Looking for the 12 Volt battery on my hybrid

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papaham

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I have a new 2026 Sportage HEV. I am curious if there is a separate 12 volt battery or if the 12 volts is tapped off the Hybrid battery. Any details on the 12 volt system would be appreciated.
 
It’s part of the traction battery. Not really a separate battery. That’s why it has such small capacity when on acc. mode. Can’t risk running down the traction battery. Can still jump via the post in the engine bay near the fuse box. But no separate 12V to trickle charge, or anything.
 
I've always kept my car batteries on a smart trickle charger (up to 2.5A), which turns off when the battery is full. I had planned to do that with my new 2026 Kia Sportage Prestige SX but when I lifted up the cover on the fuse box (the dealer pointed to it and said it was the 12V battery), all I saw was fuses and tested the piece of shiny metal sticking up near the + sign and found that it read 12.9V. I'm assuming you can jump the battery by putting the charger + on that metal bar sticking up in the fuse box and using a ground lug for the charger - but has anyone put a trickle charger to the + in the fuse box where the 12.9V was measured? I'd like to sit in the garage with the manual and go through all the programming options for the screens, but I don't want the car starting and I don't want a dead battery.
 
If you have a hybrid, then no, you cannot trickle charge it. There is no 12V battery. It "reserves" part of the high voltage traction battery for the 12V side and then it simply down-converts to 12V, as needed. There is a starter boost button on the left side of the dashboard that provides enough juice to turn the starter if that side of the battery gets low. But it can only "recharge" that side from the main traction battery a few times before it shuts down completely and you would need to jump start. You should probably move the car outside, if you want to spend a lot of time going though the settings...
 
Thanks Steveo for all the great info. When you mentioned "starter boost button," are you referring to "12V Battery Reset" button. On my model, that's the only button I see that impacts the 12V battery. I'll have to read more about everything in the gigantic book they give you. I reset the trip MPG feature and got 51.2 MPG during a 4-mile trip in town (stopping at 2 stores). I live in a mountain community so when I drove up the steep hills to get to my house on the very top, I think it said 37MPG, but I'm guessing it will show 60MPG when I go back down the hill. I really love the car and it's so much quieter than my old car (traded in 2018 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring). The only thing I don't like are the knobs that do TUNING and TEMP control on one side and VOLUME and TEMP on the other side of the dash. I programmed the passenger side knob for VOLUME (versus tuning) since my wife is always changing the volume, but I can't get her to remember to tap that touchscreen button to adjust temperature. I spent a while using the voice commands and I'm amazed at how well it understands every word. I can turn on/off heated steering wheel, adjust fan speed, adjust radio volume, adjust temperature, and change Sirius XM radio stations ALL WITH MY VOICE. Totally amazing! I'm ready to try, "Hey Kia, stop my wife from complaining about the volume/temp knob!"
 
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