It’s the first generation of the car, which appears to suffer from substantial range reduction.
Battery degradation is one of the most important topics for EVs, specifically in the case of older cars. Here we can take a look at a first generation Kia Soul EV, recently tested by Bjørn Nyland.
The car is almost 7 years old and covered almost 100,000 km (62,000 miles). Its nominal battery capacity (usable) – when new – was 27 kWh, although after multiple tests, Bjørn Nyland sticks to 26 kWh as a more appropriate/achievable number, in his opinion.
In the US, the original Kia Soul EV had an EPA range of 93 miles (150 km), while its slightly upgraded version, with a 30 kWh battery, was rated at 111 miles (179 km). Let’s note that those cars had no liquid cooling for the battery system.
For a few years now, Kia has offered in Europe a completely new generation, with a 64 kWh or 39.2 kWh battery.
Battery degradation test results
The discharge test from about 100% to about 4% state-of-charge (SOC), down to the turtle mode, revealed a range of a bit over 100 km (62 miles) and energy consumption of 163 Wh/km (262 Wh/mile).
According to Bjørn Nyland, it means that the car has available about 17 kWh, which is roughly 65% of the initial net battery capacity.
Battery capacity degradation of 35% or so sounds pretty substantial, especially for a car that is almost 7 years old and covered 100,000 km (62,000 miles). If true, the drop would be about 5% per year, on average.
In the end, some additional fast charging tests revealed that also the charging power is lower compared to a newer car.
Bjørn Nyland wonders whether such a high battery capacity degradation and range reduction will be covered by the warranty, which is still active (for 7 years or 150,000 km). We are eager to see a follow-up episode.
Another question is whether it’s a single case or an exception to lose a third of the driving range at that point?
In the video comment section, we have found a few users reporting a substantial battery capacity/range degradation as well. Some got approved for a battery replacement, some already after the replacement operation.
In other words, it’s worth double checking the topic when buying a used Kia Soul EV with a 27/30 kWh battery.
Keyword: Watch Kia Soul EV Battery Degradation Test After 7-Years/60k Miles