A Kia Soul EV parking brake recall issued in July 2020 is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Kia Soul EV parking brake recall involved 2015-2016 Soul electric vehicles, but the NHTSA recall query covers 2015-2019 Kia Soul electric vehicles after owners of 2017-2018 vehicles complained the vehicles moved while in PARK.
The July 2020 Kia Soul EV recall was issued based on defects in the parking mechanisms that allowed the vehicles to roll away even if shifted into PARK. Engaging the parking brake could prevent the Soul EV from rolling.
The problem could occur if a Kia Soul EV driver moved the gear shift lever into PARK before the vehicle came to a complete stop, causing damage to the parking mechanism.
As a remedy for the 2020 Soul EV recall, dealerships were told to update the electronic parking brake software. This allegedly would automatically engage the parking brake if the vehicle was turned off with the gear shift lever in PARK. This update was also placed into production beginning with 2017 Kia Soul EVs.
NHTSA has received complaints about vehicles that moved while in PARK, and one owner claims there was a collision after exiting the Soul EV.
Kia told NHTSA the same defective parking mechanism used in the previously recalled 2015-2016 Soul electric vehicles is the same component installed in 2017-2019 Souls.
Safety regulators will look into the effectiveness of the prior Kia Soul EV parking brake recall and determine if more should be done to protect consumers.
Abby Andrews