Battery degradation

[SoulEV2016]

Wow! That's the first battery replacement that I've heard about on this board.

In French forum, we have an example of this : http://www.automobile-propre.com/forums/kia-soul-ev/soh-de-nos-soul-ev-dans-le-temps-et-les-km-a-epingler-t6867.html#p89719

12 000 km but only 177 hours with the new pack (or refurbished cells and BMS ... perhaps ?).

 

[Goofcat]

Didn't know about larger battery pack. Would be nice if I got one of those. Any rumors about how much larger?

My is one of the older Soul EV ( Feb. 2015) with 60,000 km+ so hopefully it's an outlier and not a sign of things to come for the rest of the fleet.

 

[JejuSoul]

In French forum, we have an example of this : http://www.automobile-propre.com/forums/kia-soul-ev/soh-de-nos-soul-ev-dans-le-temps-et-les-km-a-epingler-t6867.html#p89719

That car seems to have had a complete drivetrain failure. It was not a degrading battery. It died while driving. It had both the drivetrain and battery replaced. We don't know what the battery stats were when it died. See - SOUL EV SUR PLATEAU



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There is also a case in California where the battery case was damaged in an accident. - https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/kia-soul-ev.23893/page-15#post-1942737
If the battery itself is at all damaged it will be replaced.

Unfortunate incident in a parking lot last night. Pulling forward out of a tight parking space. Right front tire goes over the concrete stopper, and car comes down with a bad metallic thunk.
In the shop today we saw that the hard plastic underbody protector was ripped open. But the bad part is that the very corner of the battery compartment was dented about an inch deep.

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Didn't know about larger battery pack. Would be nice if I got one of those. Any rumors about how much larger?
My is one of the older Soul EV ( Feb. 2015) with 60,000 km+ so hopefully it's an outlier and not a sign of things to come for the rest of the fleet.

The rumour is that a new battery will announced at the Jeju Expo in two weeks time.
Your car is unusual. Many cars have driven more than yours without suffering such a problem.
Could you give us some more details on how your car was doing before the sudden degradation.
Any guesses what might have caused it. (driving in sea water, lightning strikes, ...?)

The weather in Hawaii seems perfect for EVs

 

[Goofcat]

Prior to the sudden loss of capacity, the car was functioning perfectly. My normal commute is unique, I live up near 3000 feet/ 1000m. For work and most things I drive down to sea level. On my decent, I generate 4-6% energy, depending on how much I feel like speeding that day..

On my long days, I'll drive 30 miles to the south side of the island fot church (with 2 Paddle Boards on the roof rack), after church I'll drive another 25-30miles to surf on the westside, then drive 25-30 Miles back up the mountain. Most of the time I can do this on a full charge. When it's very windy, I'll stop at a free level 2 charger to pick up 10-20% brfore heading up home.

My guess is that I was getting 90-100 miles per charge. Then about two weeks ago it just started to drop suddently. There was no trauma to the car, no accidents, damage, nothing! The car has a pertty good life, it lives in a garage at home and at work.

My quick guess was I lost nearly half my capacity over two weeks. Normal trips to the gym that took 25% needed 40%+. Many places took nearly double. Carring boards on top of the car was nearly undoable. I had to stop to recharge 40-50% before Heading home. As it turned out the dealer results stated I was at 58%, so pertty close to my experience.

 

[Leafer]

... My normal commute is unique, I live up near 3000 feet/ 1000m. For work and most things I drive down to sea level. On my decent, I generate 4-6% energy, depending on how much I feel like speeding that day..

Interesting.

What % level do you charge to before you leave home ? Do you charge to that level ALWAYS or only occasionally ? How many hours (estimate) after charging completes do you start your daily journey ? When you get home, generally how much % SOC is left, and how many hours does the car sit before you start charging ?

 

[JejuSoul]

...My normal commute is unique, I live up near 3000 feet/ 1000m...

If I lived at 1000m the surroundings looks like this.



Much more mild and pleasant by the coast all winter. We do however have unpleasant, hot, humid summer nights.
What is it like living at 1000m where you are? Ever too hot? Ever too cold?
A Lithium Ion battery seems to like the same temperature range as humans do.
I don't think it was temperature that caused your battery to degrade.

 

[Goofcat]

Interesting.

What % level do you charge to before you leave home ? Depending on the day, I either do 80% or 100.
Do you charge to that level ALWAYS or only occasionally ? No, If I remeber, I will stop charging at 94%. The regen helps keep my speed in check going down the mountain.

How many hours (estimate) after charging completes do you start your daily journey ? Timer is set to charge at 11pm. Unless I have something to do after I get home, then I'll plug in and recharge for a bit, before heading out .

When you get home, generally how much % SOC is left, and how many hours does the car sit before you start charging ?[/quote] Normal work days get home with 35%+, big multi location days, I may get home with 15.

When the battery started going, I was making it home on turtle mode with 5%. But hat was just when it started to go bad.

 

[Goofcat]

What is it like living at 1000m where you are? Ever too hot? Ever too cold?

The place where I live was once crowned by National Geographic as the "Best climate for humans to live in on earth" the temperature is usually in the 70's during the day 60's during the night. coldest this winter was 43 in the early mornings. Hottest last year was may be 82 for a day.

A Lithium Ion battery seems to like the same temperature range as humans do.
I don't think it was temperature that caused your battery to degrade.[/quote]

 

[kjh4879]

Such failure seems quite rare
although there might be more cases in the near future...as other users gains more miles.
Considering the good climate of yours, I'm also getting worried...

How was the replacement process?
Were there any more infos about the battery degradation afterwards?

cheers,