2016 Soul EV+ ... is my battery eligible for replacement?

[DrivingForce]

My 2016 + has a SOH of 76%, but using Soul Spy, I notice a couple cells are bright red.

Seems the forum has eliminated the ability to attach photos so I am unable to share. But basically a lot of the cells are 3.74 or 3.72, except for the two bright red ones which are 3.68.

Just wondering if I should go ahead and bring the car to the dealer now, or just wait until it gets down to 70%?

When fully charged, and with climate running, it's saying my max range is 60mi. And the long term mi/kwh is 3.7 or 3.8.

 

[IanL]

If the reduced range is a problem for you, no harm in trying now. Spy's SOH calculation may be different to that used by the KIA test equipment, and it would be interesting to compare.

 

[DrivingForce]

Thanks--the following day after a full charge, I drove to work and had Soul Spy running. The battery cells looked much more even and no bright red cells. I wonder if when the car is more fully charged the bad cells don't act up as much?? I'm obviously not a battery expert

 

[JejuSoul]

-
If SoulSpy says 76% then you are probably within a few months of hitting the level at which you will get a free battery replacement.
You may as well start talking to your service center about this.
Find out if the SOH test is free. If so go and get it done now.
They will 'accidentally' reset your SOH to 100% and it will take the battery another few weeks to re-calibrate back to the real level.
By the time you get a second test done you will probably be below 70%

SoulSpy was fairly accurate for 27kWh cars with the original battery and original BMS. After that who knows? So data comparing the actual test with the app is always useful. Problem is the app doesn't tell you what version of the BMS you have.

 

[DrivingForce]

Hmmmm, I thought when I took the car in for a recall (the parking brake thing) they also updated the BMS. So it wouldn't surprise me if I have an updated BMS

 

[DrivingForce]

Hmmm, today Soul spy is saying 71.7%. At this rate, I'll be ready for a new battery in a couple weeks!

I have yet to take it to the dealer. But my commute is about 44 miles round trip so I'm getting perilously close to not being able to make it, especially when winter weather comes. Right now my range is still showing 60 miles at 100%.

 

[DrivingForce]

So update... Soul Spy was most recently reading like 68.5% battery health, and my 42 mile R/T commute, I was coming up with single digit range left sometimes. I took the car to the dealer, and they have approved me for an HV battery replacement!!! Should get here next week and then I can schedule again.

Kia really did not fight me hard on this at all. I am pretty impressed.

 

[IanL]

Did they tell you what SOH their test equipment reported?

 

[DrivingForce]

Did they tell you what SOH their test equipment reported?

I'm afraid not. I'll try to ask.

 

[notfred]

At least the replacement battery is turning up quickly. That's good news, some people previously have had to wait weeks to months.

 

[evsunny]

This post about the battery really helped me to think before purchasing a vehicle. I need to research more about it. Thanks to all.

 

[ClayPete]

I have had almost the exact same situation.

Went to the dealer with a 45-48 mile range at full and a 67% on soul spy. The dealer first reset the battery which was very annoying - and I waited a couple of weeks for recalibration - and went back to the dealer ready to fight and insist that they do not reset the battery again - but they approved the battery replacement very smoothly!

Kia corporate called me to inform me twice so far to update me on the progress of the new batteries' overseas trip. They called about two weeks ago to say that it has landed in San Diego and is waiting in a warehouse to be freighted to Oregon in the next few days. This didn't happen - it has been two weeks and no sign of it yet - but I am still hopeful. Thought this process would take 6 months and it looks like it happening within 8 weeks or so is likely unless something goes terribly wrong.

 

[DrivingForce]

So I think I was originally expecting the battery to be installed by the end of September. It's now November and the replacement battery has just arrived to the "warehouse" and is going to be shipped to the dealer in approximately two weeks.

Luckily, given my range issues, the local dealer was able to hook me up with a loaner car (2021 Kia Sorento, which is not bad), but I am really looking forward to getting my Soul back!!

 

[DrivingForce]

I just got my car back today with a remanufactured battery pack. I don't know if it's the 27kWh pack or the 30kWh. Right now the GOM is still only reading 48 miles when 100% charged, but I drove 3.7 miles and only used 3% of charge, so it's looking good so far.

Soul Spy is showing 96 cells so I think I still have 27kWh.

 

[DrivingForce]

So I just did my first driving test. Using the %SOC from Soul Spy for the field "battery.SOC_pct", I traveled 61.9 miles and used up 61.5% of charge. That was mostly at 65 mph speed in ambient temperatures around 50F. At highway speed, that would extrapolate to about 100 miles range. I'm sure at lower speed it would be even higher!

Overall I'm pretty pleased. I wish I had gotten the 2018 battery with 30kWh but this will suffice for now.

 

[DrivingForce]

OK, so I've had the car for a few days. Did a 30 mil-ish highway drive, and then ended up with about 30% SOC. Then at a stop light I floored the energy pedal up a hill to about 35-40mph. I noticed at that time an EV Warning light came on the dash.

I scanned for codes and got P0C73 - Motor Electronics Coolant Pump "A" Control Performance code. Any idea what this is?

Also, the car, despite having being driven a few days (and discharging to less than 30% or so twice and recharging to 100%) doesn't seem to realize that it has a new battery. My 100% SOC is still only showing 52 miles. (But the actual range appears to be 100miles in my testing.)

 

[IanL]

The GOM takes some number of cycles to update to new conditions, as it seems to be influenced heavily by historic data - my case about 2 months, but I only use typically 50% of the battery over 6 days, so yours perhaps 2 weeks?

As for the fault code, you should take it to the dealer, even if the fault lamp has extinguished, so that he can extract the historic data and record it against your car's service record. Then, if it recurs or an allied fault surfaces, you have a case for getting it fixed under warranty, even if the period is over.

 

[notfred]

I don't think battery replacement touches the coolant system, that's all under the hood while the battery is under the car. I would check your coolant level and I definitely agree with taking it to the dealer for them to log the error code. If they did touch the coolant system it may be that they didn't bleed it properly, or it may be a completely separate issue with the coolant pump.

 

[DrivingForce]

I don't think battery replacement touches the coolant system, that's all under the hood while the battery is under the car. I would check your coolant level and I definitely agree with taking it to the dealer for them to log the error code. If they did touch the coolant system it may be that they didn't bleed it properly, or it may be a completely separate issue with the coolant pump.

I checked the coolant level and it appears normal. I did notice that I had a fluid leaking on my driveway, just one stain here and there, but clearly from the Soul. I had asked them to look into it when they did the battery. They said they did an inspection of the entire car and couldn't find any leak. I don't know if it's coolant, but it seems kind of unlikely. It left kind of a lighter brownish stain on the blacktop/asphalt.

 

[ksoul2084]

My 2016 EV+ blew a seal on the left drive axle at the gear box, and left about 1l of oil on my garage floor (all it holds). If you can get your phone camera under the front of the vehicle you should be able to see if there is oil around the sides of the gearbox (in the middle, under the 'motor stack'.

Car was still under warranty at the time so I called KIA Roadside Assistance and they came and loaded it on a flatbed and took it to the nearest dealer for repair.