2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid

When driving my van to work in the morning, I would get an alert on my screen that says to check the driver assistance system. Then I turned on to the freeway on ramp and my car lost all power, not letting me drive faster than 30 mph. I was able to get off of the freeway and on to a side street when another alert, accompanied by loud beeps, came on saying “Check Hybrid System. Stop safely.” I was able to pull to the side of the road and turn the car off. When I turned it back on it seemed everything was fine. I took it to the dealership and they couldn’t replicate the problems and the car didn’t register any errors. So they returned it to me. This morning I drove to work and the exact same thing happened at the exact same place. Only this time I wasn’t able to get over as quickly and my car shut down in the middle of an intersection. Luckily I was able to coast to the side of the road. The dealership is still saying they can’t fix what they don’t know is wrong. Which I get, but it’s weird that these major events aren’t being recorded by the car. And it is terrifying to suddenly lose power on the freeway.

The shifter would indicate it's in neutral but the car would think it's in drive. The car was immobilized and could not be moved when hitting the accelerator. This happened in the middle of Baltimore. I had to 'reboot' the car to get it to work, 3-4 times, while sitting in traffic. Problem has surfaced multiple times and is currently at the dealer for this issue. Was recreatable at the dealer. This was after some issue with the hybrid system on the highway where the electrical part of the drive train was inoperable and I had put it in park at a stop light to to try and see if that would fix it. I know the electrical part was inoperable because of how sluggish the car was and the car itself was saying Regen options were not available and the hybrid battery was drained to 0.

Temperature was 28 degrees outside. Car had 4500 miles on it. Car warmed up for 10 minutes before driving. At the one mile mark, it locked up at 31 mph and 1.4 rpm. It would not accelerate and it maintained the speed and rpm without pressing on the gas. The brakes did work. It lasted for another mile and then resolved. No indicator lights came on. The car did. It recognize there was a problem. It has not been replicated. It is available to be inspected. Not being able to accelerate above 31mph poses significant risk to both my family and other drivers.

I own a 2025 Kia Carnival SX Prestige Hybrid, and the vehicle intermittently fails to exceed 31 mph when the outside temperature is cold, typically in the single digits or low teens. This issue occurs when I use the remote start system and get into the car to leave for work around 6:50 to 7 am. I have not attempted to replicate this without using the remote start. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership, and they are aware of the problem. They have attempted to recreate the issue but were unable to do so. I have also provided them with a video of the situation and have multiple videos documenting the occurrence.

When driving the vehicle it would not accelerate beyond 31 mph. We were in traffic so not being able to drive the speed limit posed a risk of other vehicles hitting us. Also when merging into highway speed traffic this was very unsafe. No warning limits or check engine lights came on and the dealer can not replicate the issue nor can they tell us why this happened.

Car would not accelerate past 30 or 31 MPH no matter how hard gas pedal was engaged. The RPMs increase, acknowledging the gas, but the speed stays the same. Stopping the vehicle and putting in park doesn’t fix it. This is particularly dangerous when going from city street to highway or interstate driving. It eventually self-corrects after about 5 minutes. We’ve experienced multiple instances now, and all have been in cold weather (<10° F).

Turned out onto a busy city street and tried to accelerate but speed was electronically limited to 31mph. once it got to the 31mph, the car didn’t rev at all anymore. I had to pull over quickly. I drove around a parking lot a few times just to see if there was anything wrong in the settings. I couldn’t find anything. So I tried again. Same result - as soon as I pulled out and stamped on the accelerator, it revved just until 31mph and then cut out. I had to pull over immediately again and turn the car off and then back on again. After I did this, it drove as it normally does and the speed was no longer limited.

Van accelerates up to 31mph only. Top speed is 31mph even with accelerator/gas pedal completely pressed to the ground (RPMs increase to 4K with no acceleration.) No warning or display lights illuminated. This happens in cold weather (under 20 degrees F), first trip after sitting overnight or for a longer period of time. If I pull over and shut off/restart the car, it resolves. However this has happened in stretches of road with limits 55+, little/no shoulder and approaching cars and it's a safety hazard to 1) not be able to speed up and 2) not ideal to pull over to turn off/on car especially with children in the car. Van was inspected by Kia Dealer and found no issue/was able to recreate at the auto shop so it was given back to me. First instance happened at 1,500 miles and is continuing. I do have video of this instances happening.