Thanks for sharing. Hi from Dublin, Ireland. The exact same thing happened to me 2 days ago. Complete brake failure. I was lucky to pull off the main road into a car park and use the kerb to bring my 2021 kia ev soul to a complete stop. I feel scared just thinking about it. My car is with kia airside Dublin now so will wait and see what they say. Not sure I will ever trust the braking system again.
First let me say that I’m glad you’re OK! It is indeed very scary when brakes fail on a vehicle and you lose trust in ever driving it again. I would suggest getting in touch with the transport authority in Ireland and let them know what happened so that they may do an investigation. Like you see, this issue is not limited to one country, but happens internationally. I did this here in Canada with a few other owners who had similar failures, but unfortunately Kia doesn’t care that this happened to us. I know that safety laws are much stricter in Europe so it would be worth a try for you to reach out to authorities and see if they would be willing to help you. Please keep me updated once you hear back from Kia when/if they tell you what caused the failure. I would like to know if it’s the same issue infecting North American vehicles. Take care!
@@LeftCoastEV hi again. I am collecting my car from the kia garage tomorrow. From their attitude you would think a light had failed and not a critical brake failure. My question is, have you had any brake problems with your car since you got it repaired and returned. Thanks again. Carole
Thanks for the update! It seems like Kia dealers around the world are told not to make a big deal out of brake failure. I just don’t know what to say to this. It’s a shame when a company doesn’t take something like this seriously. To answer your question: no problems once they fixed the issue. But do take it easy during the first few days, test the car out and make sure it all works like it should.
That’s exactly the same part that they replaced on my Kia Soul EV. We had an identical fault of a car purchased in two different countries very far away from each other. Thanks for all the follow up info, this is all very interesting, glad you shared your story with me.
My 3 month old 2021 Kia Soul EV experienced a brake failure incident. I would love to get an explanation from Kia Canada as to why this happened in the first place on a brand new car. Let me know in the comments below if you've ever had major issues with an EV and how it was handled by the manufacturer.
Thanks for sharing this video! Believe it or not my brand new 2022 Kia Soul EV just got into a car accident last night with brake failure. No reaction whatsoever after I applied my foot on the brake pedal, it happened so instant as there was no room left me to react, my car ended up rear ending the vehicle in front of me. I filed ICBC online claims as well as a complaint report to Kia Canada. It's a holiday period, now that I am waiting for answers. I don't know if Kia Canada will reach out to me.......very frustrating experience especially during the holiday. I can't not imagine if this accident were taken place on a high way!......
I'm sorry to hear this! If you send me a direct message to the email address in my UA-cam bio I will put you in touch with the person who is handling my case at Transport Canada. They would probably like to hear from you since I doubt that Kia Canada will do anything (I filed a claim as well with Kia and they ignored me). The more people file a complaint with Transport Canada then a greater chance of Kia fixing the problem. Let me know if I can help with anything else.
Thank you for sharing your story. There may be more cases like this in Canada and hopefully owners come forward, contact Transport Canada and hold Kia accountable for such failures. We are talking about basic car safety here. Imagine this would have happened to you with your family on a trip in the mountains for example. That would result in a tragic accident. Please keep us updated of any new information.
Thank you for sharing your experience with your Kia Soul EV. We have the obligation to communicate with others if something so dangerous happens, even if it is the only one case… I hope you won’t experience anything like this now and in the future.
UK cars were the subject of a recall this year, mine included. It involved a potential safety issue concerning the ABS/EBC system which may detect an abnormal signal from one of it's sensors. This could adversely affect the vehicles braking performance. To resolve this, a software update for the integrated electronic brake (IEB) motor control system is required. As I say, this was an official recall in the UK where our cars are right hand drive so I don't know if this could be related but it certainly sounds like a similar issue and is a worrying issue if not rectified.
Thank you for letting me know. Interesting that they issued a recall in the UK and nothing in North America. Seems like we also have the same issue affecting the cars here. And I also agree with you that this is a worrying issue and they should be taking it seriously. I will reach out to Transport Canada and let them know about the UK recall.
