28 of the
140 complaints filed about the KIA Carnival Hybrid
are about the electrical system —
20% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2025.
The contact owns a 2027 Hyundai Palisade. The contact stated that while initiating vehicle operation, the messages "Check Hybrid System" and "Stop Vehicle and Check Power Supply" was displayed. The failure was a recurring failure. The dealer was contacted and received the same messages. The dealer stated that the failure was associated with the 12-Volt battery in the vehicle that was low due to being in port for a while; however, the failure persisted. The dealer was contacted and stated that the corporate office was working on the remedy, but there was no estimated date when the remedy would become available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100.
NHTSA complaint #11757763 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Car will not start after being parked in my garage for 24 to 48 hours. The battery is drained and needs to be jumped. This has happened three times. I am sure that no fob is left in the car, no interior lights are on, no door is ajar, and nothing is plugged into any USB ports.
NHTSA complaint #11756899 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am writing to formally report a serious, recurring safety defect involving the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in my vehicle. The system intermittently shuts off completely without warning and suffers from a malfunctioning airflow diverter. This directly impacts driver visibility due to immediate windshield fogging or the inability to de-ice during cold weather conditions. Below are the logged details of the intermittent shutdowns: July 9: System shut off 22 minutes into the drive. Local time: 07:58. Ambient temperature: 76°F. Vehicle settings: 72°F, Fan Speed 3.July 11: System shut off 34 minutes into the drive. Local time: 17:10. Ambient temperature: 92°F. Vehicle settings: Low, Full Blast. Furthermore, the airflow diverter is partially stuck on defrost mode. Air constantly blows onto the front windshield regardless of the chosen setting on the selector. This uncommanded airflow creates rapid temperature differentials on the glass, causing severe condensation and clouding the driver's line of sight during operation. These compounding HVAC failures constitute a significant safety hazard by unexpectedly distracting the driver and severely reducing visibility. I request that these issues be documented and investigated for potential safety recalls. Currently, my vehicle is in the shop with a local KIA dealership. A KIA corporate service technician is on ground and investigating the electrical and HVAC issues. Feel free to reach out for additional observational notes that I have compiled.
NHTSA complaint #11756260 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Detailed information is in the attached pdf file, but in a nutshell, Kia is covering a safety defect in their vehicles by claiming the process is “proprietary”. On several occasions we have lost propulsion, which means we had no control over our vehicle, and Kia’s explanation is simply, “the vehicle is performing as intended “! These incidents always happened at low speeds, just accelerating from a stop, but left us in a precarious situation as we were left in the middle of a busy intersection with no control over our vehicle! Propulsion would eventually return. After surviving several of these failures, I learned the proper thing was to let both pedals return to their idle position and then the vehicle would recover. This is a most difficult thing to accomplish when surrounded by angry drivers! The failures were identified by Google AI as a Brake Override System, also known as Brake Throttle Override. However, Kia already has a very functional Brake Over Accelerator process, so why would they have two similar functions? Kia knows the answer but is refusing to divulge any information regarding the intention or purpose of this mysterious process which makes our vehicle unsafe!
NHTSA complaint #11755434 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am writing to formally express my serious concern and disappointment regarding my Kia Carnival Hybrid. Shortly after purchasing the vehicle, with only approximately 6,000 miles on the odometer, the vehicle suddenly stopped operating while I was driving on the freeway. This created a dangerous situation for my family and other motorists. The vehicle had to be towed to an authorized Kia dealership for diagnosis and repair. No warning or message had appeared before the issue. The dealership retained the vehicle for approximately one week and informed us that a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) component had failed and needed to be replaced. After the repair was completed, we were assured that the issue had been resolved and that the vehicle was safe to drive. Unfortunately, after driving only about 50 additional miles, the exact same issue occurred again. The vehicle once again became inoperable, leaving us stranded and raising significant concerns about the reliability, safety, and quality of this vehicle. We towed the vehicle on 6/22/26 and Kia dealership had it till today 8/7/26 and corporate keep saying they working on it but unresponsive.
NHTSA complaint #11755491 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The floor railings above the battery, that allow the second row seats to slide, get hot. Extremely hot to the touch. Burning my children’s feet. Not sure if it’s related but the a/c does not stay cold when driving long distance and the HV battery just died last month for no reason. Brand new car.
