Kia Soul EV

[Dave EV]

My degradation experience is as follows

2013 Leaf, passive air cooling, 40% lost at 40k miles.

2015 Soul EV, active air cooling, 15% lost at 45k miles.

2018 Model 3, active liquid cooling, 7% lost at 70k miles.

Interpret as you wish.

Yeah, I had a LEAF, too. I also monitored battery temps on it - they were not excessive by any means and very similar to the temperatures of the Model 3. Except with the Model 3 it's easy to drive all day and you can see battery temps stay quite high in comparison.

You can put the Model 3 batteries into a LEAF w/out any cooling, same as the LEAF and you'll still have significantly less rates of capacity loss. The batteries themselves are that much better. Will active cooling help? Absolutely - but when your average temperature is close to the passive cooling temperature target, you're not going so see substantial differences in rates of capacity loss.

The Model 3 NEEDS active liquid cooling to support the high discharge and charge rates. The LEAF got away without it because of the low power / charge limits and limited range which naturally limited how much driving you could do in a day.

 

[mtndrew1]

Yeah, I had a LEAF, too. I also monitored battery temps on it - they were not excessive by any means and very similar to the temperatures of the Model 3. Except with the Model 3 it's easy to drive all day and you can see battery temps stay quite high in comparison.

You can put the Model 3 batteries into a LEAF w/out any cooling, same as the LEAF and you'll still have significantly less rates of capacity loss. The batteries themselves are that much better. Will active cooling help? Absolutely - but when your average temperature is close to the passive cooling temperature target, you're not going so see substantial differences in rates of capacity loss.

The Model 3 NEEDS active liquid cooling to support the high discharge and charge rates. The LEAF got away without it because of the low power / charge limits and limited range which naturally limited how much driving you could do in a day.

At least in my case LeafSpy and SoulSpy, respectively, showed my Leaf and Soul batteries cooking themselves pretty severely. My Soul battery fan was often going at full tilt to the degree that I could hear it from the driver’s seat, particularly after quick charging.

No doubt the Leaf batteries were garbage regardless of thermal management but mine got very very warm and took a really long time to cool off.

 

[pipestem]

I _really_ liked my 2015 Leaf, but a few things did it in. At 3 years, 32k miles, it lost the dreaded 1st bar; I just could not drive it to the beach; and then Telsa M3 came along just as their tax credits were running out. Never looked back. It was really the uncertainty of the Leaf - how soon would it become untenable ? A friend of mine hates his because his range is so bad now, IDK why he won't ditch it. But now.... those 2015 models have not depreciated any more and I still see more on the road around here, so I think you have to call them success somehow. I would like Tesla to produce something like that (the "2"?) - a smaller upright hatchback.

 

[cwerdna]

The Kia Soul EV is more interesting than the e-Niro, with bold styling, clever technology and a decent range. The Kia Soul EV might be one of the best electric cars you can buy. It's great to drive, interesting to look at, comfortable and will return up to 280 miles of electric range.

Are you a spammer?

It's funny that your location is listed as "nevada" yet, there's this news:
Kia Soul EV won't come to the U.S., confirmed and explained (gen 2 never made to the US, we only get gen 1 here)

And, not surprisingly, at SUVs, Sedans, Sports Cars, Hybrids, EVs & Luxury Cars | Kia under Vehicles, Hybrid / Electric, there is no Soul EV. I drive a Niro EV here in the US, BTW. Their current pure EV offerings in the US are Niro EV and EV6.

 

[RubberToe]

Just got a scary recall notice for our 2015 Soul EV. Taking it into the shop this afternoon. I'll try and remember to post the notice when I get home. The battery charger module needs replacing, and they also said possibly the battery. We are on battery #2, and have been very gentle with the car since battery #1 died, so I'm hoping the battery is ok.

RT

 

[RubberToe]

Our 2015 Kia Soul EV had it's first large battery replacement back in 2019, after about 35,000 miles. Just heard back from the dealership that the large battery needs replacing again, currently at 70,000 miles. This is apparently going to take one month.

Here is my question: What is the cost to Kia for a replacement battery? The battery replacement thread at a Kia forum has a post showing $15,586 as the part cost. And a separate web search shows about $16,000.

I'm going to ask the dealer or corporate if they want to consider just buying the car back from me versus forking over $16,000+ to replace the battery. You would think that they would jump at the change to do that, for say $5,000. I can lease a brand new Kia Niro EV for a total out of pocket cost of about $400 per month for 3 years, or $14,400. The gas savings per month are $160, bringing the $14,400 down to $8,640. If Kia buys my 2015 Soul EV for $5,000, then my 3 year lease cost drops down to $3,640. If they buy my car for $8,640 then the new Niro lease costs me essentially nothing. I can drive a 10 year old car with a new battery for 3 years, or I can drive a brand new EV with 3x the range for almost no cost given the above.

At the end of 3 years, I'm assuming the replacement battery for the 2015 Soul will be dead again, so the car would be worthless. At the end of a 3 year lease on a new Niro EV, I given them the car back and am also without a car. No difference between the two outcomes.

This seems like a win/win for both Kia and myself if they buy my car back versus replacing a very expensive battery. What am I missing here? Anybody run into this same scenario with a different compliance EV under warranty?

RT

 

[miimura]

I doubt the true cost to Kia Motors is the amount listed. They play games with numbers from one hand to the other. They want the parts back, so they put a high value on the transactions that go through the dealer, warranty dept and parts department. You also might assume that a replacement pack might have new cells. However, that may not be true.

 

[RubberToe]

Amazingly enough, we got the car back yesterday with what the dealer said was a re-manufactured replacement battery. Could be that they are using older batteries that have been disassembled with the still viable modules (?) being used to replace bad ones in the failed packs. Seems like for such a low production run of vehicles that are now almost ten years old, that makes sense if that is what they are doing, versus trying to manufacture a battery design that is no doubt obsolete.

RT

 

[miimura]

You also could have received a remanufactured battery pack that was from a low mileage vehicle that had other problems that caused Kia to buy it back or recover it from insurance auction.