2018 KIA NIRO PLUG-IN HYBRID warning light

Driving your vehicle
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The ABS warning light will stay on for
approximately 3 seconds after the
engine start/stop button is ON.
During that time, the ABS will go
through self-diagnosis and the light
will go off if everything is normal. If
the light stays on, you may have a
problem with your ABS. Contact an
authorized Kia dealer as soon as
possible. When you drive on a road having
poor traction, such as an icy road,
and have operated your brakes
continuously, the ABS will be active
continuously and the ABS warning
light may illuminate. Pull your vehi-
cle over to a safe place and stop
the engine.
Restart the engine. If the ABS warning light goes off, then your
ABS system is normal. Otherwise,
you may have a problem with the
ABS. Contact an authorized Kia
dealer as soon as possible.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
When you jump start your vehicle
because of a drained battery, the
engine may not run as smoothly and
the ABS warning light may turn on at
the same time. This happens because
of low battery voltage. It does not
mean your ABS has malfunctioned.
• Do not pump your brakes!
• Have the battery recharged before
driving the vehicle.
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631
Driving your vehicle
“Traction Control disabled”
ESC off state 1
To cancel ESC operation, press the
ESC OFF button (ESC OFF ) short-
ly (ESC OFF indicator light (ESC OFF ) illuminates). At this state, the
engine control function does not oper-
ate. It means the traction control func-
tion does not operate. Brake control
function only operates.
“Traction & Stability Control disabled”

To cancel ESC operation, press the
ESC OFF button (ESC OFF ) for
more than 3 seconds. ESC OFF indi-
cator light (ESC OFF ) illuminates
and ESC OFF warning chime will
sound. At this state, the engine con-
trol function and brake control func-
tion do not operate. It means the car
stability control function does not
operate any more.Indicator light
When engine start/stop button is
turned to ON, the indicator light illu-
minates, then goes off if the ESC
system is operating normally.
The ESC indicator light blinks when-
ever ESC is operating or illuminates
when ESC fails to operate.
The ESC OFF indicator light comes
on when the ESC is turned off with
the button.
■ ESC indicator light
■ ESC OFF indicator light
WARNING- Electronic sta-
bility control
Drive carefully even though your
vehicle has Electronic Stability
Control. It can only assist you in
maintaining control under cer-
tain circumstances.

Driving your vehicle
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6
ESC OFF usage
When driving
ESC should be turned on for daily
driving whenever possible.
To turn ESC off while driving, press the ESC OFF button while driving
on a flat road surface.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
• When operating the vehicle on a
dynamometer, ensure that the
ESC is turned off (ESC OFF light
illuminated). If the ESC is left on,
it may prevent the vehicle speed
from increasing, and result in false
diagnosis.
• Turning the ESC off does not affect ABS or brake system opera-
tion.
Vehicle stability management
(VSM)
This system provides further
enhancements to vehicle stability
and steering responses when a vehi-
cle is driving on a slippery road or a
vehicle detects changes in coeffi-
cient of friction between right wheels
and left wheels when braking.
WARNING- Operating
ESC
Never press the ESC OFF but-
ton while ESC is operating (ESC
indicator light blinks).
If ESC is turned off while ESC is
operating, the vehicle may slip
out of control.
WARNING- Tire/ Wheel size
When replacing tires and wheels,
make sure they are the same size
as the original tires and wheels
installed. Driving with varying
tire or wheel sizes may diminish
any supplemental safety benefits
of the VSM system.

633
Driving your vehicle
VSM operation
When the VSM is in operation, ESC
indicator light ( ) blinks.
When the vehicle stability manage-
ment is operating properly, you can
feel a slight pulsation in the vehicle
and/or abnormal steering responses
(EPS- Electronic Power Steering).
This is only the effect of brake and
EPS control and indicates nothing
unusual.
The VSM does not operate when:
Driving on a sloping road such as agradient or incline
Driving in reverse
ESC OFF indicator light ( ) remains on the instrument cluster
EPS indicator light remains on the instrument cluster
VSM operation off
If you press the ESC OFF button to
turn off the ESC, the VSM will also
cancel and the ESC OFF indicator
light ( ) illuminates.
To turn on the VSM, press the button
again. The ESC OFF indicator light
goes out.
Malfunction indicator
The VSM can be deactivated even if
you don’t cancel the VSM operation
by pressing the ESC OFF button. It
indicates that a malfunction has
been detected somewhere in the
Electric Power Steering system or
VSM system. If the ESC indicator
light ( ) or EPS warning light
remains on, take your vehicle to an
authorized Kia dealer and have the
system checked.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
• The VSM is designed to function
above approximately 13 mph (22
km/h) on curves.
• The VSM is designed to function above approximately 6 mph (10
km/h) when a vehicle is braking on
a split-mu surface. A split-mu sur-
face is made of two surfaces which
have different friction forces.

