Kia Soul electrical problems, 2016–2025
204 of the 2,268 complaints owners filed with NHTSA about the Kia Soul 2016–2025 name the electrical system (NHTSA’s “Electrical System” heading — wiring, modules, batteries, charging, infotainment and driver displays — NHTSA's broadest heading). The loudest years: 2016 (58), 2017 (31), 2020 (30). Filed under the same heading across these years: 13 manufacturer bulletins, 3 recall campaigns, 1 NHTSA investigation. Every figure is a linked federal record; none is a failure rate, none a repair cost, and none a verdict on one car.
Kia Soul electrical problems by model year
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsOne row per model year on file, newest first. A year marked in depth has its own page: the complaints, the owners’ words and every document under this heading for that year.
| Model year | Complaints naming the electrical system | Share of the year’s | Typically at | On file under the heading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 | — | — | 11 TSBs | the year → |
| 2024 | 9 | 31% | — | 17 TSBs | the year → |
| 2023 | 14 | 27% | — | 36 TSBs · 1 recall | the year → |
| 2022 | 10 | 11% | — | 46 TSBs | the year → |
| 2021 | 15 | 6% | — | 65 TSBs | the year → |
| 2020 | 30 | 8% | — | 95 TSBs · 1 investigation | the year → |
| 2019 | 15 | 11% | — | 53 TSBs · 2 recalls · 1 investigation | the year → |
| 2018 | 22 | 10% | — | 50 TSBs · 2 recalls · 1 investigation | the year → |
| 2017 | 31 | 11% | — | 71 TSBs · 2 recalls · 1 investigation | the year → |
| 2016 in depth | 58 | 7% | 75k | 99 TSBs · 2 recalls · 1 investigation | the record → |
Two things the counts carry that are not the car: how many of each year were sold, and how long each has been on the road — an older year out-counts a newer one before anything is wrong with it. The share column is the honest comparison across years: what part of that year’s complaints named the electrical system. Nothing here is a rate.
When the electrical complaints were filed, and at what mileage
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseFiled per calendar year, every model year together: 2016: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2019: 9 · 2020: 14 · 2021: 17 · 2022: 18 · 2023: 41 · 2024: 40 · 2025: 31 · 2026: 29
Across the model years, half of the 53 owners who gave an odometer reading reported the electrical problem between 20,000 and 75,000 miles. A median of reports, not the life of a part.
In owners’ own words
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseFiled with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, about the electrical system, from the model years with the most to say. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed; unverified reports — what was said, not a finding that it was true.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul EV. The contact stated that on several occasions while the vehicle was on the charging port, the vehicle failed to hold the charge and only displayed an 83 percent charge.
First, a couple of weeks ago my check engine light comes on and my engine temperature gauge stops working properly. It starts taking about 15 minutes for my engine temperature gauge to show the engine is warmed up. After about two days the engine light goes off by itself. So I finally get an appointment at the Kia dealership today.
My car has had intermittent faults of codes P1B25 and P1CF2 and are showing check EV system on the dash. This happens after about 30-45 minutes of driving and then restarting the car. It has been identified that the power relay assembly needs to be replaced on the vehicle, which lives in the high voltage battery pack.
I’ve had to get three oil changes in just five months of owning my vehicle. Honda of Brandon sold it to me with a clean Car-Fax report, but I’m now facing a possible manifold and catalytic converter replacement costing $4,200.
While driving vehicle; stalling, sputtering, failure to shift gears, engine knocking/shaking car. Altinator was replaced and stopped sputtering. Following day I was going 55 mph and car completely stalled out on a busy road and almost got rear ended and car lost power car was towed to Kia Dealership for further diagnostics test.
What is on file about the electrical system, across the years
Source: NHTSA recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsRecall campaigns filed under this heading, any model year
- 23V724000 HighOct 26, 2023 · 6,262 vehicles
- 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.
- 23V298000 ModerateApr 26, 2023 · 108,936 vehicles
- Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid, Soul, and Telluride vehicles equipped with a digital instrument cluster containing a 4.2" LCD screen. The instrument cluster may fail to display any information when the vehicle is started. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 101, "Control and Displays," and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
- 23V218000 CriticalMar 29, 2023 · 2,689 vehicles
- 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.
