2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid

Detailed information is in the attached pdf file, but in a nutshell, Kia is covering a safety defect in their vehicles by claiming the process is “proprietary”. On several occasions we have lost propulsion, which means we had no control over our vehicle, and Kia’s explanation is simply, “the vehicle is performing as intended “! These incidents always happened at low speeds, just accelerating from a stop, but left us in a precarious situation as we were left in the middle of a busy intersection with no control over our vehicle! Propulsion would eventually return. After surviving several of these failures, I learned the proper thing was to let both pedals return to their idle position and then the vehicle would recover. This is a most difficult thing to accomplish when surrounded by angry drivers! The failures were identified by Google AI as a Brake Override System, also known as Brake Throttle Override. However, Kia already has a very functional Brake Over Accelerator process, so why would they have two similar functions? Kia knows the answer but is refusing to divulge any information regarding the intention or purpose of this mysterious process which makes our vehicle unsafe!

I had pickup my vehicle from the dealership where it had been since the 29th of May due to a previous incident exactly the same as what occurred this time. The vehicle had been returned to me as the service department could find nothing wrong from the May 29th incident. On my way home from the dealership, the vehicle started the same as on May 29th. When accelerating from a stoplight, I lost all propulsion. After about 60 seconds the vehicle recovered and I turned to go back to the dealership. At the aforementioned intersection (crossing over I35) it again lost propulsion, only this time for a longer period of time. I was in heavy traffic and the car behind me was honking even though I had my hazard warning flashers operating! I made it to the dealership where the service manager agreed to do a ride along. We were about to the end of the ride along when the vehicle lost propulsion power. It wasn’t as severe and recovered quickly. The service manager said he had noticed the brake pedal move at the time I accelerated. His theory was that the brake being applied at the same time as the acceleration cause the computer to get confused and it’s reaction was to remove propulsion. No offer was given to take the vehicle back for further testing. I dropped the service manager off and proceeded to return home, being cognizant of my foot placement and insuring it was well away from the brake when accelerating. KIA Care has so far refused to get involved. While I recognize braking at the time of acceleration is counterproductive, it should not cause a catastrophic propulsion failure. Plus the system sets no flags that it had this event! I have tried recreating this failure by using my left foot on the brake while accelerating with my right. This doesn’t recreate the problem so it must be a timing issue. I do not know if this issue is unique to my vehicle or is shared with other hybrids! If KIA Care refuses to investiga, the lemon law might have to be invoked!