I grabbed an off-lease 2016 Kia Soul EV Plus for $12,000 and less than 12,000 miles. There were initial problems with the TPMS in one wheel which Big O fixed. During Covid our long distance car never got used as we never went very far. The original 12V battery died just after it turned 5 years old, upgraded to a 12V LiFePO which may outlast the car. The only other thing I've done is add fluids and change the wiper blades. Now I'm curious to check the battery health.
@@thesoundsmith But if you don't call it an SUV, it loses half of it's potential buyers. (At least it seems that way given that every manufactuer calls hatchbacks SUVs.)
Transport Evolved has been my go-to for all my EV wisdom. To Kate, Nicky and all the TEN crew, please keep up your great work and try not to be discouraged by the nasty people. We need you .
Well said! I love the transport evolved team social concsiousness, support for diversity and visibility, and impressive research they obviously put into their videos.
I own the 2016 version, and am familiar with that GPS issue, and how to fix it. Behind the SD card slot, you will find, well, an SD card. From the factory, it has a 16GB card. You can get a 32GB card, and install a software/firmware update for it, which is what fixed the issue for me. And no, you cannot get a UVO subscription for it anymore. The modem built into the vehicle for that service no longer works with the network it was built for due to updates on the carrier end.
@@downix o man 😧 that stinks. I found a 16 with all options for $11k and a 17 model year for 13k and I was hoping that the 2017 had the 4G LTE modem that still worked with the UVO. Thank you for the information. I really seek to be able to remotely precondition the vehicle before I leave for work
@@JWard2 sadly no. However you can set a timer for it in the car. Because my wife leaves for work everyday at the same time, it was easy to get the car set up for her.
@@downix surely there's a way to retrofit the 4G LTE that's needed for it to connect to the Verizon network. On my BMW i3 we ran into the same issue from 2014 to 2016 i3 where they lost connectivity when all of these Telco companies got rid of their 3G. However in the BMW i3 it's very easy to just retrofit the 4G LTE into the older models by either buying the module from the dealership or from eBay. Or you could also get it from a wrecked i3 at a salvage yard. I wonder if there's a way to do this with the Kia soul?
The key to the Kia key is to key-p trying different dealers! My wife lost the second key to our 2016 Soul EV+. Same issues, eventually one of our local key shops had online access to the PIN. And at half the cost from Kia. But we also have had to replace the battery pack, thankfully under warranty. My wife LOVES this car.
Happy to hear the battery is holding up so well. As you mentioned and for example teslabjoern over on his channel also found out, the early soul EVs can be quite suspect to high degradation. Thank for the Update and keep up the good work at TEN !
Yes. I you should definitely be going through the kind of range testing process TeslaBjørn does rather than trusting the Kia Spy, or whatever it was called. (If Kia have anything to do with the app's production and calibration it would very much be in their interest to "choose a more positive outlook" on the battery health.) That said, 1) the consistent cell voltages did look very positive; 2) I have to admit I haven't quite got around to doing a proper range check on my i3 after 103,000 miles.
especially considering that it's a smaller battery, which means it's discharging at a higher C rate and it's been through more charge/discharge cycles for the miles.
I’m very happy for you and that your battery is in such good shape. We have a 2016 Soul EV (the same colors as yours) and had the battery replaced under warranty last November at 56.6K miles. It fell below 70% State of Health (as reported both by Soul Spy and by the dealer’s test equipment) several months before. The drop in health over the last few months was pretty steep. With the battery “ordered” by Kia in July, we drove it until the range dropped to 25 miles and it would go into turtle mode on the freeway. At that point (last October) they furnished us with a rental car (*sigh* a Toyota Corolla). We are treating the new battery much better (no more 100% charge every night, but only to 100% when we really need the range, otherwise to 80%) so expect this one to last much longer. Guess-o-meter range on a full charge is right at 100 miles now that it has warmed for late spring. And for almost all our uses, that is enough. Like you we’ve otherwise done almost nothing. New tires at ~52K miles, wiper blades, washer fluid and the occasional cabin air filter (from Amazon - takes 3 minutes to change - I need to order another one). We even still have the original 12V battery. Well….the onboard charger was replaced under warranty at 31K miles, while it was still under lease. Being able to use a fast charger was really handy at that point since it bypasses the OBC. I expect we’ll be hanging on to it for a good long while yet. It’s fun to drive. Visibility is great. With the back seat folded it can carry all kinds of outsized stuff easily, which we do frequently. I’m really bummed that Kia didn’t bring the next generation Soul EV into the US, because all I’d really change about it is the range. Half again would probably be enough…and double would make it possible to road trip it (though CHADeMO fast chargers are getting harder to find). Thanks for sharing, and again good for you that the battery in yours has such a great SOH at 90K miles. Oh, and a minor correction to a prior comment I made. In the comments for the video you made when you got it, I claimed my 2016 has blended braking. It doesn’t. It just does such a nice job between “B” mode and the friction brakes that it seems like it.