Thank you for sharing your real experience, luckily you are safe, yes, please stand up for your right, complain all the way to Transport Canada if the Kia Canada ignore you. Ask for compensation ad well, emotional distress
Thanks for letting me know. Make sure to monitor and if it happens again I would suggest going in and having them look at it. Right now Transport Canada is conducting an investigation regarding this issue so if more owners come forward we will be able to get Kia to take the matter seriously and hopefully fix the fault from happening.
I've been without my 2020 Kia Soul (gas) for 8 weeks and counting due to an engine recall. So many recalls, they are going to lose a fortune. It seems like auto reliability has peaked, now they are getting so complex, I wonder about the technology.
Sorry to hear that...8 weeks without a car is way too long. I also agree about reliability being an issue nowadays...I have friends who drive Tesla vehicles and many of them experience boatloads of problems (small and large). As cars get more complex and filled with all kinds of technology, we will see them fail more and more. Manufacturers should take extra steps today, more than ever before, to ensure their cars are safe and roadworthy. Hope you get your Kia Soul back ASAP, let me know once you do!
Wow, that is scary! I'm glad you were able to stop the car safely. I'm looking at buying a used 2020 and I can see that it has had the IEB replaced under recall thankfully. Looks like that is the only recall on the 2020-2022's so far.
Yes, scary indeed. Good thing it didn’t happen on a hill or one of the many mountain roads and highways we have here in BC. If you are getting a used Kia Soul EV you always need to check if it had the IEB replaced. Other than that it’s a great car.
My KIA Soul EV 2020 got a broken mechanical lock right after I purchase my car for 5 days , which I found out when my 12V battery is completely depleted. The only option to open the door is to let BCAA to open it by yanking a gap and then hook the lock switch to the unlock position (just like someone who lost their key). Luckily BCAA got it done professionally without leaving any scratch on my door. Pretty disappointed on KIA pre-delivery inspection on their brand new vehicle, as this issue should have been discover before the vehicle is being sold to someone.
Exactly. Totally agree. They should do better when it comes to quality of the finished product. On top of the break failure, my Kia has developed a few loud rattles only after 15000 KM driven. Will be taking it to the dealer to get everything tightened up. With fossil cars you don’t hear many of the rattles, but in a quiet EV they are very noticeable. QC of Kia needs to be improved for sure.
@@LeftCoastEV Do your rattles related to the drive train (motor) or compressor (when HVAC is on during winter time)? I can hear a few rattles from the ceiling when driving on highway but it comes and goes.
I have the following rattles which are the loudest and really annoying: roof rattle in the back around the cargo area; front speaker located in the middle of the dashboard; drivers side A pillar and drivers side B pillar. They are all related to the motor as they first appeared in the summer. They also get much worse on rough tarmac.
I heard about E brake issues in the older soul EV's, my 2017 seems ok so far but it is concerning. Hope you get some kind of resolution from Transport Canada.
Thanks. Fingers crossed that your Kia will be OK. Once I hear back from either Transport Canada or Kia themselves I will make sure to post an update video.
Just a general question about the Soul EV vs ICE. The EV costs almost twice as much, that's a lot of $$ for this level of car. Does Canada have generous tax incentives to buy the EV? Of course the EV electricity is cheaper than fuel and the car has better pickup. What was your motivation to buy the EV?
I had an old ICE car and was shopping around for a new vehicle. Unfortunately, I drive a lot and my old car had a lot of kilometres on it so if I were to trade it in I would only get max $2000 for it. Then I started exploring electric vehicles and started learning about all the rebates we have. It starts with a $5000 federal and $3000 provincial incentive. On top of these two, in British Columbia where I live, we have an additional $6000 rebate if you scrap your old ICE vehicle. This brings the total to $14000. Looking at the total is what made me jump in and get an EV. Plus like I mentioned I drive a lot and gas in British Columbia is the most expensive in Canada so the savings I get from daily driving an EV are an added benefit for me. And now after a few months, I don’t want to go back to an ICE car. We have an old Honda Civic that my wife is driving and we are thinking of scrapping that as well and buying another EV.
Thanks for your video - We have a 2016 Soul EV 100Kms - My wife has had two incidents where she has had to come to sudden stop and the Car came to a juddering halt probably because of the ABS maybe. But after there is a message in the center of the speedo cluster to "check electrical brake" and the car will not move under power until she turned it on and off again. I can not find this warning message anywhere in the manual, has anyone else had such an experience?