NHTSA complaint #11754290 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving on an interstate during a heavy summer thunderstorm, the vehicle suddenly displayed a warning stating, "There may be a problem with the Battery Management System," along with a "Check Hybrid System" message. At the same time, the check engine light illuminated and the hybrid system stopped functioning without any prior warning. Approximately 10–15 minutes before the incident, I had driven through approximately 4 inches of standing water on a surface street at a speed of about 25 mph. After entering the interstate and traveling at approximately 65 mph in heavy rain, the hybrid system suddenly disabled itself. Cruise control was not engaged at any point during the trip. Immediately after the warning appeared, the vehicle experienced a significant loss of power and entered what appeared to be a reduced-power (limp) mode. The gasoline engine continued to run, but acceleration was severely limited, making it difficult to maintain speed or accelerate with surrounding highway traffic. This occurred at night, during heavy rain, on a busy interstate.The unexpected reduction in power created a hazardous situation and increased the risk of being struck by other vehicles while attempting to merge or pull over. After I was able to safely stop and restart the vehicle, the "Check Hybrid System" and Battery Management System warning messages disappeared. The vehicle has approximately 6,000 miles and was purchased new. This vehicle is used to transport my family, including my wife and our three young children. I believe this presents a significant safety concern because the sudden loss of power occurred without warning while traveling at highway speed in adverse weather conditions. Even though the vehicle remained drivable, the reduced acceleration made it difficult to safely maintain traffic flow or move to the shoulder, increasing the risk of a collision. I request that this issue be investigated to determine whether there is a defect affecting the hybrid system.
NHTSA complaint #11753681 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid is experiencing repeated electrical and hybrid battery failures. The battery has died multiple times, and the vehicle has shut off while driving, including at higher speeds. When the vehicle shuts off, all electrical systems reset, warning lights flash, and the dashboard displays “User Authorization” notifications. This creates a serious safety hazard for me and my passengers. The defect has occurred multiple times and remains unresolved despite dealer visits. Kia corporate is not responding and is redirecting me back to BBB Auto Line without providing any repair plan. The defect is ongoing and poses a risk of crash, injury, or loss of vehicle control. These symptoms match other Carnival electrical/battery complaints already filed with NHTSA, including sudden shutdowns, battery failures, and electrical resets. I am submitting this report because the defect continues and Kia has not provided a permanent repair.
NHTSA complaint #11752888 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I had two very serious incidents. July 8th: Horn just started blaring unprompted. Locking/unlocking doors, turning motor on, disconnecting battery did nothing to stop it. I was trying everything and as I was trying to find the correct fuse to disable (it wasn't labeled), the horn burned out and started smoldering. If the car was not in my driveway AND I wasn't home, I believe a fire would have started if I didn't pull the fuse AND douse it with water. It was parked next to my garage, so that would have been at risk as well. July 11th: When driving, my brake line burst resulting in a complete failure of my brakes. I narrowly escaped two accidents before I realized something was amiss. But the only warning was ABS was inactive, and active cruise control wasn't working. I had no warning that complete brake failure was imminent. I was extremely lucky. Mechanics had never seen a brake failure fail in a relatively new car in very good condition.
NHTSA complaint #11752483 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I own a 2026 Carnival Prestige SX Hybrid and having loss of propulsion problems. After much research, and absolutely no help from KIA, I now think my problem is my foot, size 15, is too large to safely drive this vehicle. My shoe intermittently depresses the brake ever so slightly while I accelerate from a stop. This triggers the Brake-Throttle Override which temporarily cuts propulsion power. The BTO is in all US cars but of the five vehicles (2025-26, different manufacturers) I have driven this past six months, this is the only one that has given me concern for my safety! KIA claims the vehicle is operating as expected! I claim that they have engineered the brake and acceleration pedals too close to each other creating a serious safety issue for those of us with larger foot sizes. The owners manual makes no mention of the BTO function nor how to restore propulsion once the BTO has been activated! While all US vehicles have the BTO function, they vary as to how the function performs. In KIA, once the BTO is triggered, all propulsion is suspended! The BTO was designed to prevent runaway acceleration. In this KIA, they have created a new safety problem because they failed to allow enough space for larger footed individuals room to safely operate their vehicle! KIA needs to introduce a foot size requirement for all prospective buyers or redesign the area around the accelerator and brake pedal so safety is no longer an issue!
