Kia is recalling 953 Kia Soul EVs over concerns the airbags may not deploy in a crash.
More than 410,000 Kia vehicles, including the Sedona, Soul, and Forte, are also impacted by the recall (NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V031000).
The NHTSA Safety Recall Report says that an Airbag Control Unit (ACU) cover can come in contact with a memory chip and damage the soldering joints.
That damage can result in an open circuit and stop the airbags from inflating in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Owners of Kia Soul EVs manufactured between May 18, 2017 and September 28, 2018 will have to bring their cars into a dealership to be repaired, either with a new ACU or software update.
If the Airbag Warning Light (ABWL) is illuminated and the ABWL is due to existence of diagnostic trouble code B1620, the dealer will replace the Airbag Control Unit with an improved one. If the ABWL is not illuminated, a software update will be installed to the Airbag Control Unit to ensure deployment of the airbag(s) in the event of a crash that warrants such protection even if the recall condition related to DTC B1620 occurs in the future.
Kia says the problem was first reported in South Korea in July 2021. Since then 13 customer complaints have been received and 947 warranty claims have been processed, but no crashes or injuries have been reported.
Transport Canada has not issued a similar recall at the time of publication.
RCLRPT-22V031-6787