This started happening on my 2016 though it says "Check EV System" meaning it's failing when trying to inject power back into the high voltage battery during regen braking. It's a pretty common issue once the car reaches a certain point of having a badly enough degraded battery. Only getting about 25-30 miles out of it now. It's really on it's last leg.
Should I buy a 2016 kia ev + for $14995 with 26200 miles and what to look for, how do I see if battery is good? I know with leaf I look at the bars left what about the kia EV? Is the battery replacavle here in California or should I buy a 2016 used leaf or a 2015 fiat EV?
Battery replacement on a vehicle is very expensive, so I would be very cautious when buying a used EV. For both the Leaf and Soul EV you can download an app called Leaf Spy or Soul Spy (available on Android). Then, with the help of an OBDII adapter, you can get all the details on the battery and it's overall health. If you don't have access to these tools, I would hire someone who knows EVs and can check this for you, as you don't want to be stuck with a battery replacement. I would say both the Soul EV and Leaf are good choices, but the Fiat EV (at least the older one) was a compliance car, so they didn't care much when they were manufacturing it. This means that it has poor range and also quite poor build quality. I know a person who has it and regrets buying one. So stick to either a used Leaf or a Soul EV. Finally, make sure you get the full service history (plus CARFAX) and also make sure that if there were recalls, it all got fixed on the car you're buying. Hope this helps.
The Soul EV in the US is covered for battery replacement up to 100,000 miles or 10 years for subsequent owners as long as the SOH (State of Health) calculation of the high voltage battery is below 70%. This is calculated dynamically by the BMS (battery management system) of the car as you drive it. That calculation is only read when connecting a OBD2 diagnostics dongle to the car with the right software. If you take it to a Kia dealer and they flash an update to your BMS ECU, it will reset all the statistics on your battery to default, showing your SOH at 100%. Many dealers try to use this as an excuse to get out of doing battery replacements. It's up to us to be smart consumers and catch them in that act. Their technical bulletins for the update tell them specifically that running the update resets the statistics to default. The best software to use for checking the battery on a Soul EV before buying it is Torque Pro with the added PIDs that are available on GitHub. It's certainly not an easy thing to do for someone who isn't technically inclined. So if you're not, i'd say just avoid it unless you have the patience to fight with Kia for a battery replacement. You're better off just spending a little bit more and buying a Chevy Bolt instead. Since the Soul EV has an entirely air cooled system, living in any kind of hot climate will just kill the battery even if it's replaced.
hi from quebec Canada have the same problem since sept 2021 bought it in nov 2020 ,I've reported it to Transport CANADA been to two different KIA garages and all they could say is did you clean your brakes 7,600 kms on the car do I need a brake cleaning ,so I said clean them and still have the same problem but now sept 2022 it make a funny noise just before the dash lights up So Trans.CANADA KIA CANADA AND BEAUCAGE Sherbrook and Granby No news since 1 yr Who cares I do. no more KIA ...have a great day
@@LeftCoastEV it is part of the Global news program, they help consumer fight for the unfair or got ignored from the complaint. Last time have a family bought a lemon car. They successfully help them fight for the new replacement car. I think kia won't answer your complaint till you bring it to the social media like Global news. I believe it is very serious issue, other soul ev owner have a right to know about it.
Thank you for the suggestion. I will have to get in touch with Global and see if they can help. Like you said: more Kia Soul EV owners should know about this failure.
My replacement cost around the same, just in Canadian dollars and also done under warranty. My dealer said that this is not a common fault and I was the first one they ever had with such an issue. What did your dealer say about the fault?
They did fix it and so far no problems. Since I published this video a few other Kia owners got in touch with me with the same issue. So it's something that is not exclusive to my car. Transport Canada is involved and hopefully they will put pressure on Kia Canada to get this fixed on all upcoming vehicles.
@@LeftCoastEV You mentioned that your brake pedal would go all the way to the floor. Was your brake fluid reservoir low or empty too? If so, that would indicate a mechanical failure somewhere along the line, rather than an electronic one. (I do agree that the EPB is not as useful in these situations as the old pull-handle brake. Those are much easier to use in a situation like this without locking up the tires, etc.)