NHTSA complaint #11750230 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid – Purchased 9/5/2025 Mileage: 8,450 April 2026- While driving over 60 mph, the vehicle's acceleration failed. A "Hybrid Failure" warning appeared on the dashboard, and the vehicle quickly decelerated. I had seconds to safely cross 3 lanes, and the vehicle had to be towed. The vehicle was at the dealership for 13 days, during which no problem codes were reported, and diagnostic scans appeared normal. No safety feature or diagnostic system reported this failure! I was told to take the vehicle because they had nothing to fix without a diagnostic report. May 2026- I drove the vehicle for a few weeks before this occurred again, with the same warning and complete deceleration. The vehicle was brought to a 2nd dealership, nearest to this incident. They have had the vehicle for 29 days with no safety or diagnostic issues to report and no ability to duplicate the problem. During this occurrence, my daughter was able to video the dashboard and deceleration from the passenger seat. I have provided this video to KIA. The national KIA team is refusing a buy-out option for this vehicle after my family and I have repeatedly been put in danger on the road. It also puts drivers around us in danger as we frantically attempt to proceed to safety while quickly decelerating. It is also extremely alarming that the safety systems and diagnostics do not show that these problems are occurring. While the local dealership has been understanding and professional to date; however, the National brand and its refusal to put safety first, especially on a brand-new vehicle, is unacceptable. We can provide the video and any other documentation you would like. We will be engaging with an attorney after Kia National declined our buyback
NHTSA complaint #11747779 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle began shaking and having ABS problems when driving at ~30 mph after having driven for several miles without issue. The vehicle did not have any history of problems or recent symptoms and was just over one year old. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. The dealership reported a broken driver side front wheel speed sensor wire and attributed it to rodent damage without other evidence.
NHTSA complaint #11746822 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am filing this complaint to report a recurring, life-threatening safety defect in my 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid involving the battery and hybrid propulsion system. This defect has occurred twice, and despite dealer repair attempts, it has not been resolved. On both occasions, while the vehicle was in operation, the hybrid system failed without warning. The vehicle displayed a hybrid system failure alert, lost the ability to accelerate normally, and became unable to maintain safe driving speeds. On the most recent occurrence, the sudden and unexpected loss of vehicle power created an immediate risk of collision. The vehicle’s failure while in traffic nearly resulted in a serious crash. I was driving with passengers at the time. The vehicle was taken to an authorized Kia dealership for repair following each incident. The same defect has now recurred after the first repair was completed, demonstrating that the underlying cause has not been identified or corrected. This defect substantially impairs the safety of the vehicle. The sudden loss of hybrid system function and propulsion while driving at road speed creates a direct and serious risk of accident, injury, or death to the vehicle’s occupants and to other drivers on the road. I am a [XXX] resident and am aware that this defect is not isolated to my vehicle. Numerous other 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid owners have filed similar NHTSA complaints regarding battery failure and sudden loss of acceleration. I urge the NHTSA to open a formal investigation into this defect and to require Kia Motors America to issue a safety recall. I am currently too frightened to operate this vehicle and request urgent attention to this matter. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11741345 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
4/6/2026 vehicle stalled in traffic multiple times, entered "Limp Mode", unable to accelerate after stopping or after deceleration. I had to press the gas to the floor to get the vehicle to move. While driving, if I had to brake or lay off the gas at all, the vehicle would not accelerate back to the original speed quickly. This put myself and my four children at risk of being rear-ended. I drove with the hazard lights on to Kia of Wesley Chapel Service center. The Battery Management System Warning displayed at the time of the stalling. The Kia Access App displayed the BMS Warning and code P0AA600 (High Voltage Isolation Fault). Initially, Kia of Wesley Chapel Service Advisor stated No warnings displayed and No historical or active codes found. I provided a screenshot of the Kia Access App showing the active BMS Warning and active P0AA600 code at 2:48PM on 4/8/2026. The Service Advisor maintained that they could not find any active or history codes. At 3:00PM the same day, the Kia Access App suddenly showed "No Issues Found". The code was obviously manually cleared. I filed a complaint with Kia Customer Care the same day (4/8/2026) and requested a Kia Technical Specialist be assigned to the case. On 4/12/2026, the original Kia Service Advisor stated "the history code has finally appeared which was the one presented in the screenshot but we cannot replace parts based off of a code that is no longer active unfortunately". He stated they would "keep driving and testing" to try and duplicate the issue. The Kia Access App shows the last trip was 4/7/2026 (the day after I dropped off the vehicle). Interestingly, the vehicle was not moved from the drive up lane at the Service Center until 10:40AM that day, after being dropped off at approximately 6PM the evening prior. I believe they could not get the car to move the evening of 4/6/2026. The vehicle remains at Kia of Wesley Chapel. I am sending the Motor Vehicle Defect Notification to Kia Corporate today.