I too am a happy owner of a 2016 Kia Soul EV, now with 72,000ish miles on it. I bought it used on January 2020 before the pandemic and the crazy escalation of prices, for a bit over $12K, having only 18,000ish miles on it. The one issue I've had with it is the recall that was done for free but seems to have complicated issues resulting from the recall now making the electric parking brake apply to car everytime the EV is turned off. This often causes the pads and rotors to "fuse" together with a bit of rust, ultimately accelerating the brake wear and causing the rotors and pads to expire long before they should had they normally just sat without being engaged. I've replaced them at least 2 times since the recall to "fix" the issue where some people apparently jammed the gear selector into the park position before the car had completely stopped and subsequently breaking the pin that held the car in position, causing inadvertant rollaways after parking. In any case, I still like the car and use it almost daily with sales calls all over my region, occasionally using the Chademo charging for far flung (80 miles or more) stops. I do have a reservation on a launch Aptera but the Kia Soul EV is a keeper and I hope to eventually use it for a V2H or V2G if viable bi-directional options become available.
I've always been impressed with reports of the Kia Soul EV since it was launched. It's a great car for what it is. To only have 5% degradation in the battery as an 8 year-old car with 90,000 miles on the clock is incredible. My 8 year-old Nissan Leaf has a smaller battery and 21% degradation with 86,000 miles on the clock. It still runs with the same efficiency on long journeys as new (4.7 miles per kw average) and just a week ago did 583 miles of driving in five days between London, Lincoln and Leeds. It still does 80+ miles to a charge and can take me anywhere in the UK. So, if someone is using cars like your 27kwh Soul or my 24kwh Leaf in a town or city they are going to be more than an equal to all your driving needs as you have demonstrated. After all most people don't ever drive more than 25 miles in a day, 35 miles at a stretch.
On my second Kia Soul ( 64kWh ) . My 1st was a 30kWh Soul . Drove it 39k miles (62k Km) in two years and rapid charged it over 400 times . It still hadn't dropped below its published usable capacity. In temperate climates it's rock solid.
I own the exact same car, same color. After 8 years, 80.000 kms. Zero defects to report up to now. It’s by far the best car I have owned in term of reliability, fun and cabin habitability. 👍 The yearly maintenance check by my local Kia garage is a drama … for them as they couldn’t find anything to change. One advice : at this age try to recalibrate the display by depleting the battery close to 1-2%, waiting for 5-6 hours, switch on the car and then slowly recharge to 100%. The range estimation can be easily 10-20% below the real battery capacity.
I love these videos about used EVs (and follow-ups on existing EVs), I would love more of them. Maybe you could even have viewer submissions of their used EVs on your channel or do joint videos with viewers who are local to Portland or Seattle? (Sorry, Kate not 100% sure on your locale right now, still a little postictal I think, TE always helps- well that and diazepam when I have a seizure... Keeps my mind off the tumor =) No excuse though). I live in PA, so we're just starting to get EVs (mostly white Tesla, kind of boring) and my family was considering a used EV, but recently found out we're at least not getting one right now because we make TOO LITTLE for the new tax credit (just like the old one)... all of that talk of fixing it and it was just that, talk. Still, when we do, I want to have the most knowledge possible. So, I guess asking if you'll cover more used EVs is a tad bit selfish, but I feel that I can't be the only one who's family is ready to go electric, but is looking at the used market because the new market is out of their range.
I loved our Soul EV. Only traded it for the Niro EV because we stumbled into a great deal and the increased road trip capabilities allowed us to sell our other gas car as well.
I have a Kia Soul 2019 and I love it. Similarly, my battery is doing spectacularly also. 😊 It's a cool car for round the town. Mine's a rare one in the USA, only 20 were sold.
So a replacement battery pack actually reads 110% SOH, had the battery replaced on my 2015 Soul EV during ownership and checked it with SoulSpy. I do miss the car, it was the only cheap EV with a heat pump with and active air cooling for the battery.