Also a lot of kias in general are getting stolen right now. So make sure doors are locked! I’m even using a steering wheel lock just cause you never know! They steal these cars in a matter of seconds!
Thanks for your video! I have been researching to figure out what ev to get to replace my old car. I guess the Kia Soul EV and any Kia or Hundai is out for me. I have seen in other reviews that they do not seem to care about their customers when such dangerous failures occur.
Trust me, I know that no vehicle is perfect, but one reason for doing such videos is to bring awareness to the issue and hopefully Kia (and Hyundai) will take notice and fix what needs fixing. An interesting bit of info for you: a guy who bought the same Kia as me, from the same dealership and from the same sales guy had the same brake issue happen only after a month of ownership (he bought the 2022 model). So it looks like Kia has not fixed the issue properly yet, so we just might see a recall like Chevy did with the Bolt EV...
@@LeftCoastEV Your diplomacy is alive and well and frankly..generous, IMO. Almost finished reading the comments..but I see you've left this one as recent as 4 months ago. Your video is VERY informative and appreciated. You have managed to remain calm and haven't even bashed H/K even though they really have it coming..again, in my rarely humble opinion. And Transport Canada too! I was going to say unbelievable, but caught myself because TC and the bureaucracy that runs it is woefully inadequate. It's so discouraging that something as serious as a complete loss of brakes with no warning, is not taken seriously by Kia. This is proven by them continuing to sell more recent cars with the ongoing identical problem/faulty part. This....THIS is exactly what I was alluding to when I asked you in MaplEV's recent video, about H/K reliability/quality in EV vs ICE cars. Unfortunately, I have my answer. I say unfortunately..not for myself as I have already decided which used EV I hope to be my first. (The owner's ears may be burning now, haha). No, I say unfortunately, because a friend is still a Kia fan and it seems nothing can dissuade her. Even if some of the weaknesses in the car can be addressed, the general lack of after-sales attitude by dealers and manufacturer is what bugs me the most I think. Lastly, I'm very happy that I think presently you're back to enjoying your Soul.. let's face it, lots to like..and are starting to rebuild a confidence in it. If I have this wrong, please correct me. I like your channel..I have skimmed over a few titles and look forward to checking out more of your high quality videos. You and Maple complement each others channels very well. Thanks for your efforts and quality feedback. 👍🙏
Thanks for your coming over and checking out the channel. The Kia so far has had no other issues, which is great. Has my confidence returned 100%? I wouldn't say that. When I drive it today, in the back of my mind I always have this nagging feeling of what transpired and it will never be forgotten. To tell you the truth, as much as I like the new Hyundai and Kia EVs on offer today, I will probably never buy one of their products in the future. I have lost confidence in their cars. On top of it all, had Kia called me and acknowledged the fact that this happened and gave me a plausible explanation, I might have given them a pass. Unfortunately, they did not reach out, the dealership where I bought it never apologized for the failure and Transport Canada did nothing with their investigation...which clearly means that Hyundai and Kia have a "special" relationship with TC and know that there is zero recourse for me (unless this was a tragic accident with lives lost...maybe then they would take accountability, but thankfully it didn't come to that). I am glad you made up your mind on a used EV. Hope you will enjoy driving electric!
Thanks for sharing. Hi from Dublin, Ireland. The exact same thing happened to me 2 days ago. Complete brake failure. I was lucky to pull off the main road into a car park and use the kerb to bring my 2021 kia ev soul to a complete stop. I feel scared just thinking about it. My car is with kia airside Dublin now so will wait and see what they say. Not sure I will ever trust the braking system again.
First let me say that I’m glad you’re OK! It is indeed very scary when brakes fail on a vehicle and you lose trust in ever driving it again. I would suggest getting in touch with the transport authority in Ireland and let them know what happened so that they may do an investigation. Like you see, this issue is not limited to one country, but happens internationally. I did this here in Canada with a few other owners who had similar failures, but unfortunately Kia doesn’t care that this happened to us. I know that safety laws are much stricter in Europe so it would be worth a try for you to reach out to authorities and see if they would be willing to help you. Please keep me updated once you hear back from Kia when/if they tell you what caused the failure. I would like to know if it’s the same issue infecting North American vehicles. Take care!
