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+1 However, my wife hates white with a passion so that won't be happening! Ever!

GRA said:
Now if they would just offer it in the regular Soul colors, instead of the "Hello, Kitty" ones. Oh well, you can at least get it in plain white for now.
 
Any rumors about Kia offering special pricing for current Leaf owners? With 27kWh usable and 70% capacity warranty until 100k I might be able to live with the unknown reliability record :)
 
GRA said:
Berlino said:
GRA said:
It has full battery heating, unlike the LEAF which only has heating to provide battery protection.
Thanks. what method is employed to heat the battery and can the driver intervene?
Not sure of the heating details, and AFAICT heating is automatic when the car is plugged in and needs it:

http://www.kia.com/worldwide/about-kia/company/corporate-news-view.aspx?idx=718" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"automatic / plugged in / needs it" sounds like protection; aka Nissan LEAF battery heater.
 
TonyWilliams said:
GRA said:
Berlino said:
Thanks. what method is employed to heat the battery and can the driver intervene?
Not sure of the heating details, and AFAICT heating is automatic when the car is plugged in and needs it:

http://www.kia.com/worldwide/about-kia/company/corporate-news-view.aspx?idx=718" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"automatic / plugged in / needs it" sounds like protection; aka Nissan LEAF battery heater.
No, I've read a more detailed account somewhere that describes how the battery is heated to a comfortable operating temp, not just 'enough to keep it from freezing'. Don't remember what the temp was, but IIRR it was at least 50 deg. F. before heater shutoff and might be 70, but don't quote me. I'll see if I can find it again.

So, where's the range test report?
 
Hopefully, beside the true range, we'll find out what happens when the car is about to run out (the Soul turtle) and what range miles are there hiding below the line after GOM has reached zero.
 
GRA said:
So, where's the range test report?

As submitted to http://insideevs.com/kia-soul-ev-range-autonomy-demonstration-nets-100-miles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"we... award 101.5 mile (162.4 km) autonomous range at 62mph (100km)"


http://youtu.be/AR3NCObaPW0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Kia Soul EV Range Autonomy Demonstration
by Tony Williams
R&D Manager
Quick Charge Power

25 October 2014

Today, we tested a new Kia Soul EV for range autonomy. I met the car’s owner, Andrew, at a Walgreens drug store in Gardena, California at the appointed time of 9am. It was an absolutely beautiful Saturday morning as I drove my 2014 Rav4 EV up from San Diego, about 115 miles (184km), to meet Andrew and his fully charged and ready-to-go car. It was interesting to learn that Andrew had started his professional career as an 18 year old employee of General Motors working on the EV-1 project. He had lots of interesting stories about that program!

In addition, he had owned not one, but two previous Chevrolet Volts, both of which were returned to the auto manufacturer [edit: by voluntary return]. It was with some trepidation and resolve that he stepped back into the electric vehicle arena to buy a brand new model from a manufacturer who had not previously offered an electric car for public consumption.

TEST FORMAT

The Range Autonomy Demonstration is a standardized test that we perform on electric vehicles, with a purpose to more accurately compare the actual range between different models of electric cars in a very common scenario; the operator needs to know how far the vehicle will really go when stretching range in a steady speed highway situation compared to other cars. The parameters are always the same: two occupants for the test, in this case, both the owner Andrew and myself. The combined total crew weight is always close to 450 pounds (205 kg), plus or minus about 10%. There is no baggage allowed. We always use the manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure, which in this case is 33 psi (2.275 bar).

The ambient air temperature is always near 70F (20C), plus or minus a handful of degrees, and the wind is always light. We drive in a loop specifically to mitigate the effect of any wind that may exist. Here in sunny southern California, the wind is predominantly out of the west. We drive to maintain 62mph (100kmh) ground speed as measured by GPS. The windows are either all the way up, or one may be slightly open for ventilation. If the vehicle is equipped with cruise control, we use it. In the case of the Kia, the actual ground speed matched the indicated speed of 62mph perfectly and the car has an excellent cruise control, which we used.

The cars are always unmodified in as close to “as-new” condition as is possible, and the test is always done with the climate control off. This last issue seems the most confusing to some EV drivers. Any climate control must consume energy to heat of cool the cabin (or battery), therefore no improvements or changes to the method of providing that heating or cooling will improve ultimate range. Those heating and cooling methods will merely change the amount of range that is lost, compared to an electric vehicle with the climate control off.

