Official Kia Soul EV thread

billg said:

mtndrew1 said:

And here's my screen shot of today's driving:

I began the day at 93% SOC and ended at 65%, so I used 28% to drive 32.74 miles.

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Those stats indicate that you used 7.116 kWh. Divide that by 0.28 and you get 25.4 kWh usable capacity.

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Your estimate matches my guess pretty closely

TomT said:

Randy' said:

The Soul EV has a 27 kWh battery pack, so it kinda makes sense.

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Not really, the Soul's battery is 11% bigger than the Leaf's, yet its range is virtually the same 11% greater, despite being heavier and less aerodynamic... Thus, it is doing better than it's greater battery capacity alone would account for...

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I'm reading the Kia literature right now. I don't see anywhere that says 27 kWh is a "usable" amount of capacity. But - presuming that 27kWh's is usable ... how big is the unusable portion. I'd like to know how big that unusable buffer is - because it'll likely come into play as the battery ages.

I took my first test drive in their ev today - at the Irvine CA Kia . . . they actually have two on the lot . . . one with leather & one with cloth:



I couldn't help but notice they already have their DC quick charger installed and it should be commissioned in a couple more weeks;



Speaking of warranty / aging battery - has anyone been able to determine what this Kia warranty actually means?



IOW - their salespeople directed me to the service department - and even they didn't have a grass on what "capacity loss" means
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Capacity loss warranty as defined by Kia in the owner's manual is 70% guaranteed at 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

I have not looked in my book to see if the warranty is transferable or if it's just for the original owner.

Saw my first one here in the Bay Area during the afternoon commute yesterday, blue with white top. First ID'd it from the charge port cover blocking the upper grill, then a moment later realized the color scheme was unique to the EVs. The blue/white doesn't look as bad in person as I'd thought from pictures, although it's still not my cup of tea.

mtndrew1 said:

Capacity loss warranty as defined by Kia in the owner's manual is 70% guaranteed at 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

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I may have missed it but does the Kia Soul EV report any sort of battery capacity level to the user that could be used for warranty purposes? Perhaps on the dash like the LEAF?

Spies said:

mtndrew1 said:

Capacity loss warranty as defined by Kia in the owner's manual is 70% guaranteed at 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

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I may have missed it but does the Kia Soul EV report any sort of battery capacity level to the user that could be used for warranty purposes? Perhaps on the dash like the LEAF?

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Not that I can find. I presume it's like the Volt where there's a dealer-level test that can be done to determine remaining capacity.

mtndrew1 said:

Capacity loss warranty as defined by Kia in the owner's manual is 70% guaranteed at 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. ... snip..... .

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Capacity loss with the Leaf is non-linear, though I have yet to see a graph representing how gentle the curve/capacity loss/reduction actually turns out to be. Nevertheless - would the Kia ev warranty mean your traction pack is still OK for warranty purposes if it dropped to 71% after year one or two? After all - it's still above 70% ... and it's still newer than 10 years.
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hill said:

mtndrew1 said:

Capacity loss warranty as defined by Kia in the owner's manual is 70% guaranteed at 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. ... snip..... .

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Capacity loss with the Leaf is non-linear, though I have yet to see a graph representing how gentle the curve/capacity loss/reduction actually turns out to be. Nevertheless - would the Kia ev warranty mean your traction pack is still OK for warranty purposes if it dropped to 71% after year one or two? After all - it's still above 70% ... and it's still newer than 10 years.
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capacity loss I am guessing will be very individualistic based on climate, driving conditions, driving style and need. I doubt we will ever see a graph of degradation due to the endless variation

hill said:

...

I couldn't help but notice they already have their DC quick charger installed and it should be commissioned in a couple more weeks;

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I have to admit that I didn't expect them to install dual CHAdeMO/CSS, regardless of reports, but I guess that picture confirms that the CCS connector is offered.

so if I interpret this correctly, as long as the battery stays above 70% you are good to go as far as the dealer / manufacturer is concerned.... whether 30%+ degradation takes place at year 1 year 5 or year whichever. Here's to hoping there EV's don't have a real steep hyperbolic curve capacity degradation. it still beats the leaf battery capacity warranty hands down - regardless.
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Just drove the Kia Soul EV on a "Tony Williams" standard range test.

I can confirm 27kWh usable. Report to follow tomorrow.

Nice job Tony, as always.

I really like the fact the capacity they specify in the specs happens to be the usable capacity , because at the end of the day that value is what really matters. How much more beyond that is the full battery capacity only matters to the extent how the BMS works and the degradation is controlled.

TonyWilliams said:

Just drove the Kia Soul EV on a "Tony Williams" standard range test.

I can confirm 27kWh usable. Report to follow tomorrow.

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Incredible! I can't wait to see the report. This news puts the car back on my list for when my lease is up next June.

If I could get past the exterior styling and design, it definitely would be on mine...

GetOffYourGas said:

Incredible! I can't wait to see the report. This news puts the car back on my list for when my lease is up next June.

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This car is starting to sound damn interesting. Who knows if or when they will make it available outside CA, but I registered my email on the "keep me updated" thing with my zip code, just so they know there is interest on the off chance anyone at KIA gives a crap.
One interesting thing on their FAQs, there is no visual indication of battery capacity. They learned from Nissan not to make that so transparent, now when the battery loses capacity you'll have to convince the people at the service department, which won't be easy.

LTLFTcomposite said:

This car is starting to sound damn interesting. Who knows if or when they will make it available outside CA, but I registered my email on the "keep me updated" thing with my zip code, just so they know there is interest on the off chance anyone at KIA gives a crap.
One interesting thing on their FAQs, there is no visual indication of battery capacity. They learned from Nissan not to make that so transparent, now when the battery loses capacity you'll have to convince the people at the service department, which won't be easy.

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If the car's GOM is at least semi-accurate, perhaps a reduced range estimate would be enough to convince the dealership staff that something is wrong. Either that, or hopefully someone will come up with a Leafspy-like app for the Soul.

TonyWilliams said:

I can confirm 27kWh usable

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Awesome! Good to hear.
Going back to mtndrew1's pics...



So did anyone else notice the 100k mile warranty for the battery is only valid for the original owner/lessor.

A used Kia Soul EV has only a 60k warranty on the battery, same as a leaf. I wonder why Kia decided to do this. Are they trying to encourage more buying? Or maybe to encourage buying out the lease? Yes Kia is standing behind their battery better than Nissan, but why only extend the warranty for the first buyer?

JeremyW said:

TonyWilliams said:

I can confirm 27kWh usable

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Awesome! Good to hear.
Going back to mtndrew1's pics...

So did anyone else notice the 100k mile warranty for the battery is only valid for the original owner/lessor.

A used Kia Soul EV has only a 60k warranty on the battery, same as a leaf. I wonder why Kia decided to do this. Are they trying to encourage more buying? Or maybe to encourage buying out the lease? Yes Kia is standing behind their battery better than Nissan, but why only extend the warranty for the first buyer?

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The battery pack is covered under EV system not power train in the warranty booklet, which reads to me as thought its warranty is the same for first and subsequent owners.

I'll re-read it to see if I misunderstood.

TomT said:

If I could get past the exterior styling and design, it definitely would be on mine...

GetOffYourGas said:

Incredible! I can't wait to see the report. This news puts the car back on my list for when my lease is up next June.

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Getting past the SOUL styling is a whole lot easier than LEAF. JMHO.