The 2019 Kia Soul Ev has 3 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 419,570 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 6 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
POWER TRAIN23V7240002023-10-266,262 affected
Defect
Kia America, Inc. (KIA) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Soul EV vehicles. The parking mechanism may be damaged, which can result in unintended vehicle movement when the gear shift lever is in the Park 'P' position and the parking brake is not applied while the vehicle is powered on.
Consequence
Unintended vehicle movement can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will update the electronic control unit software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 21, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC287. This recall expands and replaces recall number 20V-389. Vehicles previously…
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Soul EV vehicles equipped with an E400 battery. The high-voltage battery pack may experience an electrical short-circuit while driving.
Consequence
A battery electrical short-circuit increases the risk of a fire.
Remedy
Dealers will update and/or replace the battery management system and software, as necessary, free of charge. The new software will illuminate the EV warning light, limit charging capacity, and reduce vehicle power if abnormal voltage is detected. If this occurs, the battery will be replaced, free of charge. Owner…
AIR BAGS22V0310002022-01-25410,619 affected
Defect
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not…
Consequence
Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the ACU, and either update the software or replace the unit, as necessary. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 21, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC226.
Complaints by component
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
1
PARKING BRAKE
1
1crashes1injuries
POWER TRAIN
1
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL)
1
1crashes1injuries
SERVICE BRAKES
1
1crashes1injuries
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1
1crashes1injuries
Total complaints6
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Please note this was in our driveway and we have a video of the incident. Driver parked the car on slight hill and engaged the parking break and exited the vehicle. The car was still "on". Driver opened the door and reached in and pushed the on button to shut down power. The brake disengaged by…”
“Please note this was in our driveway and we have a video of the incident. Driver parked the car on slight hill and engaged the parking break and exited the vehicle. The car was still "on". Driver opened the door and reached in and pushed the on button to shut down power. The brake disengaged by…”
“Please note this was in our driveway and we have a video of the incident. Driver parked the car on slight hill and engaged the parking break and exited the vehicle. The car was still "on". Driver opened the door and reached in and pushed the on button to shut down power. The brake disengaged by…”
“The contact owns a 2019 kia soul ev. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The contact drove the vehicle out of the street and into a parking space. Additionally, the contact stated that on two occasions the cellphone charger cord…”
“The contact owns a 2019 kia soul ev. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The contact drove the vehicle out of the street and into a parking space. Additionally, the contact stated that on two occasions the cellphone charger cord…”
“Brake failure causing wreck, coming on to a red light, hit brakes and car did not slow down. I swerved to miss hitting the cars in front of me, thinking hitting someone from behind would cause a number of injuries. I missed both of these cars, but had to ru n a red light. There was one car in left…”
Defect investigations
InvestigationDP22005 Opened 2023-01-27 · closed 2023-08-07
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for…
InvestigationRQ23005 Opened 2023-09-10 · closed 2024-01-16
Vehicle Rollaway
On July 2, 2020, Kia America Inc. (Kia) filed safety recall 20V-389 for model year (MY) 2015-2016 Kia Soul EV vehicles. This recall was in response to allegations of unintended vehicle movement while in Park and provided updated electronic control unit software for the electronic parking brake logic as the remedy.…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2019 Kia Soul Ev as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.