So apparently my dealer thinks this noise is normal for an electric motor and they won't do anything to fix it. The tech said their demo Niro EV makes the exact same sound when driving below 10 mph and letting pure regen slow the car. I wasn't present to verify that claim but it wouldn't surprise me after reading owners complain about it on almost every international e-Niro forum. The above video came from this French forum where about a dozen owners have been dealing with this defect since March with no sign of a permanent solution.
Just warning any customers considering buying this car from KIA USA. Even if your test drive model doesn't make the noise, there is no guarantee it won't eventually develop this defect like many others. Seems to take different amount of time on each car - maybe depending on where and how you drive it or varying manufacturing tolerances.
It's interesting that the extremely annoying VESS pedestrian warning moaning starts at about the same time as this knocking noise and drowns it out to some extent - I wonder if KIA did that on purpose? My car has VESS permanently disabled since it's not required by law until next September. If you want to temporarily disable VESS and don't have the off button like European Niros, then just pull fuse labeled "Module 4" inside the cabin fuse box. Location shown in owner manual.
Attached is what it sounds like now at 4000 miles. Even worse than when I started this thread. It now does it on any regen level (0 though 3). All I have to do is drive around a flat parking lot without using the friction brakes - just tap accelerator to 10mph and let regen slow you down. At higher speeds, the slow knocking speeds up and becomes a constant rumbling/droning noise instead.
Just warning any customers considering buying this car from KIA USA. Even if your test drive model doesn't make the noise, there is no guarantee it won't eventually develop this defect like many others. Seems to take different amount of time on each car - maybe depending on where and how you drive it or varying manufacturing tolerances.
It's interesting that the extremely annoying VESS pedestrian warning moaning starts at about the same time as this knocking noise and drowns it out to some extent - I wonder if KIA did that on purpose? My car has VESS permanently disabled since it's not required by law until next September. If you want to temporarily disable VESS and don't have the off button like European Niros, then just pull fuse labeled "Module 4" inside the cabin fuse box. Location shown in owner manual.
Attached is what it sounds like now at 4000 miles. Even worse than when I started this thread. It now does it on any regen level (0 though 3). All I have to do is drive around a flat parking lot without using the friction brakes - just tap accelerator to 10mph and let regen slow you down. At higher speeds, the slow knocking speeds up and becomes a constant rumbling/droning noise instead.