Range and HOV Questions

[Brickvipe]

Hi, we are considering leasing a new Kia Soul EV+ and I want to ask a question about range that is specific to our needs. My wife will be traveling 31 miles (each way) or 62 (RT) from Riverside/Corona area in CA to Tustin, CA. Do you all think this trip is possible with 30 miles of range to spare, it will start with a 600 foot drop in elevation and end with the same increase in elevation. We are planning on using the 91 expressway since it is more level that way but it is also 2 miles longer than taking the toll roads. Also can she run the AC at a comfortable temperature when its hot? I heard the AC is friendlier to range than heating the car, have you noticed the same? One last question, is it allowable without getting a ticket to drive in the carpool lane by yourself while your waiting for the sticker to arrive?
Thanks!

 

[mtndrew1]

Provided speeds are kept at 65 MPH or lower, I typically experience about 1 mile of range per 1% of battery. I think that expecting 92 miles of range out of the car when new is pretty realistic on a 100% charge. Keep in mind that the car can charge at up to 6.6 kW on AC at home, meaning you can put back 25 miles of range in an hour on the charger, should you need it for more driving after the commute.

The A/C doesn't use a ton of power. The Soul has a "driver only" climate setting so you don't have to cool the whole car if you're commuting alone and, when combined with the seat cooler (which uses almost no power) you can get very comfortable on hot days while using very little power.

As for the carpool stickers, no, you cannot use the HOV lane with a single occupant until the stickers arrive and are affixed to the car. This process takes about six weeks and is agonizing. Given that the Soul EV looks just like a gas Soul, I would imagine you'd be a quick target for a CHP looking to fill an HOV violator quota should you try and risk it.

 

[tractioninc]

In my experience, the available driving range correlates directly to the average vehicle speed. I do a lot of highway driving, and travelling at 75 mph saps the range much more quickly than driving the same stretch of road at 55. In-town driving averaging 30 mph is much better still. If only the roads in my area were flatter and had fewer curves, I'd try recording some efficiency measures at various speeds to document the variation energy usage.

 

[tractioninc]

Update: I found these two very useful tables (mph & kph) on the Nissan Leaf forum. The Leaf's range values don't directly correlate to the Soul EV's range, of course, but the impact of speed-related aero drag and friction losses should be similar.

 

[Brickvipe]

Thanks for the responses so far, they are definitely helping me. I have a new question about range loss based on the responses above, although i am guessing no one has put enough miles on their Souls to have an answer yet. Since we are going to get a 3 yr, 15k miles per year lease, we expect to put all 45k miles the lease will allow before its done. We hope the Soul can still make the same trip near the end of the lease without charging before the return home. If anyone has already driven a lot of miles I would appreciate hearing your thoughts. I am worried about the problems the Leafs had with their batteries and hope no one here is experiencing similar problems. Seems like the Soul battery should be superior based on what i have read so far though. Thanks again!

 

[tractioninc]

Even with state-of-the-art technology, some degree of degradation over time is inevitable no matter what sort of battery you have. It's just the nature of the beast. Environmental variables--particularly climate (and thus how hot the battery pack gets while charging) seems to be the biggest contributor to EV range loss.

Leafs are our biggest data set because they've been on the roads since 2011 and because Nissan has sold so many, compared to other models in this class. I'm not sure if any owner in the US has put more than 10,000 miles on a Soul EV yet so it really is too early to project the range degradation of this specific model. If's you're really worried, I'd opt for a 24 month lease instead of 36.

 

[Skellington]

Depending on how fast she drives, a 62 mile range with 30 mile buffer is probably reasonable.

I think it's highly unlikely that the battery will degrade very fast. Tesla's Roadsters, an older battery chemistry, are only seeing 15-20% degradation at 100K miles. It's just the Nissan LEAF, with no thermal management, that's having a problem.