@@LeftCoastEV hi again. I am collecting my car from the kia garage tomorrow. From their attitude you would think a light had failed and not a critical brake failure. My question is, have you had any brake problems with your car since you got it repaired and returned. Thanks again. Carole
Thanks for the update! It seems like Kia dealers around the world are told not to make a big deal out of brake failure. I just don’t know what to say to this. It’s a shame when a company doesn’t take something like this seriously. To answer your question: no problems once they fixed the issue. But do take it easy during the first few days, test the car out and make sure it all works like it should.
@@LeftCoastEV they said it was an IEB module fault and that with kia ireland permission they have replaced that part!
That’s exactly the same part that they replaced on my Kia Soul EV. We had an identical fault of a car purchased in two different countries very far away from each other. Thanks for all the follow up info, this is all very interesting, glad you shared your story with me.
My 3 month old 2021 Kia Soul EV experienced a brake failure incident. I would love to get an explanation from Kia Canada as to why this happened in the first place on a brand new car. Let me know in the comments below if you've ever had major issues with an EV and how it was handled by the manufacturer.
Thanks for sharing this video! Believe it or not my brand new 2022 Kia Soul EV just got into a car accident last night with brake failure. No reaction whatsoever after I applied my foot on the brake pedal, it happened so instant as there was no room left me to react, my car ended up rear ending the vehicle in front of me. I filed ICBC online claims as well as a complaint report to Kia Canada. It's a holiday period, now that I am waiting for answers. I don't know if Kia Canada will reach out to me.......very frustrating experience especially during the holiday. I can't not imagine if this accident were taken place on a high way!......
I'm sorry to hear this! If you send me a direct message to the email address in my UA-cam bio I will put you in touch with the person who is handling my case at Transport Canada. They would probably like to hear from you since I doubt that Kia Canada will do anything (I filed a claim as well with Kia and they ignored me). The more people file a complaint with Transport Canada then a greater chance of Kia fixing the problem. Let me know if I can help with anything else.
Thank you for sharing your story. There may be more cases like this in Canada and hopefully owners come forward, contact Transport Canada and hold Kia accountable for such failures. We are talking about basic car safety here. Imagine this would have happened to you with your family on a trip in the mountains for example. That would result in a tragic accident. Please keep us updated of any new information.
Thank you for sharing your experience with your Kia Soul EV. We have the obligation to communicate with others if something so dangerous happens, even if it is the only one case… I hope you won’t experience anything like this now and in the future.
UK cars were the subject of a recall this year, mine included.
It involved a potential safety issue concerning the ABS/EBC system which may detect an abnormal signal from one of it's sensors.
This could adversely affect the vehicles braking performance. To resolve this, a software update for the integrated electronic brake (IEB) motor control system is required.
As I say, this was an official recall in the UK where our cars are right hand drive so I don't know if this could be related but it certainly sounds like a similar issue and is a worrying issue if not rectified.
Thank you for letting me know. Interesting that they issued a recall in the UK and nothing in North America. Seems like we also have the same issue affecting the cars here. And I also agree with you that this is a worrying issue and they should be taking it seriously. I will reach out to Transport Canada and let them know about the UK recall.
Thank you for sharing your real experience, luckily you are safe, yes, please stand up for your right, complain all the way to Transport Canada if the Kia Canada ignore you. Ask for compensation ad well, emotional distress
Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it. I am in the process of taking this further and will report back once I have more information.
I bought 2021, from the same dealer, just got the regen warning tonight for the first time. So far safe going to monitor it
Thanks for letting me know. Make sure to monitor and if it happens again I would suggest going in and having them look at it. Right now Transport Canada is conducting an investigation regarding this issue so if more owners come forward we will be able to get Kia to take the matter seriously and hopefully fix the fault from happening.
I've been without my 2020 Kia Soul (gas) for 8 weeks and counting due to an engine recall. So many recalls, they are going to lose a fortune. It seems like auto reliability has peaked, now they are getting so complex, I wonder about the technology.
