Firmware update to DC fast charge to 94%?

[BigEdgar]

Hi everyone,

I've seen mentions on the Kia Soul EV Facebook page that there's a firmware update for Kia Soul EVs that enables DC fast charging up to 94% now (current limit on my 2016 is 84%). Does anyone have info on this update, and does anyone know if it applies to the 2016 model year?

Thanks!

 

[JejuSoul]

-

In the US the BMS software update is known as Service Action 297
It upgrades the battery management system of certain Soul EVs MY2015 and MY2016. The Temperature Control System of these models may not function when the vehicle is exposed to low temperatures without starting for a certain time.

It is for cars that have problems below -20C. My car has never had this update because it never gets this cold.



On the Internet there are numerous reports of all kinds of magic behavior by this upgrade. It magically restores your battery to new!

The claim that it allows charging on Chademo straight through to 94% has plenty of non-reliable sources. The only reliable poster to discuss this was Elmil in Sweden. He states this is not true. - BMS software update

JejuSoul - German users also seem to think that the BMS upgrade will change the Chademo endpoint for a single charge from 83% to 94% on older model versions to make it compatible with the MY2017. Elmil does yours do this?

Elmil - No! single charge to 94%, still need restart. But as I noted in another thread, there are new Delta chademos that autostart when you plug in, and also auto restart at 83%. Not related to BMS update though.

 

[BigEdgar]

Jeju - as always, thanks for the great info. Too bad it's not true, but I suppose it's best for the battery not to DC charge past ~80%.

 

[JejuSoul]

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I just saw this post from a few months ago.
A 2015 Soul EV with a BMS and battery replacement does now charge directly to 94%
2015 Soul EV: My Battery Replacement Story

I'll add to this post if I find someone who now charges directly to 94% from a firmware update.
It's a fairly frequent topic.

 

[ZuinigeRijder]

-
On the Internet there are numerous reports of all kinds of magic behavior by this upgrade. It magically restores your battery to new!

The claim that it allows charging on Chademo straight through to 94% has plenty of non-reliable sources. The only reliable poster to discuss this was Elmil in Sweden. He states this is not true. - BMS software update

JejuSoul - German users also seem to think that the BMS upgrade will change the Chademo endpoint for a single charge from 83% to 94% on older model versions to make it compatible with the MY2017. Elmil does yours do this?

Elmil - No! single charge to 94%, still need restart. But as I noted in another thread, there are new Delta chademos that autostart when you plug in, and also auto restart at 83%. Not related to BMS update though.

I did ask for a BMS update and after the update in August, I now can fast charge to 94% directly instead of 84%. My Kia Soul EV is from 2014 and I am living in the Netherlands. After the BMS update the SOH was reset to 110%. I did once charge below 18% till 100%, but the SOH shown with Torque was still 110%. I expect this will go down to 94% (my KDS SOH readout was 94.2%) after several times a charge below 18% till 100%.
Another side-effect of the BMS update is that the charging points in the neighborhood overview are given in miles instead of km. When going into the menu, it is given in km.
See also this German thread: https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/kia-soul-ev/lade-entfernungsanzeige-in-ft-anstatt-km-t27342.html

Note that also in Germany people report that it now fast charges to 94% after that BMS update.
https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/...nach-bms-update-antrag-akkutausch-t34297.html

 

[Elmil]

-
On the Internet there are numerous reports of all kinds of magic behavior by this upgrade. It magically restores your battery to new!

The claim that it allows charging on Chademo straight through to 94% has plenty of non-reliable sources. The only reliable poster to discuss this was Elmil in Sweden. He states this is not true. - BMS software update

JejuSoul - German users also seem to think that the BMS upgrade will change the Chademo endpoint for a single charge from 83% to 94% on older model versions to make it compatible with the MY2017. Elmil does yours do this?

Elmil - No! single charge to 94%, still need restart. But as I noted in another thread, there are new Delta chademos that autostart when you plug in, and also auto restart at 83%. Not related to BMS update though.

I did ask for a BMS update and after the update in August, I now can fast charge to 94% directly instead of 84%. My Kia Soul EV is from 2014 and I am living in the Netherlands. After the BMS update the SOH was reset to 110%. I did once charge below 18% till 100%, but the SOH shown with Torque was still 110%. I expect this will go down to 94% (my KDS SOH readout was 94.2%) after several times a charge below 18% till 100%.
Another side-effect of the BMS update is that the charging points in the neighborhood overview are given in miles instead of km. When going into the menu, it is given in km.
See also this German thread: https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/kia-soul-ev/lade-entfernungsanzeige-in-ft-anstatt-km-t27342.html

Note that also in Germany people report that it now fast charges to 94% after that BMS update.
https://www.goingelectric.de/forum/...nach-bms-update-antrag-akkutausch-t34297.html

It seems there are now more than one update of the BMS software out there, since you had it twice and there are more reports on fastcharging to 94%. My car is still stopping the fastcharge at 84% after the update in 2017-04, but it shows a slightly different behaviour now. Most notable is that the cell balancing occurs at around 92% SOC instead of at 82%, thus making the first stage to 84% significantly faster, because previously there was often several minutes spent at this 82% cell balancing. Now the cell balancing (at 92%) is not as aggressive and not as frequent as before.

