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Update… dealership ‘reset some battery parameters’. I’ll see if it reoccurs.
eNiro "Limited Power" error
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although this thread has gone silent, I’ll post updates for anyone else with same issue. It was fine for a day or so then got the warning again! I think the reset did nothing, but the dealer charged to 100% and I wonder if it becomes an issue when the charge falls below a certain level, suggesting a battery cell issue? So I charged to 100 and got no warnings until it dropped to 87%. Going to test this theory some more and it’s booked for another longer look at dealers
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Wow. So a week ago my 17 year old daughter gets stranded because our 2020 Kia electric Niro with less than 8000 miles on it loses power and flashes all kinds of Low Power and Check Electrical System messages. 45% battery. She says the messages and reduced power have been happening often (argh!). Later that day I am able to get it home even though it displays same messages. I charge overnight and bring to Kia dealer with no issues and, of course, and they can find nothing wrong with it after "exhaustive" tests. I take the car home. My daughter won't drive it and I can't blame her. So I start driving it. Several days no issues. Then today, TWICE within 10 minutes I have same problem and were it not for a couple convenient right turns onto side streets I would have been stranded on a major road hoping no one rear ended me. I am able to get video on one of the instances of the power shutdown. I get the car home but still have a few "low power" turltles appear on the way. . I call Kia, ask to speak to service manager. Can't find either one. Say they will call me back. Of course they don't. So, more to come but I gotta get Kia to pick this lemon up and figure out what's going on...but based on the posts in this thread I may not see the car for many months to come! More as this develops... FYI, this is in southern California...
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Further update for others if helpful. My theory that it happens when battery falls below a certain level does not hold up. It might be less likely to happen if battery is around 90-100% but could be a random observation. The only ‘pattern’ I can see is it might happen more if I’m decelerating. Of course it’s also a bigger problem then as you don’t have the power to accelerate. A few times I’ve had to pull over. Turning it off and in again resolves it so you can continue driving. If it happens when going at speed the warning disappears after 10 seconds or so and you carry on as normal. Seems like it more battery management than battery? It’s pretty annoying and I don’t trust it for long it motorway journeys.
Just a thought, but coming from a Tesla background, when you see reports of a lot of different error codes and main power shutdown, the first thing to check would be the 12V battery as when that gets weak and starts failing it causes all sorts of weirdness.
Also seen reports of the same sort of problems on the Nissan Leaf, also 12V related...
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Thanks Mark T. Will check this out.. would be amazing if something this simple.
Totally agree with Mark-T & well worth checking the 12v battery.
Open the bonnet ( assuming the 12v battery is there ) but leave the bonnet unlatched, lock the car, then go back after as long as possible & test the 12v battery voltage. I believe just unlocking the car will usually start up the DC/DC charger so may give you false results.
If you have a 12v accessory socket in the centre console, wire a plug direct to a test meter which can be left on the passenger seat.
Then when it fails next you can quickly glance over to see the voltage, as it sounds like an intermittent issue.
These are also available & useful :-
Open the bonnet ( assuming the 12v battery is there ) but leave the bonnet unlatched, lock the car, then go back after as long as possible & test the 12v battery voltage. I believe just unlocking the car will usually start up the DC/DC charger so may give you false results.
If you have a 12v accessory socket in the centre console, wire a plug direct to a test meter which can be left on the passenger seat.
Then when it fails next you can quickly glance over to see the voltage, as it sounds like an intermittent issue.
These are also available & useful :-
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As a follow-up from my previous post, I was able to get the Niro back to the Kia dealer (with experiencing "Low Power" turtle messages all along the way) and was able to get the car checked back in to service. I provided them the video of the issue I had taken and provided several pictures of the dash at various times. I also provided the link to this thread so they can gain insight from those of you that are experiencing the same thing. They were able to replicate the issue yestrday, so as of today they are providing me a loaner car and we'll see if they are able to diagnose and resolve the issue in the coming days (weeks?). Thanks for all the insight provided so far. I'll post whatever I learn from Kia as it develops.
Any chance of sharing some pics and/or vids please? It would be useful for those of us who have not (yet?) experienced this to see what to look out for. Thanks. Peter.
One thing I'd do if this happened to my car is to get an OBD dongle and check on the voltage of the individual cells.
Having said that, I would be very surprised if this really were a battery issue. Since it seems to be a transitory issue, I am thinking of some poor connection, a 12V issue or a software problem of the BMS that rears its head in specific circumstances.
Having said that, I would be very surprised if this really were a battery issue. Since it seems to be a transitory issue, I am thinking of some poor connection, a 12V issue or a software problem of the BMS that rears its head in specific circumstances.
Definitely agree about the OBD scanner. I checked my cells deviation the other day after reading about these issues. All 98 banks (of 3 parallel cells each) are within 20mV of each other. That's very closely balanced. I haven’t equalised (100% charge) for several weeks. I’m currently at or near 80% SOC indicated.
I very much doubt if this is 12V battery related. Once car is on at ready, the 12V rail is always being maintained by the D.C. converter. Weak 12V batteries won’t cause issues actually whilst the car is being driven, only when it’s off or in accessory mode IMO. Peter
I very much doubt if this is 12V battery related. Once car is on at ready, the 12V rail is always being maintained by the D.C. converter. Weak 12V batteries won’t cause issues actually whilst the car is being driven, only when it’s off or in accessory mode IMO. Peter
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My car went in for second time yesterday. It’s still with them and they are thinking it is a failing battery and are going to confirm.
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I should add: it's the video of it losing power while in transit.
Let's hope they get it diagnosed correctly and fixed in a timely manner.
I still cannot believe it's the battery per se, meaning not something with the chemistry. Might be a bad connection in a series, or between series, which would explain a sudden power drop. But let's wait and see what they find. Please keep us posted.
I think randomly faulty batteries must be a thing at least now and again. It only needs just one of the 294 cells array to go bad, or have a manufactured in fault. It must surely happen occasionally? Peter.
Agree, but then I think the symptoms would be different. In most cases, this starts as a transitory fault, that occurs randomly and resolves itself. Then it gets worse.
If it were a faulty cell, once it reaches a threshold of low charge, it would not recover from that and the problem would not go away until you charge it.
At least, that's my opinion
I think it depends what the exact nature of the single cell fault is. There could be several cell failure modes….Agree, but then I think the symptoms would be different. In most cases, this starts as a transitory fault, that occurs randomly and resolves itself. Then it gets worse.
If it were a faulty cell, once it reaches a threshold of low charge, it would not recover from that and the problem would not go away until you charge it.
At least, that's my opinion
Open circuit cell or very low capacity cell. The battery may still function as the cells are arranged in banks of 3 in parallel. So that bank could still function but with say 30% reduced capacity, and voltage would drop more under load etc. The BMS would soon detect this and limit available power or even shut down.
An Increased internal self discharge in a cell would cause that bank of 3 to gradually become lower SOC than the others in between the 100% equalising charges. The other 2 good cells in the bank could gradually be discharged by the single bad cell In the bank.
Then there is the possibility of a single cell developing an internal dead short. That one doesn’t bear even thinking about as I expect it would be catastrophic. The other 2 good cells would discharge massively into the single shorted cell. The energy released would be enormous.
There could certainly be other cell failure modes possible. I find it quite remarkable that with so very many cells put together in a single battery that they seem as reliable as they usually are IMHO. The quality and consistency of manufacturing must be very high indeed. Peter.
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