CABIN CLIMATE CONTROL

If you wanted to drive the maximum range of any electric vehicle where electricity is used to heat or cool, you would turn cabin climate control off to get the maximum range. Period. Plus, for testing, there are far too many variables that affect the energy used to heat or cool a cabin. How many people are in the cabin, solar radiant heating, temperature maintained, any cabin vents that may be opened or closed, cabin preheating or cooling that was performed, etc. For all those reasons, and to provide the most accurate comparisons between the vehicles tested, we never use climate control.


REGEN (REGENERATION, RECUPPURATION, ETC)

Another issue that is frequently discussed in relation to range is “regen”. That is the ability of the motor on the car to become a generator and put energy back into the battery, typically during slowing, stopping, or going down a hill. Of course, our test specifically eliminates regen because we drive at a constant speed on level ground. Like climate control, there are far too many variables with regen to make a simple test viable. All electric vehicles will limit the amount of regen based on battery capacity, battery temperature, or other programmed or user selectable variables. Cars that have user selectable regen profiles include the Tesla Model S, Volkswagon eGolf and Mercedes Benz B-Class ED. Other cars have non-adjustable, yet strong regen profiles, like the BMW i3. Finally, some cars have a “B” or “E” mode included with the gear selector that arbitrarily increases regen by some preset amount when selected. That feature is in cars like the Nissan LEAF and Toyota Rav4 EV.

Regen is never 100% efficient. It’s not even close to 100%. If you consume the energy, you can NEVER put it back in the battery as efficiently as not consuming the power in the first place. For around the town type driving, with lots of stops and starts, it will ALWAYS be more efficient to anticipate the stops and slow-downs so that you need neither brakes nor regen. Obviously, this isn’t practical in modern cities with impatient drivers around you, so we need a way to capture that energy that would otherwise be lost to braking; regen does that.

The singular instance where regen is viable from a purely efficiency standpoint is going down a hill with either a stop at the bottom (where you could not stop without braking) or when the vehicle is going down a hill too fast and either braking is required to limit speed, or the velocity has reached a point where it is better to use regen instead of “wasting” the energy on increased aerodynamic drag at the higher speed.

THE COMPETITION: NISSAN LEAF

The Kia Soul EV’s closest competition is the Nissan LEAF, now with over 150,000 sold worldwide, so it’s easy to make comparisons between the two. At the 100kmh ground speed we would be driving, and since both cars are nearly the same weight, I expected that the Soul EV would be very close to the historical consumption rate of the LEAF in this test, which consistently has been 4 miles per kWh (250 watts per mile) or 6.437 km per kWh (155 watts per km) without climate control.

Of course, the Nissan LEAF has a significantly smaller 24kWh battery than the Soul EV, and of that 24kWh, only about 21.3kWh is usable to propel the car. The Kia Soul EV properly advertises the size of the battery that the consumer cares about; the useable stored autonomous energy. We found that to be almost exactly 27kWh useable, which means that the actual Kia Soul EV battery size is about 30.5kWh total.

Since the Kia Soul EV battery is fully 25% larger than the LEAF, we expected a range quite close to 25% farther than the 84 - 88 miles that a LEAF can perform (when in new condition) under these parameters. That would put the Soul EV at an estimated range of 105 – 110 miles. But, there’s a problem. We know that the Kia doesn’t slip through the air quite as smoothly as the LEAF, therefore the boxy looking car’s consumption rate would be expected to be slightly below the LEAF’s 4 miles per kWh. How much below 4, we would find out.


RANGE AUTONOMY FORMULA

Range autonomy in any thing that moves over land, through the sea, or in the air is always a product of autonomous stored energy (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, nuclear “stuff”, rocket fuel, or electricity) multiplied by the consumption rate (economy) of that stored energy (miles per gallon, km per liter, tons per hour, or miles / km per kWh consumed).

So, the range in a test like ours is always:

(Usable kWh stored)* (miles / km per kWh consumption rate) = (range in miles / km)


WEATHER and AIR DENSITY

The weather was absolutely perfect for the event with close to 70F (21C) degree weather, clear blue skies and light breezes. In short, another perfect day in southern California.

