Kia announced that it will be recalling a total of 208,858 Soul compacts in the United States alone, due to a potentially dangerous accelerator pedal issue.
According to the South Korean company’s filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the affected vehicles cover both gas-powered and electric variants of the Soul for the 2014 and 2015 model years. The accelerator pedal on these vehicles, said the automaker, could potentially break due to a lack of support. This could result in problems accelerating the Soul, thus increasing the risk of a crash.
The recall was set in motion in October, when Kia Motor America inspected two fractured accelerator pedals during testing and sent the pedals to South Korea for further investigation. Kia’s American arm found that there were 12 warranty claims for the accelerator problem, but no reports of crashes, injuries, or deaths. Kia was not immediately available for comment.
Kia said that it will likely start the recall on March 24, and that it will add supporting rubber below the pedal stopper, at no extra cost to the owner.