Kia is recalling 14,163 EV9 electric SUVs because their digital instrument clusters could go blank while the vehicles are being driven.
The vehicles, a mix of 2024 and 2025 models, received an over-the-air software update in August that may have introduced a software logic error, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This can cause instrument-cluster screens to go blank intermittently, preventing the driver from seeing the speedometer, odometer, and turn signal indicators.
2024 Kia EV9
The "underlying system functionality" of these indicators is not affected, the NHTSA noted, but because the software issue prevents the information from being seen by the driver, it's a safety issue. Screen failures that block vital information or controls fall into the safety realm, which is also why Tesla was forced to recall 135,000 vehicles in 2021 to fix faulty touchscreens that could cause loss of the rearview camera display and other functions.
Kia first became aware of the issue after a series of customer complaints, but told the NHTSA that it was unaware of any crashes, injuries, or fatalities related to the issue.
2024 Kia EV9
The automaker will push another over-the-air update to address the issue, but customers can also take their cars to dealerships to have the software updated. Kia plans to mail owner notification letters Oct. 31. Owners can also contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542 for more information. Kia's reference number for this recall is SC326.
This is the second recent recall for the EV9, which debuted for the 2024 model year offering up to 304 miles of range on less than 100 kwh of battery capacity, and pricing that topped out at $75,395 to land underneath the federal EV tax credit cap. The other recall addresses a remote parking system issue in 12,400 models equipped with that optional feature.
