KIA EV Soul battery decay

[bd900]

How many owners have experienced 30% or more in range reduction, driving a consistent route, in the first 18 month of ownership?

 

[JejuSoul]

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Probably zero. Most drivers in the US are leasing. Owners are more likely to care about battery health.
The highest failure rate is in Phoenix, Arizona. Supposedly all 10 of the Soul EVs there have had battery replacements.
This is probably due to extreme heat. Note Kia does not sell EVs in Arizona.
Next highest is California. About 6 cars have have had battery replacements. These cars had all driven long and fast commutes.
The Soul EV does not perform well driven faster than 70 mph. It has poor aerodynamics because of its box shape.
I think many lease drivers in California care more about cheap HOV access, than battery health or sustainability.

Almost all reported battery problems are in the US, despite the fact that most Soul EVs are outside the United States.
Perhaps this is because outside the US the percentage of people owning is far higher.
Hyundai / Kia have lowered the priority of selling EVs in the US. Maybe this is a reason.

I live on Jeju island, there are more Soul EVs here than the US. There are no reports of battery failure.
I do expect some soon, because we have many hundreds of tourist rental cars that are Soul Evs. Tourist drivers are even less likely to treat the car well than lease drivers.
The biggest market for the Soul EV is Norway. There are no reports of battery failure.

There are a couple of battery failure reports from both Germany and mainland Korea.

 

[Javi]

In Spain, south of Europe, we know 35 souls.
There is a unit with 100,000 km and only 14% degradation.
We call him Chademo-man

 

[edman98]

We have a 2015 Kia Soul EV, which after 3 years (~40000 miles) has about 50% degradation. Immediately after a full overnight charge (which we charge every night) shows 50 mile range w AC turned on or 53 mile range without.

At this rate, will soon have a 25mi range on full charge!

Took to Kia for a seat heater issue and brought up range issue and they state nothing they can do.

 

[GizmoEV]

I would take it to the dealer and insist they check the state of health of the battery pack. I'm sure it is below the minimum needed for them to warranty the battery.

 

[Kiacanadasoul]

Is the state of health of the battery and the battery capacity the same thing just different wording .
My soh is 60.4% and kia said the battery passes .
Help with your thoughts
Thank you

 

[IanL]

The SOH is the current capacity divided by the nominal capacity of the battery when new, expressed as a percentage. So a 27 kWh battery with SOH of 60.4% has a current capacity of 27 x 0.604 = 16.308 kWh.

Was the SOH determined by the dealer using the KIA test equipment? If so, why are KIA weaseling out? If not, the dealer needs to do the measurement by following the procedure in PS548.

 

[EVDee]

Is the state of health of the battery and the battery capacity the same thing just different wording .
My soh is 60.4% and kia said the battery passes .
Help with your thoughts
Thank you

Escalate to Kia corporate. Your battery is covered for 160,000km or 8 years with at least 70% SoH. That, or tell them they're wrong and you're about to escalate unless they wanna get their ducks in a row now rather than later.