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Ironically, Kia has been running one or two Souls on a southern California loop, hitting qc's every day. However, there aren't any ABB units in so cal besides ones being installed at Kia dealerships now.
 
JeremyW said:
However, there aren't any ABB units in so cal besides ones being installed at Kia dealerships now.
Click to expand...
There are a handful of ABB Terra 53 CHAdeMO / Combo stations at eVgo locations already - some have been in for at least a month or two now. It appears that eVgo will get one of these installed next to all the Nissan QC stations they've already got.

Very good for CHAdeMO cars since that doubles the number of plugs per location - just try to use the Nissan QC first so that a Combo user can use the other if they need to charge at the same time.
 
Berlino said:
Careful with the Soul EV and CHAdeMO.

From what one can gather in Norway, some models of CHAdeMO stop working after being visited by a SOUL EV.

Only a dozen of so SOUL EVs have been shipped to Canada, but this problem has cropped up as well. The bad part is that, unlike Kia Norway, Kia Canada isn't notifying anyone. The good part is that technicians were able to repair a damaged station within hours in Canada. I think the only impacted model is in use in California is the ABB one. Ironically, didn't Kia dealerships go with ABB?


http://www.elbil.no/nyheter/ladestasjoner/3402-kia-soul-eiere-bor-ta-pause-fra-hurtiglading


Edit: Here's the Google translate link: http://translate.google.ca/translat...eiere-bor-ta-pause-fra-hurtiglading&sandbox=1
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Woah!

I visited http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/54971" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (at a Kia dealer) and physically confirmed that the Combo1 + CHAdeMO was an ABB Terra 53 unit. http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/8428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is Efacec, which is mentioned as being incompatible, in the article. There are some other Efacec around the US.
 
The network which runs six of the seven DCQC stations in Quebec sent an e-mail asking Soul EV owners to not use CHAdeMO for the time-being. Still no communication from Kia Canada.
 
Pretty good info on the battery:

http://youtu.be/AtJ9GoYUPyU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like they really focused on degradation. Seems like they managed to get energy density and safety in the same package. Very impressive.
 
pkulak said:
Pretty good info on the battery:

http://youtu.be/AtJ9GoYUPyU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like they really focused on degradation. Seems like they managed to get energy density and safety in the same package. Very impressive.
Click to expand...

Again, they had three years to reverse engineer the Leaf and you'd thing the end result would be more significant.
 
lorenfb said:
pkulak said:
Pretty good info on the battery:

http://youtu.be/AtJ9GoYUPyU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like they really focused on degradation. Seems like they managed to get energy density and safety in the same package. Very impressive.
Click to expand...

Again, they had three years to reverse engineer the Leaf and you'd thing the end result would be more significant.
Click to expand...

Do you think that knowing how the Leaf battery works helps you make a significantly better one? It hasnt helped Nissan. They are giving up on making a better battery. "Reverse engineering" an existing battery gets you nothing except what everyone else already knows.

200 Wh/kg that can still be air cooled without exploding is a big damn deal. Give some credit where credit is due.
 
Will the battery heater make a big difference compared to the leaf ?

Say you set off in the morning to work and the battery is nice and warm. It's sits at work for 8 hrs and is cold again does that mean it has to be plugged in all the time or only for the first initial charge ?

So in other words, does the battery heater only need to heat the battery if you need to charge it and if it has been warmed up on the initial charge will you still have that charge if it gets cold again ?

Hope that makes sense.
 
ILETRIC said:
pkulak said:
200 Wh/kg that can still be air cooled without exploding is a big damn deal.
Click to expand...
Please explain...
Click to expand...

I'm going to assume your serious and not just trolling me...

So far, the only way to get that kind of energy density was to use a very unstable chemistry, like the nickel cobalt aluminum that Tesla uses. They use very aggressive liquid cooling to keep the car safe. Nissan went the other way, with low energy density, but a chemistry that won't get into a runaway thermal reaction no matter what you do to it, so it doesn't need to be liquid cooled (to be safe; longevity is another issue). This new Kia battery has the density of a Model S (31+ kwh in a package smaller than Nissan's 24 kwh battery), but it also appears to very safe; using only air cooling. It can also, apparently, handle charging rates over 3C, which bests the Tesla's 1.5C and Nissan's 2C.
 