The Soul EV I had, a 2019 Luxury (without the glass roof) with the 30KWH battery and updated battery chemistry, was an excellent road tripper. My first trip was from Sechelt BC to Calgary AB and then up to Edmonton AB approx 2630km round trip. I actually had a couple of 100KW DC chargers in route and it peaked a 66KW during a good portion of the charge certainly faster than a Bolt. The seats were much more comfortable than our newer 2020 Kia Soul EV limited (64KWH). We traded the 2019 for 2023 Ioniq 5 (limited equivalent), at CAD$3000.00 more than what we paid for it new. It was more reliable than our brand new 2023 Ioniq 5 as it could not fast DC charge which was finally fixed 7 months after it was purchased.
A Tip: when checking the status of battery cells in the back, it's better to check when SOC% is on the lower side (like 20%). This will be when differences in cell voltage will become more apparent, particularly is driven fairly recently, as cell balancing will not have much effect. (it's a slow process)
Kate! Thanks for this review! It is personally useful to me, because I bought one, too, just over 2 years ago. Great to hear that the initial reviews I saw, almost universally positive about its reliability, can be expected to hold true over time. Yay! Mine is a 2017, had 21k miles on the odo and still with 18 months of warranty. I bought it for $14k. I have replaced the tires and wiper blades and precisely nothing else. I never noticed a gps issue, but I also ignore it, preferring google maps from my phone stuck to the dash. I also have one key. I had no idea there is a cheaper option for securing second key. Not sure I fully understood your process. :/ I am surprised your range is in the 60-some mile range(unless you meant you rarely fully charge it). I consistently manage over 90 miles per full charge. ...still, now at 37k miles on it. Granted, I make sure not to exceed about 63mph. The car has all the aerodynamics of a brick. But again....great, practical, surprisingly roomy commuter car. I have no regrets. Quite happy to hang onto it however long it takes to get my turn at an aptera! 😍 I agree, not a travel car, especially as Electrify America has been abysmal at maintaining their few CHAdeMO charger stations and have not planned any further.
The Soul's attractive boxy design is great for big and tall people like me. Driver and front passenger have plenty of headroom and leg space. I love mine.
A couple of things I got from this that I never really thought about: 1. that smaller battery packs would necessarily go through more charge cycles than larger ones 2. that battery health is the gating factor for the life left in an EV. You'd think that (1) was obvious, but not really. The main experience with batteries running out is on laptops. And that's measured against time. If you run out of time you just charge it, and you can always use it plugged in and thus preserve battery life. But with an EV, you're going to drive the same whether a battery pack is smaller or larger, and that affects the overall life of your battery pack. Weird.
Your GPS issue sounds like a map reference point issue. To put it simply different countries used different reference points & if, for example, the system thinks it's in Korea, it will consistently show that it's off in one direction. Alternatively it thinks the aerial is off to one side. If you can get into the tech settings, usually you'll need the PIN but it's probably available on the internet somewhere, look for something like offset or location settings
Nice vid. I’m not surprised about the battery health, a colleague has a 2018 Niro EV with 100,000 miles and their battery health is still at 99%. I just got a 2nd hand 2022 one myself.
Lovely car. We were not so lucky with our battery, though, SOH just above 80%. But we got an Ok price for it trading in for a Kona EV. That was four years ago.
My son has a 2017 and he loves it. Head pump, heated seats, heated steering wheel perfect for winters in Utah. It's easy to drive. Easy for others who know nothing about EV can drive. The tech doesn't really work on the screen like yours. Does around 100 miles for my son who doesn't take it on the freeway. It's like a sofa on wheels. so comfortable. we think the Korean jingles it gives us are cute. Yes, we had to get another key and wasn't a fun experience, costs the same. We use the Android and Apple plug in not the onboard nav. ha ha.. the suspension does creak on ours too.. wondered if that was Kia thing. not sure about meese in ours.. put in some strong peppermint oil on rags under the hood.
The health of your battery seems right according to how it’s.been treated. Like any car if you treat it well they usually reciprocate and work well. My 2014 Nissan Leaf is also at 95% after almost 10 years.
I tried the Soul EV in February 2017 and we loved it so much. However, small trunk, high price and limited range pushed us to buy instead an Ioniq EV 2017 (which arrived in September 2017). Sadly, korean products tend to age badly (electronic bugs). And the support in dealership is so bad... Still, the Soul EV was a great 1st gen EV.