Weather between 8:53am and 11:53am at the Long Beach, California airport:
- Time — Temp. – DewPt-Pressure – Visibility-Wind Dir-Wind Speed – Gust Speed
8:53 AM — 70.0F – 62.1F – 30.04 in – 10.0 mi – northwest — 4.6 mph — N/A
9:53 AM — 73.0F – 61.0F – 30.05 in – 10.0 mi – calm —------- calm ---— N/A
10:53 AM —73.9F – 62.1F – 30.05 in – 10.0 mi – variable —-- 5.8 mph — N/A
11:53 AM —79.0F – 55.9F – 30.04 in – 10.0 mi – west -------– 5.8 mph — N/A

Density Altitude Calculation

Density Altitude - 1117 feet, 340 meters
Absolute Pressure – 29.94 inches Hg, 1013hPa
Air Density – 0.074 lb/ft3, 1.185 kg/m3
Relative Density – 96.77%


THE TEST COURSE

The course selected was a 90 mile (144 km) loop that ended at the intersection of the 105 freeway eastbound and the 110 freeway southbound, just east of Hawthorne airport (home of the Tesla Design Studio and Space X), the point that I expected to be the earliest that the car may run out of power. We would then turn south on the 110 freeway, where we would drive by the starting point (where my car was waiting for me) for the shortest towing distance if the vehicle physically stopped.

https://goo.gl/maps/wM8KS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All distances below per Google Maps linked above.


Walgreens Store Gardena – ChargePoint J1772 charging station
1344 W Redondo Beach Blvd, Gardena, California

--- 1.8 miles (2.9 km) – accumulated miles: 1.8 (2.9 km)

California 91 freeway east to Interstate 5 freeway south:

--- 18.4 miles (29.4 km) – accumulated miles: 20.2 (32.3 km)

Interstate 5 freeway south to California 133 freeway south:

--- 19.3 miles (30.9 km) – accumulated miles: 39.5 (63.2 km)

California 133 freeway to Interstate 405 freeway north:

--- 1.0 miles (1.6 km) – accumulated miles: 40.5 (64.8 km)

Interstate 405 freeway north to 105 freeway east:

--- 43.2 miles (69.1 km) – accumulated miles: 83.7 (133.9 km)

105 freeway east to 110 freeway south:

--- 5.2 miles (8.3 km) – accumulated miles: 88.9 (142.3 km)

110 freeway south to Anaheim Street freeway exit:

--- 10.5 miles (16.8 km) – accumulated miles: 99.4 (159 km)

Anaheim Street exit to Carl’s Jr, fast food restaurant, 1360 W 190th St, Torrance, California - Blink J1772 charging station

--- 6.7 miles (10.7 km) – accumulated miles: 106.1 (169.7 km)



KiaSoulEVrangeTestMap.jpg




THE VEHICLE SET-UP

Trip odometer “A” was used to record miles driven. The odometer is currently reading 1.5% low compared to Google maps. As the tires get worn and ever so slightly reduced in their diameter, this will get more accurate. The speedometer was perfect compared to the two GPS’s that were used for the test, and as the tires wear, it will read slightly faster than the car is really going.

The headlights were turned off, climate control off (except fan) and tires set to 33 pounds per square inch (2.275 bars) pressure, which is the auto manufacturers recommendations. It’s likely that one or more percentage points of range could be gained by inflating the tires to the maximum recommended pressure, in exchange for a slightly less comfortable ride and possibly irregular wear on the tires.

The elevation profile of the route is nearly flat (virtually no hills of any kind), and very close to sea level. The dash display showed “98% battery” after driving 1.7 miles, however the percent was not observed at the start. Presumably, it read 100%. Finally, the “Distance to Empty” (DTE) meter, which I generally refer to as the “Guess-Oh-Meter” (GOM), was observed displaying 112 miles after having driven 1.7 miles.

We got underway at about 9:34am and finished about two hours later.


