2022 Kia Sorento Phev Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“Multiple times I have experienced weirdness with the Transmission in my 2022 Sorento PHEV. One specific situation has happened to me multiple times and is a safety risk. Occasionally while stopped at a red light or stop sign with a reasonable incline it seems the electric motor fails to engage and it never switches to the ICE engine either. …”

“My Sorento PHEV popped a P0c4e code and now the car is gutless on electric power. Kia cleared the code in an attempt to fix it but now the code is gone and it’s still weak. When I let off the brake it rolls when it used to have the power to hold it. I used to be able to get on the freeway and now I can’t get up to speed in town (35mph). It’s running in some sort of limp mode and Kia can’t see any codes. It’s loud, too. Each gear whines. It whines when I hit the brake and it regenerates electricity. …”

“I have gotten the notice Refill Inverter Coolant and Hybrid System Failure and lost acceleration and the all power. The first time this happened was in Dec 2024 with about 60,000 miles on the car. Dealer flushed system and it worked fine until April 2025 at about 71000 miles Hybrid system failure alert again, barely able to accelerate from stop light, made to a parking space just as I lost power steering. After about 2 hours to cool off car started and could be driven home. Got Refill inverter coolant alert.”

“The drive train and motor slow to a near stop in traffic when trying to clear a lane and makes it very dangerouos for other traffic to have to wait for me to clear a lane. There is something wrong and we complained about this before the warranty ran out, but they could not find anything. The car stops in traffic unexpectedly. I am not sure if sensors are causing this or what, but it has put me in danger of collision many times. We have to plan an exceedingly long time to pull into traffic so we don't get run over. Anti slip also doesn't turn off even though it says it is off. …”

“Purchased the car new in early February 2022. Within about six weeks, heard a loud bump from under the car as I was pulling away from the driveway, this happened 2-3 times. After these incidents the car felt like it was stuck in first gear, with whining upon acceleration and deceleration. I use the car locally and the speed limit is 25mph, so luckily I didn't have to drive it on the highway. The service center asked me to wait a month for an appointment but allowed me to bring it in when I stated I believed there was a safety issue. …”