Sorry to hear that...8 weeks without a car is way too long. I also agree about reliability being an issue nowadays...I have friends who drive Tesla vehicles and many of them experience boatloads of problems (small and large). As cars get more complex and filled with all kinds of technology, we will see them fail more and more. Manufacturers should take extra steps today, more than ever before, to ensure their cars are safe and roadworthy.
Hope you get your Kia Soul back ASAP, let me know once you do!
Wow, that is scary! I'm glad you were able to stop the car safely. I'm looking at buying a used 2020 and I can see that it has had the IEB replaced under recall thankfully. Looks like that is the only recall on the 2020-2022's so far.
Yes, scary indeed. Good thing it didn’t happen on a hill or one of the many mountain roads and highways we have here in BC. If you are getting a used Kia Soul EV you always need to check if it had the IEB replaced. Other than that it’s a great car.
@@LeftCoastEV Yes, I know all about the small "hills" in BC as I live in the Okanagan and have to navigate them to get out of the valley.
My Kia is too years and I have totaly no problems. I LOVE MY KIA E SOUL!!!
Can I buy yours?
My KIA Soul EV 2020 got a broken mechanical lock right after I purchase my car for 5 days , which I found out when my 12V battery is completely depleted. The only option to open the door is to let BCAA to open it by yanking a gap and then hook the lock switch to the unlock position (just like someone who lost their key). Luckily BCAA got it done professionally without leaving any scratch on my door. Pretty disappointed on KIA pre-delivery inspection on their brand new vehicle, as this issue should have been discover before the vehicle is being sold to someone.
Exactly. Totally agree. They should do better when it comes to quality of the finished product. On top of the break failure, my Kia has developed a few loud rattles only after 15000 KM driven. Will be taking it to the dealer to get everything tightened up. With fossil cars you don’t hear many of the rattles, but in a quiet EV they are very noticeable. QC of Kia needs to be improved for sure.
@@LeftCoastEV Do your rattles related to the drive train (motor) or compressor (when HVAC is on during winter time)? I can hear a few rattles from the ceiling when driving on highway but it comes and goes.
I have the following rattles which are the loudest and really annoying: roof rattle in the back around the cargo area; front speaker located in the middle of the dashboard; drivers side A pillar and drivers side B pillar. They are all related to the motor as they first appeared in the summer. They also get much worse on rough tarmac.
@@LeftCoastEV sorry to hear that, i hope your dealership can resolve all those rattles for you asap, keep us posted
Thanks, will do!
I heard about E brake issues in the older soul EV's, my 2017 seems ok so far but it is concerning. Hope you get some kind of resolution from Transport Canada.
Thanks. Fingers crossed that your Kia will be OK. Once I hear back from either Transport Canada or Kia themselves I will make sure to post an update video.
Just a general question about the Soul EV vs ICE. The EV costs almost twice as much, that's a lot of $$ for this level of car. Does Canada have generous tax incentives to buy the EV? Of course the EV electricity is cheaper than fuel and the car has better pickup. What was your motivation to buy the EV?
I had an old ICE car and was shopping around for a new vehicle. Unfortunately, I drive a lot and my old car had a lot of kilometres on it so if I were to trade it in I would only get max $2000 for it. Then I started exploring electric vehicles and started learning about all the rebates we have. It starts with a $5000 federal and $3000 provincial incentive. On top of these two, in British Columbia where I live, we have an additional $6000 rebate if you scrap your old ICE vehicle. This brings the total to $14000. Looking at the total is what made me jump in and get an EV. Plus like I mentioned I drive a lot and gas in British Columbia is the most expensive in Canada so the savings I get from daily driving an EV are an added benefit for me. And now after a few months, I don’t want to go back to an ICE car. We have an old Honda Civic that my wife is driving and we are thinking of scrapping that as well and buying another EV.
Thanks for your video - We have a 2016 Soul EV 100Kms - My wife has had two incidents where she has had to come to sudden stop and the Car came to a juddering halt probably because of the ABS maybe. But after there is a message in the center of the speedo cluster to "check electrical brake" and the car will not move under power until she turned it on and off again. I can not find this warning message anywhere in the manual, has anyone else had such an experience?
