Adventure Begins !

[ElectricSoulMan]

Greetings Soul EVers. I have a 2016 Soul EV+ with the 27kwh battery. I purchased it used in 2019. My Range has dropped quite a bit over the last couple of years. I live in the PNW, in a cool climate. It rarely gets above 70 degrees in the summer. On a 100% charge my Summer Range has dropped to around 80 and winter range is around 60. I recently purchased an OB2 bluetooth dongle and added EV Watchdog and EV Notify Apps to my phone. There seems to be a lot of info on the EV Watchdog App but, there doesn't seem to be a simple SOH number there. The EV Notify App says my SOH is 19.8, which does not seem correct. Does anyone here use either of those apps. I went by my KIA dealer, and they want me to make an appointment so they can check it out. They said that if it turns out that I need a replacement battery pack, I wouldn't be able to leave with the car. They also said it could take a month or longer. They said they wouldn't have a loaner and wouldn't pay for rental. I have contacted KIA North America and opened a file. TIA

 

[EVDee]

I really should make a video just so I can link to it instead of writing this out everytime. That said, I haven't so..

Have you recalibrated the battery recently, and how do you do that?

It has to be warmer than 15°C/59°F (meaning you're out of luck in the winter), you need to fully charge up the battery, then discharge the battery below 18% (the closer to 0% the better) without charging in-between and fully charge back up without interruption. This will allow the car to calibrate itself and give both itself and you a better idea of what's going on.

I mention all of this because if your daily usage pattern doesn't trigger this to occur, the info your car is giving you is old and outdated which would mean if/when you take it to the dealer they won't have a proper reading either. Best not to waste anymore of your time or money at a dealership than you have to.

Taking a look at my EV Watchdog app I was able to find "Battery Condition" under the 3 dots the appear in the top right of the screen. Mine actually has a reading from today so it seems to be a function that's still there. Hopefully you're able to find it.

 

[JejuSoul]

It has to be warmer than 15°C/59°F ...

This refers to the battery temperature, not the outdoor temperature. Both driving and charging will warm up the battery. My car will re-calibrate in winter. We have mild winters, but so too does the PNW.

For details see the December 2015 post in this thread - Battery Calibration

 

[ElectricSoulMan]

This refers to the battery temperature, not the outdoor temperature. Both driving and charging will warm up the battery. My car will re-calibrate in winter. We have mild winters, but so too does the PNW.

For details see the December 2015 post in this thread - Battery Calibration

Thanks. My Battery charging hygiene is already like this. Not by design but, by accident. I do a Full Charge (100% according to dashboard/90% according to EV Watchdog) twice a week out of necessity. During the work week my commute is only 12 miles roundtrip. In the Winter I plug in everyday with it set to charge to 80% and climate control programmed. In the Summer I don't plug in as often. Once a week, on a full charge, I do a 50 mile roundtrip. When I get home I usually have less than 20 miles of range left. I only use a 110v charger at home. On occasion I will use a Level2 charger. According to the EV Watchdog App over the last week or so it shows I have only 67.6% of usable battery. Is that the SOH number ? Thanks for your help.

 

[FLKiaEV]

I use SoulEVSpy app and it seems to be useful, though it hasn't been updated in a long time. As for possibly getting your battery replaced, I would definitely work through Kia Customer Care as much as possible as they may be able to pull some strings as far as a loaner goes. Maybe I got lucky, but when my 2016 Soul EV+ had to have the battery replaced, it took almost nine months because it happened during covid but the dealership gave me a rental for that whole period: The bill for the rental car (which I didn't have to pay) was just over $11,000.

On a side note, I think it's kind of silly that they won't let you leave with your car if it's determined that the battery needs to be replaced since it is still usable. That way, they could order the battery and then when it arrives they could give you a call so you can make an appointment and have your car back in a few days rather than a month. I imagine there are "legal" reasons why they don't want you to drive around with a low-SOH battery, but I can't think of a legitimate one. Are they less safe if they have a low SOH?

 

[jray3]

Hi SoulMan, I’m near Puyallup and went thru the battery warranty replacement already. You absolutely can leave the dealer with your car once they determine SOH has fallen below the 70% threshold. I kept the car for another month to negotiate an upgrade to the rental car when I needed one later, and my battery seemed to come once faster once they were paying for daily rental!

 

[ElectricSoulMan]

Hi SoulMan, I’m near Puyallup and went thru the battery warranty replacement already. You absolutely can leave the dealer with your car once they determine SOH has fallen below the 70% threshold. I kept the car for another month to negotiate an upgrade to the rental car when I needed one later, and my battery seemed to come once faster once they were paying for daily rental!

Thanks for this. I will contact KIA Customer Care if the dealer says I can't drive the car.

 

[ElectricSoulMan]

I use SoulEVSpy app and it seems to be useful, though it hasn't been updated in a long time. As for possibly getting your battery replaced, I would definitely work through Kia Customer Care as much as possible as they may be able to pull some strings as far as a loaner goes. Maybe I got lucky, but when my 2016 Soul EV+ had to have the battery replaced, it took almost nine months because it happened during covid but the dealership gave me a rental for that whole period: The bill for the rental car (which I didn't have to pay) was just over $11,000.

On a side note, I think it's kind of silly that they won't let you leave with your car if it's determined that the battery needs to be replaced since it is still usable. That way, they could order the battery and then when it arrives they could give you a call so you can make an appointment and have your car back in a few days rather than a month. I imagine there are "legal" reasons why they don't want you to drive around with a low-SOH battery, but I can't think of a legitimate one. Are they less safe if they have a low SOH?

I was going to use SoulEVSpy but, like you said it hasn't been updated in a while and they no longer offer a free to try version.

 

[jray3]

Hey SoulMan, I d be happy to meetup and run SoulSpy on your car. Maybe you could come to the Seattle EV Association meeting this Tuesday at the U Village Rivian showroom? https://www.seattleeva.org/wp/

 

[ElectricSoulMan]

Hey SoulMan, I d be happy to meetup and run SoulSpy on your car. Maybe you could come to the Seattle EV Association meeting this Tuesday at the U Village Rivian showroom? https://www.seattleeva.org/wp/

Thanks. I live in the SW portion of the state, I would have to stop and charge 3 or 4 times to get there. I think I figured out my EV Watchdog SOH info. Thanks again.