Kia Niro Forum banner
  • Welcome to the Kia Niro forum! We discuss all models of the Niro, including the Hybrid, PHEV and EV versions. We are glad you stopped by. Feel free to browse the various topics, along with out FAQs. To enable posting, you need to register for a user account. There is no cost for this. Just click in the upper right corner where it says Login/Join. We look forward to your continued parcipitation.

Battery charge

21K views 27 replies 12 participants last post by  Mal 
#1 ·
My 2017 Kia battery never shows over 1 bar above the half mark as charged. Should it ever read 100%?


Thanks................ Rod
 
#2 ·
I had it up to 100% indicated only once after a long steep downhill at 25 mph on cruise control. Otherwise in 20,000 miles, I've never seen it that high. The other circumstance where it seems to charge high (over 3/4) is when it is raining. High load on the car, but not really a need for added battery torque like going up a hill. So the engine stays on for a longer period, the engine is charging, but no battery juice is added. When not raining, the exact same terrain will put the car in EV, which keeps the battery about half full.

There isn't any particular benefit in having the battery charged to 100% indicated. In fact, battery life will be highest with the exact same algorithm that the engineers used - keep it at about half full.
 
#3 ·
The battery management sysem on the Hybrid tries to hold the battery around the 50% mark. I am going to take it that you don't live in a cold climate, as the engine has to run to get heat inside the car. This will tend to charge the battery much higher as the power from the running engine will regenerative charge the battery pack with the excess power not going to the wheels. Likely you have missed the bar getting much above the 1/2 way mark but I will speculate that it does happen.
 
#4 ·
The Niro Battery Management Software (BMS) is designed to allow for movement from 40%-60% State of Charge (SOC) only for 17-19 HEV Niros during normal driving. In spirited driving, or at high speed, you may see greater range of movement. You should avoid extended, high speed driving at speeds over 80 MPH because you may over discharge the battery.
 
#5 ·
The BMS is not going to allow you to discharge the battery so far that it will damage it. Nor overcharge it for that matter - regen turns off at that point. The dash display does not show the capacity reserve at the top or bottom.
 
#6 ·
The SA360 service action was done because a small subset of Niro drivers on long road trips, at high speeds, 85+mph for more that 5 hours continuously, were able to overdischarge the battery. The ECU Freeze Frame and BMS were updated to be more active and prevent that from occurring.
 
#8 ·
Limp mode, when you run out of gas and are now just using battery power at a reduced speed, can apparently get you into dangerous territory. Every time I get low on gas, a warning pops up saying I am risking battery damage if I don't fill up. My suspicion is that a single deep discharge may not damage your battery, but of course it is not good to drop to zero or up to 100% for long life. The more it happens, the lower the battery life. The hidden capacity at the top and bottom will obscure this from the owner for a very long time.
 
#11 · (Edited)
The quote I am sure was saying that he normally drove in EV mode and had the brake pedal pressed (likely just to somewhat slow down the Niro) all the way down the hill. As he would have a full battery charge since he just started the trip and driving in EV mode, the engine would have turned on and then used it's own resistance to slow the car down, rather than using the regenerative braking of the electric motor, or the brake pads on the wheels. At the bottom of the hill the engine would have turned off and he continues in EV mode. However this time, he didn't put the Niro into EV mode and for some reason the engine didn't turn on.


But that is just the way that I am reading the thread post.
 
#13 ·
Beth I would not worry about this. I have a 2019 Niro but traded in a 2008 Prius on this vehicle. The Prius as you know is a hybrid and continually discharges and charges the battery pack while you are driving. I have driven the Prius for extended speeds of over 85 while out west where the speed limit is 80. In the 11 years we owned the 2008 Prius (we bought it new) we drove the bejabbers out of it. Stop and go, city driving, expressway driving, long trips, short trips you name it we did it. The vehicle and battery pack had over 150,000 miles on it.

After 150,000 miles, 11 years and countless charge and discharge cycles we had -0- problems with the battery, battery management system or the hybrid system. The car still averaged over 52 mpg. Prius and hybrid technology like the Niro uses are decades old. Toyota now has a hybrid vehicle in almost every line they make.

With the battery management systems in these vehicles people can just drive them and enjoy them without having to constantly worry about it.

We have a 2019 Niro Plug in and I plug it in every single chance I get regardless of the state of charge of the battery. The battery management system will take care of it.

In April before we bought the Niro I paid $270 dollars for gas. We do a lot of driving. In May when we bought the Niro I bought $161 of gas and installed a level 2 charger in the middle of the month. So far in June we have spent $0 in gas and still have a full tank. I do not expect to spend any money on gas unless we drive our 12 year old van.
 
