Kia found OBC unit & battery cells to be faulty!

[SoulEV2016]

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That pack has 100 cells not 96.
So if cells 97,98,99 and 100 exist then this must be a new pack.

Well, we must add PIDs for this.

But, the hint is the final voltage at 100% :
96 cells (96S2P) = 398,4v (or a little more)
100 cells (100S2P) = 415v (or a little more)

Problem of the hint, the builder can have decrease the max cell voltage at 4,05~4,10v to take note about the usage in TAXI mode and Chademo 2 times per day.

 

[JejuSoul]

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Thanks SoulEV2016.
Yes, there is a very easy way to know which battery you have.
What is your battery voltage at 100% SOC.

If it is 398V it is the old battery. If it is 415V it is the new.

For my 2 year old car battery voltage is 398.6V at 100% SOC. Max cell is 4,16V and Min Cell 4,14V

 

[NateCrawford]

Voltage at 100% is 398.4 V, so I got the 96 cell battery. And I am absolutely fine with that!
-Nate

 

[Avitt]

Just had my battery, battery management system, and on-board charger replaced by Kia of Irvine. Car was at about 32 months / 32k miles, and had degraded to about 54 miles at full charge. This was the second replacement of the OBC.

 

[curtalva]

My 2015 Kia Soul EV appears to be doing the same as what I read about in this thread. I am still trying to figure it out. It says it's at 100% however it appears I'm only getting a charge of about 12.5 to 13kWh each night (starting at 10%). My calculations make me think I'm working with a total battery capacity of about 15kWh. And it will only charge at the 6.6kWh rate for about 1.5 to 2 hours and than drops off to less than 1kWh rate and then stop at about the 3 hour mark and claim it's at 100%. Any thoughts on how to articulate this to the Service Department at Kia of Irvine so that they are able to diagnose this properly? Should I take to Kia of Orange instead? I will be shipping it from the greater Phoenix, AZ area to Southern California in the next week at great expense. I would like to make this trip to the dealership worth the cost of transport.

This morning I drove 36 miles (highway at 62-65 mph) to near my work. Arrived with 28% SOC. Charged on fast charger for 30 minutes to 58%. Drove to my work parking lot and plugged in trickle charger to 120v outlet at 7 a.m. with the SOC at 58%. At 9:30 a.m. it read 81%. At 10:15 a.m. it read 100%. Pretty crazy isn't it?

p.s. Even on a fast charger (ChadeMo) it will only get about a 30% increase in 30 minutes. Charge rate drops from 48A after about 10-15 minutes. Then drops to 12A, and then 6A after about 20-25 minutes.

Thanks,
Curt

 

[Moridin2]

Curt,

Get that thing into a dealer ASAP. Is the battery still under warranty? Seems like cell (or cells) going south to me. Would make sense that the fast charge would taper quickly. A cell (or cells) resistance is high, so it gains a lot of voltage under the fast charging load and hits the voltage cutoff more quickly where it has to start tapering off the amps.

 

[curtalva]

It is my understanding that even though I am not the original owner (only had the car about a month) that the battery is still under warranty.

2015 Kia Soul EV with 12,500 miles.

Is there something specific I should tell the service department? Or just tell them to check the 'State of Health' of the battery?

I would hate for the dealer in California to tell me that they found nothing wrong after having to go through shipping my vehicle my the Phoenix, AZ area to Southern California.

Curt

 

[mtndrew1]

The warranty packet is pretty clear that any state of health below 70% within ten years or 100,000 miles is eligible for a warranty repair regardless of whether or not it is for the original owner.

I’d take it to the dealer, tell them the range has dropped dramatically, and ask them to check the state of health. Should be free/cheap to have this done (definitely free if the warranty is triggered).

 

[curtalva]

My 2015 Soul EV (12,500 miles) is on a car carrier and on the way to the dealer many miles away in California. Will report what I am told by the Service manager at the dealer.

Thanks,
Curt

 

[mtndrew1]

Why not have the dealer in Arizona run the SOH check before shipping? Their diagnostic equipment should be able to read the values.