We bought a 2017 Soul EV 15 months ago, had 24K miles on it. Winter shows about 85 to 90 miles range, summer almost 120 full charge. Hyw range at 65 more like 70 range. We have had 2 problems with it, first was last summer, intermittent water pump, replaced (after market warranty) was $2500 Canadian. 2nd problem started just before Christmas, the head unit started killing the 12 volt battery, so I replaced the batterry not knowing how old it was. Currently have to leave the fuse out for it until I can go to the US, get a dealer there to replace the head unit. The car was a US import from California. That head unit is not available in Canada. The dealer we bought it from doesn't want to do it, due to the high price of the unit plus difficulty getting it in Canada.
102633 miles on an MG5 in use as a taxi. So far no lost of range visable. Only fault is rear seat sensors and drivers heated seat packed in. Not a problem.
Love my 2017 kia soul EV, glad you have had good luck too. 50,000 miles mostly commuting but long trips possible with planning, get a ton of stuff in the back with seats down. Have had predicted range maxed at 115 miles in summer. Rear brakes squeak, E break issue? They were lubed but didn't help. 🙂
Wonderful video, Kate. Love learning about older EVs (our Bolt just rolled over 50k at just short of four years old). And that fly near the ear can take a hike! :) 😊
Love our 2016 Kia soul. First ev and great for running around town. The mild weather, no fast charging and not charging to 100% has likely helped your health. I’m not as nice to mine and at 55k am at 80% SOH
Hey that’s my car! Well, mine’s a 2016, it’s dark grey, and is the luxury trim, so pano roof and faux leather seats. I’d like to say my ownership has been as trouble free, but no. In five years, I’ve had all four discs and pads replaced, and one major warranty repair. The gearbox started making a noise an awful lot like the screeching of a steady bearing in need of grease, or replacing I guess. Kia’s recommended solution was not to crack open the gearbox and replace the bearing, but to replace the gearbox. The $10,000 plus labour gearbox. Thank goodness for that ridiculously long drivetrain warranty. Even with the brakes and some winter tires this is still the lowest cost of ownership car I’ve ever owned. But, it’s doubtful I’ll keep it after the warranty is up.
My first EV was a 2017 Soul EV. It was a great car. Probably the 2nd best driving EV I’ve owned, just behind my 2022 Ioniq5. Very comfortable and quiet, which is surprising since the ICE Soul drives like an econobox. It doesn’t have much horsepower but it has a good lump of torque down low, which makes it feel fairly spirited around town. Plenty to fry the tires. We returned ours after the lease was up because my commute was requiring nearly a full charge every day during the winter and I wanted a vehicle with some driver assistance features. I replaced it with a Kona EV which, while not being a bad vehicle, was worse in every way from the Soul except for range, power and driver assistance features.
I have been considering buying an EV Kia as a second run around car for my wife to use while her 2019 gas version is in the shop. We have owned 3 Kia Souls. We love them and are sad that they quit making them. I figure that I can take parts off of one and keep the EV version going for years. I do all of my own mechanical work and have a background in it. Now I work in the service industry working with Electromechanical repairs. It is always the stupid common things that you can't seem to find on 10 year old or older cars. Wiper assemblies, door locks and handles, window mechanisms, washer and coolant tanks etc. I have always kept cars on the road for over 300,000 miles until the last ten years. Now manufacturers just quit making the parts and don't want the consumer to fix their investment.
Note, you CANNOT buy the uvo service. it’s no longer supported because of the 3G modem no longer being supported by the carrier they use. I called and tried to get it on and that’s what I was told about 2.5 years ago. Recently sold it for a model Y
Great ownership update. One thing not mention is checking on safety recalls. Typical of many vehicles made in the last decade, I know there is at least one to inspect the drivers-side airbag. The Soul EV is just a great practical and versatile vehicle. Too bad Kia discontinued this EV model. Hopefully they introduce something similar, in the form of a compact vehicle with a hatch and good interior volume.
I always love the SouL, the battery state on your car which is incredible for this year's model ! The key point is you did not do , well Once a fast charge, it probably helps on the health of your Soul's Battery
So it's an older car. It has something of a "patina". It sounds pretty good to me. Hopefully in the future there was be a higher-capacity battery option available... when you think it appropriate. Rodents decided under the bonnet of my car was a comfy home too. Not of late fortunately.
EV's remind me the tenacious d series, when the car broke down. Kyle asks, out of gas? Jack replies wiper fluid Kyle, wiper fluid! My 15 Fiat 500e has 89k miles, range reduced approximately 10%. When you get the 12 volt warning, it means it, if you continue to drive it, bring the second key in case the first one gets locked in the ignition, better yet, bring a 12v.
Too bad that Kia never brought the 64KW version to the US market. It would have been nice if Hyundai fitted a 64KW battery on its original Ioniq sedan, which was an efficiency champ.
