Kia Soul EV

[jejusoul]

To read the On-Board-Diagnostic data from the car using an android phone or tablet, you need to purchase an OBD reader, and the Torque Pro software.

Look here for a list of compatible hardware - Re: recommended obd2 adapter?

I recommend the Konnwei KW902 for use with Torque Pro.
Available for 16 USD here https://www.amazon.com/KW902-ELM327.../dp/B01FJGWPSO/ref=sr_1_3/154-1342145-6635569
I have had one of these for a year. I use it connecting to an android phone over bluetooth.

I added an OBD extension wire with a switch. This solves the possible problems that the KW902 has. 1/drawing power when the car is off. 2/having an insecure password.Tonsiki OBD 2 Cord 16 pin M/F Male to Female Right Angle Diagnostic Extension Cable with Power Switch to avoid battery drain

I pushed the OBD connector back out of its clip to allow room for the plastic cover to be closed. The OBD extension wire is threaded under the steering column so that the switch and adapter can sit under the navigation by the accessory ports.

Once you have an adapter and have managed to connect to it with your phone, you will have to install the specific codes for the Soul EV into Torque.

They are here - OBD-PIDs-for-HKMC-EVs/Soul EV at master · JejuSoul/OBD-PIDs-for-HKMC-EVs · GitHub

If you run into problems installing the codes or connecting with bluetooth please ask for help on the Soul EV forum
Setting up Torque to show BMS data

 

[RubberToe]

Fellow Soul EV owners: A woman in my building is thinking of leasing a 2018 Kia Soul EV. She only drives about 4,000 miles per year tops, no road trips all local, and would use my charger. I checked and it looks like they have a $1,999 down at signing and $199 per month deal for the base (EV) model versus the EV+ model.

Here is my question: I'm starting to contact dealers to see how much lower than the $199 per month they will go based on the anticipated low yearly mileage. Anyone have any idea what kind of discount to expect based on that if any?

I assume that the $2,500 state rebate is still if effect, to be cashed in by the lessee.

RT

 

[RubberToe]

Our Soul EV is starting to see some battery degradation after about 34k miles. I checked the warranty, and the warranty for the battery is 10 years or 100,000 miles guaranteeing 70%. With an EPA original estimate of 92 miles, the 70% level would be about 64 or so. I'm wondering if I'm covered under the terms of the warranty though, here is the relevant section:

I am the original Lessee, but my wife actually purchased the vehicle off the lease. Does that mean she is not covered under the warranty?

RT

 

[miimura]

It would be horribly shady for them to deny the warranty on the basis that your name was on the lease and your wife's name was on the purchase when the registered address was the same during and after the lease.

 

[RubberToe]

It would be horribly shady for them to deny the warranty on the basis that your name was on the lease and your wife's name was on the purchase when the registered address was the same during and after the lease.

In looking in detail at another forum, it looks like battery replacement is not limited to the original owner. See here:

2015 Soul EV: My Battery Replacement Story - Kia Soul EV Forum

 

[miimura]

In looking in detail at another forum, it looks like battery replacement is not limited to the original owner. See here:

2015 Soul EV: My Battery Replacement Story - Kia Soul EV Forum

I don't know specifically about the Soul EV, but in most other EVs the traction battery warranty is separate from the powertrain warranty. Since the traction battery warranty terms are dictated by CARB(?) it should not have ownership limitations, but rather only have fixed time and mileage limits.

 

[RubberToe]

I just ordered a $10 OBD2 dongle for the car, and downloaded Torque Pro ($5) for Android. Starting tomorrow will have pretty complete visibility into the car and battery.

RT

 

[RubberToe]

I'm now at 79.1% SOH on the battery. If it gets below 70% apparently the warranty kicks in. We are less than 4 years in, and less than 40,000 miles. One thing for sure, if we end up getting a new battery, I'll look very closely into what others are doing to preserve their new batteries. Lots of discussion of that on the other forum.

Thought I saw that the retail battery price was $13,000.

RT

 

[miimura]

A retail battery price when the only purchases are warranty replacements is meaningless because the manufacturer is playing both sides of the accounting. This is especially true when they won't put a core charge value on the parts that your must exchange to buy a new one.

 

[Ocelot]

I'm now at 79.1% SOH on the battery. If it gets below 70% apparently the warranty kicks in. We are less than 4 years in, and less than 40,000 miles. One thing for sure, if we end up getting a new battery, I'll look very closely into what others are doing to preserve their new batteries. Lots of discussion of that on the other forum.

Thought I saw that the retail battery price was $13,000.

RT

Interesting. Our lease comes up in feb/19 and we are strongly considering purchasing, I probably should buy the dongle and app pre-purchase to check on the battery status. Admittingly, we usually charge it everyday to full, but I think over the last 2.5 years, degradation has been around 10-15 per cent or so.

The plan was to buy a model 3. But in Canada, for all wheel drive, and a colour, you are looking at 80 000 with tax, which is hard, as we are happy with the Soul, and as we put some money down pre-lease, have a 15 000 buy out (used ones here going for 22-25k on lot) .For all those who care, leasing is significantly more expensive here in Canada than the US, with none of those crazy deals like mentioned upthread.

Then it will be hold the Soul until the base model 3 or Niro EV comes out.

I have never bought a lease before, so if anyone has any tips, they would be appreciated.

Oh, and @RubberToe , I am completely not surprised you bought yours! I think we both have been fans since day 1.

 

[RubberToe]

Interesting. Our lease comes up in feb/19 and we are strongly considering purchasing, I probably should buy the dongle and app pre-purchase to check on the battery status. Admittingly, we usually charge it everyday to full, but I think over the last 2.5 years, degradation has been around 10-15 per cent or so.