 

[curtalva]

Tempe Kia Service Manager told me that he couldn't service an electric vehicle.

 

[mtndrew1]

It’s just reading a value off the Kia scan tool, there’s no “servicing” really involved. I would press the issue or consult another service dept.

In any event it sounds like you’re likely to get a new battery under warranty.

 

[curtalva]

Hmmmm..... interesting. Thanks for the info. I will keep that in mind moving forward. As of right now my car is already on it's way out of town.

 

[curtalva]

Do the service technicians at the Kia dealership need to charge the car to 100% in order to check the stat of health of the battery? Just wondering. I have noticed that my car (currently in the shop to have the battery issues diagnosed) was charged to 100% today.

The car will actually charge to a reading of 100% on the instrument panel however I hope they notice that it will not accept more than about 14kWh total charge. And that the rate of charge on a Level 2 charger drops off from 6.6kw after about an hour or so.

 

[curtalva]

Latest from the Kia dealership regarding the car...

The service advisor said the technician performed a needed "Update" to the battery ( or battery management system?) and have confirmed that it is holding a charge for now. This is nothing new to me as the car seems to hold a charge alright. The issue is that It just doesn't charge to anything beyond about 14kWh capacity. I tried to explain that to the service advisor.

The service advisor told me that the technician plans on performing a 'Draw Test' tomorrow. Anyone know what that will determine?

I asked if they have performed a 'State of Health' test on the battery and the service advisor said they plan to do that tomorrow (Saturday).

The service advisor told me that they have open a case/ticket with Kia Tech-Line ???? Anyone know what that means/implies?

Thanks,
Curt

 

[SoulEV2016]

the local tech of Kia service don't understand the electric car.

they need to plug the car to outlet and let the android Kia tablet with OBD-adapter to save LOG of the charge and the kWh/Ah counter after a discharge and during a charge to follow the evolution of voltage of all cells.

it takes time.
you can do the same LOG with torque pro because we can follow ALL CELLS too ... and kWh/Ah counter, too.

Update of the BMS solve climate cold start planned heating function and, perhaps, the drift of the internal clock (for the kWh counter).
But don't resolve a VOLTAGE issue on 1-2-3 cells.

Luckly, Kia process is very easy for the local tech ... and very serious, too.
All diagnostics of a battery pack is made with INTERNET connexion ONLY.

but, again, it takes time.

example : http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=471&start=280#p6069

 

[curtalva]

I see on MyUVO app that the technician drove the car today down to 42%.

Then they have been charging the car for the past 3 hours (starting at 42%). In the first 90 minutes SOC went from 42% to 90%. However in the last 90 minutes the SOC has only gone from 90% to 95%. Therein lies the problem that I have been experiencing. It seems like it will charge at the 6.6kw rate for about 90 minutes and then drop-off to about 1kw rate. And it has been my experience that the care will only accept about 13-14kWh. Not sure what they are seeing.

I presume they are performing the state of health (SOH) check. Not sure. I have not heard from the dealer yet today and they close in a little over an hour.

Curt

 

[curtalva]

Can someone help me to interpret the test results I just received from the dealer....

SOC 95.0%
SOH 30.7%
Battery DC Voltage 381.2 V
Max Cell Voltage 4.02 V
Min Cell Voltage 3.96 V
Battery DC Current 0.0 A
Available Charge Power 66.47 KW
Available Discharge Power 90.00 KW
Auxiliary Battery Voltage 12.4V

The service advisor is telling me it all looks normal. Does this all look normal to you?

Thanks,
Curt

 

[SoulEV2016]

I think it's SOC=30% and SOH=95% ... no ? :mrgreen:
(with this voltage of cell, it's more like that)

95% in SOH is 25,6kWh.
and a Deteriotion of 15% of the battery pack.

but SOC or SOH are incoherent with the voltage of cell ... you have a defect battery pack.

 

[curtalva]

Straight from the sheet that was emailed to me...

SOC (State of Charge) 95%
SOH (State of Health) 30.7%

Thanks for your feedback please!