Kia dealer has my SoulEV for 3+ months

[sail4th]

My 2017 does NOT have the 80% charge option. Are you saying that your 2017 DOES have an 80% option? That would be the first time I've ever heard that

Yes, it does have the 80% option. Although our original BMS (and battery) have been replaced so maybe the newer BMS is what is giving me that. Ours is also the + model (the mid range of three options). I don't know if they differentiated that way.

On second thought the owners manual talked about the 80% option so maybe it was there all along.

 

[PopeyeCinnamon]

My local dealer had my 2016 for over a year during the mid to late pandemic because they had problems diagnosing and then sourcing parts for what was clearly an electric problem. However, Kia paid for a Niro EV rental during the entire time, so I'm not complaining. (We loved the Niro!) The only downside is that the Soul smells a little musty now because it sat without any air circulation during most of that time. I'll probably fork out the money to have it professionally cleaned.

The irony- Due to info gained on this forum, I was able to tell them exactly what the problem was when I dropped it off. They ignored that diagnosis, and then one year later, came up with the same diagnosis.

Two KIA dealers had my 2017 Soul EV for just over 10 months. They provided no loaner nor a rental car. Their responsibility was only to repair the car.
I'm jealous.

 

[PopeyeCinnamon]

Brand new to forum. Have a 2017 Soul EV. What is considered a "probem battery"? It started out at around 93ish miles and now down to about 70ish. Are they ALL needing to be replaced? I got letter about this but when I called they said we "will get back to you" if there is a problem. Sorry - like I said new to this issue.

I am new to the forum also. I am ignorant about the 80% charging option or the need to use it. My 2017 shows more range in warmer weather, whether or not I use heat, defroster, seat heat. In 40' F weather, my range is on tne mid 80's. This morning it was 98 miles. I drive frugally most of the time and can get the reported range up to 120 miles in warm weather.

 

[PopeyeCinnamon]

I am new to the forum also. I am ignorant about the 80% charging option or the need to use it. My 2017 shows more range in warmer weather, whether or not I use heat, defroster, seat heat. In 40' F weather, my range is on tne mid 80's. This morning it was 98 miles. I drive frugally most of the time and can get the reported range up to 120 miles in warm weather.

(I didn't mean to post that yet...)
My mileage is 25,616.
I meant to say that in 40⁰ weather my range is lower even if I don't use any heat. If I do use heat it initially drops rang by 11 miles or so, but it seems to be a bit worse than that if I drive 20 miles or so.
In cooler weather it is nigh impossible to average above 4.1 m/kwh, with the mid 3's being more usual. In warm weather on the same path to work I can reasonably get above 6 m/kwh.
I live in Tidewater Virginia in Norfolk and work in Virginia Beach. It is flat here. I bought the car used in 2021. I think it was originally from somewhere in New England. The mileage was remarkably low. Colder weather there!

 

[IanL]

Really. I didn't know they had changed this for the 2018.
So what happens if you have two timers set.
One at 7pm and one at 11pm. You plug in at 7.30pm.
My car will start charging at 11pm.
If I plug in after 11pm it would wait until 7pm the next day, This has happened a few times and is quite annoying.
Maybe this is the reason for the change in functionality. I prefer the way the timer works on mine. I just have to be careful with the time.
The reason for setting these points is to be able to always avoid peak pricing, so if I need the car later in the evening I'll charge for a while at standard rate by plugging in when I get home. Most of my charging however is done off-peak during the night. I wait until after 7 to plug in.
I have 80% settings because I have a 2015. If I use the timer override it always goes to 100%.
I knew they removed the 80% setting in 2017, but didn't know they had changed the timer functionality.

I do not appear to have the facility to set a second timer for charging. I assume that was deleted at the same time as the 80% option was removed. though I cannot see why they would do that.

It's not a problem for me, as I don't have off-peak rates, so I use the timer only to aim for an ~80% charge.

 

[nickfank]

Two KIA dealers had my 2017 Soul EV for just over 10 months. They provided no loaner nor a rental car. Their responsibility was only to repair the car.
I'm jealous.

Hmmm... I think that if you look at the terms of the warranty, a rental/loaner is in there. Not sure how you'd deal with that after the fact, but I think they owe you money. (When I pointed out the loaner clause, they didn't try to get out of it, and I was able to push them to find an EV so I didn't have the additional expense of gas, which was the whole point of buying an EV.)

I'll note that it was Kia themselves, not their local dealer, that rented the car for me. I think they involved the team back at Kia headquarters in the diagnosis, and they quickly said "this will take a while, here's the rental authorization."

 

[chrislarsen3]

UPDATE: Going on 7 months now, Kia still doesnt know what to do about it but finally after applying a lot of pressure I got a loaner.