2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid Driver assistance Problems

Over the past 11 weeks, my 2023 Kia Sportage has experienced sudden, complete loss of acceleration on at least three separate occasions while driving at highway speeds. Each incident is accompanied by the battery gauge dropping to zero. I was forced to stop on the highway to restart my vehicle in order to drive it again. No error codes are stored because the fault clears on restart. I have taken the vehicle for inspection to a mechanic and Kia Dealership Marin, neither were able to diagnose or repair the issue.

NHTSA ID

11742981

Incident

Apr 22, 2026

3 times in the last two days, and dozens of times over the last six months, while driving or while idling, the "check hybrid system" warning has flashed. When it happens the car does into limp mode, where it will go no faster than 13mph. this has happened in the left lane of a highway where there is no where to pull over except the lane, since there is no time to get over before the vehicle shuts down. the car essentially will shut down in the middle of driving, no matter where it is. Especially with my kids in the car it is terrifying hazard. I have brought the car to the Kia service and since its not easily reproducible they have not been able to help and have offered no solutions.

NHTSA ID

11719154

Incident

Feb 19, 2026

The vehicle frequently fails to engage gas engine when depressing gas pedal to any degree. A full push of the gas pedal does not result in gas engine engagement. This has happened over 15 ties since the recall computer update last summer (2025). This creates extreme danger because the operator expects the full power of the engine to engage when pulling out of intersections or crossing oncoming traffic, but the engine does not engage causing a slow, creeping acceleration from the electric motor only. I took it into the Kia dealer and they found nothing wrong. No warning lights occur when the malfunction happens. And no check engine lights occur either. The only correction is to fully turn the vehicle off and back on. Doing that resets everything back to normal. This malfunction usually occurs within the first 25-30 minutes of vehicle operation.

NHTSA ID

11713478

Incident

Jan 26, 2026

Vehicle flashed with a "check hybrid system. Stop safely" warning and then forced me to slow until my vehicle stopped - I could no longer press the gas pedal. I was on a highway and luckily was able to pull over safely before the vehicle came to a complete stop, but that was not guaranteed. I ended up being towed to a Kia Dealership where they informed me this was an issue under recall, but that recall is not listed on your system nor was I ever informed of the recall by the manufacturer.

NHTSA ID

11704090

Incident

Dec 7, 2025

February 2024 (27,813 mi): Vehicle lost acceleration while driving, would not transition from EV to engine mode, entered limp mode. Dealer replaced high-pressure fuel pump under warranty after consulting Kia Tech Line (case #[XXX]). September 2025 (58,000 mi): Vehicle will not start without manually resetting 12v battery module integrated in hybrid battery system. Pattern suggests hybrid control system defects, not resolved by previous repair. Car has now been with dealer for 4+ days figuring out this issue. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11690800

Incident

Feb 11, 2024

After driving for roughly 7 hours upon activating my cruise control, after using the entire drive with no issues, it went up to 110 mph as soon as I hit the button and would not allow me to adjust the speed down. It would turn off upon pressing pause, cruise control, or brakes but would rise to 110 mph everytime. I searched for recalls for this and could find none. But I did find posts of other people with the same issue. The only thing I could find was an emissions campaign that seems like it may be related. This appears to me to be much more of a safety issue especially if the driver is not paying attention. Or for example let's say you're driving behind someone and turn cruise control on you could very easily rearend someone at a high rate of speed. I will be trying to get my car into the dealership to try and resolve the issue, but my main point for filing a report is to see if this rises to the level of a safety recall versus a tsb or emissions campaign. My vehicle is available for inspection if needed. No warning lights came on or anything of the sort. I do have a video of this but does not appear I can upload it. Any assistance is greatly appreciated thank you and have a great day

NHTSA ID

11674921

Incident

Jul 20, 2025

While driving on the highway at 80 mph, the accelerator suddenly stopped working and was completely unresponsive. The dashboard displayed the message "Check Hybrid system. Stop safely" and a warning ding sounded. The gas engine was still operating and showing RPMs on the dashboard, but all acceleration and/or engagement with the engine was lost. I was able to coast and safely pull over to the side of the road. After pulling over, I turned off the engine and pushed the 12v battery reset button. The car restarted, and I was able to continue driving. The issue repeated about 20 miles later and again on a different drive four days later. Each time, there is no early warning or noticeable issue with the vehicle before the sudden warning and loss of power.

NHTSA ID

11674812

Incident

Jul 15, 2025

There is no adaptive cruise control or front sensing collision avoidance. With the Lane Keeping Assist, the vehicle does not detect anything in front of it (cars, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.). If the road line veers, the vehicle will follow the line into the next lane, while not avoiding other vehicles in the lane. We have to manually steer the vehicle back into our lane. This has been occuring since we purchased the vehicle from [XXX] in Boise, ID. We have taken it in for 2 service checks, called Kia Consumer Affairs, explaining this situation, and they just tell us they didn't find any issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11662618

Incident

Nov 30, 2024

On highway, above 50 mph, the Rear Cross Traffic Warning Illuminated while the car braked abruptly and I could not accelerate for 1-2 seconds. The car does not have Front Traffic Collision equipped.

