Kia found OBC unit & battery cells to be faulty!

[SoulEV2016]

ok, so ... pack will be replace in warranty.

 

[SoulEV2016]

The service advisor is telling me it all looks normal.

you see ?
this is a real idiot ... :shock:

30,2% for SOH is a defect battery pack.
Kia SK-Innovation battery pack is under warranty for a deterioration below 70% of SOH (new pack have 110% capacity).

you have a 30,2% of SOH.
warranty.

quick !!! no discussion !!!

 

[curtalva]

What do these figures indicate? I have shipped my car nearly 400 miles to have this checked out at substantial expense. I don't want it to NOT get fixed. Suggestions?

 

[SoulEV2016]

write a letter to Kia in your country with the copy of email.
Kia will be call the local tech ... to plan the ship of a new battery pack (or separate blocks) like this :

http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=813&p=7015#p7009 (bad cell, voltage is right like you)
and
http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7156#p7156 (brown box on the background store the block of cells).

 

[curtalva]

That SOH figures of 30.7% seems really low. But that is what is on the sheet of paper.

Do any of the other figures indicate anything out of the normal range? Do any of the other results mean anything of substance?

 

[curtalva]

I spoke with Kia Consumer Affairs USA about my concerns. Kia Consumer Affairs called the dealership. Now I am being told that the figures I posted were the "Before" numbers.

I am now waiting to be given the 'After' numbers.

Waiting to hear from the dealership now.

 

[curtalva]

Is it difficult for the dealer to get a test result reading on the total energy capacity of the battery in kWh? This is why I took the car in for the most part because I can't get more than about 12 to 13kWh into the battery each charge (starting from 5-10%). I suspect the battery does not hold much more than about 14 to 15kWh total capacity. On the test results the dealer provided me I was given

Available Charge Power = 66.47KW
Available Discharge Power = 90KW

What does this mean?

Is there a way the dealer can measure the total energy capacity of the battery in kWh?

 

[notfred]

That's how fast the battery is capable of charging/discharging and doesn't give you how much the battery can hold. It should be easy enough for the dealership to do a simple charge test and see how much goes in, just like you have.

However I agree with all the posters above, with SOH below 70% then that triggers the battery warranty.

 

[JejuSoul]

-
You cannot measure the energy capacity of the battery with a simple test.

The two best measures are 1) take the battery out of the car, take it to a laboratory and use specialized equipment.
And 2) Charge to 100%, drive to completely empty, charge back up to 100%. Measure everything carefully.

What Kia has done is ask the Battery Management System in the car to tell us what it thinks the energy capacity of the battery is.
This measurement is called the State Of Health (SOH).
Your battery showed 30.7%. This is a false reading. It cannot be so low.
Either there is a typo and it wasn't really 30.7 they saw, or the BMS in the car is not working correctly.

Resetting the BMS to show SOH = 100% does not help us much.
Obviously the SOH will now be 100%. But we have no idea what the actual battery energy capacity is.
Perhaps the reset fixed the bug in the BMS. Perhaps not.

They need to do a simple test like charge the car to 100% and see how long it takes, and how much energy is going into the battery.
If they get the same kind of results you did, then obviously there is something wrong.

You mentioned earlier they did an 'Energy Draw' test. Did they ever explain this to you? What was the result of the test?

 

[curtalva]

It is hard to stay focused with all that the young, fast-talking service advisor throws at me when he calls me with information. Information that he is reading from the technicians. I will try to remember to ask about the energy 'Draw Test' and ask them to measure how much energy they are putting in when they charge. The car has been sitting at 100% since Saturday now. The only time I saw them test drive it was on Saturday when they drove it down to 42% and then I saw that they charged it back to 100%. The interesting thing about the charging was that it went from 42% to 90% in just 90 minutes but then took another 90 minutes to go from 90% to 100%. This is another thing I've noticed about the car is that the level 2 6.6kW rate drops off after about 60-90 minutes and then the charging goes along at about 1kW rate.

 

[SoulEV2016]

energy draw may be a discharge by the A/C and opened windows ... very simple = 4~6kW in static mode.

1 night in a (big) garage and it's done with a security cut off from the BMS because no-one shutdown the car when the security warning for low range appear.

 

[curtalva]

Received a call from the Kia dealership just a few minutes ago. The result of another test determined the SOH of the EV battery in my vehicle (2015 Soul EV) to be at 60%. The dealer said it will be about two weeks to get the battery in. Once the battery is received the battery in my car will be replaced.

Wow, this validates what I have been experiencing and what you guys have been saying.

Thanks,
Curt

 

[curtalva]

Since I shipped the car from AZ to CA the car (2015 Soul EV) has been at the dealer for 17 days so far. An 'Escalated Case Representative' called me to let me know that two parts are on order for the Soul EV. The two parts are the EV battery and the Battery Management System (BMS). I was told that one part is estimated to be at the dealer in 10 days and the other part is estimated to be at the dealer November 28th, 2017. The representative said she is working on trying to expedite the parts arrival to the dealer but didn't have anything further to provide at this time.

What could possibly cause one of the parts (either the EV Battery or BMS) another 45 days to arrive at the dealer?

It's already been nearly two weeks since the parts were ordered. I could have a shipment arrive from overseas shipped by cargo ship before November 28th. Do they actually have to make the part?

Curt

 

[curtalva]

Since the car was diagnosed and parts were ordered (on October 4th) to cover the warranty work ...
- ETA on the BMS is November 28th
- there is still no ETA on the EV battery pack

I have been in a rental car since 9/28/2017 and will be for the foreseeable future (November, December??). Hmmmm.....

 

[mtndrew1]

While this is no doubt frustrating there is a small chance you’ll get the new 2018 pack with new chemistry and greater capacity. Potential silver lining?

 

[curtalva]

Wouldn't that be good!

 

[Avitt]

You should be able to tell by looking at the part numbers on the work order, if you were provided with a copy.

I'll note that I asked about this possibility when the battery was replaced on my 2015, and was told that it would be a straight like-for-like replacement...no upgrade. The part number confirmed that the replacement battery was for my model year.

 

[curtalva]

What's killing me besides simply waiting so long to get my car back is the rental car bill is well over $1000.00 now (sales manager says he will reimburse AFTER repairs are complete and I submit my receipt). And I am not able to use the HOV lane on my daily commute which is killing me here on I-10 in the Phoenix area.

 

[curtalva]

ETA on replacement EV battery and BMS is now November 20, 2017. I've already been a month without my car. Looks like it will be at least another month. Hmmm....

 

[Avitt]

I just checked my rental agreement, and the total turn around time was just under a month (6/23 to 7/20). It was a bit less painful for me, as Kia of Irvine had an account with a nearby Enterprise location, and I didn't have to front the money for the rental. I just saw it as a chance to reduce my lease mileage (which was running a bit high), and wear and tear on the car. But I did miss the carpool lane access.

I wonder if your parts delay indicates that Kia is having flurry of Soul EV battery failures at the 3 year mark...