CSR

Kia · NHTSA safety record

2023 Kia Niro EV

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

15

Complaints

2

Crashes

0

Fires

3

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2023 Kia Niro EV have filed 15 safety complaints with NHTSA between February 2023 and June 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 8 of them (53%). The typical failure was reported at 9,015 miles, the median across the 2 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 3 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (3)

SEATS

25V024000 · January 17, 2025

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Niro EV, Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV), and Hybrid vehicles. The floor wiring assembly beneath the front passenger seat may become damaged, which can prevent the front air bags and seat belts from deploying properly or cause an unintended side curtain air bag deployment.
The risk
Air bags and seat belts that deploy improperly or an air bag deploying unintentionally can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect, replace and reroute the floor wiring assembly, as necessary, free of charge. In addition, dealers will install wiring covers. Owner notification letters were mailed February 27, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC332.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 80,255 vehicles across all model years covered

POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DIFFERENTIAL UNIT

24V271000 · April 16, 2024

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Niro EV and 2024 EV9 vehicles. The differential gear bolts in the gear drive unit may not be tightened properly, which can result in a loss of drive power or cause the differential to lock up.
The risk
A loss of drive power or differential lock up can increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the gear drive unit, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 17, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC308.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 8 vehicles across all model years covered

POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT

24V057000 · January 31, 2024

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2024 Niro EV and 2023 EV6 vehicles. One of the drive shafts may have been improperly heat-treated, allowing it to break under load and resulting in a loss of drive power.
The risk
A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the drive shaft, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC295.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 1,243 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 15.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 53%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 27%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 20%
SERVICE BRAKES 3 20%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 13%
POWER TRAIN 2 13%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 13%
AIR BAGS 1 7%
SEAT BELTS 1 7%
SEATS 1 7%
STRUCTURE 1 7%
WHEELS 1 7%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2024 at 7.

2023 2024 2026
2023 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

SERVICE BRAKES

3 injured · crash

I had front collision that caused by having difficulty switching my foot from acceleration pedal (gas pedal) to brake pedal, my foot movement from gas pedal to brake pedal has been restricted by friction between my shoe and brake pedal that delayed my foot movement and caused the accident, Automatic emergency brake did not function too. Also air bags did not open at this front collision.

NHTSA complaint 11557277. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

crash · towed · 12,030 miles

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Niro. The contact stated when parking the vehicle, the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated and jumped the curb. The contact stated that the vehicle was headed in the direction of the building. The contact noticed that a consumer was exiting the entrance of the building. The contact turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction to avoid hitting the consumer. The contact's vehicle crashed into the side of the building. The contact's vehicle was damaged to the front of the vehicle, which included the undercarriage, the battery pack, and both driver's side tires. The vehicle

NHTSA complaint 11625279, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Check electric vehicle system warning light indicator illuminates and car stops driving on highway! A/C and defrost won't work properly and when turned on causes the above warning light and malfunction. Car will not charge at "fast" charging stations and will leave you stranded on highway. I live in [XXX] and the vehicle only does it when humidity is high outside. Issue also causes problems with the 12V battery. SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE WHEN CAR SHUTS DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY DRIVING AT ANY SPEED. It is the system ICCU (Integrate Charge Control Unit) that KIA has a limited warranty coverage on and should be reviewed for recall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

NHTSA complaint 11744166, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN
The vehicle is a rental vehicle. It experienced two incidents of sudden loss of propulsion within the first two days of operation. During both events, the vehicle became completely unresponsive to accelerator pedal input and would not move despite being placed in Drive. I attempted to shift the vehicle into Park and then back into Drive, but propulsion was not restored. No warning lights, malfunction indicators, or system messages were displayed before or during the failure. The first incident occurred while exiting a car wash. The vehicle became immobilized in an active traffic lane and would not respond to throttle input, creating an immediate risk of rear-end collision. Vehicles were

NHTSA complaint 11719665, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I did an OTA update that made the rear view camera work intermittently. It would just flash an image every couple of seconds instead of a live stream. I took it into the dealer, and on the way, it totally gave out in the middle of traffic in a very unsafe way. I was flashed with many warning signs and was not able to get it started again for 5min by just turning it on/off again. I finally got it to the dealer and after 6 weeks they told me that something spilled in the cup holders and fried the backup camera and drivetrain components. I find it extremely off the drivetrain and safety critical components are stored under a cup holder with no protection.

NHTSA complaint 11712990. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEATS
I have had the car since May 2023 and every winter moisture builds up on my windows on the inside of the car and over night it gets frozen from the inside. There is mold growing on the inside of the door panels, the back hatch window and under the seat and on the seat belts.

NHTSA complaint 11637340. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
While driving on freeway, at a speed of 65-70MPH. Vehicle appeared to lose power. Navigation screen turned off, dash display dimmed and vehicle seemed to coast and not accelerate. Speed did drop down a bit, but then powered came back on, screen turned on and was able to accelerate again. No warning lights or error messages appeared on screen.

NHTSA complaint 11613910. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Niro EV

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2022 30 2
2020 17 2
2019 17 0

Other 2023 Kia models

Every Kia on this site — 176 vehicles, 208 recall campaigns and 1 open investigation .

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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