Driving your vehicle
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The Vehicle Stability Management
system is not a substitute for safe
driving practices but a supplemen-
tary function only. It is the responsi-
bility of the driver to always check
the speed and the distance to the
vehicle ahead. Always hold the
steering wheel firmly while driving.
Your vehicle is designed to activate according to the driver’s intention,
even with installed VSM. Always fol-
low all the normal precautions for
driving at safe speeds for the condi-
tions – including driving in clement
weather and on a slippery road.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
For maximum protection, always
wear your seat belt. No system, no
matter how advanced, can compen-
sate for all driver error and/or driv-
ing conditions. Always drive respon-
sibly.
Hill-start assist control (HAC)
A vehicle has the tendency to roll
back on a steep hill when it starts to
go after stopping. The Hill-start
Assist Control (HAC) prevents the
vehicle from rolling back by applying
the brakes automatically for about 2
seconds. The brakes are released
when the accelerator pedal is
depressed or after about 2 seconds.
The HAC is activated only for about 2
seconds, so when the vehicle is
starting off always depress the accel-
erator pedal.
Good braking practices
Check to be sure the parking brake
is not engaged and the parking
brake indicator light is out before
driving away.
Driving through water may get the brakes wet. They can also get wet
when the vehicle is washed. Wet
brakes can be dangerous! Your
vehicle will not stop as quickly if the
brakes are wet. Wet brakes may
cause the vehicle to pull to one side.
To dry the brakes, apply the brakes
lightly until the braking action
returns to normal, taking care to
keep the vehicle under control at all
times. If the braking action does not
return to normal, stop as soon as it
is safe to do so and call an author-
ized Kia dealer for assistance.
Don't coast down hills with the vehicle out of gear. This is extreme-
ly hazardous. Keep the vehicle in
gear at all times, use the brakes to
slow down, then shift to a lower
gear so that engine braking will
help you maintain a safe speed.
WARNING- Maintaining
Brake Pressure on Incline
HAC does not replace the need
to apply brakes while stopped on
an incline. While stopped, make
sure you maintain brake pres-
sure sufficient to prevent your
vehicle from rolling backward
and causing an accident. Don’t
release the brake pedal until you
are ready to accelerate forward.

637
Driving your vehicle
The warning light illumi-
nates on the LCD display,
when you cancel the AEB
system. The driver can
monitor the AEB ON/OFF status on
the LCD display. When the warning
light remains ON with the AEB acti-
vated, have your vehicle inspected
by an authorized Kia dealer.
The driver can select the initial warn-
ing activation time in the User
Settings in the instrument cluster
LCD display. The options for the ini-
tial Forward Collision Warning
include the following:
selected, the initial
Forward Collision Warning
is activated earlier than
normal. This setting maxi-
mizes the amount of dis-
tance between the vehicle
or pedestrian ahead before
the initial warning occurs.
The driver feels it is too
sensitive to activate than
expectation, change it to
Normal. If the vehicle in
front stops abruptly, the
driver can notice the warn-
ing alarm is late even
though the early option is
selected.
selected, the initial
Forward Collision
Warning is activated nor-
mally. This setting allows
for a nominal amount of
distance between the
vehicle or pedestrian
ahead before the initial
warning occurs.
selected, the initial Forward
Collision Warning is activat-
ed later than normal. This
setting reduces the amount
of distance between the
vehicle or pedestrian ahead
before the initial warning
occurs. The driver can use it
when the traffic is not busy
on the road and driving
speed is lower.

641
Driving your vehicle
Sensor to detect the distance
from the vehicle in front
(front radar)
The sensor is to maintain a certain
distance from the vehicle in front.
However, the smudged sensor lens
with foreign substances, such as
snow and rain, adversely affects the
sensing performance. It may even
temporarily cancel the AEB. Always
keep the sensor lens clean.
Warning message and warninglight
When the sensor is covered or the
sensor lens is dirty with foreign sub-
stances, such as snow or rain, the
AEB operation may temporarily stop.
In this case, a warning message will
appear to notify the driver.
This is not a malfunction with the
AEB. To operate the AEB again,
remove the foreign substances.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
• Do not install any accessories, such
as a license plate bracket or
bumper sticker near the sensor
area. Do not replace the bumper
by yourself. Doing so may adverse-
ly affect the sensing performance.
• Always keep the sensor/bumper area clean.
• Use only a soft cloth to wash the vehicle. Also, do not spray highly
pressurized water on the sensor
installed on the bumper.
• Be careful not to apply unneces- sary force on the frontal sensor
area. When the sensor moves out
of the correct position due to
external force, the system may not
operate correctly even without the
warning light or message. In this
case, have your vehicle inspected
by an authorized Kia dealer.
• Use only the genuine Kia sensor cover. Do not arbitrarily apply
paint on the sensor cover.
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Driving your vehicle
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System malfunction
When the AEB is not working prop-
erly, the AEB warning light ( ) will
illuminate and the warning mes-
sage will appear for a few seconds.
After the message disappears, the
master warning light ( ) will illu-
minate. In this case, have your vehi-
cle inspected by an authorized Kia
dealer. The AEB warning message may
appear along with the illumination
of the ESC warning light.
The AEB may unnecessarily pro- duce warning messages and warn-
ing alarms. Due to the sensing lim-
itation, the AEB may not produce
warning messages or warning
alarm at all.
When there is a malfunction with the AEB, the braking control does
not operate upon detecting a colli-
sion risk even with other braking
systems normally operating. The AEB operates only for the
vehicle / pedestrian in front, while
driving forward. It does not operate
for any animals or vehicles in the
opposite direction.
The AEB can not recognize cross- traffic or parked vehicles present-
ing a side-profile.
If the vehicle ahead makes a sud- den stop, the braking system will
not be activated sufficiently, which
could lead to a collision. Always be
aware of dangerous situations
when driving.
Sudden braking of the vehicle while the system is ON might
cause the passenger or materials
inside to move and lead to injuries.
If the brake is depressed when a collision is about to occur, the sys-
tem may not be activated.
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WARNING
The AEB is only a supplemental
system for the driver’s conven-
ience.
The driver still maintains
responsibility to control the
vehicle. Do not solely depend
on the AEB system. Rather,
maintain a safe braking dis-
tance, and, if necessary,
depress the brake pedal to
lower the driving speed.