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My 2016 EV+ is at the dealer this next week for the same blinking bars issue. I videoed it for them. They said that Kia was aware of the problem. They have to remove the cluster, send it to KIA in California to have the new cluster programmed with the info from the old cluster so that things...

When I picked up my 2016 EV+ model in Portland, OR they also had one with the Fun & Sun option. The sticker said it was an $1100 option. It looked really nice but I had to admit to my self that I wouldn't use it very much in this climate.

Your dealer doesn't sound like they have driven a manual transmission ICE car much or understands EV very well. The gear box does not change ratio so D or B mode makes no difference in that regard. D or B mode only tells the controller how much regen to have. I recommend that you try B mode all...

I was contacted today by Broadway Kia that they just received four Soul EVs. As soon as I could get off work my wife and I drove down and picked up a white Soul EV+! :D This is the 2016 model, too. They told us that we were the first in the Portland, OR area to purchase a new Soul EV. We saw...

Running into rain takes energy, both against the car and the little "wall" of water the tires have to roll over. This was really noticeable in the 2000 Honda Insight I used to own. Mileage would drop significantly. Also, there environmentals used to defrost and possibly heat the car increase...

Who dreamed that up? Never heard of or seen that and I've been studying and working with various lithium batteries for several years now. In fact, I'd wager that the fully charge every 5000 hours mentioned has more to do with calibrating the electronics than making the battery last longer. What...

That is good to know. I know that the LiFePO4 cells in my Gizmo can be charged quite rapidly until nearly full. Other cell chemistries can't be charged to that high without the terminal voltage going too high. It sounds like Kia engineers did their homework and chose a better battery than the...

6.6kW is only twice as fast as 3.3kW for the first 80-90% of the pack. I don't know the exact time it starts to taper because I don't have a Soul EV yet. :( I don't know when the 6.6kW drops to 3.3kW, besides, it not only depends on the particular battery chemistry but it also depends on age of...

Probably due to cost and the fact that the range would not noticeably be impacted. Considering the difference in wattage between the two light types and then comparing that to what is consumed even driving 35mph, the percentage is quite low. I don't have a Soul EV to do testing on but using my...

The end of charging has to slow down so as not to push the charge voltage too high. As the battery fills the charge rate drops. Eventually the 6.6kW charger will drop to 3.3kW. At that point on, the charge rate of the two chargers will be identical.

Just put them in the appropriate dimple in the bumper and start trying to screw them in. They will make their own threaded hole. Just don't over tighten them so as to strip out the hole.

Interesting info. I wonder if the Kia stays away from max full and/or uses a bottom balanced pack like some converters do with LiFePO4 cells. I'm coming up on 4 years without any cells drifting from the others so maybe Kia discovered that their cells don't drift either. As for Leaf being...

When I test drove the Soul EV the other day I noticed that there are several dimples in the front bumper to accommodate different license plates. My Corolla had the same setup where a large short stainless steel wood screw was used to screw right into the bumper to hold the license plate.

Many OEM chargers are "programmable" or CAN controlled so it is definitely possible to upgrade the battery and change the charging parameters. The software for range determination and so forth could also be updated. Whether the OEM will do that is up for question. You might need to hack the...

Actually, it is for cooling the motor, controller, charger, DC-DC converter for the 12V system. High power electronics generate significant heat in small locations and this heat has to be removed. Liquid cooling is most efficient at this. The heat/cooling of the cabin is provided by a heat...

I forgot to add that Chris Utter is the salesman at Broadway Kia who contacted us when we requested info online. He is great to work with and doesn't presume to know everything. He truly wants to learn about it and help out the customer. There was another salesman, Jake I think, who was also...

Yes. The online survey they asked us to fill out asked, "In what metropolitan area/state are you located in?" and then listed Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Texas; Hawaii; Atlanta, GA; Other (please specify) as locations. The demo had CA plates and only 1600 miles on the odometer.

I drove a white demo Soul EV in Portland, Oregon this Thursday at Broadway Kia. Didn't get to drive it on the freeway due to rush-hour traffic slower than on side roads. We couldn't order one yet and were told it would be a couple of months.