27,000 miles 86-mile range; my Soul EV commute is over

[GizmoEV]

The varied m/kwh depends on heat of course and also on my speed. If I ended up near home with some extra juice I'd speed up to 65 mph and lower my m/kwh number.

No to be picky but m/kWh is meters per kilowatt-hour. Miles per kilowatt-hour is mi/kWh.

 

[tractioninc]

Averaging 4.5 mi/kWh might extend your range by 15 miles or more.

Not gonna happen. Not on my crazy Ca freeway commute across 3 of them. Going 62 mph already means I'm pushing my luck. I'm constantly watching what's coming from behind, where it's going, and if it's going to take my rear corner with it.

The interstate I commute on every day has a 65 mph limit, so I can relate.

EVs lose efficiency and range as speeds increase mostly because of aero drag. You can reduce the effects some by slowing down some, but at these speeds it's actually more effective to follow another vehicle instead. The larger the vehicle you follow, the more efficiency gain.

I am not advocating dangerous behavior. There’s no need to drive inches from someone’s bumper to see a benefit. But if you routinely travel at 62 mph on the highway, why not make sure to follow behind someone? Following an SUV will give you a noticeable improvement in efficiency; following an 18-wheeler (articulated lorry) gives a large improvement.

 

[iletric]

You can...follow another vehicle... The larger the vehicle you follow, the more efficiency gain.

It's called drafting. Not doable in Ca. We move over if someone is drafting behind us, because we don't know what the drafting driver is after, drafting or "get outta my way, you slowpoke." So we can't draft for too long.

Secondly, that's how you get your front hood pockmarked with all the little rocks the car you follow too closely throws at ya. I actually drive as far from anyone in front of me as possible. I want to keep that leased front hood as neat as possible for obvious reasons. And it provides safety cushion if something goes down. It also allows drivers to move in and out of my lane which enables smoother, and ultimately less impeded traffic, believe it or not. (Who what where, help them there, is my motto.)

I also forgot to mention that my commute is quite hilly. You never recharge going downhill what you lost climbing up at freeway speed. So, that adds more losses to my mi/kwh average.

 

[slobodanc]

Ok well clearly this model doesn't fit your needs. It doesn't mean it is a bad car????

Just the shape alone is clearly not very good for high speed driving on highway. So if you drive at high speeds a lot then why did you even consider Soul???? It is a box ffs??? Really.

Next 80 miles range is pushing your luck even with the new battery pack. I have 100 km (60 miles) leaving me a good large margin. Again why didn't you get gas version or simply wait for bigger batteries coming in other models???

You have 2 choices. Either relax and drive your Kia more gently and at lower speeds or replace it. I have roughly 50/50 highway and back roads. My record so far is 13.9 kWh/100km

139 Wh/km or 222 Wh/mile

Say battery really did degrade down to 80%:
27 * 80% = 21.6 kWh / 0.222 Wh/mile = 97.3 miles

So even if battery really did degrade so much (extremely unlikely) using slower driving in B gear you could still get almost 97 miles!!!!

I am not saying you have to do this. You have choices. Do this or new car. In any case there is no reason to call Soul EV bad car just because it doesn't meet your expectations.

 

[iletric]

Isn't there a Kia or Nissan dealer on the way home? Stop for a 5 min Chademo charge, grab something to drink, and you are off.

I covered the subject above.

 

[mysoulev]

I find the GOM a bit conservative especially the last 30km, it would only drop 10km (to 20km remaining) after driving 15km.

if the GOM says 82mi and your commute is 80mi, go for it, and check for SOC as suggested by mtmdrew1. remember, you have roadside assistance.

 

[JejuSoul]

iletric: can you let us know what your GOM is saying now that the weather is warmer.

Your car seems to be a bit of an outlier. Now that we have more info from many other cars - it seems that none have serious battery degradation. And I am including the 4 cars being tested at the Intertek AVTA testing facility in downtown Phoenix.

This screenshot was recently posted to facebook by a driver from Southern California.

 

[tractioninc]

Wow, that's over 200 km!

 

[mtndrew1]

iletric: can you let us know what your GOM is saying now that the weather is warmer.

Your car seems to be a bit of an outlier. Now that we have more info from many other cars - it seems that none have serious battery degradation. And I am including the 4 cars being tested at the Intertek AVTA testing facility in downtown Phoenix.

This screenshot was recently posted to facebook by a driver from Southern California.

Haha that's my car! Small world.

