Kia US has announced a voluntary recall for its electric flagship EV9 SUV which went on sale in the US late last year. However, the company has now recalled the vehicle over inadequate headliner protection. The recall affects 2,401 units of the EV9, against a total of 7,766 units sold in the first five months of the calendar year. The Kia EV9 is slated for launch in India later this year.
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In the documents provided to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Kia America said that select models could provide potentially inadequate headliner protection during a crash. The automaker found this issue during pre-production testing ahead of production slated to begin at the end of May.
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The tests were conducted at Kia’s Gwangmyeong Autoland plant in Korea and the automaker found that the affected models are the MY2024 EV9s produced between September 25, 2023, and March 21, 2024. These vehicles do not meet the federal safety requirements. The Kia EV9 Light models built between March 22 and May 28, 2024, were held and not sold. However, vehicles built from June 11 onwards have new headliners.
Kia said there were no injuries, crashes or fatalities reported due to the faulty headliner. On the other hand, the automaker will replace the impact-absorbing plates for free on the affected vehicles. Owners can expect notification letters related to the recall to reach them on July 31, 2024.
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Kia rolled off the first locally assembled EV9 in the US at its Georgia plant at the end of May this year. The EV9 in the US comes with a 99.8 kWh battery pack promising a range of 489 km (WLTP) on a single charge. It packs a dual-motor setup delivering a combined 379 bhp and 700 Nm of peak torque. The sportier GT Line allows the SUV to accelerate from 0-100 kmph in 4.9 seconds.
