Bad battery?

[t3chno1d]

Our 2016 Kia Soul EV had it's range drop to 82 [b ]km[/b] a few weeks back. Took it to the dealer, I asked them to do a SOH on the main battery, they said they can only do that on the 12volt battery. Told them, no, you can do it on the main battery... anyways, they reset the computers, upgraded some firmware, and suddenly we had 135 km of range which I knew wouldn't last. They never did give me the SOH I asked for,

10 days later we are down to 91 km range.

Took it for a test drive with Soul Spy running and I got the reading in the images below. This was a 99 km run at highway speed. From what I can see, I have several faulty cells. Cell 1 stayed red the whole trip. It's voltage charges high and drops really low. Several cells show high when charges and lower than average on discharge.

Any opinions on what to do now? As far as the dealer was concerned, it's all ok.

 

[JejuSoul]

-
Yes. Your battery has gone bad.
You will be getting a new battery under warranty soon.
Could you post again with some more details, eg. odometer, length of commute, speed of commute ...

I suggest you phone Kia Canada and let them know the rapid drop in range you are experiencing.

 

[t3chno1d]

Thank you for the reply,

99900 km on the odometer, daily commute to work 50km at 100km/h, Vancouver, BC, never charged on a level 3, only level 2 charger daily.

When the car was new, we only typically in the summer got 125 km, for the 1st year, then 120 the last couple of summers. Winter we would drop to between 100 to 95 km range.

Today we are down to 94 km range, 5 less than yesterday.

-
Yes. Your battery has gone bad.
You will be getting a new battery under warranty soon.
Could you post again with some more details, eg. odometer, length of commute, speed of commute ...

I suggest you phone Kia Canada and let them know the rapid drop in range you are experiencing.

 

[t3chno1d]

So, the dealer started a KTAC, whatever that is, and Kia Canada asked our dealer to do a "flight recording"... never heard of one of those before.

Apparently, Kia Canada does not like to replace batteries... I guess we'll find out.

We're back down to 83 km range now.

 

[bgarr33434]

Same story, but I started with Kia USA and they arranged service visit. First time, software upgrade to 95mile range, which quickly shot down to 35 mile range within four weeks. It’s back at the service dealer where they are awaiting approval from Kia to replace the battery. It’s a process, but so far Kia has been very good about it. I’ve read that all replacement battery packs are the 30kWh packs? Anyone verify?

 

[t3chno1d]

Great news!!!

Kia Canada has approved a replacement battery.

Our dealer was very surprised as it's the first one that has been approved and they sell and service many Soul EV's.

Thank you Kia Canada!

Our dealer said the cost of the battery pack is $17000.00 CDN, that's a lot more than I've seen in this forum.

I honestly believe providing the Soul Spy data was the difference in their determining to replace or not replace our battery.

 

[JejuSoul]

...Kia Canada has approved a replacement battery.
Our dealer was very surprised as it's the first one that has been approved and they sell and service many Soul EV's.
Our dealer said the cost of the battery pack is $17000.00 CDN, that's a lot more than I've seen in this forum...

Am glad you are getting a new battery.

There have been many battery replacements already in Quebec.
For a few individual cases see the battery ageing thread.
For plenty of ex Teo Taxis see - Thinking of getting a higher mileage 2016

Battery prices can be found in USD at KiaPartsNow.com

For the 2015 there are no more batteries available - Kia Parts: 2015 Kia Soul EV > Engine > Battery & Cable

For the 2018 a battery pack costs $15,457.75USD that's 20,291.23 CAD. - Kia Parts: 2018 Kia Soul EV> BATTERY HV

Perhaps you are getting a re-manufactured MY2015 pack which is cheaper.

 

[Omar]

I am surprised at the very high cost of battery replacement.
Here in Jordan there are few mechanical shops now which will do that for less than 5000$ !. But it is not a new Kia Soul battery.

I found a one who sold a battery from a wrecked Soul (with ODO meter of 30,000 km) for 2,900 JD, which equals 4,150 $. That includes the labor charge as well, and taking your old battery.

Other mechanics assemble the battery from other cars battery cells, they would give you the desired capacity!. They also integrate the new battery with the BMS in the car. One of them claims that he would install a liquid battery cooling system along with the new battery and connect it to the car system.

These mechanics most likely hold electromechanical engineering degrees. They open such mechanical shops as it gets them more money than regular career !

 

[t3chno1d]

Got our battery replacement last week, 156 km range now, did not get the bigger battery, sadness.

Don't know if it's a refurb or new battery, still haven't received the paperwork from the dealer yet.

 

[t3chno1d]

Does anyone know how many kWh the 37510-E4250 battery is?

That's what they put in as a replacement for the failed battery.