movement incidents in the field.
Owners of impacted Soul EVs will be notified from December 22 and asked to bring their vehicles to a dealer where the ECU software for the electronic parking brake will be updated.
