Kia bulletin SC273A_DPSM
What it saysVOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: DEALER PARTS AND SERVICE MANAGER MEMO - This document is the announcement to the dealer Parts and Service Managers that Kia is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to upgrade the Vehicle… NHTSA’s full summary ↓
Kia filed this with NHTSA as a service bulletin dated Jul 27, 2023, received Aug 2, 2023, about the exterior lighting. It names 2 model years (2022–2023). A service bulletin is not a safety recall: it is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a condition, and whether the work is paid for depends on the warranty in force. Quoting the number at a service desk can save a diagnosis.
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What the bulletin says
Source: NHTSA's summary of the manufacturer's communicationWhat it applies to, as the document itself states it — the build window in the manufacturer’s own words, read by machine from the PDF NHTSA serves. The build date is on the certification label in the driver’s door jamb; the dealer settles a borderline vehicle by its VIN.
VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: DEALER PARTS AND SERVICE MANAGER MEMO - This document is the announcement to the dealer Parts and Service Managers that Kia is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to upgrade the Vehicle Control Unit (“VCU”) software logic in certain 2022-2023 MY EV6 vehicles manufactured from November 17, 2021 through May 30, 2023. The current VCU software logic does not illuminate the brake lights when the vehicle is decelerating while in i-Pedal mode with the accelerator pedal partly depressed.
Document filed under this number
| Document | Kind | Dated | NHTSA id | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SC273A_DPSM | Service bulletin | Jul 27, 2023 | 10239750 | PDF, 37 KB |
The summary is NHTSA’s abstract of the document, as filed under 49 CFR 579.5. One communication is usually filed as several documents — the bulletin, a dealer notice, an owner letter — and the number on any of them finds this page. A PDF link is shown only once NHTSA’s own server has been seen to serve that document; the rest are checked over the following nights. Quote the number at a service desk; it is what the dealer’s system is keyed on.
Model years it names
Source: as the manufacturer filed themA vehicle page’s bulletin list shows the newest few communications filed against that model year; the count there is every one.
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What owners reported
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseOwners of the 2 model years this bulletin names have filed 417 complaints with NHTSA since 2015. 317 of them name Electrical System — the same broad component group this bulletin is filed under. NHTSA groups complaints coarsely, so that means the same area of the vehicle, not necessarily the same fault.
On the 2022 Kia EV6, the 15 owners who gave an odometer reading for Electrical System reported it at a median of 16,030 miles. That figure is one model year’s, not the whole range this bulletin covers — medians from different model years are not averaged.
Vehicle does not reliably handle the 12V battery well. Many times, I see it sitting at 12.8 VDC when driving the vehicle. On a ICE vehicle, the charging voltage is close to 14V when running/driving. On 3 separate occasions, when I tried to "start" the EV6, the 12V battery was too dead to allow the car to be started. Basically stranded.
2023 Kia EV6 · Electrical System · filed with NHTSA Apr 3, 2024 · ODI 11581040
While operating and driving on a busy two lane roadway, about an hour in to a two hour trip, the vehicle displayed “check electrical system” message without warning, then quickly lost power, rendering the car only able to drive at 25 mph for a brief moment, and then, just as quickly, shut down completely and did not operate.
2022 Kia EV6 · Electrical System · filed with NHTSA Apr 21, 2023 · ODI 11518378
Car was in garage and tried to start it. Would not start, although the dash lit up briefly and it showed the main EV battery was at 49%. Message then appeared on dash stating that 12 volt battery was discharged. Car then went completely dead electrically. No electrical power of any kind.
2023 Kia EV6 · Electrical System · filed with NHTSA Apr 2, 2024 · ODI 11580731
In depth: 2023 Kia EV6 electrical problems → · 2022 Kia EV6 electrical problems →
A complaint is one owner’s account, not a defect finding, and a bulletin is not a recall. Nothing here says this bulletin was issued because of these complaints, or that the repair it describes fixed them. Complaint files on this site begin in 2015.
Quote the number at the service desk. It is what the dealer’s system is keyed on.
Every manufacturer communication NHTSA holds for Kia, by the number printed on the letter.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA, 49 CFR 579.5Is Kia SC273A_DPSM a recall?
No. A service bulletin is a manufacturer communication filed with NHTSA under 49 CFR 579.5; a safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number (two digits, a letter, six digits) and a federal duty to repair for free. Check the vehicle’s recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls, or on its page here.
Is the SC273A_DPSM repair free?
Not automatically. A service bulletin describes how to diagnose or repair a condition; who pays depends on the warranty in force, any extension, and the dealer. Quoting the number can save a diagnosis either way. Every Kia warranty extension on file lists the ones Kia has filed.
Which vehicles does SC273A_DPSM cover?
The manufacturer filed it against 2 model years: 2023 Kia EV6, 2022 Kia EV6. Whether one particular vehicle is affected is a matter of its VIN and its build, not its model year alone. The document itself sets the build window: 2022-2023 MY EV6: built 17 Nov 2021 – 30 May 2023 — the build date is on the certification label in the driver’s door jamb.