However, the Kia Soul EV battery warranty only guarantees that they will keep it at or above 70%. So if there is some kind of design problem with the battery, that's all you can count on. So the basic range is ~94 miles, and at 70% battery, it is 66 miles which might be acceptable, but might require her to drive very conservatively.

And at least you don't have to worry about temperature that much reducing range significantly further given your location...

 

[mtndrew1]

Keep in mind, in regards to degradation, that the EPA mileage rating for the Soul EV is based on the average of the 80% and 100% charging options, so the 93 miles on the sticker would be 103.3 miles at 100% state of charge.

For your scenario wherein you'd like a 60 mile round trip with a 30 mile buffer, it should be pretty easily attainable with even a modicum of restraint (in regards to speed and HVAC) and even up to a 10% degradation.

Kia guarantees 70% capacity at 100,000 miles so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect no more than 15% degradation over the course of a 45,000 mile lease.

Based on some basic data tracking my car has lost about 5% capacity at 10,000 miles.

 

[AyeJay]

Re: HOV lane use ..

I wouldn't push your luck if the car doesn't have the stickers on it.

When I leased my car the dealer handled the whole 'Clean Air Vehicle Decal' process as part of the paperwork after I requested that they do so.
I don't believe there was a charge for that. I received the stickers a few days before I had my license plates (about 3 1/2 weeks).

AJ

 

[Brickvipe]

Thanks everyone, we bought one last night based on the info you all posted and so far we are very pleased with it. It had 93 miles of range when we picked it up and 55 when we got home after driving 39 miles mostly on highways going slightly upgradient most of the trip and ending with a steep 2 mile long hill at the end. We drove 65 mph and had 2 adults and a 10 year old boy in it. After charging it on the slow charger overnight, it had a 104 mile range in the morning.

If anyone is interested, there is still a silver EV+ at Kearny Mesa Kia in the San Diego area (I was going to buy it and know others were looking for the same color based on posts I read here), this color is currently in short supply. Talk to Bill Baynes there if you are interested, he was very helpful and he also gave me a better price for it than I got at the other dealer who has one in Sherman Oaks, CA. In the end we bought a black and red one because my wife liked the interior better, because of the more conservative trim on the leather seats inside (despite the loud exterior colors which are growing on us). Thanks again for your input!

 

[bobsfreekia]

Thanks everyone, we bought one last night based on the info you all posted and so far we are very pleased with it. It had 93 miles of range when we picked it up and 55 when we got home after driving 39 miles mostly on highways going slightly upgradient most of the trip and ending with a steep 2 mile long hill at the end. We drove 65 mph and had 2 adults and a 10 year old boy in it. After charging it on the slow charger overnight, it had a 104 mile range in the morning.

If anyone is interested, there is still a silver EV+ at Kearny Mesa Kia in the San Diego area (I was going to buy it and know others were looking for the same color based on posts I read here), this color is currently in short supply. Talk to Bill Baynes there if you are interested, he was very helpful and he also gave me a better price for it than I got at the other dealer who has one in Sherman Oaks, CA. In the end we bought a black and red one because my wife liked the interior better, because of the more conservative trim on the leather seats inside (despite the loud exterior colors which are growing on us). Thanks again for your input!

Thinking of getting one from Kearney as I live quite close, but it sounds like Garden Grove has the deals. Kearney is quoting $289+ for the EV+, no base models available. They mostly sell overpriced Fords there tho. Only four ICE Kias on their lot. Thru the internet, they said they had two, but I did not spot them in person.

 

[Brickvipe]

If you are putting money down ($2,5000), I think you can get it around $269 with taxes included for 15 k miles per year for 36 months, we were quoted that for a silver EV+ that was rare at the time. We ended up buying a Black and Red EV+ at a different dealer that had ordered too many black and red ones and saved about $47 dollars off that per month cost though. This was about a month ago. If you are patient and don't buy the first day you will get a better deal. I called every dealer and told them what I wanted and only dealt with the 2 lowest to finalize my purchase. Good luck, you'll love the car!