brakes failed

[notfred]

When she said "she couldn't get the car to brake" did she say why not? Did the brake pedal go to the floor? Was it up high and hard?

If the pedal went to the floor then I would suspect the wrong pedal was pushed. If the brake pedal is high and hard then that's a classic brake booster failure and while the brakes will still work, people used to driving modern power assisted braked cars will be really surprised at how hard they need to hit the pedal for it to work.

Gasoline cars use intake manifold vacuum for the brake booster. How is the boost done on the Soul EV? Is it directly electric or is a little vacuum pump used?

 

[mtndrew1]

Gasoline cars use intake manifold vacuum for the brake booster. How is the boost done on the Soul EV? Is it directly electric or is a little vacuum pump used?

If I understand the system correctly it uses a high-pressure accumulator for power assist; there is no vacuum assist.

 

[user 285]

I guess most 'pedal misapplication' incidents are down to the driver's foot going too far right and hitting the accelerator - maybe there's another type where the driver's foot hits the foot rest on the left? Of course you'd have to NOT have your left foot there... you'd notice if you were stomping on your own foot! Might just be wishful thinking from us concerned SoulEV owners...

Sorry you're having to pay up though (sounds like US insurance sucks in this respect).

 

[clyde270]

Last night, my brakes failed with my kids in the back seat. 2015 model. I was first at a red light on a slight hill. While waiting, my pedal went to the floor and I began to roll backwards. Tried pumping brake, but nothing. All power on dash was on including green car icon. I quickly put it in neutral and could not set the emergency brake. Did not work as I use it often in neutral while in fast food drive thru lines. Accelerator pedal did not work either again though green car icon was on. Decided to force it to park, push power on and off, then gave it acceleration until it finally held its position on the hill. Luckily the guy behind me in the truck rolled backwards with me. Scared my kids as I was loudly talking myself in what to do in these few seconds of panic. Probably less than 10 seconds. But I move fast as I've had master cylinders go out on my Junkers that I used to drive to school. Didn't expect this from a car I bought on 7/7/2015. Made my adrenaline go for a few minutes of fast heart rate. I'll take it by the dealer in Lithia Springs tomorrow this Saturday. I'm glad I found this tread in this forum. I'll try to keep you posted. One mention. No check engine lights. And today have not experienced it again. This is my third electric car. Other two were Ford Focus BEV.

 

[mtndrew1]

Yikes, that's a scary situation. I'm glad you and your family weren't injured.

Please take the time to report this problem to safercar.gov so that the NHTSA can keep track of it.

Direct link to the form is here:

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

 

[JejuSoul]

Please do report this incident. It is a scary event to have both pedals fail completely when driving. Am glad no one was hurt. From your comments it sounds like your car was fine after restarting. Hence this is not the issue of a loose wire or fuse needing to be fixed before the car restarts. I have heard of a couple of those cases before. There is one case similar to yours that was reported in the news here. A Soul EV driving on the freeway had both pedals fail. The driver managed to pull over, (presumably regen) and stop. Once restarted the car was fine and the KIA technicians could find nothing wrong.

 

[Darklight]

Dayum. Maybe sticking to my Leaf is the best strategy given issues like these and the whining sound I just read about. I have never set foot near my dealer in two years with my 2014 Leaf.

I have to give all you folks serious props for being early adopters and doing KIA's QC in the field for them when they should have done it at the factory.

 

[2016Electric]

Dayum. Maybe sticking to my Leaf is the best strategy given issues like these and the whining sound I just read about. I have never set foot near my dealer in two years with my 2014 Leaf.

I have to give all you folks serious props for being early adopters and doing KIA's QC in the field for them when they should have done it at the factory.

What are you talking about?

First, we have yet to see an actual report on a car with "failed" brakes to see what (if anything) went wrong.

Second, what whine? I own a 2016 Soul EV and it is the quietest car I've ever owned or driven.

Third, QC? Zero issues with mine. Every car, especially first gen, will have some issues. That's what the warranty is for. OBC issues experienced by some, which were covered under warranty and replaced with a newer version unit, hopefully of a more robust design. It's not like the Leaf, or any other car for that matter, didn't have a few issues on the first model.

Please don't spread FUD, especially if you've nothing to contribute and don't actually have any experience with one of these cars.

 

[notfred]

I have colleagues with Leaf's and I have a Soul EV. The Leaf is far noisier than the Soul EV with a definite whine at slower speeds.

 

[tractioninc]

I have colleagues with Leaf's and I have a Soul EV. The Leaf is far noisier than the Soul EV with a definite whine at slower speeds.

Agreed, our Leaf is louder than our Soul EV... but both are extremely quiet compared to traditional vehicles.

 

[Darklight]

Dayum. Maybe sticking to my Leaf is the best strategy given issues like these and the whining sound I just read about. I have never set foot near my dealer in two years with my 2014 Leaf.

I have to give all you folks serious props for being early adopters and doing KIA's QC in the field for them when they should have done it at the factory.

What are you talking about?

First, we have yet to see an actual report on a car with "failed" brakes to see what (if anything) went wrong.

Second, what whine? I own a 2016 Soul EV and it is the quietest car I've ever owned or driven.

Third, QC? Zero issues with mine. Every car, especially first gen, will have some issues. That's what the warranty is for. OBC issues experienced by some, which were covered under warranty and replaced with a newer version unit, hopefully of a more robust design. It's not like the Leaf, or any other car for that matter, didn't have a few issues on the first model.

Please don't spread FUD, especially if you've nothing to contribute and don't actually have any experience with one of these cars.

