Red Range Bars Started to Blink w/ Concomitant Loss of Range

[mtndrew1]

That is very disappointing to hear; you must be awfully frustrated.

Were there any details of the firmware update and what parts of the car it affects? Was this for the infotainment system or something more broad?

 

[Birkeland]

Luckily, my KIA dealership is not far from where I live, so there isn't too much bother to bring it in. Otherwise, it would be frustrating.

It seems the technicians doesn't have much experience with KIA Soul EV. They had never heard about the problem of blinking SOC bars, and they had no experience in changing the instrument cluster. But I take it they will be better prepared the next time they will try.

They received the USB-stick with the upgrade for the car the very same day I was there, and they did not have any clues of what the changes or fixes the upgrade contained. I will ask if they have more information about the software upgrade the next time I am there. I don't even know if the dealership knows what part of the car the upgrade effects. But as I said, it is vacation time here in Norway, so that might be why there seems to be difficult for them to know.

 

[iletric]

Another reason why I lease these things now.

 

[GizmoEV]

My 2016 EV+ is at the dealer this next week for the same blinking bars issue. I videoed it for them. They said that Kia was aware of the problem. They have to remove the cluster, send it to KIA in California to have the new cluster programmed with the info from the old cluster so that things like odometer match and then have it sent back to Portland, OR for installation. They rented me a car for the week (a Kia Rio) which is not nearly as nice to drive as an EV!

FWIW, I didn't notice an unusual loss of range with the bars blinking. Sometimes the lower set of white bars would blink too.

 

[iletric]

A blinking update.

I had not a single red bars blinking incident all summer. Started to think the whole thing was just a fluke and it was not coming back. Well, it did, as soon as the nighttime temp dropped to 51F. It had been always in the 60s all spring and summer and early fall.

I conclude the red bar (particularly the lowest one) playing piano has got something to do with the ambient temp when it drops to around 50. That would also explain "the loss of range" since the range goes down when it's cold.

Now the ball is in Kia's court to figure out what gadget's causing it .

 

[GizmoEV]

I haven't seen any blinking bars with the new cluster and we have put well over 4000 miles on since the cluster was replaced. Temps have been in the 40s and 50s lately. August wasn't a cold month so either the clusters aren't affected by temp or the temp that affects them is different for each cluster. Are you going to have it replaced?

 

[iletric]

Nope. It's a lease. As long as it runs and there are no problems I'm not gonna waste my time with cosmetics. Plus, what if they mess something else up?

Kia needs to step up and find out what's causing it and what's the fix.

 

[fanbanlo]

I have seen it blinks twice last weekend, on a cold night, with the car just started.

Haven't seen it since.

 

[mtndrew1]

My car is at the dealer right now for its scheduled service and to address this blinking SOC gauge issue.

The video I gave to the dealer of it happening clearly shows an ambient temperature of 77 degrees F so at least on my car it has nothing to do with cool temperatures. I have been able to make no correlation between the blinking and any external factors. The best I can tell it's completely random.

I'll update with what the dealer says the remedy is.

 

[mtndrew1]

The dealer completed my service yesterday and told me that the DC-DC software update/service bulletin addresses the blinking SOC phenomenon.

At first it sounded like BS to me, but the Kia regional service manager was there while my car was being serviced so that gives it a little more credibility I suppose. I guess it's plausible that a sagging 12V could goof up the SOC readout on the dash.

In any event, if the software patch actually corrects the blinking issue I'll be very happy that my dash didn't need to be dismantled. Stay tuned.

 

[wrickcook]

In any event, if the software patch actually corrects the blinking issue I'll be very happy that my dash didn't need to be dismantled. Stay tuned.

My 2016 started this today. Any update on if the software update fixed it?

 

[mtndrew1]

In any event, if the software patch actually corrects the blinking issue I'll be very happy that my dash didn't need to be dismantled. Stay tuned.

My 2016 started this today. Any update on if the software update fixed it?

Mine has not had it happen since the software update, but it was only a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, so far so good.

 

[Elmil]

The video I gave to the dealer of it happening clearly shows an ambient temperature of 77 degrees F so at least on my car it has nothing to do with cool temperatures. I have been able to make no correlation between the blinking and any external factors. The best I can tell it's completely random.

I had this once this summer, after 4500km and at ambient temp of 20C. After turning off the car and restarting, I have not seen it ever since, and thought it was gone. But yesterday, after the odometer had passed 22850km and the temperature was -1C, it happened again. This time the flickering continued immediately after turning off and on. But this morning it seems stable again.

 

[wrickcook]

I saw the flashing bars, took it to the dealer and they said the SA201 update was already installed. They could not find a record of the SA203 update existing. They are supposed to be looking deeper into the issue, but I am starting to suspect this will require a new gauge cluster like GizmoEV had to do.

The General Manager said he has had his for 5 months and has not seen the bars. I am wondering if his is a 2015 and mine is a 2016.?.?


Has anyone with a 2015 seen the guessometer bars flash?

 

[Elmil]

Mine is 2015, manufactured in february.

 

[mtndrew1]

Mine's a '15. Blinking bars have yet to return following the software update.

 

[mtndrew1]

My blinking bars are back, dangit.

I went about 3,000 with no blinking (a record) and then they started blinking last night. I'll have the dealer look at it and the video I took when I go in for my 22,500 mile service in February or March. They can do the steering recall at the same time and look into my brakes which have become quite noisy lately (clunks and bangs and such).

 

[ralyon]

Have a 2016 EV+ with about 600 mi on it and I just saw this yesterday. It was a very wet day with some flooding in our area, but the temp was in the 60s F. I'll watch to see how often it happens.

 

[wrickcook]

Here is a vid of my bars flashing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD2FSW9Tayc

 

[wrickcook]

I sent the video to my dealership (Renton, WA)...

"Hi Rick, As soon as we have a bulletin on the fix, you will be notified so we can remedy this issue. Bobby, is there anything from Kia yet regarding this issue?"

"No updates at this time. I will contact SVC Techline and see if any other vehicles have had this issue in the Nation. I will update you soon
Thanks,
Bobby"