Charging Fault error.

[JejuSoul]

That the location of cars with this problem are all in certain areas does seem strange. For instance why do we get lots of reports from British Columbia and none from Washington State. I have asked locally (Jeju island) and no one seems aware of this issue here.

[Hazeyone]

Well hello again, my Kia dealer says they are replacing my battery pack. I should get my car sometime this coming week. Do you think a faulty battery would cause intermittent charging? They have already replaced my battery controller. I miss the car and it is great to drive when it runs properly. I just want one that does not strand me! Keep you posted, I really want to get to where I can just drive and enjoy the car...

[Hazeyone]

@Jejusoul... I agree, BC, Quebec are having some problems. Norway too! Very strange.

[wrickcook]

That the location of cars with this problem are all in certain areas does seem strange. For instance why do we get lots of reports from British Columbia and none from Washington State. I have asked locally (Jeju island) and no one seems aware of this issue here.

If it helps, I am in WA state and am not seeing any errors (knock on wood) just the flashing SOC bars.
Mine is a 2016 that I picked up in Oct of 2015.
The 11th digit of my VIN is 7 which means my car was made at the Seosan, Korea plant. I had a record of the month of production but do not see it, I think it was in July.

I think I read there were 4 factories building them, maybe that is something to consider (where and when). But those are the details on my model that seems to be fine.

[JejuSoul]

My car has not had the battery problem or the blinking range bars. It is a year old now.
Given how expensive these issues are to fix I am hoping all these early problems are solved long before the car goes out of warranty.
Also as far as I know all the Soul EVs are assembled at the Gwangju plant in South Korea.
There is a page for decoding the VIN here - http://www.kiasoulforums.com/29-how-diy ... umber.html

I don't know who makes the OBC or where. The electronics are probably not made at the assembly plant. The battery for instance comes from SK Inno's factory in Seosan.

Comparing the two issues:
The blinking range bar problem seems to be rare but occurs everywhere. People who had a new instrument cluster still have the problem. Suggesting Kia does not know what the problem is or how to fix it.
The Charging Fault Error is more common but specific to certain countries. People who had a replacement OBC seem to be good. Suggesting either Kia does know what the problem is and has fixed it, or it has just gone away in newer versions of the OBC. That the problem occurs in Norway / Canada may be something to do with the kind of EVSE's sold there, and not the fact that cars come from a different batch.

[Hazeyone]

You can also decode your VIN here. http://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Kia
I have been told that the EVs are all made in the same plant.

[Hazeyone]

Yes it looks like all souls are made in Gwangju. The Gwangju facility produces the Kia Soul, Kia Carens/Rondo, Kia Sportage, and Kia Bongo/K-Series, as well as buses and military vehicles.

http://pr.kia.com/en/now/tour/global-pl ... u-plant.do

[JejuSoul]

I went into the local Kia service center to chat about used EV prices. Noticed this.



This is a car having its OBC replaced. The OBC has been taken out.
It normally sits between the High Voltage Junction Box (the part lifted up and to the side) and the EPCU
So the Charging Fault Error is happening here too now.
The service guy said they have had a few recently.
The car being fixed was from July 2014 with 18,000km on the clock

The old OBC had this sticker on it



And the new one



The OBC is made by a company called Mando in Korea. We think the new version has a new control unit that fixes the problem.
More info about the OBC



Here is the OBC taken out of the car.



Looking at photos 2 and 3 you can work out the mfg date of the OBC from the sticker on the side.
14F23 is 23rd June 2014 and 16B05 is 5th Feb 2016
This sticker is visible at the back of the motor unit without taking anything apart.
In picture 5 - the Mando sticker would be on the left behind the orange power outlet. (You can't see it in this pic)
The info sticker seen in photo 4 is only visible when the car is disassembled.
There is a 3rd Daewoo Electronics sticker visible at the front of the motor unit without taking anything apart.
In picture 5 - the Daewoo sticker would be on the right. (You can't see it in this pic)

[Hazeyone]

Thanks jejusoul, interesting. I pick my car up later today so we shall see how it goes. You say this was from 2014... Do you think the later models and the ones being made today have an improved component? I will have to see if I can this part under my hood.

[nibularr]

watching this problem closely since who knows who will get it...

my 2016 soulEV luxury was has a built tag of NOVEMBER 2015



i took a picture of my OBC sticker

http://imgur.com/Ns9z83z



im in Toronto fyi