There are 6 owner-reported lighting complaints for the 2022 Kia EV6in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
When heavy regenerative braking is used, the car decelerates very quickly. Despite this, the brake lights do not turn on. This is very dangerous as the regenerative braking can be used to completely stop the vehicle. People driving behind me need to be aware that I am coming to a stop and are not currently warned. Technology Connections just released a very detailed video on the Ioniq 5 which uses the same drivetrain as the EV6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0YW7x9U5TQ
The brake light does not activate in a way that would signal to other drivers that the vehicle is stopping or slowing down, while using higher regenerative braking. The ipedal mode can have a significant amount of deceleration and not activate the brake light, even coming to a full stop and not activating the light, if the driver's foot is not completely off the pedal. I have been told by other drivers that my brake lights were out when I expected that they were working. Testing this with a odb2 device and another driver following behind me confirmed that the Kia EV6 does not activate brake lights when it should. Additionally, there is a video on youtube titled "Electric cars prove we need to rethink brake lights", demonstrating this on a similar vehicle, the Hyundai Ioniq 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0YW7x9U5TQ There is no indication in the vehicle that the brake lights are not functioning as a driver would expect. The lights do work when using the brake pedal and are not normally "malfunctioning". The nearest dealer has confirmed that the driver needs to take their foot off of the accelerator to actuate the brake lights. In my opinion, the vehicle should be recalled to apply a fix that signals braking and intent to slow down that is consistent with the deceleration of the vehicle.
While driving the vehicle with the main propulsion battery charged to 85%, a battery failure warning light lit at the time the vehicle lost power, slowed down to a stop and lost all lighting. The fault was a failure of the 12 VDC auxiliary power system which resulted in a loss of vehicle speed, dash board buttons to not function, and vehicle controls including lights to be lost. The vehicle was unable to be locked. The vehicle lost power and speed in a remote location causing me to pull off of the road. The vehicle lost all lighting preventing me from warning other drivers of the hazard situation. The car was towed to the nearest Kia Dealership who has confirmed that the 12 VDC power system was de-energized, caused by a dead 12 VDC battery and failed charging module (Kia Part Number 36400-1XFA0) and is currently awaiting replacement under warranted repair when the parts become available.
The headlights on the 2022 Kia EV6 do not provide enough illumination for proper night driving. They are full and barely shine enough for 10 feet out from vehicle. This causes concern for object avoidance and proper identification from oncoming traffic and pedestrians. Kia made adjustments to later year 2022 model years, European models get Matrix lights, and all 2023 model years. IIHS rated 2022 model year headlights as “Poor”.
No distinct incident. The headlights on this car are very poor. My front visibility is extremely limited, especially to the right, since I got this vehicle in August 2022. I have had some narrow misses with pedestrians I couldn't see. These are the worst headlights of any car I've owned since 1970. I have noted that the IHSS rates these headlights as "poor". This should be unacceptable in this date and age. I would like you to require a recall these headlights with those on the newer models which hae achieved a "good" rating from the IHSS. I have requested this from Kia, but haven't gotten a reply. I brought this vehicle to a dealer yesterday. They told me the headlights were adjusted correctly, and that I'd should use high beams most of the time.
There exists a serious manufacturing defect in that the brake lights do not turn on when the car is used in one-pedal drive mode and even a rapid deceleration occurs due to regenerative braking. This was documented by Consumer Reports and it presents a critical safety hazard. https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/brake-lights-can-fail-to-provide-fair-warning-on-some-evs-a9533519285/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_FB&fbclid=IwAR3N_MQOI4ZGHfHSf18eAJSE7Cx02eftIx2k8F_oKaVo19_YJKgYEn7yeOE
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026