A Dead EV in the Driveway
Kia's flagship all-electric SUV, the EV9, is facing a growing backlash from owners over a recurring 12-volt battery failure issue — and it's proving to be more than just an inconvenience.
For one Verge reporter, the problem hit close to home when the EV9 sitting in their driveway went completely dark. The key fob stopped working, the app lost its connection to the car, and there was no obvious way in. The culprit? A dead 12-volt auxiliary battery — the same kind of small battery found in traditional gas-powered vehicles, and just as prone to failure.
Why EVs Still Need a 12V Battery
It might seem counterintuitive that an electric vehicle with a massive high-voltage drive battery could be undone by a small 12-volt unit, but it's a common design reality across most EV platforms. The 12V battery powers the low-voltage electrical systems: door locks, windows, interior lighting, the infotainment screen, and — critically — the systems that wake up the main battery pack.
If the 12V battery dies, the car essentially can't boot. You can't unlock the doors electronically, you can't access the charging port remotely, and you can't communicate with the vehicle via an app. It's a single point of failure that sits at the very foundation of how modern EVs operate.
The EV9's Specific Problem
The EV9's 12V battery issues appear to be more frequent and more severe than what owners of other EVs typically experience. Reports have circulated widely enough that savvy EV9 buyers have taken to purchasing portable jump starters before they even take delivery — a telling sign that the problem is well known within the community.
Kia has yet to issue a formal recall or service bulletin addressing the root cause publicly, though some owners have reported dealers replacing the 12V battery under warranty. The concern is whether a replacement battery solves the underlying issue, or whether something in the EV9's electrical architecture is causing the battery to drain faster than it should.
In many EVs, the 12V battery is kept topped up by a DC-to-DC converter that draws from the main high-voltage pack. If that converter is underperforming, or if the car's parasitic drain (power consumed while parked) is too high, the 12V unit can quietly die over days or weeks of sitting.
What Owners Are Doing About It
In the absence of a clear fix from Kia, EV9 owners have become resourceful. Manual key slots — tucked discreetly into the door handles — allow physical entry when electronics fail. Frunk access then lets owners reach the 12V battery directly to jump-start the system.
Owner forums and Reddit threads are filled with step-by-step guides for doing exactly this, a workaround that works but speaks to how normalized the problem has become in the EV9 community.
A Wider EV Industry Issue
The EV9's struggles shine a light on a broader challenge facing the electric vehicle industry: auxiliary battery reliability. As automakers race to electrify their lineups, the humble 12V battery — a technology that has barely changed in decades — keeps emerging as an unexpected weak link. Tesla, Hyundai, and others have faced similar complaints at various points.
For Kia, a brand that has earned significant goodwill with its EV6 and EV9 designs, the battery issue is a reputational risk worth taking seriously. A flagship three-row family SUV should not require owners to carry a jump pack as standard equipment.
Source: The Verge