The plan was to buy a model 3. But in Canada, for all wheel drive, and a colour, you are looking at 80 000 with tax, which is hard, as we are happy with the Soul, and as we put some money down pre-lease, have a 15 000 buy out (used ones here going for 22-25k on lot) .For all those who care, leasing is significantly more expensive here in Canada than the US, with none of those crazy deals like mentioned upthread.

Then it will be hold the Soul until the base model 3 or Niro EV comes out.

I have never bought a lease before, so if anyone has any tips, they would be appreciated.

Oh, and @RubberToe , I am completely not surprised you bought yours! I think we both have been fans since day 1.

Yeah, buy the app and the dongle. $25 total. Not sure what the Canadian warranty on the battery is. I'm a bit surprised you have that much degradation in a cool climate, since the speculation is hot weather and fast driving is the culprit.

If my battery only had say 5% loss versus 20% after 32,000 miles I would be very happy. I'll probably end up getting a new battery under warranty. I will also be very careful going forward from there.

It goes to show that maybe only Tesla has the batteries figured out. The Model 3 is the way to go if you can swing it. Going from 92 miles to 310 is a different world.

Keep us posted.

RT

 

[Ocelot]

Ok..I actually gave this some more input. Way overestimated battery degradation. Def less than 5 per cent..prob around 0 to 2 per cent with 21000 km. ( my wife drives it daily, and I really should of looked before posting, I had a full charge number stuck in my head..which was wrong). Cool climate...and we rarely drive it more than 60 km a day...and usually 30 or so.

@RubberToe My apologies for that horrible info.

I really want a model 3...I love driving, love cars, a somewhat impulsive ..and am the opposite of thrifty, so you never know.

 

[jejusoul]

It goes to show that maybe only Tesla has the batteries figured out.

Yes. I really like my Soul EV and my battery is doing fine, but I know it does not do well in hotter climates or for faster drivers.

 

[RubberToe]

Jeju,
I thought I would ask this here since the Kia Forum has several threads on the subject and it wasn't clear which one I should post it in. For some reason, I'm not getting numbers that seem to add up. First here is the estimated range of 55 miles on a full 100% charge:

Given the 55 miles you would think that my SOH would now be around 60% (55 / 92 = 0.598). Nut when I pull up the torque pro results, its showing that I have 84.1% SOH left on the battery:

Someone on the other forum said that the estimated range is based on your driving history. So I thought maybe my wife was doing 80mph all the time and had a terrible miles per kWh history, so I checked that:

This is her work commute, and she is right around 4.6 mi/kWh.

So a 27kWh battery that has 84.1% remaining should be 22.7, which is shown in the second picture. If the car is getting 4.6 mi/kWh and there are 22.7 kWh left in the battery, 22.7 * 4.6 = 104.42 range. Yet the estimated range is only showing 55 miles.

Any idea what is going on here?

Thanks,
RT

 

[jejusoul]

Hi.
Just noticed your post.
The thread I carefully follow on this site is papafox's daily analysis of the share price.

Your car is not the first to be acting strangely.
There is a car in Quebec that is behaving very similar to yours.
Torque shows 95% health whereas the GOM is showing only 75%.
It is odd because occasionally that car is able to drive 95% of its range and charge the battery with the 95% of the 27 kWh.
But more often the car will only go 75% of its range.

Either there is a serious flaw in the BMS software that miscalculates the SOH and then only allows the car to be partially charged, or the cell chemistry used in our batteries is really strange.

Two things I recommend
1/ Next time you take the car in for service get them to check the battery health.
2/ Do a Tony Williams style range test. - Kia Soul EV Range Autonomy Demonstration Nets More Than 100 Miles

 

[RubberToe]

Car is now in the shop as of January 30 awaiting a new battery. No ETA yet on replacement. Will call corporate HQ to get better information soon.

RT

 

[zax123]

@RubberToe how did you get them to replace the battery? My girlfriend's car has a similar issue. The range has drastically dropped and in winter is now only getting about 65-70km (43mi). It used to get a lot more than that. In summer, it's down to 100km (60mi). KIA checked the SOH and said the battery is fine and refuses to do anything about it.

I'm wondering how you finally convinced them to give you a new battery. Thanks!

 

[RubberToe]

@RubberToe how did you get them to replace the battery? My girlfriend's car has a similar issue. The range has drastically dropped and in winter is now only getting about 65-70km (43mi). It used to get a lot more than that. In summer, it's down to 100km (60mi). KIA checked the SOH and said the battery is fine and refuses to do anything about it.

I'm wondering how you finally convinced them to give you a new battery. Thanks!

When the state of health (SOH) of the battery drops below the 70% level, they have to honor the 10 year 100,000 mile warranty on the battery retaining 70% of the original capacity. Not sure if the Canadian warranty is the same as here. For more gory details see the following forum:

Batteries and Charging - Kia Soul EV Forum

 

[zax123]

When the state of health (SOH) of the battery drops below the 70% level, they have to honor the 10 year 100,000 mile warranty on the battery retaining 70% of the original capacity. Not sure if the Canadian warranty is the same as here. For more gory details see the following forum:

Batteries and Charging - Kia Soul EV Forum

Yup we have the same warranty here. But I see that your SOH was 84.1%, so I'm wondering how you got them to replace under those conditions?

 

[RubberToe]

The SOH was strange, while it showed that, the total miles at full charge was down to 46. And dropping rapidly. I might not have checked the SOH just before turning it in. That screen capture was from 4 weeks before I turned the car in.

RT