Charging Fault error.

[vinnymess]

Friday Dec 4th i got my winter tires installed at my Kia Dealership and they did an update on the car at the same time. When i got home i plugged it in as usual (SunCountry 32amp) and retired for the night. The next morning when i got into my car i was surprised to see that my car did not charge at all while plugged overnight, and i had a "Charging fault error" that was displayed. I unplugged my charger waited a few minutes and plugged it back in, but i got the same error again!! I thought it might be a problem with my Level 2 charger so I connected my 110 charger that came with the car and had the same error displaying on my dash. My car has 9 Km of range left so i won't be able to drive it to my dealer as they are about 25 Km away. I guess they will have to tow it to the shop. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

It might be due to the update, but when they charged it at the shop after the tires were installed it was working perfectly.

[GizmoEV]

Wow, that is a bummer. Is there a CHAdeMO charger nearby? The problem might be with the OBC. Since CHAdeMO doesn't use it you might be able to charge.

It just occurred to me that in theory an off board charger could be made to connect to the CHAdeMO port for situations like yours. It would sure be easier to borrow an off board charger than get a flatbed truck or trailer.

[vinnymess]

No CHAdeMO charger nearby, unfortunately. Got the car towed to the Kia dealership and now i'm just waiting for them to call me back. Will keep you posted.

[vinnymess]

Got my car back yesterday! They had to change the OBC At a cost (to Kia) of $9400!
If anyone is thinking about buying these cars, don't, lease them instead. Can you imagine having these problems if you bought the car and the warranty is up, YIKES!

Still love my car though. As soon as Kia comes up with more range on their Soul EV (which should be soon btw) i will trade this in for the newer model.

[AndY1]

Doesn't the 7 year warranty cover the OBC as well?

[2016Electric]

Wow, $9,400? That's crazy. Quite the markup...

BTW, how did you become aware of the cost to Kia? Do you mean dealer invoiced parts (on the work order), or do you mean what Kia actually pays for the OBC from their vendor/sub?

Strangely, I found this. The OBC is part no. 364000E040:

http://www.kiapartsnow.com/parts-list/2 ... ntrol.html

The OBC there is listed for $2,792.58 USD. Looks pretty darn easy to swap out, form the schematic and just looking at my own vehicle.

[tractioninc]

Good find! That site also lists the battery pack at $13,511 and the UVO infotainment assembly at $3,904

[2016Electric]

Yeah that pack price is scary. Hopefully mass production brings that down to something manageable and the cells end up being very durable!

Also, for an apples to apples comparison, I wonder how that UVO ranks in terms of price to comparable units in ICE vehicles?

[vinnymess]

Wow, $9,400? That's crazy. Quite the markup...

BTW, how did you become aware of the cost to Kia? Do you mean dealer invoiced parts (on the work order), or do you mean what Kia actually pays for the OBC from their vendor/sub?

Strangely, I found this. The OBC is part no. 364000E040:

http://www.kiapartsnow.com/parts-list/2 ... ntrol.html

The OBC there is listed for $2,792.58 USD. Looks pretty darn easy to swap out, form the schematic and just looking at my own vehicle.

I saw the price on the work order that was sitting on the counter as i signed my copy.

Btw, since they changed the OBC my car is now drawing 25 to 26.2 amps whereas before it was drawing 29-30 amps.
I have a Suncountry EV40P EV Charger.

[vinnymess]

Doesn't the 7 year warranty cover the OBC as well?

Yes it does, the repairs and towing didn't cost me a cent.