NHTSA ID

11648507

Incident

Mar 15, 2025

I was driving with cruise control on. I had to slow down for traffic. Upon resuming speed, I reactivated cruise control at which time it jumped to 110 mph. This happen several times. I turned cruise off and back on 110. I canceled and tried to reset, 110. I kept resuming 110 mph and the function was not usable. I have a video but was unable to upload because it was to large

NHTSA ID

11642957

Incident

Jan 30, 2025

I was going 40 mph and tried to set the cruise control to my current speed. The cruise control set at 110 mph instead. I tapped the brake to stop the cruise control and it stopped. I tried to set the cruise control again multiple times and the same thing happened. I parked, turned the car off then on again and the cruise control worked like normal.

NHTSA ID

11631097

Incident

Dec 16, 2024

I have had three separate instances over the past year, most recently days ago, where I pressed the cruise control button, then pressed the cruising speed increase button, and the cruise control setting jumped to 110 mph. I could press the cruise control button again to turn off cruise control, but if I pressed cruise control again, it would immediately jump to 110 mph, no matter what my current speed was. Pressing the decrease cruise control speed button didn't lower the cruise control speed. The only workaround is to turn the vehicle off and the turn it back on. There are multiple online forum posts, and several YouTube videos, of other Kia Sportage owners experiencing the same problem.

NHTSA ID

11630825

Incident

Dec 13, 2024

I've had two issues with my 2023 Kia Sportage cruise control. 1. When I press the 'set' cruise control button, it will set at a speed far grater than I'm driving and escalate to that speed. Example: I'm driving 65 on the highway. I set the cruise control. It sets to 100 mph and quickly gains to that speed. This has happened about 5 times. It doesn't happen every time I try to use cruise control. The last time it happened, I could click the 'set' button to disengage cruise control but it would never set to 60 mph- always 100. So I pressed 'set' at 60 MPH. It went to 100 MPH. Then I pressed Set to disengage. Then pressed 'set'again at 60 MPH and it went to 100 MPH. The only way to get it to actually re set was to pull over and re-start the car. 2. When you actually get it to 'set' to 60 MPH and then press the toggle to speed up, it will often toggle up to 90 MPH instead of to 65MPH. This has happened 3-5 times. This is super dangerous since it speeds up so quickly.

NHTSA ID

11616503

Incident

Aug 22, 2024

When using cruise control and raising the speed, the cruise control gets maxed out to 110 MPH, and requires the driver to disengage the CC to stop. It keeps reoccurring until the car is restarted. I did not take pictures, but there is are multiple Reddit threads at the below URL's with multiple users having the same issue. Some have reported to Kia who claim it's a known issue with no fix. [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11611094

Incident

Jul 3, 2024

Good morning, I'm writing with a vehicle safety risk that my wife and I experienced on Sunday while driving home in our 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid SUV that we purchased new in August 2022. On one of the surface streets in Olympia, WA where we live, I turned on the cruise control to set it at the speed limit for that street. Instantaneously, upon turning on the cruise control, it set itself to 110mph and immediately started rapid acceleration. I was able to immediately turn off the cruise control. I tried turning it on again to see if the behavior repeated itself, and again it automatically set itself to 110mph and began acceleration. I tried turning the cruise speed setting to a lower mph, but the set speed would not adjust off 110mph. At that point, I turned it off, and we made it home without any problems. However, upon getting home, I immediately started to search online to see if other people are experiencing this problem. A number of users on Reddit with either Kia's or Hyundai's (same parent company) have dealt with the same exact issue. I'm including some links to Reddit threads and videos below: [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] From what I can see online, this is likely a software issue that Kia/Hyundai aren't making any moves to acknowledge or fix. However, it's an EXTREMELY dangerous issue. It looks like it's also happening to people who are using features like adaptive cruise control as well. It poses immense safety risk to drivers/passengers, as well as others on the road if the car randomly starts accelerating when it should be holding its speed steady in cruise. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11605636

Incident

Jul 28, 2024

I purchased my car in August 2022, and the cruise control issue began in September 2023. It occurs randomly and significantly makes me feel UNSAFE in my vehicle. I have not been able to enjoy full use of my vehicle. Kia has been aware of this issue since at least April 2024 (when they first called me), even though I made my report to the NHTSA in October 2023 (NHTSA ID: 11549711). Today, Kia informed me that the video that I risked my life to take of my car almost killing me and other road drivers was not enough and that they could not replicate the issue. The response time from my case manager has literally been atrocious. These issues have significantly limited my use and enjoyment of the vehicle, making me regret my purchase. I did not expect to rely on rentals without the features that led me to choose this car, especially due to delays in addressing my case.

