Getting a New Battery...Eventually

[AnOnyMzB]

2016 Soul EV, purchased. 41k miles. Range way down. Take it to the dealer for a battery check and they run their tests and tell me the EV battery needs to be replaced. This was at the beginning of April. It's now the end of May and I don't have my car back. Dealer tells me battery is back-ordered and they have no ETA. Somebody from corporate called me and left voicemail, but he won't return my callback.
Anybody else go through the process of getting the EV battery replaced? How did it go? Did it take this long? Are there so many Soul EV's needing batteries that they are back-ordered? Or am I getting jerked around by the dealer? I miss driving in the HOV lanes.

 

[jysl]

I think I need a new battery too 47K full charge GOM show 57 miles range. Real mileage is about the same as 58 or so. What the GOM show on your before they agree to replace?

 

[AnOnyMzB]

I was showing low 70s/high 60s on the GOM and that was close to realistic for my driving.

 

[JejuSoul]

...Anybody else go through the process of getting the EV battery replaced? How did it go? ...

There's a thread here - 2015 Soul EV: My Battery Replacement Story

 

[AnOnyMzB]

Thanks Jeju. That was a very interesting read. Not sure why my battery is taking so long compared to Kish.

 

[Kish]

Out of curiosity, I've been looking at used Soul EVs (2015-2016) online recently and I noticed a lot of them in CA have battery degradation, (with some at low as 30k miles). For instance, dealer pictures of the dash shows them sitting at 50% SOC with like 22 miles on the GOM. Looks like the CA heat (and fast freeway driving) has been taking a huge toll on these poor Soul EVs (like in AZ).

Now would be a great time to buy a Soul EV for cheap ($10-15k), get a new battery (if you're patient enough), and flip it/keep it! The 10yr/100k battery pack warranty in the U.S. is going to cost Kia more than their share over the lifetime of the car. :roll:

I think I need a new battery too 47K full charge GOM show 57 miles range. Real mileage is about the same as 58 or so. What the GOM show on your before they agree to replace?

My GOM was at ~50 miles at full charge, at 37k miles. Real drivable miles was 45-55 mi at freeway speeds.

 

[JejuSoul]

... Looks like the CA heat (and fast freeway driving) has been taking a huge toll on these poor Soul EVs (like in AZ). ..

Yes. And I think Kia noticed this already 2 years ago. They shifted sales of the Kia Soul EV out of the warmer states up north to Washington State and into Canada, particularly Quebec. And of course the primary market is Europe where they focus most on Norway.

In colder climates we are not seeing battery degradation. The other reason, 'fast freeway driving' ,is also important. There are thousands of Soul EVs here on Jeju Island which has a warm climate but low driving speeds. I have not heard of any cars here with battery problems.

 

[Kish]

Yes, I've noticed this as well, a lot of Soul EV owners in WA and Canada (and EU). There's only a handful of new 2018 Soul EVs available for sale/lease in CA, comparing to previous years. This is probably also why we aren't seeing many of the other models without active battery TMS (such as the VW e-Golf) any longer in large numbers in CA.

Fingers crossed that this fiasco isn't going to stop Kia from bringing the Niro EV out to CA, it looks like a great competitor to the Bolt EV. Kia seems to be targeting SK and Norway first as usual.

 

[AnOnyMzB]

Just an update: I got my car back from the dealer today. They called me yesterday to tell me they got the battery pack and had it installed today. Only took 76 days!
Next step, talk to the corporate guy and see what "good will options" they'll offer me.

 

[JejuSoul]

-
Good news. Let us know how the new battery performs.
Do you think it is a brand new pack, or have they refurbished an old one?
Does it say on your invoice?
And I wish you luck getting some goodwill from Kia. Making you wait 76 days is ridiculous.

 

[AnOnyMzB]

Update:
It's been a little over a month on the new battery and it is performing well. Identical to when the car was brand new. Out of the dealer, GOM was displaying around 105 @ 100% charge. After a couple of weeks of my driving, GOM dropped to 95 miles @ 100% charge and it's pretty much held at 95 since. My daily commute is 35 miles each way (almost all freeway driving) and I arrive at work with 70-75% remaining charge (depending on traffic). Again, this is very similar to when the car was brand new.

I think the battery pack is brand new, but I did not read through the dealerships paper work to verify. All of the battery was covered by the car warranty, so I didn't pay anything out of pocket. On one of the papers that I signed when picking up the car from the dealer, I saw that the total cost would have been $17k+ (I'm sure that included labor, but they didn't give me that particular sheet). Safe to say, I would abandon the car before ever paying that much out of pocket.

