Kia dealer has my SoulEV for 3+ months

[IanL]

There is no mathematical relationship between EPA range and SOH. The range depends on climate, driving style, traffic patterns how much use is made of the heating and aircon and probably some other factors. If all the above are on the debit side, you could experience a range well below the value you could expect from the EPA data.

 

[uspurs]

YMMV depending on use/abuse of the battery during its lifetime, but the average EV battery degradation rate is generally accepted to be 2.3%/year. My 2016 is currently showing ~ 50 mile range at 100% charge. It was put in service just over seven years ago, with an EPA range rating of 94 miles. At average degradation, it should be at 79 miles instead of 50. I realize that battery SOH is calculated differently. But how can it be that a battery that is down to barely over 50% of its original range still has a SOH of >70%? Is this some kind of voodoo math or science that Kia is using?

From our experience, and fwiw, the SOH isn't the most reliable metric for assessing battery health / replacement. My view is that Kia should run the battery to empty and then measure what it takes to charge to 100%.
But good luck convincing a dealer to do that.

 

[IanL]

Even if you could get the dealer to do that, it wouldn't help. KIA will only accept the SOH read by the KIA Diagnostic Unit.

 

[uspurs]

Even if you could get the dealer to do that, it wouldn't help. KIA will only accept the SOH read by the KIA Diagnostic Unit.

I appreciate that; I wrote 'that Kia should run the battery to empty and then measure what it takes to charge to 100%' (bold added) - so whether the dealership do it, or not, it has no value until Kia approve the method.

 

[nileriver]

If my car when new would show 94 miles range at 100% charge, then all the factors mentioned that will cause it to get a lower actual driving range will apply. If my car presently shows 55 miles range at 100% charge, those exact same factors apply, resulting in lower actual range. I realize that Kia’s method to determine, and definition apparently, of SOH, is a different metric. But my point stands: My car is only charging up to 59% of what it did when new. With an effective range also reduced by approximately 40%. Maybe Kia can do some math and call this battery’s SOH 70% or greater. But you can see that there is no way that this battery is at 70% health in actuality. Seems like a way to get out of honoring the warranty.

 

[nickfank]

And you're not gonna share what the problem was?

The BMS was bad, very likely due to a crack in the housing that was common for this year. Bizarrely, they tried replacing the battery pack first, even though I'd guess that was a much more expensive starting point if you're doing whack-a-mole component replacement instead of diagnosis.

 

[JejuSoul]

We use the word GOM to describe the range displayed by the car. GOM stands for Guess-O-Meter.
This acronym was created by Nissan Leaf users as an amusing way to remember that you cannot rely on this number.
Altering slightly what Ian stated above "There is no mathematical relationship between the GOM and SOH. The range depends on climate, driving style, traffic patterns how much use is made of the heating and aircon and many other factors." (My edits in red - there's nothing wrong with Ian's statement, I just wanted to highlight how it applies to this situation.)

 

[JejuSoul]

The BMS was bad, very likely due to a crack in the housing that was common for this year. Bizarrely, they tried replacing the battery pack first, even though I'd guess that was a much more expensive starting point if you're doing whack-a-mole component replacement instead of diagnosis.

OBC not BMS. There is no coolant going through the BMS.
See :- Charging Fault error.

 

[EWBurden]

My dealer experience has been pretty awful, but I guess you could say it's my own fault or rather the result of my naivety. When I bought my electric KIA from a used car dealer on Vancouver Island and as we closed the deal he mentioned, in passing, that my car was originally from the US, and was that a problem. I said no. It seems that was a mistake. Or at least it showed my naivety.

Last spring my car started showing a charging error when plugged into a 240v charger, but charged at home on 120v. After a quick search online the probable cause was the On Board Charger (OBC) which manages incoming voltage. My search also showed it was an expensive component, but I also saw that it was covered by a 10year warranty in both Canada and the US. I I should be okay. Naive again.

My Dealer told me my diagnosis was correct but because the car was a US registration originally, KIA Canada would not cover it. He then gave me a huge estimate for the repair.

I tried contacting KIA US but they simply said I had to talk to KIA Canada. I called KIA Canada who said, "No problem you just need to get authorization from KIA US and we'll fix it." He even offered to transfer my call to KIA US. Very helpful, it seemed. Again, naive.

I waited on hold at KIA US for 2 hours and never got through. There is a feature where you can enter a call-back number so you don't have to wait on hold, but when I tried it it would not except a Canadian area code phone number.

The car, theoretically, is under warranty in either country, but it's not.

I can't go any distance in the car unless I can confirm high speed charging stations enroute. So the car is just a local car now. I rent a fuelie if I need to go any distance.

My car will charge overnight tonight, parked by my garage, plugged into my household current.


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[IanL]

I remember reading a post about a non-KIA repair to the OBC - apparently there are two large capacitors in the device which were not (in the early cars) up to the job. The post gave advice on where to get suitable replacements, and also how to install.

Removal instructions here.

There may be some clues here.

Worth hunting around, I suggest.

 

[raskal]

My dealer experience has been pretty awful, but I guess you could say it's my own fault or rather the result of my naivety. When I bought my electric KIA from a used car dealer on Vancouver Island and as we closed the deal he mentioned, in passing, that my car was originally from the US, and was that a problem. I said no. It seems that was a mistake. Or at least it showed my naivety.