NHTSA ID

11604086

Incident

Sep 25, 2023

Second time reporting for the third instance Dealer says nothing is wrong but I have a video when car speeds up and doesn’t stop when removing my foot for acceleration Car keeps moving and it’s hard to stop unless I slam on brake This is occasionally instance but when it happens it’s highly risk for havug accident With kids I don’t feel safe

NHTSA ID

11597749

Incident

Jun 28, 2024

My car accelerates automatically and doesn’t stop unless slam on break This is happening occasionally Yesterday I was about to hit front car after taking the exit. Even after breaking the car kept moving at full speed. It’s a huge safety concern I was with family and we all got so scared

NHTSA ID

11584606

Incident

Apr 21, 2024

When on a cruise control it started accelerating on its own to an extremely high speed. Happened a few time to me. Clears only if you restart the vehicle. Scary. I have a video to proof, it won’t let me attach the video. I know that some other people had experience same, I seen comments on Facebook group for Kia sportage hybrid 2023. I filed under lemon law for this vehicle for a different reason in June 2023. But manufacturer still haven’t gave me a comparable vehicle and I have to drive this death trap.

NHTSA ID

11584278

Incident

Feb 19, 2024

I was driving for approximately 30 minutes, using cruise control as needed. There was a decreased speed area so I toggled down to reduce speed from 65 to 55. My cruise control speed jumped from 65 to 110. NOTHING I did would reduce the speed. I had to turn off the cruise control to get control of my vehicle again. I thought I did something wrong so I turned on cruise control and attempted to set the speed again. Immediately upon using the toggle to set the speed, the speed jumped to 110. This happened several time and I couldn’t get cruise control to work correctly for approximately 30-45 minutes. Finally I found a safe area to pull off the interstate, turn the vehicle off and back on. At which time the speed controls began working correctly again. Very scary and unsafe situation!

NHTSA ID

11565265

Incident

Jan 12, 2024

Driving 5 hours away. Got to my destination parked and went to check in . Came back to my car and drove to where my room was going to be. I went to try to stop and the brakes were spongy and seems like it too forever to finally stop. Due to this issue I ended up hitting a curb and damaging my car/ tires. I was very scared to drive back home like that. I looked it up and it says there is a recall for the breaking system but my car wasnt one of them. I need to get this fixed asap and also my tires/ front end of Car. What can I do about this issue and getting it fixed asap ?!

NHTSA ID

11565162

Incident

Jan 11, 2024

On several occasions the lane keeping assistance has attempted to steer my vehicle into energy absorbing barrier, both with me driving and with my sister driving. Vehicle speed approximately 40 mph, lane splitting, I was taking left lane. Forty feet from point of barrier, wheel jerks hard right, setting me up for dead center collision with point of barrier. If I had not immediately jerked the wheel left the results would have been catastrophic. I would have hit the barrier in a single second after the cars action. I took it to the Kia dealer service who claims he cannot disable "lane following". Additionally, that I have to disable it every time I start the car. Also, when going thru intersections the car will switch traffic lanes on it's own. I feel this is an incredibly unsafe system. For god's sake, the car just veers off on its own.

NHTSA ID

11556837

Incident

Nov 21, 2023

The Cruise Control and Limit Control system activates itself suddenly while driving on roads, streets, highways or any road, accelerating or decelerating unlimitedly; endangering my physical integrity, my family and the people around me. It reported this UNSAFETY Kia Sportage 2023 to Kia car dealer over 5 times and Kia America Corporation but nothing; also to BBB AutoLine, AGO (Attorney General’s Office) and as far this case waiting for... I don't know what or where else could I do or go??

NHTSA ID

11554581

Incident

Aug 3, 2023

When I achieved my desired speed while driving on the highway, I turned on my adaptive cruise control as I usually do. This time, the car began accelerating dramatically, set on 110mph instead of my desire 55mph. It did this twice, even after I turned off the cruise control. I parked on the side of the street and restarted the car before it returned to normal. My life was very much threatened while I was driving as well as the lives of my fellow highway drivers that night. I will be taking this to my dealership but I also need this reported.

NHTSA ID

11549711

Incident

Sep 25, 2023

While driving, the car came to an abrupt stop. Lights and alarms flashed stating "Do not drive" "hybrid system malfunction". Car could not be driven. Had I been on the highway, which I just exited, I could have been dead with how suddenly the car stopped without prior warning. The warning came when the car was shutting down. It has now been at the dealership for 3 weeks and they are unable to pinpoint the problem. Apparently they are selling hybrids with no one to work on them. Smh

NHTSA ID

11544119

Incident

Aug 25, 2023