Kia and Hyundai are leasing a lot of new EVs to get the $7500 US federal tax credit. In a few years these cars may be attractive used vehicles when they come off their leases.
Are you sure the battery wasn’t warranty replaced? I had a 2016 and by 2019 and 50k I could only get 40 miles per charge. I did use chademo a lot in socal though.
Love the Soul EV, mine is a ‘17 and looks identical. You’re battery degradation has me wondering if I’ll ever get to take the battery out of it and use it for home energy storage lol
GPSr being 50ft off sounds like a datum configuration error - e.g. use WGS84, rather than the Korean equivalent of Ordnance Survey. The Earth is not a perfect sphere, so ellipsoids are used to model the bumps. Use the wrong one, and get 'always a bit off' errors.
I believe the error may be due to this drift. Have you tried a map update. I believe they are free from Kia. Over nearly 10 years there will be a drift from the original GPS positions that the update ought to fix.
Mice?! We have a Niro EV 2022 and also live in Oregon (Salem). I'm curious what your recommendations are for dealing with mice. Mouse trap? How? Where?
I’ve had some experience with mice (and rats) in cars. First, keep the area around your car clear of clutter which they can hide in. Second, don’t keep attractive food in the car. Third, a good mouser will make the area unattractive. Fourth, put traps along walls where rodents will travel.
Thanks for the replies. I'll put out some traps. The neighbor has some dense vegetation not far from where we park and they mean to keep it that way. 🙄
I've found that a DIY 5 gallon bucket water trap baited with peanut butter does a better job than other traps, deterrents or the safer rodenticides (never use the normal poisons that can harm pets and wildlife that might consume the dying mice/rats). There are videos here on YT with instructions (don't know if this channel allows links, so I'll try putting in a followup to this). I made a couple of these using an empty soda can for a "spinner" on hanger wire and wood ramps to make it easier for access (rubbed a few tiny spots of peanut butter on the ramps to get them to explore the bucket). Those took care of the problem.
How to easily make a water bucket rodent trap: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mR0Iz9qMzl0.html If you can catch and release, you can adapt the idea using a funnel to keep them from escaping: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mcMUyaG7u0Y.html
Is the Mastodon server never allowing you to sign up for an account with TE directly (& you have to sign up elsewhere and use that) or is it just overloaded with new applicants right now?
Mastodon doesn’t work like that :( You sign up for a mastodon account wherever they’re available, and then you can follow our mastodon accounts! joinmastodon.org/ Some mastodon servers are closed (like ours - Just for staff) but you can join an open server (some are free and others you pay for) and then you can follow/interact with us there. Some servers a lot of EV fans use are mastodon.green and mastodon.energy.
I had this for two years then got the 64kWh version which i love and have had for 3 years though id like a Tesla or a more performant car just for a change but not because i need t. First World Problem. ETA I've had 110 miles from the original.
Had the 2016 Kia Soul EV and hands down a disappointment. Two years and 60K km it lost 20% battery capacity to degradation. Was near useless in a Canadian winter for range. Also driving between major cities was near unusable in a day. Terrible support at the dealership and wouldn't do anything unless it lost 30% in under 7 years. So year's more driving at near useless levels so they might do something down the road. Won't ever buy a Kia again. This car forced me back to buying an ICE for our next vehicle.
Kia E Niro got CCS in Europe and water cooled battery. Very low degradation. But old soul are that car that i heard have alot if you charge it to 100% and use chademo alot to heat up the battery that are passive so no cooling at all. Thats why home charging are a key to keep the capacity.
@@swedenevguru8483 not disagreeing but Chademo was about 3% of my charges. I did charge to 100% most times but I had to as 80% charge wasn't usable most days.
Terrible video direction. How much is too much nature in a product reveal shot? You tipped the scales to the side of Nature. I thought you were selling poison ivy meds at first. Prolly you were too busy picking your lipstick color? Were you going for Elvira's secretary? Those opening product reveal pans are the worst I've seen since I shot my own tv spots in 1986,
@Rod Chesnut, are you trying to be funny? I too saw the long woodsy shots and thought, "Hmm.... odd" but didn't have my underwear on too tight and ultimately just listened to the report on the longterm maintenance or lack of and didn't feel a snarky comment was necessary.
we had a Soul EV and after a year, we had major battery degradation, we got the battery replaced under warranty, but ultimately decided to sell it and buy a 2nd gen Chevy Volt. We live in Florida and I think that any EV that does not have active cooling will have excessive degradation due to our climate. the New England and the Pacific Northwest are much better climates for passively cooled EVs.