Last spring my car started showing a charging error when plugged into a 240v charger, but charged at home on 120v. After a quick search online the probable cause was the On Board Charger (OBC) which manages incoming voltage. My search also showed it was an expensive component, but I also saw that it was covered by a 10year warranty in both Canada and the US. I I should be okay. Naive again.

My Dealer told me my diagnosis was correct but because the car was a US registration originally, KIA Canada would not cover it. He then gave me a huge estimate for the repair.

I tried contacting KIA US but they simply said I had to talk to KIA Canada. I called KIA Canada who said, "No problem you just need to get authorization from KIA US and we'll fix it." He even offered to transfer my call to KIA US. Very helpful, it seemed. Again, naive.

I waited on hold at KIA US for 2 hours and never got through. There is a feature where you can enter a call-back number so you don't have to wait on hold, but when I tried it it would not except a Canadian area code phone number.

The car, theoretically, is under warranty in either country, but it's not.

I can't go any distance in the car unless I can confirm high speed charging stations enroute. So the car is just a local car now. I rent a fuelie if I need to go any distance.

My car will charge overnight tonight, parked by my garage, plugged into my household current.


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You might want to chat with Jordon on his experience as your problems seem similar
https://www.mykiasoulev.com/threads...rranty-battery-replacement-2017-soul-ev.1937/

 

[nickfank]

OBC not BMS. There is no coolant going through the BMS.
See :- Charging Fault error.

View attachment 78

You're right, had a thinko there and mixed up my acronyms.

 

[jray3]

Burst capacitors inside the charger were the main common problems on early Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Nissan LEAF as well. The i-MiEV community dove right in and many newbies have been successful with their first EVer board-level soldering since!

 

[sail4th]

as an aside, my 2017 has 54,000 miles and is under 70% SOH so it will be getting a new battery soon too. Well, who knows what "soon" means, but hopefully sometime this year.
From my reading, I'll need to implement a way that we only charge it to 80% capacity so that it won't need another one

That can be done. You can program it to only go to 80% (you can't change the level to say 70% or 90%). The main issue I have with those settings is if you have it set to start charging at 9:00 pm and you plug it in at 9:01 pm it will wait until tomorrow to start charging. There is also a button on the dashboard that overrides the programming. I suggest you read the manual about this. They are better writers than I.

 

[sail4th]

I also have had my 2017 EV+ Soul in the shop since January. We bought the car used and early on we were having trouble charging - it would only charge on a DC fast charger. They replaced the BMS under warranty, then a month later we lost a lot of capacity - went from over 100 miles to less than 70. Eventually they replaced the battery.

Coming around last fall they sent us a recall notice that effected some of the later model Souls and ours as well since I bet they upgraded our BMS when they did the replacement. We brought it to the dealer in December and a couple weeks later it went into turtle mode. I had it towed to the dealer and it's been there ever since. They still don't have a fix, but they are graciously renting us a Niro EV which we are enjoying.

 

[FLKiaEV]

The ability to charge to only 80% was removed from 2018 Kia Soul EVs (and possibly others) because of an EPA complaint, but although the decision was reversed, Kia never updated the firmware to allow this to happen. I really wish Kia would release a firmware update to bring this back.

 

[IanL]

That can be done. You can program it to only go to 80% (you can't change the level to say 70% or 90%). The main issue I have with those settings is if you have it set to start charging at 9:00 pm and you plug it in at 9:01 pm it will wait until tomorrow to start charging. There is also a button on the dashboard that overrides the programming. I suggest you read the manual about this. They are better writers than I.

My 2018 model does not do that. If you plug it in later than the start time, it starts charging straight away.

 

[raskal]

That can be done. You can program it to only go to 80% (you can't change the level to say 70% or 90%). The main issue I have with those settings is if you have it set to start charging at 9:00 pm and you plug it in at 9:01 pm it will wait until tomorrow to start charging. There is also a button on the dashboard that overrides the programming. I suggest you read the manual about this. They are better writers than I.

My 2017 does NOT have the 80% charge option. Are you saying that your 2017 DOES have an 80% option? That would be the first time I've ever heard that

 

[gnad]

I have started talking to KIA HQ for the possibility to buy my car as a total loss, as mine has been in the shop since late November. Honestly, since the Kia Soul EV is no longer being made, there is little incentive for them to correct our issues.

I will let you know what they offer. Attached is the documentation. Mine is paid off, so it should be relatively easy. I'm also looking at the possibility of a trade in value which should be higher than the outright purchase option. Here is the documentation in case anyone else is interested.

Please also share any info if you go down this route.

 

[JejuSoul]

My 2018 model does not do that. If you plug it in later than the start time, it starts charging straight away.

Really. I didn't know they had changed this for the 2018.
So what happens if you have two timers set.
One at 7pm and one at 11pm. You plug in at 7.30pm.
My car will start charging at 11pm.
If I plug in after 11pm it would wait until 7pm the next day, This has happened a few times and is quite annoying.
Maybe this is the reason for the change in functionality. I prefer the way the timer works on mine. I just have to be careful with the time.
The reason for setting these points is to be able to always avoid peak pricing, so if I need the car later in the evening I'll charge for a while at standard rate by plugging in when I get home. Most of my charging however is done off-peak during the night. I wait until after 7 to plug in.
I have 80% settings because I have a 2015. If I use the timer override it always goes to 100%.
I knew they removed the 80% setting in 2017, but didn't know they had changed the timer functionality.