2016 Soul EV+ Battery Replacement - Remanufactured?

[S2kysk]

Here is a battery pack at kia dealer.https://instagram.com/stories/youngkang ... JmNzVkMjY=

[FLKiaEV]

UPDATE: Well, here we are June 20th and I still have not heard from Kia about my battery pack. In just a few more days it will be 7 months since I dropped off my car to have the battery pack replaced. As I said in a previous post Kia contacted me in late March or early April to tell me that my battery pack would arrive in the California port on April 25th, and here we are almost 2 months after that point and still nothing. I know the port situation is completely crazy, but are those container ships really hanging out there for 2 months before they get unloaded?

[Nigel]

Ran into battery degradation with my Gen I 2016 Kia Soul last fall - down to less than 50% range and very quickly from 160km until summer 2021; Local dealer in Ontario checked it out and quickly got approval for the warranty replacement (10th November 2021. After a very very long wait and many varied reasons why the replacement wasn't coming the replacement arrived yesterday and I took it in for replacement today (21st June 2022).

Don't know if the replacement is new or remanufactured - dealer didn't seem to know but will follow up and post.

[FLKiaEV]

Sounds like your wait time is close to mine, so perhaps I'll be getting a call in the next few weeks informing me that I can pick up my car. The Kia representative that I spoke to (my contact person within Kia) said months ago that the battery pack was being assembled in South Korea which leads me to think that it is new, but I guess I'll find out when it finally gets here. After 7 months + waiting, I would not be happy to find that it's a used battery with only 80% capacity or something like that.

Anyways, I will report back when I hear something one way or the other.

[IanL]

After 7 months + waiting, I would not be happy to find that it's a used battery with only 80% capacity or something like that.

Although KIA reserve the right to do that, everyone who has reported a replacement in the last 2 years or so has been given a new battery, or new cells in their original housing.

[FLKiaEV]

True. I remember reading that in the owner's warranty manual. Since the car is barely 5 years old (it's a 2016, originally sold in mid or late 2016 to its first owner) it would be in Kia's best interest to use new cells because otherwise there'd be a better than decent chance that they'd have to replace it again before the 10 years was up. Either way, I'm hoping they are the better cells and that I never have to have to replaced again!

By the way, apparently the battery pack is only guaranteed for 10 years in the United States? Supposedly, everywhere else it's only 7 years or something. Does anyone know if that's true? And if so, I wonder why?

[IanL]

It's 7 years in Europe for the whole car, including the battery. The why - I think it's driven by marketing. They pitch it where they think is high enough to get the market share they want.

[Nigel]

Hey, just got my EV back from the dealership and the replacement was 37510E4250R. They didn't seem to know if it was refurbished or new despite my asking directly. I understand the "R" implies refurbished. Got to get it fully charged and drive a bit to see how it is performing. At pick up range was 138km at 75% charge but need the battery control to settle down to see where the range really is after a few charge cycles but looking good.

[FLKiaEV]

I think @IanL is right when he says that they are new cells but in a "used" container. Should be in good shape. What I'm going to do when I EVENTUALLY get mine back (fingers crossed) is charge to 80% only, except for maybe once a month I'll charge to 100% (for calibration). Don't let it fall too low (I'll charge it when it hits, say, 25%) and DC Fast Charge it sparingly (and generally only as much as I need to get me to my next stop or home). Should help the battery last as long as possible.

[IanL]

Good plan