NHTSA investigation
- DP22005 Pedestrian alert soundsopened Jan 27, 2023 · closed Aug 7, 2023
- 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 pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and ele…
13 manufacturer bulletins filed under this heading, any model year
- Aug 19, 2026
- TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: AVN GEN 5.0 WIDE SOFTWARE UPDATE - This bulletin provides information on the Audio Video Navigation (AVN) system software update for certain vehicles equipped with AVN5W and Navigation System listed in the table below. Affected vehicles may overestimate travel times during route calculation.
- Aug 5, 2026
- TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: MISFIRE CONCERN DUE TO OVERRUNNING ALTERNATOR DECOUPLER - This bulletin provides information to address unresolved misfire events on some 2020–2024MY Forte (BDm) produced from January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024, and 2020–2022MY Soul (SK3) vehicles produced from November 1, 2018 through May 31, 2022 equipped with a Gamma 1.6L T‑GDI engine. In certain cases, misfi
- Jul 29, 2026
- TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: FRONT VIEW CAMERA REPLACEMENT (CA2605) - This bulletin provides information to replace the front view camera on certain 2023-2024MY Soul (SK3) vehicles produced from March 15, 2022, through March 23, 2024. The affected vehicles may exhibit various warning lights illuminated on the instrument cluster accompanied by DTC C272246.
- May 28, 2026
- TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE USING UPDATE. KIA. COM - This bulletin provides information and service procedures for updating the infotainment systems on applicable Kia vehicles using the Kia Navigation Updater available at update.kia.com. The software update may improve system performance, enhance existing features, and apply the latest operating software for sup
- Apr 8, 2026
- PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (PI2107 Flight 501) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting an important Product Improvement Campaign to perform a software update on 2017-2019 MY Kia Soul vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter Nu GDI engines to protect the engine from excessive connecting rod bearing damage. The update will be done free of charge an
- Mar 5, 2026
- TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: SUBSEQUENT REPAIR ACTION: HIGH-VOLTAGE BATTERY PACK ASSEMBLY REPLACEMENT (SC267Z REV 2) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information to replace the high-voltage battery pack assembly (HV BPA) on certain 2015-2019MY Soul EV (PS
- Mar 5, 2026
- TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: SUBSEQUENT REPAIR ACTION: HIGH-VOLTAGE BPA REPLACEMENT (SC310Z REV 1) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information regarding the replacement of the High-Voltage Battery Pack Assembly (HV BPA) on certain 2015-2017MY SOUL EV (PS
- Feb 24, 2026
- PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (PI2002B FL701) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting a Product Improvement Campaign to perform a software update on 2014-2016 MY Soul vehicles equipped with 2.0L Gasoline Direct Injection (“GDI”) engines to protect the engine from excessive connecting rod bearing damage. The update will be done free of charge
The 8 newest are listed; each model year’s page lists every one filed on that year. Quote the document number at a service desk — it is a diagnosis the maker has already written down.
Other systems with a record on the Kia Soul
Source: the same filesCommon questions
Source: NHTSA complaint database, recalls and manufacturer communicationsWhich Kia Soul years have the most electrical complaints?
2016, 58; 2017, 31; 2020, 30. Raw counts, and an older year has had longer to collect them; by share of each year's own complaints the loudest is the 2024 (31%).
Is there a recall for the electrical system on the Kia Soul?
Yes — 3 campaigns are filed under this heading across these model years: 23V724000 (2019), 23V298000 (2023), 23V218000 (2019). A recall is matched by VIN, and applies to specific years; check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
When do electrical problems show up on the Kia Soul?
Owners who gave an odometer reading reported it at a median of 55,000 miles across the model years; half of them between 20,000 and 75,000. That is when reports cluster, not the life of a part.
What does NHTSA's "Electrical System" heading cover?
Wiring, modules, batteries, charging, infotainment and driver displays — NHTSA's broadest heading. Owners choose the heading when they file, so it says which area of the vehicle the complaint is about, not which part failed.