Little things owners have noticed on the Soul EV

Magnetic braking only works through the wheels connected to the motor.

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http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/07/10/a-magnetic-braking-primer-bmw-i3-versus-tesla-70d/

That means, if we rely on B mode for most of the regen, we're only using 2 front wheels for braking. Hmm, that does not sound as safe as having 4 wheels working together for braking. No wonder I hear tires squeal sometimes with B mode going down a steep slope, 'cause only 2 wheels are working and the rears are not helping.

Then what about BMW i3? That's a 2-wheeler as well...

That BMW article about magnetic braking is really worth a read. First thing I have seen that properly explains 'B' mode.
As for the BMW

The i3 is rear-wheel drive, and therefore the magnetic braking is through the rear wheels only. Since the front wheels are the most effective at braking (due to weight shift on deceleration), the effectiveness of the i3’s magnetic braking could be better.
With EV regenerative braking, only those wheels connected to the drive motor are able to slow the car. In the case of the i3, that’s the rear wheels. That’s fine for mild and moderate braking, but for strong braking, weight shift makes the rear wheel braking much less effective, and prone to skidding—the four-wheel friction brakes would have to be used.

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Am now checking that the Soul is front wheel drive.

fanbanlo said:

if we rely on B mode for most of the regen, we're only using 2 front wheels for braking. Hmm, that does not sound as safe as having 4 wheels working together for braking.

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Engine braking via the driven wheels has been business as usual for decades for drivers of cars with manual transmissions. You don't not use the brake pedal, you just are able to use it a little less frequently or with less pressure.

Regenerative braking is used up until a certain deceleration threshold (0.3G?) and then conventional hydraulic braking across all four wheels is blended in to make up the rest of the braking request.

If there's a loss of traction during braking via regen the ABS sensors trigger the cancellation of regenerative braking and full hydraulic braking is implemented. On a low-traction surface you can observe this happening on the EV screen. It's slightly unsettling during the handoff from regen to friction.

All hybrids and EVs (and I suppose FCEVs) work this way.

Step to reproduce:

while charging
1. start A/C
2. press ok on the prompt that charging will be slower with A/C on
3. notice that the <-> ready-to-drive indicator light is already on
4. disconnect charging cable
5. shift to R, rear view camera's on
6. but steering is locked up.

workaround:
restart. Power off, step on brake and power on again.


Have you experienced the same? Happened to me yesterday.

This has happened to me. The way the car handles charging while the car is running is not graceful at all.

I've taken to initiating charging, starting car, waiting to finish charging, switching off the car, then disconnecting the charger.

The car trips all over itself if you don't do this.

True. I've tried preheat only once and it was a disaster once I disconnected. So, no more. Kia needs to give it a serious workup what is wrong with it.

I don't understand why they don't hire some Joe Shmoes to mess with it before they release these products.

I use thumb drive for music. If you click next tracks really fast (4 per second) the system gets bogged down and you have to recover it by turning it off and unplugging the thumb drive, etc. Bummer. It can take about 1 per second at best. I don't do the fast clicks anymore.

And also, my biggest gripe, you cannot advance to the next "CD" i.e. the next folder easily. It's a hassle, particularly on bumpy roads. And once you bring up the list of the folders IT ALWAYS GOES TO "A". A real pissoff... It should at least show the current folder (CD) and let me go from there, b/c all I want is go to the next one on the list, nothing else.

And, when you bring up the next folder (CD) it should automatically start playing the first frickin' track. Logically, Kia! I can always advance to the next track click, click if I don't want to hear the 1st one.

mtndrew1 said:

fanbanlo said:

- If you shift to R before the system completes booting up, you'll still see the backup camera but no guideline. Once fully booted up, the guideline appears.

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At least in my car this has nothing to do with vehicle bootup process and is simply the result of the sluggish infotainment system. Sometimes 30 seconds after startup has completed the backup lines refuse to show up or, worse, the lines show up without the camera image.

Infotainment boot times and general lethargy are my main peeves with the Soul. If that's the worst I have to deal with though I'm a happy camper.

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They must have changed this for the 2016 because I've noticed that as soon as I start the car, if I put it in R the camera comes on with the guidelines.

EV2016 said:

mtndrew1 said:

fanbanlo said:

- If you shift to R before the system completes booting up, you'll still see the backup camera but no guideline. Once fully booted up, the guideline appears.

Click to expand...

At least in my car this has nothing to do with vehicle bootup process and is simply the result of the sluggish infotainment system. Sometimes 30 seconds after startup has completed the backup lines refuse to show up or, worse, the lines show up without the camera image.

Infotainment boot times and general lethargy are my main peeves with the Soul. If that's the worst I have to deal with though I'm a happy camper.

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They must have changed this for the 2016 because I've noticed that as soon as I start the car, if I put it in R the camera comes on with the guidelines.

