2023 Kia EV6 Problems: 25 Known Issues

On the 2022-2023 Kia EV6, kia bulletins ELE283 and ELE295 address interrupted or inoperable high-voltage-battery charging caused by excessive temperature at the EV6 combo-charger inlet. Kia later opened voluntary campaign SC311 for certain EV6 vehicles that can experience interrupted Level 2 charging or reduced charging speed when a damaged charging-cable connector degrades the electrical connection.

On the 2022-2024 Kia EV6, in July 2026 Kia filed NHTSA recall 26V431 (Kia campaign SC375) for seven 2022-2024 EV6 vehicles built between December 30, 2021 and September 14, 2023 (plus one 2024 EV9). Supplier SK On produced certain battery cells with a misaligned electrode during limited production periods; over time a misaligned electrode can create an internal short circuit inside the cell, which can lead to a fire while the vehicle is parked or driving. Kia lists NO warning that precedes the failure, and estimates 100% of the involved packs carry the defect. Affected EV6 packs carry part numbers 37501-CV701, 37501-CV050 and 37501-CV051. The population is tiny, but Kia's advisory is to park outside, away from other vehicles and structures, and to limit charging to 80% until the repair is done, and an owner of a used 2022-2024 EV6 should run their VIN before assuming they are clear.

On the 2022-2024 Kia EV6, kia recall 24V867 (SC327) addresses ICCU damage from thermal cycling and transient high voltage. Loss of 12V charging can lead to warning messages and progressively reduced propulsion, potentially ending in loss of drive power and increased crash risk. The November 2024 filing covers 62,872 US-market 2022–2024 EV6 vehicles built November 17, 2021–July 22, 2024 and supersedes 24V200. Its 1% figure is an estimated percentage with the defect, not a measured owner failure rate. Confirm the individual VIN and campaign history with Kia.

On the 2022-2024 Kia EV6, nHTSA campaign 24V867000 (Kia SC327) covers all 2022-2023 and certain 2024 EV6 vehicles. Transient high voltage and thermal cycling can damage the Integrated Charging Control Unit, preventing it from charging the 12-volt battery. Continued driving after warnings may cause progressive power reduction and eventual loss of motive power.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, the EV6 charge port door actuator can fail, preventing the charge port door from opening or closing properly. The electric actuator motor burns out or the latch mechanism jams, leaving owners unable to charge. This is particularly problematic at DC fast chargers where the door must open fully. The issue occurs more frequently in cold weather when the actuator motor draws more current.

On the 2022-2023 Kia EV6, early EV6s (especially 2022 before the software update) suffer dramatically reduced DC fast-charging speed in cold weather — sessions can be capped around 70 kW instead of the advertised 230-240 kW peak when the 77.4 kWh pack is below roughly 15°C. Because early cars had no automatic battery preconditioning tied to navigation, owners in winter routinely saw slow, drawn-out charging that undercuts the EV6's headline ultra-fast-charge capability.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, kia bulletin PS748 (June 2023, all EV models from 2015) reports unexpected 12V battery drain and identifies excessive Kia Connect connections from third-party applications as a possible cause under investigation. Kia asks dealers to document affected customers' integrations in a Tech Line case. This does not establish that every discharged battery is an app problem or rule out a battery, charging-system or other electrical fault.

On the 2022-2023 Kia EV6, on 2022-2023 EV6 built November 17, 2021 through February 3, 2023 the Battery Management System lumped many pack faults under a single code, P1AA600: cell over-voltage deviation, insulation breakdown, abnormal cell-voltage movement after charging, abnormal current change during charging, cell over- or under-voltage, module temperature deviation and average cell deviation while driving. Owners see the 'Check electric vehicle system' warning with limp-home reduced power, or the car refusing to AC charge (one documented case set P1AA6 only at the moment it was plugged into a Level 2 charger). Because the code was ambiguous, dealers could not tell a harmless transient from a genuinely imbalanced module without pulling freeze-frame data. Kia TSB ELE290 (April 2023) reflashes the BMS so the single code is expanded into P1AA700-P1AAF00, each naming the actual fault.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, eV6 owners widely report the head unit lagging, freezing, or rebooting (including after OTA updates) and dropping wired or wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, with disconnects often recurring every 20-30 minutes. A loose/worn USB-data port and cable quality are commonly implicated.

On the 2022-2024 Kia EV6, eV6 trims with the 14-speaker Meridian system suffer audio defects: the subwoofer is wired out of phase with the other speakers (killing bass), and some amplifiers produce speakers that play at very low volume or no sound at all. A law firm opened a defect investigation, and Kia has directed dealers to update or replace the amplifier.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, owners report the power tailgate refusing to open or close automatically — sometimes reverting within 48 hours of a dealer reset. The powered gate uses pinch-strip obstruction sensors in the struts; an over-current in one motor (or the gate sticking to its wet weather-seal) makes the system assume an obstruction and shut down. Some cases trace to loose ground/electrical connections (e.g., aftermarket trailer-hitch wiring under the cargo floor) rather than the motor itself, so motor swaps often don't fix it.

On the 2023 Kia EV6, nHTSA campaign 24V057000 (Kia SC295) covers certain 2023 EV6 vehicles built from January 26 through April 8, 2023. A supplier manufacturing error may have left the rear inner drive shaft improperly heat-treated. The shaft can break under load, causing loss of motive power and increasing crash risk.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, aWD EV6 models can develop a noticeable whining or humming noise from the rear electric motor, particularly during deceleration and regenerative braking. The rear motor bearings develop wear and produce an audible whine that increases with speed. While the noise is annoying, the motor continues to function. Kia has replaced rear motors under warranty for some owners.

