#kia

LOS ANGELES -- In addition to the updated 2024 Sorento, Kia has unveiled two concepts today at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show -- the EV3 and EV4.

LOS ANGELES -- Boxes are in these days, it seems.

OK, that's probably a bit of an overstatement -- there are plenty of crossovers on the market with swoopy styling -- but the facelifted 2024 Kia Sorento is definitely following the rugged/boxy trend.

Though EV fires receive a tremendous amount of attention in the news, they are far less common proportionally than gas vehicle fires. Sure, we’ve seen a few massive recalls for EV fires in recent years, including a massive campaign involving every Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV made between 2017 and 2023, but gas vehicles are still more likely to catch fire. Hyundai and Kia are the latest manufacturers to issue a fire-related recall, this time for millions of gas vehicles with faulty hydraulic electronic control units (HECU) and antilock brake modules. 

It’s a rare day this author gets to combine his interests of the automotive industry and the YouTube channel for security expert LockPickingLawyer. A video uploaded earlier this week provides opportunity for such a crossover.

Many manufacturers are busy running in the opposite direction from small, affordable cars, but there remain a few which are willing to play in this low(er) margin arena. Kia is one of them, with cars like the Rio and Forte – and it may be re-upping the latter in our market later this year.

Kia’s SUVs are surprisingly premium and well equipped for the price, and the automaker has had great success with its Telluride three-row. The long-running Sorento is due for a facelift after a few years on sale in its current form, and it appears it’s getting one – at least in South Korea. 

Tesla’s Supercharger network seems to have taken over the world, with several major automakers recently announcing a shift to the standard in the coming years. However, that hasn’t stopped many others from banding together to form their own charging network, including some who signed on with Tesla.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is launching an investigation into the Kia EV6 after 11 complaints were filed regarding sudden power losses. 

The Kia EV6 gets most of the attention when it comes to Kia EVs. That and the upcoming EV9. But the EV version of Kia’s Niro flies a bit under the attention radar.

A younger, less informed version of myself was a bit scared that once EVs took over the market, we’d all be sentenced to driving boring machines that silently whisked us from place to place but offered no soul, no character, no fun.

One-pedal driving is one of the more well-known features of electric vehicles, but Consumer Reports recently voiced concerns that the feature might be more dangerous than initially thought.

You might remember that when yours truly flew to California last year to drive the 2023 Kia Sportage, I didn’t get to spend more than five minutes in the hybrid version. I spent most of my day in the X-Pro, which I was lukewarm about.

A full week with the hybrid showed me I was, indeed, missing out.

We’ve been hearing about the ease with which even the most amateur thief can steal older Hyundai and Kia models for a while now. Fixes for the lack of an electronic immobilizer are slow to come, but a group of owners took matters into their own hands with a class-action lawsuit. The issue was recently settled, netting a significant payment from the automakers.

Hyundai Motor Group might quite literally end up paying for having failed to equip engine immobilizers to some of its older models. You’ll undoubtedly recall the TikTok Kia Boyz Challenge, where “at-risk youths” utilized USB connectors on torn open ignition slots to hotwire Hyundai and Kia models. Originating in the summer of 2021, the trend was in the mainstream media the following year and caused serious publicity issues for the manufacturer.

Numerous U.S. insurance agencies have reportedly joined forces to sue the automaker for damages they claim could reach up to $600 million.

Though their electric vehicle lines are among the most compelling new zero-emissions models, Kia and Hyundai’s EVs don’t currently qualify for federal tax credits because of where they’re built. Both are working toward bringing EV production to the U.S., but in the meantime, Kia is looking to take advantage of a little-known provision in the new rules that allow customers to receive the credit on ineligible vehicles when leasing.