2016 Soul EV+ Battery Replacement - Remanufactured?

[raskal]

I am out of warranty as of sept 2023 warranty in canada is only 8 years. It's a 2016 with 93,000km. Did you get a remanufactured battery? 108 miles range would be amazing. I am used to below 50 miles

Weird... I'm in Canada too and my 2017 has a 10/160,000 warranty. I wonder why Kia added the 2 years for 2017.

 

[suttercane]

Did you have an extended warranty?


This is from the 2017 kia canada warranty book. https://www.kia.ca/en/owners/kia-ownership/warranty#

 

[raskal]

Did you have an extended warranty?
View attachment 124

This is from the 2017 kia canada warranty book. https://www.kia.ca/en/owners/kia-ownership/warranty#

nope, just regular warranty
try a google search for ;

2017 kia soul ev warranty canada filetype:pdf

(strangely, I don't get the same useful result for your 2016, but the USA warranty appears to be 120 months)

The first hit should be https://www.kia.com/us/content/dam/...ual/warranty-manual/2017_warranty_soul-ev.pdf

so if I change the 2017 in the above link to 2016, it actually finds the file, and in that file is does say 10 years!

https://www.kia.com/us/content/dam/...ual/warranty-manual/2016_warranty_soul-ev.pdf

good luck!

 

[suttercane]

Yeah the US and Canada have different warranties unfortunately!

 

[raskal]

Yeah the US and Canada have different warranties unfortunately!

crap, I didn't notice that I linked to the .com site

and yeah, it seems the 2017 is just 8 years too... crap.
I have started the process to get a new battery (less than 70% SOH)

 

[suttercane]

good that you started the process! What screwed me was the warranty is from the date of registration, so my car was a 2016, but purchased in September 2015! My battery just dropped below 70% last month. what a pain!

 

[Locuturus]

I got 8yrs 150k for powertrain on my 2016, purchased July 2016 - and just did a battery replacement Dec 2023, and just got approved for an OBC change this morning. (got the P1CF5 error code relating to the OBC)

 

[suttercane]

Good timing! Do you know if you got a remanufactured battery? How has it been since the swap?

 

[Locuturus]

Good timing! Do you know if you got a remanufactured battery? How has it been since the swap?

Yup I got a reman battery. 37510-E4252R @JejuSoul said (somewhere on this forum) that mine is a remanufactured battery. Given the number being E4252 instead of your E4253 he's probably right in saying that it might be the year? I had the gasket and harness recall stuff done at the same time - there was a TSB notice thing so that must have been the recall.

That was done Dec 2023, so it's been 4 months? I took it for some drives out to Chilliwack from Vancouver (hwy speeds 90-100km/h), could probably have made it to harrison hot springs but then would need to L2 charge.... cos no fast chargers nearby. Also did Vancouver to Squamish, got there with about 30% remaining?

Note when I got the car back in Dec it dipped into -5 to -10 C for a few days and it was still showing 150km on the GOM. It's averaging 160km+ at 100% right now. I'm curious to see what it'll be as it warms up.

 

[uspurs]

I am out of warranty as of sept 2023 warranty in canada is only 8 years. It's a 2016 with 93,000km. Did you get a remanufactured battery? 108 miles range would be amazing. I am used to below 50 miles

Just as a data point; we started with 107 miles of range yesterday, drove 90.2 miles @ 4.5 M/kWh and have 28% battery (GOM shows 30 miles) remaining. We're in a rural, hilly, area with speed limits of max 55mph.

 

[suttercane]

Thanks @Locuturus and @uspurs ,
I am getting more a bit more hopeful about this situation. Still sucks to pay out of pocket but at least I will be able to use my car!

 

[Locuturus]

according to Bjorn Nyland’s testing on his channel, 1st Gen Souls with a replaced battery (30 or 27kwh) or original 30kwh battery tend to do pretty well (he hasn’t gotten it for long and hasn’t decided to actually buy it) and he was testing a frankenstein-ed one that had the 27kwh body and obc, but a replaced battery from a different one.

I’m hoping one day we can order or get parts without shelling out a kidney…

 

[suttercane]

I should be getting the replacement in a couple of weeks, I will just have to figure out how to make it last for as long as possible. Is charging only to 80% still the best way to go? I have the trickle charger at home but access to level 2 at work.