On the 2023-2024 Kia EV6, kia's voluntary service campaign SC345 (August 2025) covers 2023-2024 EV6 built December 14, 2022 through February 22, 2024 whose front motor and reduction-gear assembly may have been filled with gear oil below factory specification during production. The front drive unit only exists on dual-motor AWD cars (Wind AWD, GT-Line AWD, GT). Kia states that if the gear oil level is low, the vehicle may eventually produce a grinding or whining noise from the front while driving. Owners on the Kia EV Forum have long tracked an 'AWD front motor whirring' noise on early cars. Kia's follow-up bulletin SC345Z (October 2025) covers replacing the front motor reduction gear assembly where SC345 has already been completed and a technician confirms grinding or whining noise from the front motor reduction gear unit.

On the 2022-2023 Kia EV6, kia voluntary service campaign SC273 applies to certain 2022-2023 EV6 vehicles other than the GT. During rapid regenerative deceleration in i-Pedal mode, the original Vehicle Control Unit logic may not illuminate the brake lamps unless the accelerator is fully released, reducing warning to following drivers.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, eV6 owners report the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist system triggering unwarranted alerts and hard automatic braking ('phantom braking') at speed with no real obstacle — on curved roads it may detect vehicles/objects in adjacent lanes, and a camera/radar sensor fouled by snow, road salt, ice or rain can misfire. A sudden auto-brake at highway speed is startling and creates its own rear-end risk.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, owners report the EV6's high-voltage electric A/C compressor failing outright — sometimes taking cabin heat (heat-pump) with it since the same refrigerant loop is shared. Symptoms range from no cold air in hot weather (compressor won't stay energized above ~105°F) to stored 'ECOMP Internal Error' fault codes and whining from the unit. Because the compressor is integrated with the inverter, a failure can require replacing both. The bigger owner pain point is availability: multiple owners cite national backorders and 30-70+ day waits for the part, leaving cars without climate control for weeks.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, a very commonly reported EV6 complaint is a strong steering-wheel and body vibration/shudder at highway speed, typically emerging around 58-70 mph, that returns even after repeated wheel balancing. The frequent root cause is not a bent wheel or bad balance but the sound-deadening acoustic foam bonded inside the factory noise-reduction tires (Kumho/Goodyear EV tires) coming unglued and tumbling inside the tire, creating a large, shifting imbalance that standard balancing cannot correct.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, the EV6's rear suspension runs aggressive negative camber, and combined with vehicle weight and instant torque, owners report rapid inner-edge wear on the rear tires — in extreme cases cords showing on a 2023 EV6 GT within a few thousand km. Excessive rear toe-out is also implicated in inner-edge scrubbing.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, a frequent EV6 owner complaint is a distinct clunk or knock from the front end over sharp bumps, expansion joints, speed bumps, or at low speed. It is commonly traced to front stabilizer (sway) bar end links, strut top mounts, or bushings. The heavy E-GMP curb weight loads these joints hard, and worn end links can 'pop/clank' over bumps even when they feel tight by hand on a lift, making diagnosis tricky.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, the EV6 heat pump HVAC system can malfunction in extreme cold weather (below 15F / -10C), failing to provide adequate cabin heating and causing the system to fall back to resistive heating. This dramatically reduces range in cold weather (up to 40-50% range loss). The heat pump compressor can also produce loud clicking or knocking sounds during cold starts. Software updates have improved low-temperature heat pump operation.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, because the EV6 relies heavily on regenerative braking (i-Pedal/one-pedal), the friction brakes are used so little that the cast-iron rotors do not self-clean and develop surface rust that progresses to pitting. The resulting disc-thickness variation produces brake pulsation; EV6 owners and dealers report badly pitted rotors at relatively low mileage.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, eV6 owners widely report windshields cracking with little or no impact — a line appearing from the edge and spreading horizontally, or a crack forming during a car wash, after max defrost on a cold morning, or even while parked. The EV6 uses thin acoustic laminated glass (special noise-damping interlayer) that appears prone to thermal-shock and body-flex cracking. Kia has faced a broader class-action over spontaneously cracking/chipping windshields, and EV6 owners have also reported multi-month replacement backorders.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, owners, particularly of glass-roof / GT-Line and GT cars, report a hard-plastic rattle or creak from the roof/headliner area. The noise is present with the roof/sunshade closed and generally disappears when it is vented or opened, pointing to plastic frame components rattling or the panel/seal moving against the surround rather than a mechanical failure. The behavior is temperature-sensitive: several owners note it worsens in dry, warm weather and quiets in cool/damp conditions, while others report creaking specifically during cold snaps. It is a fit-and-finish/NVH annoyance, not a safety defect, but it is a recurring EV6 complaint reported across multiple model years including 2025.

On the 2022-2025 Kia EV6, the EV6's motorized flush 'presenting' door handles are prone to icing up in freezing/wet conditions. After a freeze, handles can fail to pop out (or fail to retract), and owners have reported being locked out or rear doors that would not open. Complaints appear at temperatures only modestly below freezing, and testing suggests that below about -10C the rear handle in particular may not break through the ice. The mechanism is a design susceptibility: water works into the handle recess and freezes the flush handle in place. Rather than a hardware remedy, Kia's official owner guidance acknowledges that flush door handles and the charge-port door can freeze and provides a workaround (tapping around the handle to break the ice). Later production reportedly reduced handle chafing but did not eliminate the icing tendency, and there is no permanent fix.