FUD? Calm down. I WANT to like and perhaps get a Soul EV and have owned many Soul ICE models. Seems like you are glossing over or in denial about the reported problems I've read on here. There is a thread complaining about high pitched whining sounds. Did you not read it? And this thread claims at least one and perhaps two owners have had apparent brake failure. The biggest issue for me as time goes on and vehicles like the Chevy Bolt come to market is that the range on these early models won't make them wise options. I wish that KIA and Nissan and every other EV mfg made their batteries to be easily plugged in and swappable so when the larger capacity upgrades came out they could just be plugged in. Now THAT would be cool!

 

[JejuSoul]

Can we shift the comparisons to a different thread. This thread is about brake failure.
I just started a new thread for that purpose - http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=583

 

[friendl]

I just had the same failed brakes problem - was in regenerative brake mode with ECO on. That slowed me to about 10 km/hr then the last bit I applied my brake to stop and the brake did not engage. There was no resistance from the brake pedal whatsoever and the pedal went down to the floor. I am sure this was not a case of pedal misapplication - there was no acceleration of the car. There was simply no braking. In short, I ran into the car which was stopped in front of me. Luckily no one was hurt but obviously this is a serious safety concern.

 

[mtndrew1]

I just had the same failed brakes problem - was in regenerative brake mode with ECO on. That slowed me to about 10 km/hr then the last bit I applied my brake to stop and the brake did not engage. There was no resistance from the brake pedal whatsoever and the pedal went down to the floor. I am sure this was not a case of pedal misapplication - there was no acceleration of the car. There was simply no braking. In short, I ran into the car which was stopped in front of me. Luckily no one was hurt but obviously this is a serious safety concern.

Thank goodness nobody was hurt! Cars can be repaired or replaced, of course.

Please report this issue to www.safercar.gov so that the NHTSA can track it. This certainly seems like it could become a trend with Soul EVs.

Following the brake failure and collision were there any warning lights on? Did the brake system indicate a fault?

 

[friendl]

[/quote]Thank goodness nobody was hurt! Cars can be repaired or replaced, of course.

Please report this issue to http://www.safercar.gov so that the NHTSA can track it. This certainly seems like it could become a trend with Soul EVs.

Following the brake failure and collision were there any warning lights on? Did the brake system indicate a fault?[/quote]

There were no lights whatsoever - both before and after. And the car seemed to work again just fine when I drove it back to the dealership. I have literally owned this car for <24 hours. The body shop took a look at it and on cursory glance have not found anything wrong. They are going to get it independently inspected by ICBC and Kia Canada. I'm obviously hoping they find something that can explain the glitch but after reading this forum, I don't have high hopes. For what it's worth, I contacted safercar as suggested but they don't seem to take Canadian complaints.

It's sad because I was so excited to get this car! Now I'm wondering if I just have a bad car and should ask for a new one vs give up on the Soul EV altogether for hybrid vehicle.

 

[mtndrew1]

Oh, I didn't realize you'd had it such a short period of time.

Have you ever owned a car with regenerative braking before? Cars with regen react in an unsettling way when dealing with panic stops.

During a panic stop the regen cancels just as the friction brakes come into play (as you lowered speed through 10 MPH) and the ABS initiation causes the pedal to drop. It feels weird, but the car is braking as quickly as is possible (faster than a human could).

Was this event during a panic stop?

 

[friendl]

It was not a panic stop, just coming to a normal stop at a normal red light - like I had done at all the rest of the intersections that day. My travelling speed was maybe 50 km/hr in between stop lights as there was a decent amount of traffic. However, I did not know about that transition between regen and friction, that's good to know. Yes, this is my first car with regen braking.

I'm in Canada - so the speed equals something like 6 MPH. i.e. no panic braking happening.

 

[mysoulev]

Last night, my brakes failed with my kids in the back seat. 2015 model. I was first at a red light on a slight hill. While waiting, my pedal went to the floor and I began to roll backwards. Tried pumping brake, but nothing. All power on dash was on including green car icon. I quickly put it in neutral and could not set the emergency brake. Did not work as I use it often in neutral while in fast food drive thru lines. Accelerator pedal did not work either again though green car icon was on. Decided to force it to park, push power on and off, then gave it acceleration until it finally held its position on the hill. Luckily the guy behind me in the truck rolled backwards with me. Scared my kids as I was loudly talking myself in what to do in these few seconds of panic. Probably less than 10 seconds. But I move fast as I've had master cylinders go out on my Junkers that I used to drive to school. Didn't expect this from a car I bought on 7/7/2015. Made my adrenaline go for a few minutes of fast heart rate. I'll take it by the dealer in Lithia Springs tomorrow this Saturday. I'm glad I found this tread in this forum. I'll try to keep you posted. One mention. No check engine lights. And today have not experienced it again. This is my third electric car. Other two were Ford Focus BEV.

@clyde270 Any update?

 

[SoulEV2016]

have you notice the change of brake fluid every 30 000 km ? :?
(official servicing for the Soul EV)

in my previous (and sporty) car, i use exclusivly RBF600 because the original brake fluid fade after 5 turns on speedway (liquid boil).

 

[clyde270]

I finally took the car into Kia last month. The car dying and brake issue only happened once. However, the flickering piano keys for the charge meter were occurring every day. Also, the backup camera would take several seconds to actually come on, about 1/4 way down my driveway. In one day, they fixed the issue with the low DC-DC recall, while I waited. Took about 1/2 day, as there were two other recalls--steering & rear middle seat belt cover. Now, I've had the car over a year, and still commute 80 mile round trip. I no longer worry about how much charge I have left, and I even drive in the HOV lanes, once I bought the GA AFV tag.

I drive mostly in Battery mode with Eco. If traffic lets up and I can go over 60 mph, I'll switch to Drive w/ or w/out Eco. In Battery mode, I play around with my throttle to see how long I can go without actually applying the brakes. It still amazes me, that I am in a car, that can do this in bumper to bumper traffic.