Now the question is what the degradation will be. No matter, I'm through with it at 45,000 miles/3 years.

Thanks.
 
there are reports in norway of the soul ev not being compatible with chademo charging

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=fr&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elbil.no%2Fnyheter%2Fladestasjoner%2F3402-kia-soul-eiere-bor-ta-pause-fra-hurtiglading&sandbox=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Autocar decidedly cool in it's review:
...Had this car been launched three years ago, it would have been easily class-competitive with the Nissan Leaf. But the world of the EV has moved on rapidly

...As it stands, the Soul EV, as competent as it is, is neither the best to drive, nor the best value.

Kia Soul EV

Price £24,995 (after government grant); 0-60mph 10.8sec; Top speed 90mph; Range 132 miles; CO2 0g/km (local); Kerb weight 1588kg; Engine AC synchronous electric motor; Power 109bhp between 2730-8000rpm; Torque 210lb ft between 0-2730rpm; Gearbox Single-speed automatic
Click to expand...

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/kia/soul/first-drives/kia-soul-ev-uk-first-drive-review" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Most disappointing to me, is that the reported NEDC range only exceeds that of the '14-'15 LEAF by a bit over 6% (132/124), as compared to the ~11% higher range over the LEAF (93/84) the US EPA gives the Soul.

Because I do mostly low speed driving (with large ascents and descents) My LEAF seems to closely track NEDC range (109 miles for new 2011-12 LEAFs) and I was expecting that the lower NEDC average speed would reduce the aero disadvantage of the Soul, and result in a greater proportionate range increase on that test cycle, not a lesser one.

Seems like there must be some other (relative to LEAF) inefficiency in the Soul, beyond just the ~100 lbs of extra weight, and boxy profile.
 
edatoakrun said:
Autocar decidedly cool in it's review:
...Had this car been launched three years ago, it would have been easily class-competitive with the Nissan Leaf. But the world of the EV has moved on rapidly

...As it stands, the Soul EV, as competent as it is, is neither the best to drive, nor the best value.

Kia Soul EV

Price £24,995 (after government grant); 0-60mph 10.8sec; Top speed 90mph; Range 132 miles; CO2 0g/km (local); Kerb weight 1588kg; Engine AC synchronous electric motor; Power 109bhp between 2730-8000rpm; Torque 210lb ft between 0-2730rpm; Gearbox Single-speed automatic
Click to expand...

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/kia/soul/first-drives/kia-soul-ev-uk-first-drive-review" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Click to expand...
Given the UK pricing of the Soul and its rivals, I'd sort of agree, although real world range/price is the key value for most people considering a BEV.

edatoakrun said:
Most disappointing to me, is that the reported NEDC range only exceeds that of the '14-'15 LEAF by a bit over 6% (132/124), as compared to the ~11% higher range over the LEAF (93/84) the US EPA gives the Soul.

Because I do mostly low speed driving (with large ascents and descents) My LEAF seems to closely track NEDC range (109 miles for new 2011-12 LEAFs) and I was expecting that the lower NEDC average speed would reduce the aero disadvantage of the Soul, and result in a greater proportionate range increase on that test cycle, not a lesser one.

Seems like there must be some other (relative to LEAF) inefficiency in the Soul, beyond just the ~100 lbs of extra weight, and boxy profile.
Click to expand...
Or maybe, since we know that the NEDC is wrong and wildly optimistic, you could just look at the EPA city ranges of the LEAF and Soul EV, 92 and 103.6:

http://insideevs.com/2015-kia-soul-ev-gets-official-epa-range-rating-93-miles-city-range-will-blow-mind/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Or this GCR test drive, where they got 114 miles in careful urban/suburban driving:

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1095421_2015-kia-soul-ev-first-drive-of-newest-electric-car" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 

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