Battery Life??

Faults and Technical chat for the Kia Niro
peter bunce
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:47 pm

Post by peter bunce »

Hi,

Does anyone know the life of the battery?

I keep my cars a long while (the present one is 19 years old) and I think a life of 8 - 10 years (off the web) is a 'sort of' figure for battery life.

Being cynical that is just after the 7 year guarantee! Thus a cost (as it is in two halves of £1000 per half)

Granted technology moves on all the time, and one side of that is that it becomes cheaper, but the battery life I think will be the 'expensive' bit of the car.

Yours Peter.

jim1
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 7:23 pm

Post by jim1 »

I guess it's hard to say what the life will be on these, but I'd say it's a good sign that they are covering it for the full 7 years. I was told that they will replace the battery if the performance drops below 75%, was also told cost of battery is £1600 ish.

Until the car is in the wild for a few years I suspect we won't really get any indication of how they will last.
Rob
Site Admin
Posts: 111
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:38 pm

Post by Rob »

I suspect also that the cost of the batteries will come down, so where it might cost £1600 now, in 7 years time it could be a lot less.

Still, something worth thinking about.
Delawarean
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2016 10:05 pm

Post by Delawarean »

Many people had this concern with the Prius. The experience there has ben pretty good: I see many first-generation Prii still going strong. The demand for used batteries seems to be satisfied pretty well by salvage, at prices comparable to other used car parts. There is no reason to expect li-ion to do less well than hydride. I am unconcerned with this, in looking ahead to my own Niro purchase.
AlanHo
Posts: 113
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:05 pm

Post by AlanHo »

Confirmation regarding the warranty for the Niro battery and associated parts

http://tinyurl.com/jaftr7s
Currently Sept 2021 Niro 3 HEV in Ocean Blue
peter bunce
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:47 pm

Post by peter bunce »

Just a thought with this cold weather - my Niro will like a lot of others live outside - will the depleted charge (due to the cold) mean that the engine will start earlier?

I do not know what the performance of LI Ion batteries is in cold weather - anyone any ideas?

I have sent an e-mail to Kia UK, and will post the reply here on its arrival

Kia Uk ducked the issue! Saying contact the garage where ordered.

So I did; first the Atkinson cycle engine should under normal conditions start withing a quarter of a turn, it is a low compression engine so will not take much electric power. Also in the back of the car is a 12v battery, charged from the front, and its a bit complicated the positive is on the nearside, and the earth is on the offside. AS good read is needed of the (large) instruction book I think!

This starts the car and there is not a connection between the Li-Ion battery and he 12v one - as usual its average life is about five years or so.

Kia staff have been on courses, but the car is so new that experience has not really started, some general knowledge has been gained from the Soul, but the Niro is different. .

My electrical (Kia) mechanic says the car is in fact 95% electric, brakes accelerator foot brake etc are in fact electric switches, and Kia have spent a loong time taking apart other Hybrid cars to get this one right.

He is of the opinion that there is unlikely to be a 'non start' as a result of a cold battery; the Li Ion batteries work differently (from wandering around the web they seem to be OK down to 20C), and that will move the car and then in a very short time be charging the low voltage 12V battery.

Naturally I cannot verify the above, but to finish the sales amanager has a demo car for the last 2 months, and he is not wanting to give it back!

Yours Peter, near Manchester.
Last edited by peter bunce on Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
AlanHo
Posts: 113
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:05 pm

Post by AlanHo »

I doubt that cold weather would effect a Li ion battery.

I am more concerned about KIA's choice of battery type after the problems met in the Boeing Dreamliner aircraft where Li ion batteries caught fire - sometimes exploding. The recent debacle with the Li ion battery in the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone is a further example.

However - despite my concern, I have ordered a Niro on the assumption that KIA have taken such issues fully into account and guarded against them. I am comforted by the fact that Tesla, BMW, Mercedes and Toyota have chosen to use Li ion batteries in future hybrid and EV cars.
Currently Sept 2021 Niro 3 HEV in Ocean Blue
Terry
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 3:19 pm

Post by Terry »

Talking about batteries -

1. does anybody know if there is a problem for the Hybrid battery if the car is left unused for a month or so?

2. Not related -but I find the 'cruise control' reacts very erratically - when set for say, 60 mph, it seems to speed up for no reason to 65mph - not very re-assuring when you might have traffic in front! The 'slow' down process on cruise control is also not very accurate - the system seems to need time to negotiate the instruction 'sent'?

thanks if anyone can help>?

Terry M (Ireland)
AlanW55
Posts: 253
Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2017 4:31 pm

Post by AlanW55 »

The current Niro seems to have a battery management system that fastidiously keeps the charge level between 40-60%, in my experience of three weeks' ownership. All well and good if this to protect and maximise the life of the battery. But, how will this work when the plug-in hybrid arrives, when owners will "abuse" the battery by charging it to 100% , unless the system won't allow this. I would imagine owners wouldn't be best pleased if their overnight charge only showed up as 60-70%.
UK 2021 Mark 1 HEV 4 in silky silver, standard spec.
previously UK 2017 First Edition HEV in pearlescent white, standard spec.
Steve stallion
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:48 pm

Post by Steve stallion »

Have left my niro for 3 weeks unused and started without any problems. Drove off for 1st time on Li-ion battery only
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