Anyone resolved "Check Electric Vehicle System" car shudders and stops?

[DG1]

Last week our Kia Soul EV 2016 suddenly shuddered like we'd driven over a huge pothole. The dashboard put up a "Check Electric Vehicle System" warning, and the car lost all motor power though the dashboard remained on. We coasted to a stop. Putting it in gear would not move, though neutral would let it roll downhill. We couldn't even turn the car off, pushing the power button made the dashboard flicker but it remained on.

I have an OBD2 dongle and the Soul Spy app, but there was no OBD diagnostic code.


After sitting in the car for 90 minutes waiting for the tow truck, it suddenly recovered. It might have been exactly 90 minutes from the "Check Electric Vehicle System" error. We could turn the car off, and after turning it back on there was no sign of error. It could move under its own power again.

https://www.mykiasoulev.com/threads...ausing-the-car-to-come-to-a-sudden-stop.1871/ describes the same symptoms but no resolution.

 

[JejuSoul]

Check your 12V battery.
When this battery goes flat you get all kinds of weird errors.

 

[BEC]

That was my thought as well after getting weird brake warnings and behavior — fortunately in my own driveway. Original 2016 12V battery read just under 8 V. Got a new one. All is well.

 

[DG1]

Following up from 5/24 post:
Ultimately, the main battery needed replacement. The car stayed at the Kia dealership from 5/24 until 8/14, when we picked it up with its new battery. Total cost to us was $0. At the dealership the battery was about 80% full and estimated 75 miles remaining. We have not charged it yet, we've driven it for various errands the last couple days and it still has 41 miles estimated remaining.

 

[JejuSoul]

...
Ultimately, the main battery needed replacement.

Good news. You have the car back with a 'new battery.
The "Check Electric Vehicle System" Error comes on for multiple reasons.
There is no single reason. This is the first time we have seen it related to a highly depleted 400V battery. By far the most common reason is a problem with the 12V battery.
Did they also change your 12V battery when they fixed your car. ?

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%

 

[Nigel]

M'mm not so sure about a new battery GOM range of 180km being ridiculous - Ever since we had the battery changed out on our 2016 Soul we've been getting real ranges over 200km during the warm summer months in Ontario, Canada. This is attested by a number of 100% charges and running down to 10% battery capacity and still having over 20km of range left.

Have experienced the weird impacts of the 12 lead acid battery failure and I still wonder why there is no idiot light on the dashboard for that. 12 volt battery failure essentially disables the vehicle as none of the ancillary electronics work, Has anybody tried boosting the 12 volt battery under these circumstances and does that damage any of the cars electronics?

 

[JejuSoul]

My blue car is a MY2015. It is 9 years old with the original battery.
This is not a car with a replacement battery.
It still has the original E375 cells.
180km Gom range on this car is ridiculous.

My white car is also 9 years old. It is also a MY2015.
This car has a replacement battery with the newer E400 cells.
Here is the Gom range after 50,000km on the new battery.

 

[IanL]

....Have experienced the weird impacts of the 12 lead acid battery failure and I still wonder why there is no idiot light on the dashboard for that. 12 volt battery failure essentially disables the vehicle as none of the ancillary electronics work, Has anybody tried boosting the 12 volt battery under these circumstances and does that damage any of the cars electronics?

I have used a CTEK MSX 5.0 on many occasions without disconnecting the battery, with the car switched off, and it's never a problem. Any modern processor-controlled charger should be fine. You aren't doing anything different to that which the dc-dc converter does when the car is in run mode.

Just don't start the car with the charger still on.

 

[Locuturus]

My blue car is a MY2015. It is 9 years old with the original battery.
This is not a car with a replacement battery.
It still has the original E375 cells.
180km Gom range on this car is ridiculous.

My white car is also 9 years old. It is also a MY2015.
This car has a replacement battery with the newer E400 cells.
Here is the Gom range after 50,000km on the new battery.

View attachment 195

Is this number with the HVAC on or off? The most I get out of a reman battery with the newer E400 cells is about 180km on the GOM (on a very optimal day, 18-20C). @JejuSoul does yours have a full 100 cells instead of the 96 that they had before?

 

[JejuSoul]

Is this number with the HVAC on or off? The most I get out of a reman battery with the newer E400 cells is about 180km on the GOM (on a very optimal day, 18-20C). @JejuSoul does yours have a full 100 cells instead of the 96 that they had before?

For Jeju spring and fall are both optimal. 18-20C. No need for air con.
The data I show is from then, because I prefer not to charge the car to 100% at all during the summer. The replacement battery is 96 cells same as before. It is not a re-manufactured battery. They are all brand new cells.