It was an unusually high reading after several days of warm weather. I haven't done a 100% charge since then so I'm not sure where it's at now.

Edit: As an aside, I have experienced very little actual capacity degradation as far as I can tell. I still regularly exceed 1 mile per 1% SOC @ ~4mi/kWh. Naturally the GOM bounces all over the place from a low of ~85 miles predicted range @ 100% SOC to what you see above, which I took last week. The GOM is, in my experience, a grossly inaccurate way to measure degradation in this car.

 

[2016Electric]

iletric: can you let us know what your GOM is saying now that the weather is warmer.

Your car seems to be a bit of an outlier. Now that we have more info from many other cars - it seems that none have serious battery degradation. And I am including the 4 cars being tested at the Intertek AVTA testing facility in downtown Phoenix.

This screenshot was recently posted to facebook by a driver from Southern California.

Haha that's my car! Small world.

It was an unusually high reading after several days of warm weather. I haven't done a 100% charge since then so I'm not sure where it's at now.

Edit: As an aside, I have experienced very little actual capacity degradation as far as I can tell. I still regularly exceed 1 mile per 1% SOC @ ~4mi/kWh. Naturally the GOM bounces all over the place from a low of ~85 miles predicted range @ 100% SOC to what you see above, which I took last week. The GOM is, in my experience, a grossly inaccurate way to measure degradation in this car.

Lol no kidding, huh?

Not like going and having your vehicle tested for SOH would be a better option

Kidding aside I'm glad your vehicle is holding up well. I'll try attaching a screen shot of my battery stats recently taken at 10,000km


EDIT - Ugh I don't have the image on a site online. Anyway, Min cell #34 0% det and Max cell #92 3.5% det.

Wonder where that falls on the scale?

 

[JejuSoul]

Haha that's my car! Small world.

Hope you don't mind me copying your screenshot. It just seemed so appropriate on this thread.

 

[2016Electric]

Haha that's my car! Small world.

Hope you don't mind me copying your screenshot. It just seemed so appropriate on this thread.

I don't mind - here is the screen shot

 

[mtndrew1]

Haha that's my car! Small world.

Hope you don't mind me copying your screenshot. It just seemed so appropriate on this thread.

Not a problem; I also find it an appropriate addition to this thread. The post just made me do a double take like "hmm that's exactly the reading I got out of my car last week!"

So far I remain impressed with the Soul EV's rate of battery degradation and general EV competency, particularly given how rudimentary its TMS is. I would not be surprised to see very few cars needing to use the capacity warranty (70% capacity guarantee at 100,000 miles), in stark contrast to the Leaf's performance in the 2011-2014 model years.

While I look forward to my next car having greater range I have no regrets with this one and am generally impressed with the build quality and durability. I would certainly consider another Hyundai/Kia product the next time around and I never thought I'd purchase one of their cars.

 

[JejuSoul]

The evidence keeps piling up that most Soul EVs are not suffering major battery deterioration after 2 years.
The most recent example RJ Hadley in Georgia has traveled 46,000 miles and hit 101 on the GOM this morning.

 

[tractioninc]

46,000 miles (74,000 km) is a lot of mileage to accrue in two years. And to think that he did so in a car that can only travel 125 miles (200 km) between long recharge cycles. Impressive!

 

[SoulEV2016]

:mrgreen: it's a taxi ?

 

[iletric]

Currently I'm at max 89 miles at 100% charge in mild weather overnight (55F).
Mileage stands at 31,000+

I can only dream of anything over 100 miles on GOM. I've been in high to mid 90s last summer (2015). Now I'm definitely below 90 at all times.

What's my recourse? Any ideas, anyone?

 

[SoulEV2016]

drive at 90km/h max = 179-167km (for me at any weather, from 4°C to 36°C).
you have 143km ... (89 miles)

you can only have 200km with 60-75km/h ... OR drive like a truck in mountain.

 

[iletric]

We drive 65 mph. I know that the computer remembers previous drive. This is a freeway country, no 45-55 mph, but nothing outrageous either. Just normal freeway miles.

Still, I lost 12% of my original range. As expected, really. I already envision my future Bolt starting at 212, down to 180 range 2 years later.

Lease only, folks! Lease only.

 

[SoulEV2016]

Yep, it's true.
I lease, too ... because i travel regulary at maximum speed (146km/h at the wheel) of the soul (permit in my country).

30km = 1/3 of the capacity gauge used. :mrgreen: