- Kia is recalling 12,400 EV9 SUVs over a faulty smart park assist system.
- In some cases, the vehicles can continue moving when they should stop.
- Dealers will update software in the SUV to solve the problem.
Modern cars are so full of technology that some of it is bound to fail from time to time. In the case of the Kia EV9, a new recall relates to some of that tech designed to help owners park. According to the automaker, the EV9 might not stop when it’s supposed to and could hit people or things.
Remote Smart Park Assist is the name of the software in question and it does what it sounds like. Owners can get out of the car and then press a button on their key fob to move the EV9 into or out of a parking spot. Kia offers it on several models, but only the EV9 is a part of this recall population.
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According to documents filed with the NHTSA, Kia first learned about the issue earlier this month. An EV9 in Korea collided with a parked car and Kia began to investigate what happened. It determined that at speeds beneath 2 mph, the EV9 might not apply enough brake pressure to stop when it should. That could lead to injury or damage. Evidently, the integrated electronic brake simply fails to do its job in certain conditions and needs a software update to work properly.
As such, it’s recalling 12,400 examples of the EV9 to fix the issue. Every vehicle in the recall population is part of the GT-Line or Land trim. EV9s made after May 28, 2024, don’t have the same potential issue. Kia says it doesn’t know of any injuries or any accidents in the US associated with this problem.
Owners of affected vehicles can search for their VIN at NHTSA.org or they can call their local dealer. This recall has the designation 24V-693. This software update will, naturally, be made free of charge to owners.