 

[Locuturus]

I guess Jeju is probably slightly better than Seoul in the summer (though probably still pretty hot). There's one for sale out here in Vancouver that's about the same (a 2015 with new cells, since the range is about 215km); though I can also assume that your BMS worked out that at 80km/h driving around Jeju then 218 is definitely possible).

I'm toying with the idea of trading this car in for a Niro or Tesla or something with more range since will be moving to the prairies where charging infrastructure is spread pretty far apart... (far enough for a Soul anyway, or a MX-30 LOL)

 

[Zippy]

I had a similar problem with my Kia Soul EV. I believe we narrowed down the problem. There is a large hill outside my house that we drive down. Unfortunately, that hill was regenerating extra juice into the battery, causing the battery to be damaged from being overcharged. Over time this accelerated the wear on the battery. So whenever we would charge the battery to full, it would charge even more, and eventually, the BMS started shutting down cells and eventually would shut down the entire vehicle in the middle of driving it during regen. It would happen at the same intersection every single time, so there was a pattern that we were able to notice. The vehicle would shut down and we would get the EV warning light, and you would have to turn the car off, then turn it back on and it would drive fine. We took it to KIA and they said that the battery needed to be replaced, and it was protected for us through a warranty. We got the car back, but it wouldn't charge, so they had to replace the BMS. Just got it back yesterday from KIA Littleton in Colorado. So far no problems. I hope KIA is looking into this regen issue. I know that Tesla and other EV makers will shut down the regen on a vehicle with a full battery to prevent the battery pack from overcharging, but I don't know if Kia is at all aware of this problem. I think it's a HUGE safety problem when a vehicle shuts down while driving it! Very dangerous, considering it happened a couple of times in the middle of an intersection! I can't find any information online about this new battery, no information on the chemistry, energy density (wh/kg), or what kind of charging is recommended. They only gave me a 1-year warranty on this battery, which is unusual considering they should warranty these per the EV battery warranty laws.

 

[IanL]

The answer to the issue would be not to charge the battery to full. Stop charging at 90%, and you may get the battery close to 100% at the bottom of the hill. Try it.

The replacement battery should be warranted for the remaining warranty time on the car - maybe you only have 1 year left?

 

[nileriver]

I posted a few days ago on another thread with my experience that was similar. It happened about six times over a couple weeks, before I took it in to the shop, where it sits now. It was always with heavier than normal braking, or more normal braking while going downhill. The difference in my experience is that the battery was never fully charged during these episodes, nor even that close to a full charge. Incidentally, my local Kia shop said that the battery is bad. They quoted me $33,000 to replace it. Which sounds ridiculous. Not just because no one in their right mind would spend that much money to fix that car, but also because it sounds like a rip off. I can’t imagine that it would really cost that much to put a new battery in my car. But whatever. It’s under warranty. Now they tell me that they are trying to decide whether to put in a new battery or try to change out some individual cells.

 

[nileriver]

I had a similar problem with my Kia Soul EV. I believe we narrowed down the problem. There is a large hill outside my house that we drive down. Unfortunately, that hill was regenerating extra juice into the battery, causing the battery to be damaged from being overcharged. Over time this accelerated the wear on the battery. So whenever we would charge the battery to full, it would charge even more, and eventually, the BMS started shutting down cells and eventually would shut down the entire vehicle in the middle of driving it during regen. It would happen at the same intersection every single time, so there was a pattern that we were able to notice. The vehicle would shut down and we would get the EV warning light, and you would have to turn the car off, then turn it back on and it would drive fine. We took it to KIA and they said that the battery needed to be replaced, and it was protected for us through a warranty. We got the car back, but it wouldn't charge, so they had to replace the BMS. Just got it back yesterday from KIA Littleton in Colorado. So far no problems. I hope KIA is looking into this regen issue. I know that Tesla and other EV makers will shut down the regen on a vehicle with a full battery to prevent the battery pack from overcharging, but I don't know if Kia is at all aware of this problem. I think it's a HUGE safety problem when a vehicle shuts down while driving it! Very dangerous, considering it happened a couple of times in the middle of an intersection! I can't find any information online about this new battery, no information on the chemistry, energy density (wh/kg), or what kind of charging is recommended. They only gave me a 1-year warranty on this battery, which is unusual considering they should warranty these per the EV battery warranty laws.

I don’t know about legalities, but I believe that, at the minimum, they would have to honor the original warranty term, which is 10 years/100,000 miles. In my case, that will be December 2026. I am getting a replacement now. I will expect more than a one year guarantee. If not, legal action will probably ensue.