Analysis of a replacement battery.

[Locuturus]

Anyone on the forums considered/tried this? Seems like it’s a small EV repair firm in Auckland that replaced the cell modules from a 24kwh leaf gen 2, for CATL ones, upping the capacity to 40kwh, left a big gap in the centre which potentially could improve cooling(?), then they didn’t show it but their plan was to flash the firmware (I assume bms) from a 30 or 40kwh leaf.



Would be good if we could pack somewhere above 40-64kwh in and flash the 2nd gen soul BMS (or save time and just harvest one from a 2nd gen soul), if it all *theoretically* works then might be a way forward for old 1st gen souls…

(Note this is extreme speculation on my part, hoping we could keep these cars running long into the future)

 

[JejuSoul]

Here's a previous comment from :- Anyone resolved "Check Electric Vehicle System" car shudders and stops?.

My blue car a MY2015 is 9 years old with the original battery. It has begun to show similar errors. Not when driving (fortunately), while parked and trying to start the car.
The dashboard puts up a "Check Electric Vehicle System" warning and a turtle sign, even though the car is charged to 100%. The car will not move. The power button needs to be pressed many times before the car will turn off. On the second or third time I try starting the car it will start and drive normally.
The 12V battery is new. It was replaced when the car ran out of power going up the mountain last December.
Link to previous problem with main and 12V battery.
Since then the BMS insists that the SOH is 100% and the GOM shows 180km. Obviously this is not correct. The car is only used for short trips, less than 10km so I'm not sure what the actual range is.
I'm taking the car in on Monday. So will find out more then.

The official KIA estimate of SOH was 94.9% in June 2022.
It went down quickly over the next year.
The official KIA estimate of SOH was 78.5% in June 2023.
My guess is that SOH is now well below 60%

I took the car in to KIA to have it checked yesterday.
The official KIA estimate of SOH was 79.5%
The GOM now shows 140km.

Edit : 5 days later the GOM is now 130km

The Kia tech told me to bring the car in again in two weeks time because the SOH is likely to fall further.

In South Korea the battery warranty is ten years, but free battery service is only available for 8. Until now every KIA estimate of SOH has been free. Given that the car is now 9 that becomes a paid service.
But due to a major EV fire in Seoul recently the government has mandated that all EVs should get a free battery check.

It was an expensive new BMW EV that exploded in an underground garage last month. The resulting fire destroyed about 140 other cars.

 

[JejuSoul]

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It is now over 4 1/2 years since I had the battery replaced on my white 27kWh 2015 Soul EV.
On December 30th 2019 the car had driven 86,993km before getting a new battery.
On September 4th 2024 the odometer reads 145,010km. That's 58,017km on the new battery.

I took the car in to have its 'free' yearly service.
The official Kia estimate of SOH is 100%

I have no idea what the actual degradation is. Just that nothing has been lost from usable capacity.
Despite not know the size of the 'early years buffer it is obvious that the replacement E400 cells are degrading much slower over time than the original E375 cells did.

----

As an update to the exploding BMW story I posted last month. The Korean government has mandated that the original origin of the battery must be displayed on each EV. Many German car companies are now using Chinese battery cells. But because the cells are assembled into a pack at a German factory the battery can be labelled as 'Made in Germany'.
Probably the Korean government is doing this to protect Korean manufacturers.
Probably the German car companies are doing it to avoid protectionist tariffs.
I think the idea is good because it helps the consumer make an informed choice.
I think all countries should do this.

 

[JejuSoul]

My blue car a MY2015 is 9 1/2 years old with the original battery.
Note this is original battery / original BMS. No recall. No software updates.

I took it in to Kia today, and left it there to be checked.
I got a phone call from the tech guy who said a replacement battery had been authorised due to a "seriously malfunctioning" HV battery. The battery was ordered and will arrive next month. Until then I have the car.
What test they did to determine this I don't know.
It wasn't the simple reading of SOH below 70% that happened when my white car got a new battery.

Quick summary of the last six months.

Last December the car ran out of power going up the mountain .
Got home and recharged the dashboard put up a "Check Electric Vehicle System" warning and a turtle sign, even though the car was charged to 100%.
After that the BMS insisted that the SOH is 100% and the GOM showed 180km for the next six months.

In August I took the car in to KIA to have it checked. The official KIA estimate of SOH was 79.5%
The GOM now showed 140km.

Since then the GOM had been declining fairly steadily and had got down to 115km
Yesterday the dashboard put up a "Check Electric Vehicle System" warning again.

I am not posting any self taken OBD data, because the results I've been getting don't make sense and it didn't influence anything about how I used the car or when I took the car in to be tested.
Also this car hasn't been driven much, and has never been fast charged in the last six months.

 

[JejuSoul]

Got the new battery today. 118,748km on the original battery.
I left it at the local Kia this morning and picked it up this afternoon.
Didn't get the details of the new cells.
I did see the new BMS hardware and wiring harness before they swapped out the old ones.

Here's the GOM when I picked it up. 9.4 km / kWh !



I bought this car back in May 2015.
Here's a post I wrote in November 2015 - What's your Real world actual range?

Took a trip around the island today. 215km driven. Still had 20km range or 13% SOC.
Weather was perfect 20C, no rain, no wind.
Drove on the coast road - all driving at just above sea level.
Average speed was 36km/h. Average efficiency 9.4 km / kWh = 10.6 kWh/100km
Got the battery warning light at 190km - you lose acceleration, but can carry on regardless.
Did not turtle.

Here's the new BMS - 37513-E4000
Note : This is the box they opened when I was there. I didn't stay to see them actually put it in.
It is the wrong version for the new wiring harness. It should be BMS - 37513-E4200