#15 ·
Just a FYI. If I were an owner of a PHEV I'd run the tank out at least twice a year. Gas does get stale and old gas eventually turns into a varnishy smelling gum. I'd run in out to coincide with the change of the seasons.
I just bought an '18 EX leftover this January. Ran the tank down and put a bottle of techron and kept refilling with premium. June 1st is the first tankful of regular I've put in. Love my Niro!
 
#16 ·
Refilling with premium provides no benefit. Any Tier One fuel will contain the necessary fuel stabilizers to keep the fuel in good shape. The only difference with premium fuel is the octane rating, which only makes a difference in the ability of the engine to avoid pre-ignition (knocking). It isn't a "better" fuel, and only benefits the oil company when you pay the higher price.

https://www.toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/
 
#18 ·
I don't use any additives. Now that I'm driving a PHEV, I will reevaluate that as I determine how often I fill the gas tank. If I buy gas once a month, I see no need to add anything additional. If it stretches into two months, then I might consider something. But there's no additives in the premium grade of gas that isn't in the regular grade from the same supplier. If I buy gas from Shell or Chevron, they both contain any additives or stabilizers needed from my geographic area.

My GTI had a deposit problem, and we put premium in that engine all the time. Didn't help that engine one bit. But it's your car and your money. Spend as you wish. :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sstr Maria
#19 ·
I don't use any additives. Now that I'm driving a PHEV, I will reevaluate that as I determine how often I fill the gas tank. If I buy gas once a month, I see no need to add anything additional. If it stretches into two months, then I might consider something. But there's no additives in the premium grade of gas that isn't in the regular grade from the same supplier. If I buy gas from Shell or Chevron, they both contain any additives or stabilizers needed from my geographic area.

My GTI had a deposit problem, and we put premium in that engine all the time. Didn't help that engine one bit. But it's your car and your money. Spend as you wish. :D
I so put Shell since 1987 on all my cars!... so were ok for that... It's not one fill up that can last 2-3-4 months that will give you "THE" GDI depot problem, it's a long term use of "no good gas" that causes this.



What did you do with your deposit problem on your GTI?
 
#21 ·
The cabon build up if you read through the design of a GDI engine has to do with fuel that is not getting burnt up fully that is then recycled back into the air intake via the PVC valve along with vapourized oil. The problem is that there is no additional fuel with the additives that would clean the back side of the valves so some of this unburnt fuel crap then depotis on the backside of the valve. After time this will gunge up and as the valve stems get hot, turn into carbon crust and you have a problem. one solution is to give the finger to emmisions and get rid of the PVC and route the unwanted out the exhaust. Toyota came up with the solution of putting some in an additional fuel injector that puts a small amout of fuel into the air intake as well as GDI (so a dual system) so enough fuel and additive comes in over the valves to keep them clean.


Sorry, but using a higher octain fuel will likely do nothing towards deposits as it all comes down to the quality of the oil inside your car and how much it evaporates under temperature and if your car properly burns all the fuel injected into the engine.
 
#22 ·
Sorry, but using a higher octain fuel will likely do nothing towards deposits as it all comes down to the quality of the oil inside your car and how much it evaporates under temperature and if your car properly burns all the fuel injected into the engine.
So, were all doomeeeddd!! :rolleyes:
 
#23 ·
Hopefully I am not as I got a 10 year warrany for mine, and will be agressive to make sure that they check the level of fouling on the valves if the engine starts to run badly. They designed it and as long as I follow their maintenance schedule printed in my manual I should be covered.
 
#24 ·
Sorry mate, but this is a maintenance issue, not a part that can be defect... Does the manual say that you need too clean the valves at a X km ? .. never seen that before!

If your valves get caught with carbon depot that can change the MPG of the car.! Ask Kia Canada if they will make the cleanning on the warranty Their anwser will be NO.. (already checked with them in 2014 and 2016 for one of my friend that had the problem with his 2015 Rio5).
 
#25 ·
I noticed a maintenance item in the schedule for a gasoline additive. That would be for valve cleaning, at least in countries that don't put detergent in the gasoline. My suspicion is this is yet another totally wrong boilerplate language cut and past from Kia cars that don't have direct injection.
 
#28 ·
I am pretty well convinced that gas degrading and, "turning to varnish", is pretty much an urban legend in modern cars. Modern fuel systems are sealed. Even evaporated fuel just moves in and out of the carbon can probably not mixing with air. As annectdotal evidence, which isn't really evidence, I have gas that has been in a car for 5 years, it still runs well though I can't drive it due to rotten brake lines.

As an aside, I've had my battery down to 2% (PHEV) several times and 100% at every charge. Those figures are meaningless as there is no telling what the algorithm allows at eather end. Unlike pure EVs I can only trust KIA to protect the battery.

Incidentally, coming up on my first oil change, I love this car.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top