[donald]

The concern here is that if there are some sporadic failures now, at 5 years old, is this the low end of a normal distribution that all cars are on, or random Poisson events?

 

[JackPreacher]

Interesting Info: The battery swap is not as easy as swapping one pack for a new one: the techs have to de-populate the original pack then re-populate it with the new cells. They weren't expecting that. Anyway, it's all done now BUT it still only shows 60 miles of range. There are some resets to the BMS required this week coming so, fingers crossed I'll get it back soon. 🤞

 

[IanL]

I expect the BMS, once reset, will show some default value, which will gradually alter in the light of your pattern of usage. The main thing is the SOH, which should be at least 100%, but Spy may not cater for that. You can always calculate it using the method at post #54 here.

It would be interesting to know what you get.

 

[Pavlo]

· a moment ago

Have 2014 soul ev with 59% battery remaining as confirmed by dealer. They sent request to local Ireland Kia office who sent request to Kia Europe to approve replacement it's already passed 3 weeks and still no words on approval, dealer claiming that replacement cost is 53k euros which is very high, what are my chances for replacement? Car is in last month of the warranty... Can Kia refuse as it is too costly for them...

 

[IanL]

Since the dealer has reported the circumstances to KIA within the warranty period, I do not see how they can refuse.

Btw, you can buy a brand new Soul EV for less than 53k euros, so there is something very wrong with that figure. (A factor of ten, perhaps?)

 

[Kingpleb1]

I'm surprised the full pack wasn't swapped as this would include the BMS and then just need coding to the car. Much easier process imo

 

[IanL]

They probably don't have enough battery enclosures to support all the replacements they have to do. This way probably speeds the turnaround.

 

[JackPreacher]

I'm surprised the full pack wasn't swapped as this would include the BMS and then just need coding to the car. Much easier process imo

I suppose the positive to this is that the original casing etc is reused.

 

[JackPreacher]

· a moment ago

Have 2014 soul ev with 59% battery remaining as confirmed by dealer. They sent request to local Ireland Kia office who sent request to Kia Europe to approve replacement it's already passed 3 weeks and still no words on approval, dealer claiming that replacement cost is 53k euros which is very high, what are my chances for replacement? Car is in last month of the warranty... Can Kia refuse as it is too costly for them...

Forget the dealership.contact KIA head office directly...before it's too late

 

[JackPreacher]

· a moment ago

Have 2014 soul ev with 59% battery remaining as confirmed by dealer. They sent request to local Ireland Kia office who sent request to Kia Europe to approve replacement it's already passed 3 weeks and still no words on approval, dealer claiming that replacement cost is 53k euros which is very high, what are my chances for replacement? Car is in last month of the warranty... Can Kia refuse as it is too costly for them...

My dealership quoted £13k for a new pack IIRC

 

[Pavlo]

Forget the dealership.contact KIA head office directly...before it's too late

Dealer escalated it to Local Ireland Kia head office who said that they need to send it further to European headquarters... I was reassured that the process was started within warranty period and even if it takes longer I am still on the safe side. The only concerns I have that they looking for excuse not to do it. The high price could be because my one is aerlier model of soul and the battery is one off order and needs to be be build manually, but who knows....

 

[IanL]

Their current procedure seems to be to send the dealer a full set of new cells for him to replace in the original enclosure, but there is no way that price can be correct, when it's cheaper to scrap the car and buy a new one.

The new cells are the same technology as they currently use for new cars. They are much improved, so if you usually operate between, say, 30% and 80%, and don't use fast chargers, it will probably last for the life of the car.

 

[JackPreacher]

Does anyone know whether the new battery pack will come with a new warranty [7 years]? I can't get a definitive answer from my dealership....they just don't know at this stage.


My car now has it's full range back and it is being transported back to Cumbria from Bolton.....and the rain here in Cumbria is causing a lot of flooding......hope it gets here...dry.

 

[IanL]

I think that unlikely. The usual thing is you just get the balance of the unexpired warranty on the replacement parts. That's how it works on ICE car batteries, and I can't see KIA departing from that.

However, if, as I expect, they have used the new technology cells, you should have plenty of life now. My guess is you''ll have about 103% of 28.8 kWh now, and maybe 3 years before it drops to 100%..

 

[JackPreacher]

I think that unlikely. The usual thing is you just get the balance of the unexpired warranty on the replacement parts. That's how it works on ICE car batteries, and I can't see KIA departing from that.

However, if, as I expect, they have used the new technology cells, you should have plenty of life now. My guess is you''ll have about 103% of 28.8 kWh now, and maybe 3 years before it drops to 100%..

I see. Thanks for that Ian. Well, 28.8kWh....is that useable do you think?

 

[JackPreacher]

GOOD NEWS! The Kia Tech diagnosed a SOH of 60.1% and KIA have agreed to replace the whole battery pack😆
...incidentally it was the Tech's last act as a KIA tech as he moves onto another career today. He knew there was a problem but couldn't get the Kia diagnostics to agree....until yesterday.

The dealership's service manager is as pleased as I am as they now have to learn how to swap a pack.....a bit of red tape to go through but he reckons it'll be one to two weeks.

I'm just re-reading this optimistic post I wrote....4 months ago.........One to two weeks... pah!!

 

[IanL]

Well, 28.8kWh....is that useable do you think?

:I think so. My reasoning. The 30 kWh (usable) battery has 100 cell pairs. The 27 kWh battery has 96 cell pairs. So if yours has the original cells replaced by the type in the "30" battery, it should have 30*96/100 = 28.8 usable. But there is an undeclared capacity above that in the 30 kWh battery, which is why mine is still above 100%. I have calculated it is currently about 101.5%, so I'm guessing it started at 103%.

Spy does not show SOH above 100%, perhaps because the BMS does not allow the value to be visible, i.e. it just reports 100% for values in excess. I use my home-grown calculation method to get my value. Try it when you get the car back - it would be interesting to know.

 

[JackPreacher]

It's RED LETTER day!!😃 I'm picking the car up this morning... more details to follow.
..can't believe I'm excited about getting my car back with the range it is expected to achieve by default.

 

[JackPreacher]

Got it back on 38% SOC with 36 miles on the GOM, but the last few trips [Dealerships] were at 2.7mi/kW. SoulSpy is showing SOC and SOC_PREC as virtually identical and all the cell voltages are identical at 3.6V [resting at 38% SOC].

Looking good. Usual big trip tomorrow so more data to harvest.
I appreciate all the technical input and advice from the members on this forum, without which I would have given up long ago and sold the bloody thing......

 

[JackPreacher]

A very quick update: did 106 miles this morning, mostly a roads and motorway but no more than 60 miles an hour indicated.

There was still 20 miles of range left
Happy bunny,