SOH 100% and poor range

Kia Soul EV Forum

Help Support Kia Soul EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
For anybody still following, range displayed seems to have settled around 96/97 miles. SoulSpy is indicating an SoH of around 93% and an SoC of around 95% - not what I was expecting from a new pack, so not sure what to make of it.
 
One possibility is that the cells need balancing, which is done when you charge to 100%. What does the cell voltage readout look like, particularly the difference between highest and lowest?
 
That is a little disappointing. My GOM range has dropped down to 50 miles with no ac, pretty sure it’s passed the threshold now. Not sure what to do, wait for “non-R” packs to come back, or just bite the bullet.
 
IanL said:
One possibility is that the cells need balancing, which is done when you charge to 100%. What does the cell voltage readout look like, particularly the difference between highest and lowest?
Ran SoulSpy this morning and the cells are showing 50/50 approx 4.12 / 4.14.

Battery SOC is 95, battery SOC 'precise' - whatever that is, shows 83.6.Battery SOH 93.8
 
Oh well, another theory bites the dust. I don't suppose KIA will show much interest with the SoH so high. The only thing I can think of is to keep records to compare percentage of run consumed (%start - %end) and the m/kWh over the run, with the GoM (miles at start - miles at end). Multiply m/kWh by (%start - %end)x28.8(the nominal capacity)x93.8( the current SoH) and compare to GoM (miles at start - miles at end) and to difference in speedo mileages. I hope this will point to a discrepancy either in the GoM values or the nominal capacity.

As an aside, SoC (precise) is just a label assigned by the SoulEV Spy author. He stated he did not know what the parameter was, so it is best ignored.
 
Ran it 113 miles, to 11% battery, @ 4.5 miles / Kwh. Charging it to full took just under 29 Kwh - I figure an energy conversion / transfer loss of maybe 15% in there.
Range is showing 96 this morning🤔
So we don't have much to complain about regarding the replacement battery and real world range, but a pity the GOM hasn't reset to something more accurate.
 
Thank you uspurs for that latest update. Real world range is what matters most. I ran down my car from 100 to 1 %, 52 miles with the ac on (4 miles kw/h 😂). Fully charged it with my juicebox, according to the app it took 13 Kwh. I’m going to take it back in to try and get it replaced.
 
Alex81 said:
Thank you uspurs for that latest update. Real world range is what matters most. I ran down my car from 100 to 1 %, 52 miles with the ac on (4 miles kw/h 😂). Fully charged it with my juicebox, according to the app it took 13 Kwh. I’m going to take it back in to try and get it replaced.
Good luck with the dealership. The cynic in me thinks that Kia know the SOH isn't a reliable measure of battery health, but they're content to continue using it.
 
So, took in my car, 50.3 state of health. They ordered a replacement, just picked it up. In Cerritos, California. Whole process took under two weeks. For parts it just says
37510-E4202R And it clearly states re-manufactured. Not sure what cells they are. Guess-o-meter at under 100 miles for a full charge.
 
Alex81 said:
So, took in my car, 50.3 state of health. They ordered a replacement, just picked it up. In Cerritos, California. Whole process took under two weeks. For parts it just says
37510-E4202R And it clearly states re-manufactured. Not sure what cells they are. Guess-o-meter at under 100 miles for a full charge.

Interesting part number - our replacement ended 4250R; what year is yours?
 
2016. It looks like this pack does not have battery heating. I’m in SoCal so it does not get very cold over here. Perhaps that is the reason?
 
Alex81 said:
2016. It looks like this pack does not have battery heating. I’m in SoCal so it does not get very cold over here. Perhaps that is the reason?

Yes. They sold the KIA Soul "EV" and "EV+" trims, and only the "+" trim has the built in battery heater / heat pump circuit.

My Canadian "EV Luxury" version has it, as we need it up here. :)
 
ksoul2084 said:
Alex81 said:
2016. It looks like this pack does not have battery heating. I’m in SoCal so it does not get very cold over here. Perhaps that is the reason?

Yes. They sold the KIA Soul "EV" and "EV+" trims, and only the "+" trim has the built in battery heater / heat pump circuit.

My Canadian "EV Luxury" version has it, as we need it up here. :)
Well, I did not know that about the + trim, which we do have - thank you!

Range on the GOM is now down to 94. Ran it down to 13% (106 miles) and the GOM was at 9🤷
 
ksoul2084 said:
Alex81 said:
2016. It looks like this pack does not have battery heating. I’m in SoCal so it does not get very cold over here. Perhaps that is the reason?

Yes. They sold the KIA Soul "EV" and "EV+" trims, and only the "+" trim has the built in battery heater / heat pump circuit.

My Canadian "EV Luxury" version has it, as we need it up here. :)

Clarification, it looks like both the EV, and EV+ models have the heat pump, the EV-e version did not. But that is actually separate from the battery heater itself, which is electronic. My recollection is that the heater was only installed in cars going to colder climates (aka not Cali), but I can't find a written reference for that now.
 
uspurs said:
ksoul2084 said:
Alex81 said:
2016. It looks like this pack does not have battery heating. I’m in SoCal so it does not get very cold over here. Perhaps that is the reason?

Yes. They sold the KIA Soul "EV" and "EV+" trims, and only the "+" trim has the built in battery heater / heat pump circuit.

My Canadian "EV Luxury" version has it, as we need it up here. :)
Well, I did not know that about the + trim, which we do have - thank you!

Range on the GOM is now down to 94. Ran it down to 13% (106 miles) and the GOM was at 9🤷

So you're seeing approx. 115 miles of range. That sounds about right for this model, maybe better than the official EPA rating.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15099570/2016-kia-soul-ev-test-review/ - "Its 27-kWh battery pack is good for an EPA-rated driving range of just 93 miles".
 
ksoul2084 said:
uspurs said:
ksoul2084 said:
Yes. They sold the KIA Soul "EV" and "EV+" trims, and only the "+" trim has the built in battery heater / heat pump circuit.

My Canadian "EV Luxury" version has it, as we need it up here. :)
Well, I did not know that about the + trim, which we do have - thank you!

Range on the GOM is now down to 94. Ran it down to 13% (106 miles) and the GOM was at 9🤷

So you're seeing approx. 115 miles of range. That sounds about right for this model, maybe better than the official EPA rating.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15099570/2016-kia-soul-ev-test-review/ - "Its 27-kWh battery pack is good for an EPA-rated driving range of just 93 miles".
I would say a little more than that, as I believe the pack is now 28.8 - based on other posts. That said, we remain nervous of testing the range too much further - about the only gauge we have confidence in is the odo on this car.

We'll see where we are, range and battery wise, after the winter, but I suspect we'll be looking to get into a used Kona or Niro EV at some point.

I am curious about what people are seeing Kia offer in terms of 'goodwill' for all the aggravation with these batteries on the gen 1.
 
Back
Top