RESULTS


RESULTS------Time-GOM-Battery%-Trip Od0-Google Maps-Odometer-Ave speed-Economy
Start---------9:34--N/O---N/O-----0.0--------0.0-------400-------N/A-----N/A
Freeway start--9:41--112---98%-----1.7--------1.8-------402--------15-----N/O
Interstate 5--10:04--N/O---N/O-----N/O-------N/A-------425-------N/O-----4.0
Midpoint----10:30---56----52%-----52.0------52.8-------452--------54-----4.0
Low Batt1---10:57---23----25%-----79.4------80.6-------480--------57-----3.9
Low Batt2---11:06---14----16%-----89.5------90.8-------490--------57-----3.9
Low Batt3---11:19--(---)----6%-----99.6-----101.1-------500--------56-----3.9
Turtle------11:21--(---)----5%----101.4-----101.9-------502--------56-----3.9
Blinking Turt11:32--(---)----2%----104.5-----106.0-------505--------N/O----3.9
N/O = Not Observed N/A = Not Applicable



KiaSoulEVrangetestResults.jpg




CONCLUSIONS

We drove a total of 104.5 miles, however 100 miles from the odometer reading was at 62mph (100kmh). With the Google Maps correction of 1.5% added to the odometer, we will therefore award 101.5 mile (162.4 km) autonomous range at 62mph (100km) given our test parameters.

With an ending economy / consumption rate of 3.9 miles per kWh (256.4 watt hours per mile), or 6.24 km per kWh (160 watt hours per km) divided into the distance of 104.5 miles results with 26.8 kWh of usable energy consumed from the battery. Kia advertises the battery as 27kWh. For comparison, the Nissan LEAF advertises 24kWh, however that has led to confused consumers when the battery really only has 21.3kWh of usable stored energy when new.

We have not physically measured the energy consumption with external instruments, however using a common 200 – 240 volt charge station that can provide the Kia Soul EV with 30 to 32 amps, I would expect approximately 85% charger efficiency. Therefore, to recharge the car from a depleted battery to full would require approximately 32 kWh as measured from the charge station. We expect the maximum capacity of the battery to be 30.5kWh (typically the “advertised” capacity of other manufacturers).

26.8kWh * 3.9 miles per kWh = 104.5 miles total range for this test, with a correction of 1.5% increase equals 106 miles of ultimate range given these parameters.

This car is very well suited to take on the world leader in this class, the Nissan LEAF, both in range autonomy, but also in regard to a host of other small improvements (like the heated and cooled seats). I think the folks at Nissan better look over their shoulder! Congratulations to the Kia folks for a truly well done car.
 
Nice write up, Tony. Looks like it holds a good amount of capacity below the low battery warnings, so one should pay attention to the battery % meter to get a better fuel for remaining range.

Finally some real competition for Nissan - but will Kia ship enough of them to sell in any real volume? Cars.com is currently only showing 26 in stock, though Kia's website is showing 121.

How will Nissan respond? The Soul EV has two significant benefits over the LEAF:

1. ~25% more real world range.
2. 10 year / 100k mile capacity warranty.

Just one comment on the write up, specifically regarding the estimated energy from the wall to recharge:

The EPA test data gives you this already. It's EPA rated at 32 kWh / 100 mi with 93 miles total range - this translates to 29.8 kWh from the wall to recharge from empty to full.

Compared to the LEAF which is EPA rated at 30 kWh / 100 mi with 84 miles total range - this figures to 25.2 kWh from the wall to recharge from empty to full, which has been confirmed by multiple parties.

So I'd expect the Soul EV to take ~ 30 kWh to charge from empty when new so if it's energy efficiency meter is accurate, that puts it's OBC at around 90% efficient which is entirely possible given that it has brand new electronics and the current generation LEAF's OBC is close to 90% efficient.
 
One correction:

Both of my Volts, by strictest definition, were bought back as goodwill gestures by GM, not under California lemon law.

While both cars certainly qualified for lemon law action, GM did not put me through the hell that I've heard lemon law arbitration is. Their customer service was second to none and they saved me a tremendous amount of grief and anguish with their service.