After a lot of phone tag with the corporate guy, we finally talked. He asked me to send him a copy of my car payments, which I did. After a little more phone tag, I spoke to him today. The goodwill offer was to give me 4 months of my car payment. I accepted the offer. Prior to the conversation I had an idea of what I felt was a fair offer and the actual offer was very much in-line with what I felt was fair. He's going to email me some paperwork for me to sign and will process the payment following that.

 

[Kish]

That's great to hear! My GOM with the new battery pack was also around 105 miles @100% when I got it back from the dealer. It is now down to 80-85 miles, but SOH is still at 100% according to Torque. I also do mostly fast freeway commuting, getting around 3 mi/kWh, so the GOM is about right.

I really doubt it costs KIA HQ $17k+ to replace a battery pack. While the pack itself may retail for $16k, it costs them much less to manufacture. For example, GM has openly stated that it costs them roughly $9-10k for the Bolt EV's 60kWh pack, which is double the capacity of the Soul EV's pack. As for the labor, it should be negligible as there's no coolant involved; just mechanical work in disconnecting/connecting plugs and removing/installing the battery pack. Maybe a bit more time calibrating the BMS. Anyway, congrats on your goodwill offer negotiation!

 

[jysl]

I think I need a new battery too 47K full charge GOM show 57 miles range. Real mileage is about the same as 58 or so. What the GOM show on your before they agree to replace?

After 2 month back and forth finally got a approval for a battery exchange

Before 1st time bring in the GOM is 57 with 4.2/4.1 on miles/kwh
1st bring in SOH at 67.9 they did an SA297 ECU update. But that reset the SOH to 100% and the GOM at 90 but true mileage is still at 57-60 ish so I call in and they ask me to drive and charge a few time to see how that go and it will take a few charge to get the GOM sync with the ture milage. The GOM and true mileage still off for a few week doping a little here and there (I was away for one week)
3 week later the GOM at 62 with 4.1 miles/kwh so I schedule to bring it in.
2nd bring in (about a little over 1 month from the 1st bring in) the SOH is at 70.6 so nothing they can do yet. We are joking a bit like to schedule an appointment in 2 week or a month.
2 Week later GOM at 59 so I call but they ev tech is out at training that week so I schedule to bring it in next week
3rd bring in GOM is at 57 with 4.1 on miles/kwh, SOH is at 66.9
With that they can get the battery and the whole BMS system exchange approve
After the approval then I got the rental car

Let hope I don't have the wait 78 days longs for this

FYI I am in SF Bay area so it is not that hot maybe a few days of 90 degree (less then 5) for a years mostly 70s and 80s in summer and 60s in winter
I do drive a lot on freeway and alot of 100% to 20% to 100% cycle (free charging at office and my round trip is 75 mile)

Hope this help anyone that need this info

 

[socalsoulev]

Same thing happened with mine (2015 off lease Soul, when I got it the display said 110 miles, 4 months later 59, I drove over 60 miles a lot and at high speeds with charge left over but slowly the est. mileage went down to the 59 mark, then on New Year's Eve, 32 miles and it totally died, dragged it to Kia of Irvine, they tested and will replace). I was told it's on back order and it could be two weeks or a month or longer. They are giving me a loaner for free. They are replacing the battery for free.

 

[Cliff]

...dragged it to Kia of Irvine, they tested and will replace). I was told it's on back order and it could be two weeks or a month or longer. They are giving me a loaner for free. They are replacing the battery for free.

Dropped my 2016 Soul EV off at Kia of Irvine yesterday. GOM of 48; was deteriorating 2.5 miles range per week. Dealer stated the SOH was below 70% - they will replace the battery. They provided an Enterprise rent-a-car, but could not provide me with a time estimate for the replacement. "Could be a few days, could be over a month." Guess we're in the same battery boat.

 

[Jfv411]

For those that recieved battery replacements from KIA, what are the terms of the warranty on the replacement battery?

I've really enjoyed the Soul EV but want to better understand KIA battery replacement policy prior to purchase.

Thanks!

 

[bgarr33434]

can anyone give me the contact info for the folks in kia consumer services that helped and made people offers for waiting? I'm not at 70% yet, but I'd like to try to negotiate a discounted battery purchase to take them off the hook.