 

[Locuturus]

Generally my opinion is to charge to 80 if you don’t need 100% use that if you are going on a road trip or need the remaining 20. Use an OBD scanner with Car Scanner at minimum on road trips to monitor the temps on the battery, but otherwise make sure to plug slow or level 2 each time.

Sometimes I deliberately set the charging schedule so that it’s even below 80 when I start. I read somewhere that the battery is happiest when somewhere between 30 and 80, especially when in storage.

Probably anything else that you’d do to a regular car? Make sure tires are right for the season/weather, at the right pressure, gentle acceleration and not too many sudden movements (g-forces do a number on anything),

 

[Locuturus]

Minor update on the replaced battery and OBC:

Did a range test today, drove 165.7km total, about 130km of which was on highways going about 90-100km/h on average. Got to the charger with 12% remaining - ABRP predicted 10% if I went at 90 only, then gradually improved the estimate. 18km remaining on GOM. I suppose I could have driven it around until I was at 5%…

Consumption was 157Wh/100km per the car’s reading. Reset at beginning of trip, which had some urban driving to run some errands.

Estimated capacity using consumption x distance travelled / % battery used:

157Wh/100km x 165.7km / 0.88 = 29,562Wh / 1000 = 29.56 kWh

Also discovered that running the HVAC (granted today was a relatively cool day, 15C max outside), battery was getting into 24C min 42C max, running AC without the Auto, aimed down into the front footwells, over driving time did cool down the max temp a bit, on the whole kept the battery temp relatively stable, hovering around 38 max. The inlet was consistently around 18C. Now if I can only find out which module is the one heating up.

 

[suttercane]

I should be getting the replacement in a couple of weeks, I will just have to figure out how to make it last for as long as possible. Is charging only to 80% still the best way to go? I have the trickle charger at home but access to level 2 at work.

Well, it turns out I am not getting the battery! The dealer quoted me on the price for the remanufactured battery, I was willing to pay it. Waited weeks, then was told that you can't actually get that part unless it is through a warranty claim/recall. They then told me if I wanted a battery, it would cost me about $30k CDN.

Not sure what to do now!

 

[Locuturus]

Well, it turns out I am not getting the battery! The dealer quoted me on the price for the remanufactured battery, I was willing to pay it. Waited weeks, then was told that you can't actually get that part unless it is through a warranty claim/recall. They then told me if I wanted a battery, it would cost me about $30k CDN.

Not sure what to do now!

ugh... if you've got any electrical and car repair knowhow, get that battery taken out, hook it up to solar and to your house, at least that way you still have some use of your battery.

Sell the rest to a scrapyard or autobody shop who wants a car for parts. Or just trade the car in and get a used/new Niro EV or something - I've been eyeing the increased range, but for some reason on the west coast everyone's only selling the 2019 and 2020 ones... There's 2021 and 2022 in Ontario and Quebec.

There's also the possibility of us moving to Quebec (which will be interesting as my French is high school.... and hasn't been used since forever) so at least I can look forward to sweet sweet EV incentives - just need to get wifey to buy a car that won't get stolen.

 

[suttercane]

Yeah I thought about salvaging the battery for the house, but tbh, that sounds like a lot of work. I really just want my car to be useable. I actually like this car and would be happy if I could just get the battery range up to like 180km that other people have reported with the replacement.

If I had to buy another vehicle, I would look at a mini cooper SE, they seem so fun to drive. But far more expensive than what I paid for the soul.

 

[Locuturus]

Agreed about the work to salvage the battery. I guess that's why some people turn it into a business if you have the experience.... I love the car as it is, I would love it if I could somehow strap even the 2nd gen soul's battery and bms to it... even the smaller battery would be way more useable.

I'm tempted about the mini - though they also have the mini countryman EV (I saw one while taking the dog out yesterday) - stats look a lot better, but the size of the Niro or Kona....

Though to be really honest I wouldn't be using the last 20km - that's mostly buffer to avoid being stranded. so effectively about 160km is about right - hey at least we didn't buy Mazda MX-30 EVs....

 

[IanL]

What the problem with MX-30 EV?