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If system responsiveness has improved that's very welcome news!

I hope Kia releases a firmware update for us early adopters; mine is miserably pokey much of the time. I suspect a CarPlay/Android Auto update is coming at some point soon (it is after all the same hardware as the '15 Sonata) and I've got my fingers crossed that whatever improvements you have will come along with it.

I AM driving 2016, I noticed that the guidelines show up later if I have USB plugged in.

mtndrew1 said:

Regenerative braking is used up until a certain deceleration threshold (0.3G?) and then conventional hydraulic braking across all four wheels is blended in to make up the rest of the braking request.

If there's a loss of traction during braking via regen the ABS sensors trigger the cancellation of regenerative braking and full hydraulic braking is implemented. On a low-traction surface you can observe this happening on the EV screen. It's slightly unsettling during the handoff from regen to friction.

All hybrids and EVs (and I suppose FCEVs) work this way.

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The Ford EVs & hybrids engage the rear pads first due to the regen braking coming only from the front wheels.

The tires love to eat little rocks. I need to floss them from time to time.

I just aquired a 2016 Soul EV plus. I was wondering if it is just me but my wife noticed as well that when you shift into reverse "R" it plays a tune in the cabin, kind of a sonar tune. Very slight, if you have the radio on you can not hear it.

Nice additional feature to tell you what gear you are in.

I think you may be hearing the outside noisemaker that alerts pedestrians you are backing up. There is a different, continuous noise when you are moving forward at low speed. Roll your window down to hear either more clearly.

DeaneG said:

It's in there. The manual says the drive could be damaged by leaving it in, which seems unlikely.
But the car does leave the drive powered up when switched off, so there is a little bit of power drain.

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If you put your music library onto a thumb drive (128G is about $40, if your library is less, it's way cheaper) there should be no problem. A smartphone or equivalent device with an operating system is a different animal.

I am NOT an expert on this, but I use both types as audio storage, and the solid-state thumb drives have never had a lapse, or caused any issues in a variety of PCs and tablets. The main potential problem would be having this device sticking out of the USB port; it could be snapped off or cause damage to the port if something heavy struck it. So smaller is better, and some of these are quite small. http://pkparis.surinternet.com/epag...iewObjectPath=/Shops/box23967/Products/100304 (This one would not even be noticed, it extends abut 1/2", and 32gig will hold my 600-album mp3 collection - freaking amazing!)

UPDATE: I got a 32 GB unit for $15.00 at Office Depot (a 16G version was - $14.99! : :lol:

We will pick up our new Plus on Friday, can't wait!

<Update to Update>Car is great, love it, and the tiny 32G drive works "well", is practically invisible and takes no power when off. The quotes are because I have not found a safe way to navigate folders without looking at the AVN. There may be one, I have not gone through the entire manual set yet. I am hoping a spoken command will work. But this collection is also several folders deep, and could be made more compact if need be.

I have to admit, I didn't fully read the manual before I started driving- just listened to the salesperson's walkthrough.

backup camera is not hooded, so rain and grime can quickly make it difficult to see clearly out of.
if car is locked and charging plug is in, you cannot unplug the charger.
tires are rubbish in wet/frosty weather, especially with any sort of incline. Low resistance == low traction
visibility is great

After 3 months - I LOVE the car, but my pet peeves:
1: There are numerous small, hard-to-access areas that things (like the key) can drop into ans be difficult to retrieve.
2: WHY is the "delay Charge" button not reflected either by a light on the button - like all the rest - or somewhere on the dash display?
3: The Climate Control system always resets to its OWN default, rather than the last-used position. I NEVER want the full fan and almost enver want the cooling on, yet every time I start the car, I have to dumb down the fan and turn off the A/C.
4: There is a seat sensor on the driver's side that knows when someone is sitting there. IF there were one on the passenger side, the "Driver-Only" button could be automated (over-ridable,but one less issue.)
5: My wife added - the Child Lock on the rear doors is FAR too difficult to use, there is no reason they could not have made the latch accessible without needing a tool to toggle it. This is actually the MOST important of the issues, IMHO...

So this may be a failure in my Soul, but I've noticed that sometimes if I reach over to adjust the volume on the dash while playing from a bluetooth source, it triggers a "start song over" operation.

Anyone else seen this?

Had my 2016 Soul EV+ for almost 2 weeks now. The one thing I don't like is how it imitates an automatic gasoline car. I don't like having to hold the brake after I've come to a complete stop. (I've had manual cars for the last 18 years.) The BMW i3 does not do this by default and the Tesla has a toggle where you can turn it off. Does anyone know how to turn this "feature" off?

Other than that 1 thing, I love everything else about this car. Had a little trouble with the charger before I figured out it locks it with the doors. Thought that was a good idea so someone can't come and unplug you at a public charging station. I have a few items to check now that I've read through this post though.

ralyon