Sudden Range Issues

[Astro57]

Sudden drop in vehicle range at 100% charge. On Monday the range was 160km, Tuesday 120km, Wednesday 120km, Thursday 113km, Friday 106km. No change in weather or driving habit, same route every day. Average KW/100km was 14.1. Talked to the dealer but they are in over their head with these cars. Any thoughts?
Thanks,

 

[notfred]

We've seen a couple of cars on these forums where some cells in the battery have gone bad and Kia has ended up replacing the battery under warranty. If you have an OBD adaptor and Torque Pro then you can check the battery.

 

[JejuSoul]

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Yes, sounds very like the 3 recent cases we heard about in California. One bad cell was to blame.

... 2015 with cell 96 at 56.2% deterioration, SoH at 81.9% Full charge (now 21 kWh) gives a range of 44 miles, and I've been mostly driving between LA and Irvine at 65 mi/h....

from - Kia found OBC unit & battery cells to be faulty!

Astro57: where are you from ? and how far are you driving each day?

 

[Astro57]

Thanks for the responses. I think I will order a reader.
I'm from Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada. Daily drive is just under 60km.

 

[JejuSoul]

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Yes. Getting a readout from the battery will help to see what is going on.

I just read your posts in the thread - Buyers Remorse
It seems like you are the unlucky one who got the lemon.
I have had no faults in my car at all. It's a 2015 and everything is still working.
Let's hope this fault will be the last you have to deal with.
If you could get a list from the dealer of all the previous repairs, it may help in seeing if this recent issue is connected.
I doubt it though, it really looks similar to the bad cell problem reported earlier.

 

[SoulEV2016]

I think I will order a reader.

please use the ELM327 identifier with your (future) reader and post a picture on this thread : http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=711&p=7093#p7122

:idea:

 

[Astro57]

I should have the scanner by Wednesday, what does the ELM327 identifier tell me?
The 100% charge seems to be steady at 107km now.

 

[SoulEV2016]

read the thread linked.

 

[JejuSoul]

I should have the scanner by Wednesday, what does the ELM327 identifier tell me?

There is a list of recommended adapters here - recommended obd2 adapter?
Hopefully you saw this already and chose one that works.
If not ELM Identifier will quickly show whether the one you bought works or not.
There are dozens of these adapters on A mazon. About half don't work.
By posting the results of ELM Identifier we can add to the list of known adapters.

 

[Astro57]

I should have the scanner by Wednesday, what does the ELM327 identifier tell me?

There is a list of recommended adapters here - recommended obd2 adapter?
Hopefully you saw this already and chose one that works.
If not ELM Identifier will quickly show whether the one you bought works or not.
There are dozens of these adapters on A mazon. About half don't work.
By posting the results of ELM Identifier we can add to the list of known adapters.

Okay, thanks. I did chose from the list. As I have things figured out I will post the result.

 

[Astro57]

Well I have the scanner, not sure how to check the battery yet. Also not sure how to upload the ELM327 photo, or any photo.

The dealer had the car for the day for some tests. They said that Kia Canada suggested we change our driving habits. So 108km is normal for a 7 month old 2017 Kia Soul in their eyes, we don't use the A/C, don't drive at night, I guess we better turn the radio off. Kia service support in Canada is the worst.

 

[SoulEV2016]

108km is impossible for an estimate range.
I drive at 153km/h with regulator and hard driving on mountain zone.

And my estimate range is 135km at 36°C and 114km at -2°C.
I leave the A/C/Heater at 22°C all the time and drive with night lights always ON.

I drive my car like an ICE car and with NO-ECO DRIVE profil.

 

[Astro57]

The dealer decided to have another look at my vehicle, they don't believe Kia Canada either. After more test driving they decided to change what they referred to as the "brain". That would be the second time. It is a box the size of a thick briefcase on top of the motor. I get new key fobs every time they change it. All seems well now. Range worked its way up to 157km.

 

[Astro57]

Well, today the 12 volt battery is stone dead. I am looking forward to getting out of this purchase one day. Constant issues with this thing.

 

[SoulEV2016]

perhaps a DC-DC converter in fault (or the GPS cluster that it doesn't go in deep sleep) ... too.
but 3 drop to 0v for a starter ACID battery and she is dead.

so replace it with full charge before ... and survey the battery during 1 month (1 time per week, test the voltage and note on TXT file).

 

[Astro57]

Went see the dealer, there was an update for the 12 volt battery issue, hopefully that was the issue. Also another update that corrected how the range was calculated. After the update my range went from 134 km to 162 km. Same day

 

[notfred]

That's a BMS update where the BMS firmware gets reset. The fix is meant to be for battery heating in cold climates, not range recalculation. Over the next week or so as it learns your driving style you may find it drops back to where it was before.

 

[Astro57]

That's a BMS update where the BMS firmware gets reset. The fix is meant to be for battery heating in cold climates, not range recalculation. Over the next week or so as it learns your driving style you may find it drops back to where it was before.

Hmmm, so you are saying bad is normal for these Kia's. That sucks.

 

[notfred]

You've posted saying you got a GOM of 108km which I would consider a problem, but then you just posted that you got a GOM of 134km which could be reasonable if you are driving at high speed on the highway.

The Soul has great room inside, all my coworkers love it when we take it for lunch, but it is an unaerodynamic box. Drag squares with speed, and power required cubes with speed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(physics)#Power

If you are regularly driving over 80kph and are getting a GOM of 134km then that's reasonable. If you are only getting a GOM of 108km or are always driving at less than 80kph then I think you have a battery problem.

 

[Astro57]

Just to follow up. Since the updates, the vehicle range has now been predictable based on the kw per 100 and the weather. All is well.