Unable to Start Vehicle Message

[thx2112]

A few days ago, while driving with an almost full battery, I started to get an "Unable to Start Vehicle" message showing the the battery is empty. I press OK and it goes away. Then it comes back in about 10 minutes. The car continues to drive and start fine. Any ideas how to fix this issue? I plan to take it into the dealer when I have a chance. Thanks.

 

[tractioninc]

I've not heard of this one. It may be worth noting that our Soul EVs also rely on a traditional car battery to run some of the basic electrical controls. This battery is easy to find in the engine bay and its health can be checked at most any auto parts store, if making an appointment at your dealership is inconvenient.

 

[user 285]

If you have (or can borrow) an ODBii reader, you might be able to find what trouble code the car is reporting, which might tell us more?

 

[mtndrew1]

Sounds like a bad 12V battery to me.

EVs get REALLY weird when the 12V is going south; my Volt went completely bonkers as the 12V battery was dying.

 

[thx2112]

I also noticed that my Uvo app showed zero battery charge while the message was appearing, so it may be a communications issue between the console/radio and the rest of the car. I scheduled a service and (of course) the message stopped the day before and didn't come back. I took the car into the dealer anyway and showed the mechanic a photo of the message. He scanned the car, found nothing wrong, and then reset the car by unplugging the battery. It took about 10 minutes total and they didn't ever write me up a work order. Hopefully, the message won't come back.

 

[whiskeybaron]

I have been getting the exact same message in the display screen (Unable to Start Vehicle), and my UVO app says vehicle is at 0% regardless of how full it is. Any ideas on how to correct this?

 

[KiaSoulEV]

Had the same error message on my 2016 Kia Soul EV.

The car started and drove fine.

But the message was a real nuisance as it re-appeared 2 min after pressing the OK, and blocked the nav screen.

Dealer scan for codes showed nothing wrong.

The message was cleared by resetting the UVO. Find the small round button above the Map/Voice button. Press with a ball-point pen or similar until the screen goes black, then release. The UVO will reset and the message will be gone.

As usual, your mileage may vary...

 

[scotv]

my 2015 Soul EV had the same problem last week. Kia found a rubbed wire that was shorting causing the error message and fixed it for free.