 

[JejuSoul]

...I did ask for a BMS update and after the update in August, I now can fast charge to 94% directly instead of 84%...

ZuinigeRijde thanks for the latest info.
Previously you had a BMS firmware update in June 2017 for a 12V battery charging issue - Battery Ageing Model
Do you remember if the fast charge to 94% was happening then?
Why did you ask for a second BMS update? Do you know what the difference is between the two, or what is the reason for the new version?
Anyway it seems clear that there are two versions of the BMS update, Elmil has the older one which does not fast charge to 94% directly , whereas the newer one does.

...Another side-effect of the BMS update is that the charging points in the neighborhood overview are given in miles instead of km....

On the German thread : Umliegende Stationen-Anzeige in ft anstatt km ? it states this is a side effect of a navigation update not the BMS. Also it shows feet not miles. It was fixed with a later navigation update. (It is not actually feet, the real distance was 7km)



That there are two versions of the BMS update is confirmed by German user Schwaendi here - Soul 2015 lädt bis 94% nach BMS Update / Antrag Akkutausch

...Now my Smurf on ChaDeMo loads up to 94%, yessssss.
...Is also available only recently. Had a BMS update a year ago and he also stopped at 84%.

 

[ZuinigeRijder]

...I did ask for a BMS update and after the update in August, I now can fast charge to 94% directly instead of 84%...

ZuinigeRijde thanks for the latest info.
Previously you had a BMS firmware update in June 2017 for a 12V battery charging issue - Battery Ageing Model
Do you remember if the fast charge to 94% was happening then?

No, fast charging was not happening to 94% with the first BMS firmware update (June 2017)

Why did you ask for a second BMS update? Do you know what the difference is between the two, or what is the reason for the new version?
Anyway it seems clear that there are two versions of the BMS update, Elmil has the older one which does not fast charge to 94% directly , whereas the newer one does.

I did read on the German forum that there was a BMS update which did fast charge to 94%. So I explicit asked if there was an update of the BMS to fast charge to 94%.

I also asked for the BMS update, because I experienced a problem. See. http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=294&p=8090#p8090. I explicit asked too to check if the air fan in the back of the car was working for this second problem. Before I left the car at the garage, I checked the error codes again with Torque Pro, and those error codes were no longer there. They could not find any problem and also the air fan in the back of the car was working. The problem of May 2018 did not happen again.

I also asked for a SOH readout. See this post. http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=434&p=8323#p8323

...Another side-effect of the BMS update is that the charging points in the neighborhood overview are given in miles instead of km....

On the German thread : Umliegende Stationen-Anzeige in ft anstatt km ? it states this is a side effect of a navigation update not the BMS. Also it shows feet not miles. It was fixed with a later navigation update. (It is not actually feet, the real distance was 7km)



That there are two versions of the BMS update is confirmed by German user Schwaendi here - Soul 2015 lädt bis 94% nach BMS Update / Antrag Akkutausch

...Now my Smurf on ChaDeMo loads up to 94%, yessssss.
...Is also available only recently. Had a BMS update a year ago and he also stopped at 84%.

Yes, I also asked for a navigation update, because mine was 1.5 year old. So it can be that this update caused the problem with the miles instead of km. Unfortunately I do not know the service number of the BMS update. When I picked up the car they said there was indeed a BMS update to fast charge to 94%. Note that I rarely fast charge, but sometimes it can be handy to charge to 94%, although this takes longer. I heard that the positive effect was also that fast charging to 84% is faster. And that is the main advantage for me.

 

[nibularr]

i called into my local Kia dealer this morning,

nothing showing for this for my vin in Canada. i hope this one comes here.

 

[1979mini]

My 2018 Soul EV stops at 94% with a DC Fast Charger. Gets me about 192km of range.

 

[tmu5]

Do you know is this BMS software update (fast charge 84% to 94%) done automaticly when I have normal maintenance service or do I need to order this update?

I have 2016 model and today I don't have Apple car play and I have fast charge to 84%.
I have next maintanance service 16-nov and I hope that I'll get those updates to my car.
I live in Finland.