Kia EV6 Incident

On September [XXX], 2022, a Kia Customer Care Center (CC) agent was dispatched a case where the customer is alleging the "collision assistance feature did not follow through" resulting in a rear end collision with a 2022 Ford Expedition. Customer alleges he was traveling approximately 50mph on [XXX] with a following distance of 60-80ft with various safety features active including lane keeping assist, Forward Collision Avoidance and adaptive cruise control. The customer stated the Expedition had a broken taillight and it was difficult to determine whether the vehicle was slowing down. Customer noticed his Kia EV6 was not slowing down as his vehicle was approaching the Expedition at approximately 40ft causing him to manually pressed on the brakes. Customer reported that after depressing the brakes, the collision avoidance alarm sounded but the brakes felt "spongy". Customer alleges the system did not apply what the customer believed to be maximum braking power, even though he had the brakes fully depressed. Customer rear-ended the Expedition at 15mph. The customer's vehicle was towed. When asked by CC, the customer reported that HDA and cruise control were engaged at the time of the incident but the customer did not allege that either of those systems caused the accident. The subject Kia EV6 is equipped with the ADAS Level 2 Highway Driving Assist (HDA). HDA is a supplemental system that helps maintain a set distance and speed from the vehicle ahead when driving on a highway and helps keep the vehicle between the lanes while driving. However, there is no indication from the facts currently available that the HDA system was not working properly. Kia is currently working on scheduling an inspection of the vehicle. **9/[XXX]/2022 10-Day Update** Kia inspected the subject 2022 EV6 vehicle on September [XXX], 2022 and downloaded the vehicles EDR data. Based upon a review of the data, the subject vehicle did not have Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go (SCC w/ Stop & Go) engaged at least in the last 5 seconds prior to the crash. In order for HDA to operate, SCC must be engaged. The EDR data identifies the following: 1) Sign of the last accelerator input is 2.5 seconds prior to crash 2) the first sign of brake pedal input is at 1 second prior to crash 3) the vehicles FCA (Frontal Crash Avoidance) system started warning the driver from 1.6 seconds prior to crash all the way to point of crash and went through all 3 levels of FCA warning (Level 1 warning 1.6-1.4 seconds before crash, Level 2 warning 1.3-0.6 seconds before crash, and the last Level 3 0.5 seconds to point of crash.). Based on the EDR data, the accident was not caused by a failure and/or disengagement of HDA.