This started happening on my 2016 though it says "Check EV System" meaning it's failing when trying to inject power back into the high voltage battery during regen braking. It's a pretty common issue once the car reaches a certain point of having a badly enough degraded battery. Only getting about 25-30 miles out of it now. It's really on it's last leg.
Should I buy a 2016 kia ev + for $14995 with 26200 miles and what to look for, how do I see if battery is good? I know with leaf I look at the bars left what about the kia EV? Is the battery replacavle here in California or should I buy a 2016 used leaf or a 2015 fiat EV?
Battery replacement on a vehicle is very expensive, so I would be very cautious when buying a used EV. For both the Leaf and Soul EV you can download an app called Leaf Spy or Soul Spy (available on Android). Then, with the help of an OBDII adapter, you can get all the details on the battery and it's overall health. If you don't have access to these tools, I would hire someone who knows EVs and can check this for you, as you don't want to be stuck with a battery replacement. I would say both the Soul EV and Leaf are good choices, but the Fiat EV (at least the older one) was a compliance car, so they didn't care much when they were manufacturing it. This means that it has poor range and also quite poor build quality. I know a person who has it and regrets buying one. So stick to either a used Leaf or a Soul EV. Finally, make sure you get the full service history (plus CARFAX) and also make sure that if there were recalls, it all got fixed on the car you're buying. Hope this helps.
The Soul EV in the US is covered for battery replacement up to 100,000 miles or 10 years for subsequent owners as long as the SOH (State of Health) calculation of the high voltage battery is below 70%. This is calculated dynamically by the BMS (battery management system) of the car as you drive it. That calculation is only read when connecting a OBD2 diagnostics dongle to the car with the right software. If you take it to a Kia dealer and they flash an update to your BMS ECU, it will reset all the statistics on your battery to default, showing your SOH at 100%. Many dealers try to use this as an excuse to get out of doing battery replacements. It's up to us to be smart consumers and catch them in that act. Their technical bulletins for the update tell them specifically that running the update resets the statistics to default. The best software to use for checking the battery on a Soul EV before buying it is Torque Pro with the added PIDs that are available on GitHub. It's certainly not an easy thing to do for someone who isn't technically inclined. So if you're not, i'd say just avoid it unless you have the patience to fight with Kia for a battery replacement. You're better off just spending a little bit more and buying a Chevy Bolt instead. Since the Soul EV has an entirely air cooled system, living in any kind of hot climate will just kill the battery even if it's replaced.
hi from quebec Canada have the same problem since sept 2021 bought it in nov 2020 ,I've reported it to Transport CANADA been to two different KIA garages and all they could say is did you clean your brakes 7,600 kms on the car do I need a brake cleaning ,so I said clean them and still have the same problem but now sept 2022 it make a funny noise just before the dash lights up So Trans.CANADA KIA CANADA AND BEAUCAGE Sherbrook and Granby No news since 1 yr Who cares I do. no more KIA ...have a great day
Thank you for sharing your story. So many owners experiencing the same issue. Too bad Kia Canada and Transport Canada don’t care about our concerns.
@@LeftCoastEV well they seemed to care after they got back to me they were in a hurry to get the car back lol
@@wilfredjones3008 That's great to hear! Thanks for the update.
Did you ever try find the global news consumer matter?
No, I did not. What is it?
@@LeftCoastEV it is part of the Global news program, they help consumer fight for the unfair or got ignored from the complaint. Last time have a family bought a lemon car. They successfully help them fight for the new replacement car. I think kia won't answer your complaint till you bring it to the social media like Global news. I believe it is very serious issue, other soul ev owner have a right to know about it.
Thank you for the suggestion. I will have to get in touch with Global and see if they can help. Like you said: more Kia Soul EV owners should know about this failure.
My 2020 Kona had the same fault must be the same unit as yours
Thanks for letting me know and confirm my suspicions that Hyundai cars are probably prone to the same fault (Kia and Hyundai being the same company).
@@LeftCoastEV that's OK replaced complete IED unit £2488 glad I was not paying
My replacement cost around the same, just in Canadian dollars and also done under warranty. My dealer said that this is not a common fault and I was the first one they ever had with such an issue. What did your dealer say about the fault?