NHTSA complaint #11732931 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle shows a Driver Assistance System Warning randomly. Then the vehicle is unable to accelerate past ~30MPH. We almost got hit when this happened. The warning does not show up in notifications nor does it show up in diagnostics. It gets reverts back to normal when the vehicle is turned off then turned back on. It seems to reset.
NHTSA complaint #11719729 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving the car it will stick in the electric mode and not go back into gas mode. You will only be able to go up to 30-35 miles an hour and in order to fix this issue as of right now all I could do was have to pull over to the side of the road put the car in park turn it off and turn it back on. I worry that this issue will be even worse if I was on the interstate and my car was getting stuck in electric mode and then it’s a safety issue, especially since I have kids in the car. I’m majority of the time being a minivan. I have seen other people post on forms about this issue and it not being fixed by Kia
NHTSA complaint #11718944 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving around, the van will go into "limp mode" effecting my speed and acceleration. Then the battery will become drained and the car alarms me to "Check Hybrid System. Stop safely." It seems the hybrid system fails to switch from battery to engine when the battery gets too low, creating the alert. While the vehicle is still running, I will check the diagnostics on the dashboard and it shows no faults: "all systems normal." This is very dangerous as the vehicle can stop running at any moment and could leave me stranded in the middle of the road. I brought the vehicle into the dealership, but they were unable to recreate the problem. While the vehicle was at the dealership, they performed the HVAC control unit upgrade due to a recall. After receiving the vehicle back, this issue has persisted. I do not know if the dealership inspected the vehicle. No other company or entity has inspected the van. This issue first appeared in the first week of November 2025. The issue didn't happen again until 2 weeks later. Now the issue persists almost daily.
NHTSA complaint #11705121 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
On the highway, the vehicle would not accelerate and was losing speed even though the gas pedal was fully depressed. Initially, the vehicle was in ECO drive mode, traveling approximately 65 mph and the steering wheel paddle to toggle the regenerative breaking between levels 1-3 prior to getting onto the highway. The vehicle speed dropped from ~75mph into the low 50mph range on the highway and was able to maintain speed then slowly regain speed when then phenomenon would happen again. The engine light was not initially on but did come on eventually. The engine light flashed at first but then stayed solid. Eventually a safe space was found on the side of the highway to pull over and restart the car. After restarting, the vehicle was able to regain highway speed (using caution, slow acceleration to merge back onto the highway), however when attempting to accelerate faster to see if the problem persisted, it did and the car again would not accelerate even when fully depressing the gas pedal. It felt similar to when you push the gas pedal while in park where the engine revs with high rpm's but doesn't move. The road trip was completed using cruise control, which seemed to have less issues (although not zero issues). After exiting the highway, at lower speeds (<30mph) the vehicle was shaking like it was going over rumble strips until it could be turned off and restarted. Component: power train. Yes, it is available for inspection. Safety issue: While traveling on the highway at times, the vehicle lost speed, was unable to maintain speed and/or accelerate. This could have easily caused a crash at highway speeds (60mph+). inspected by others? No. Will be taken to dealer on 11/3/25 Warning lights: The engine light came on after the initial incident. Kia Connect app, the following diagnostic codes were received; P030000, P030100, P030300.
NHTSA complaint #11697070 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When the vehicle is idling, the battery refuses to charge, therefore, the car suddenly dies and makes it unsafe to pull over and dyes while driving, very dangerous and transmission doesn’t shift properly.
NHTSA complaint #11691088 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The car gave alert of "hybrid system failure" and showed a picture of a drained battery. After about 20 seconds, we were unable to drive over 30 mph. After about 30 more seconds, the car shut off and had to be jumped to work again. Luckily we were pulling over into a parking lot when it shut off, but were blocking the entrance. This is the 4th time this has happened in a couple of months since we bought the car.
NHTSA complaint #11688400 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.