-Andrew
 
ILETRIC said:
We consistently show 105 miles combined range (miles traveled + miles remaining). We have not "turtled" yet or even got down to battery warning range (which I have turned off) so it appears quite possible that the 27 actually is the usable number with our 4.0-4.3 "normal driving" efficiency (4.3 would be me, 4.0 my son who most likely floors it and goes 65 mph at the minimum).. . . . . . . snip . . . . . .
speaking of 'flooring' .... the thing that floors me is this boxy looking thing gets around 4miles/kWh ... while the more aerodynamic - purpose made Leaf gets less. So much for all the work that went into the Leaf's styling.
 
hill said:
speaking of 'flooring' .... the thing that floors me is this boxy looking thing gets around 4miles/kWh ... while the more aerodynamic - purpose made Leaf gets less. So much for all the work that went into the Leaf's styling.
Aero isn't as critical at lower speeds than many other factors, and this really shows up when comparing the difference between city and highway range of the two vehicles. The Soul takes a bit more of a hit here.

It could be that the Soul's motor and drivetrain are more efficient, better inverter, less vampire losses (including internal battery losses), the tires are different... at moderate speeds these things combined can easily make up for the poorer aerodynamics.

Another way to think of it: Imagine how much better a LEAF would be with the guts of a Soul, and how terrible a Soul would be with the guts of a LEAF.
=Smidge=
 
Smidge204 said:
hill said:
speaking of 'flooring' .... the thing that floors me is this boxy looking thing gets around 4miles/kWh ... while the more aerodynamic - purpose made Leaf gets less. So much for all the work that went into the Leaf's styling.
Aero isn't as critical at lower speeds than many other factors, and this really shows up when comparing the difference between city and highway range of the two vehicles. The Soul takes a bit more of a hit here.

It could be that the Soul's motor and drivetrain are more efficient, better inverter, less vampire losses (including internal battery losses), the tires are different... at moderate speeds these things combined can easily make up for the poorer aerodynamics.

Another way to think of it: Imagine how much better a LEAF would be with the guts of a Soul, and how terrible a Soul would be with the guts of a LEAF.
=Smidge=



I highly doubt it is the drive efficiency, tires, or parasitic loads. The LEAF was never a very aero EV.
 
EVDRIVER said:
I highly doubt it is the drive efficiency or tires or parasitic loads. The LEAF was never a very aero EV.
The LEAF has a better CdA than the Soul, yet the Soul has the same mi/kWh efficiency even at highway driving. What do YOU think is making up the difference, if not efficiency gains elsewhere?
=Smidge=
 
Smidge204 said:
The LEAF has a better CdA than the Soul, yet the Soul has the same mi/kWh efficiency even at highway driving. What do YOU think is making up the difference, if not efficiency gains elsewhere?

Is there an official test for CdA? Nissan has claimed 0.29 for MY11-12 and 0.28 since, but Car and Driver's test said 0.32.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPTXrj_vmw
 
GRA said:
Now if they would just offer it in the regular Soul colors, instead of the "Hello, Kitty" ones. Oh well, you can at least get it in plain white for now.
My wife suggested waiting for the Titanium Gray Souls to arrive (a medium metallic gray), then having the top wrapped in white or metallic silver film to personalize it. Sounds good to me :)
 
Tony, thank you for the careful range test and great writeup. The Soul is looking really strong, probably the best choice for me currently. And even better, my wife likes it too!

One side benefit to replacing my 2011 Leaf with a Soul rather then a B-Class - no need or desire to upgrade my EVSE mains circuit to a 60A breaker - the existing 40A circuit will be plenty.
 
Berlino said:
Is there an official test for CdA? Nissan has claimed 0.29 for MY11-12 and 0.28 since, but Car and Driver's test said 0.32.

Gotta take the manufacturer's word. But, like that video clip, they put it in a wind tunnel and measure it. 0.28 is the drag coefficient, not CdA... you have to multiply 0.28 by the frontal cross-sectional area.

Kia Soul: 11.8 (Based on the non-EV Soul)
Nissan LEAF: 7.8

The Soul EV is also ~300 pounds heavier. By all accounts the Soul EV SHOULD get slightly less efficiency if everything else is considered equal; but efficiencies are the same, so everything else ISN'T equal. The Soul EV must have some engineering mojo going on to make up for the poorer aerodynamics.
=Smidge=
 
I really like the Soul EV. Excellent job Kia. Who would have thought.

It has:
- A real world 100 mile range (thanks for confirming Tony)
- Charging ports on the front just like the leaf which is where they belong
- DC fast charging etc

If I didn't have the Badass Rav 4 EV (with no quick charge port, #fail), this would have been my next EV after my Leaf (RIP).
 
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