What happened with this? Did they fix it?
They did fix it and so far no problems. Since I published this video a few other Kia owners got in touch with me with the same issue. So it's something that is not exclusive to my car. Transport Canada is involved and hopefully they will put pressure on Kia Canada to get this fixed on all upcoming vehicles.
@@LeftCoastEV You mentioned that your brake pedal would go all the way to the floor. Was your brake fluid reservoir low or empty too? If so, that would indicate a mechanical failure somewhere along the line, rather than an electronic one. (I do agree that the EPB is not as useful in these situations as the old pull-handle brake. Those are much easier to use in a situation like this without locking up the tires, etc.)
Also a lot of kias in general are getting stolen right now. So make sure doors are locked! I’m even using a steering wheel lock just cause you never know! They steal these cars in a matter of seconds!
Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks for your video! I have been researching to figure out what ev to get to replace my old car. I guess the Kia Soul EV and any Kia or Hundai is out for me. I have seen in other reviews that they do not seem to care about their customers when such dangerous failures occur.
Never buying a kia. First they broke down in the first month then engine fires now this
No vehicle is perfect, if you don't feel safe in your EV Soul get rid of it. Buy a Chevy EV if you think KIA is a subpar brand......
Trust me, I know that no vehicle is perfect, but one reason for doing such videos is to bring awareness to the issue and hopefully Kia (and Hyundai) will take notice and fix what needs fixing. An interesting bit of info for you: a guy who bought the same Kia as me, from the same dealership and from the same sales guy had the same brake issue happen only after a month of ownership (he bought the 2022 model). So it looks like Kia has not fixed the issue properly yet, so we just might see a recall like Chevy did with the Bolt EV...
@@LeftCoastEV Your diplomacy is alive and well and frankly..generous, IMO.
Almost finished reading the comments..but I see you've left this one as recent as 4 months ago.
Your video is VERY informative and appreciated. You have managed to remain calm and haven't even bashed H/K even though they really have it coming..again, in my rarely humble opinion. And Transport Canada too! I was going to say unbelievable, but caught myself because TC and the bureaucracy that runs it is woefully inadequate.
It's so discouraging that something as serious as a complete loss of brakes with no warning, is not taken seriously by Kia. This is proven by them continuing to sell more recent cars with the ongoing identical problem/faulty part.
This....THIS is exactly what I was alluding to when I asked you in MaplEV's recent video, about H/K reliability/quality in EV vs ICE cars. Unfortunately, I have my answer. I say unfortunately..not for myself as I have already decided which used EV I hope to be my first. (The owner's ears may be burning now, haha). No, I say unfortunately, because a friend is still a Kia fan and it seems nothing can dissuade her. Even if some of the weaknesses in the car can be addressed, the general lack of after-sales attitude by dealers and manufacturer is what bugs me the most I think.
Lastly, I'm very happy that I think presently you're back to enjoying your Soul.. let's face it, lots to like..and are starting to rebuild a confidence in it. If I have this wrong, please correct me.
I like your channel..I have skimmed over a few titles and look forward to checking out more of your high quality videos.
You and Maple complement each others channels very well.
Thanks for your efforts and quality feedback.
👍🙏
Thanks for your coming over and checking out the channel. The Kia so far has had no other issues, which is great. Has my confidence returned 100%? I wouldn't say that. When I drive it today, in the back of my mind I always have this nagging feeling of what transpired and it will never be forgotten. To tell you the truth, as much as I like the new Hyundai and Kia EVs on offer today, I will probably never buy one of their products in the future. I have lost confidence in their cars. On top of it all, had Kia called me and acknowledged the fact that this happened and gave me a plausible explanation, I might have given them a pass. Unfortunately, they did not reach out, the dealership where I bought it never apologized for the failure and Transport Canada did nothing with their investigation...which clearly means that Hyundai and Kia have a "special" relationship with TC and know that there is zero recourse for me (unless this was a tragic accident with lives lost...maybe then they would take accountability, but thankfully it didn't come to that).
I am glad you made up your mind on a used EV. Hope you will enjoy driving electric!
LIKE
Thanks!