[iooi]

We have had EXACTLY the same issue, a few days of the infotainment system not working then car wont even start. RAC came out and battery was down to 5v

What level was the main traction battery at?

As Kia should charge the 12V side form the traction battery, but will not do that if traction battery is low (think level sub 20%)

If battery has got as low as 5V then it needs changing as it is always going to be a problem.

Does ccNC head unit have a reset button near volume knob? If so if screen goes black use that to reset (does not lose any settings)

I would also invest in a BM6 battery monitor to keep a check on 12V battery. As well as a jump starter. But put it where you can get at it in car & not boot...

Amazon.co.uk

 

[Kaska]

We have had EXACTLY the same issue, a few days of the infotainment system not working then car wont even start. RAC came out and battery was down to 5v

Our EV9 has been at the dealership for over a week now . They run diagnostics but no outcome yet. Rac advised replacing battery but kia needs to do their "due diligence" before they agree to do so. It's absolutely ridiculous. No guarantee that as and when we get the car back this won't happen again. It took 3 RAC recovery truck to finally deliver the car to kia. In rhe end they had yo use easy truck to lift it off our drive and put on a lorry. We couldn't even access the car with manual key. Joke.
In the meantime a nightmare trying to obtain a courtesy car through kia which is a similar size or level to ev9. We are on a 4th hire car, none close to what we should have had. Very very disappointed with the whole experience and frustrated as we feel very helpless in this situation. It seems those clever electric cars are too clever for their own good

 

[iooi]

You are aware that Kia do not supply temp cars. In the T/C of warranty. That is down to dealer.

 

[NicN23]

My car finally went back to KIA GWR yesterday for a check-up. They ran diagnostics and confirmed the 12v battery is in good health. They attribute the drain to a 3rd party app continuously polling the car.
I had heard about this, but had never had an issue - I have used the IO Octopus app for smart tariff charging since May 2023 and had never had a problem. Kia thinks this is the cause, so I have deactivated the smart charging feature and will set the cheap charging window via the Kia Connect app instead.

As the issue was not caused by a Kia fault, I was charged for the engineer's time and they assured me this should resolve the issue. I await to see if the battery dies again.
Nice to know the 12v is in good nick, but a bit peeved I had to wait a month for an appointment, jumping the 12v daily to get the car started and all I needed to do was turn off an app.

You live, you learn

 

[JSN]

I don't use 3rd-party monitoring and had the initial problem (top of thread) which was sorted by software rest at kia garage.

I did notice that when the car was locked the fingerprint recognition was still lit. I disabled this and I also reset the Kia Connect (using the little biro-point reset button beside the volume scroller in the dash) as it wasn't giving me proper telemetry data.

Not had a problem since.

 

[NicN23]

I don't use 3rd-party monitoring and had the initial problem (top of thread) which was sorted by software rest at kia garage.

I did notice that when the car was locked the fingerprint recognition was still lit. I disabled this and I also reset the Kia Connect (using the little biro-point reset button beside the volume scroller in the dash) as it wasn't giving me proper telemetry data.

Not had a problem since.

Thanks

Before driving off I specifically asked them if this could be a software issue and they assured me that no, the software was all correct and up to date.

 

[iooi]

My car finally went back to KIA GWR yesterday for a check-up. They ran diagnostics and confirmed the 12v battery is in good health. They attribute the drain to a 3rd party app continuously polling the car.
I had heard about this, but had never had an issue - I have used the IO Octopus app for smart tariff charging since May 2023 and had never had a problem. Kia thinks this is the cause, so I have deactivated the smart charging feature and will set the cheap charging window via the Kia Connect app instead.

As the issue was not caused by a Kia fault, I was charged for the engineer's time and they assured me this should resolve the issue. I await to see if the battery dies again.
Nice to know the 12v is in good nick, but a bit peeved I had to wait a month for an appointment, jumping the 12v daily to get the car started and all I needed to do was turn off an app.

You live, you learn

I'm surprised that works given KIA api was pulled a couple of years ago.

Which wall box do your have?
If it is one of the 3 approved Octopus ones, then link that to Octopus IO & let that control charge, not using Kia api.

 

[NicN23]

I'm surprised that works given KIA api was pulled a couple of years ago.

Which wall box do your have?
If it is one of the 3 approved Octopus ones, then link that to Octopus IO & let that control charge, not using Kia api.

I have a pod point solo 3

 

[iooi]

I have a pod point solo 3

Sadly not then.

Octopus polling was one reason Kia Api was pulled, but was fixed & then another issue come up stopping people from getting test charge. There was a sort of work round that worked for some. But in end it got pulled again.

I would look at getting something like this

Amazon.co.uk

I have one on mine & gives a good trace of how battery is being drained, & when BMS kicks in to charge up.

 

[Cocijo]

The low voltage batteries really should be lithium-ion by now - not lead acid, which is not suited to EV use.

 

[Waj]

I came out to the EV9 and could not get it to unlock. Turns out the 12V battery had completely drained. Had to use the physical key to open it up and then pop the frunk manually to get at the 12V. The RAC came out (under service agreement) and boosted it for me which got it going. Then had to take it to Kia garage where they update the VCU and ICC software and "think that should fix it" (Note: they didn't actually diagnose the problem but basically "turned it on anf off again" with a software update)

Not had an issue since.

But things to note:

• I've had Jag iPaces for 6 years and this happened on them occasionally, too. It's not an uncommon EV issue so it's worth being prepared....
• always have the physical key with you so you can get in - it's design is annoying that it is a separate part. Other cars have it built into the fob.
• have a charged 12V battery booster with you. If you can physically get in to the car and open the frunk, the 12V is very accessible and the car will come alive with the booster operating.
• leaving the main battery on for about 30mins should recharge the 12V sufficiently (NB: you don't have to drive the car like an ICE as there is no altenator charging the 12V battery, it's a direct feed)

Whilst this is an inconvenience and annoying, especailly in a brand new vehicle, it's not the end of the world if you're prepared for it.

Brilliant submission. Newbie to machine and totally devastated when with hospital appointment went to use car - Zombie Mode ! Living in a remote area of UK - a “ NOT “ zone - no mobile signal, no Internet, no public transport - was literally up that well known creek. Tracked 2 miles to known mobile signal reception and thankfully picked up submission off internet .- though feel that KIA per se have “ Totally frosted my cookies “ that after shelling out over 88,000 USD for a machine less than 6 months old, do not even have the common courtesy to release at least a “ workaround “ till hopefully a permanent solution but instead leave up to these good folks to do that.

 

[MartW]

I came out to the EV9 and could not get it to unlock. Turns out the 12V battery had completely drained. Had to use the physical key to open it up and then pop the frunk manually to get at the 12V. The RAC came out (under service agreement) and boosted it for me which got it going. Then had to take it to Kia garage where they update the VCU and ICC software and "think that should fix it" (Note: they didn't actually diagnose the problem but basically "turned it on anf off again" with a software update)

Not had an issue since.

But things to note:

• I've had Jag iPaces for 6 years and this happened on them occasionally, too. It's not an uncommon EV issue so it's worth being prepared....
• always have the physical key with you so you can get in - it's design is annoying that it is a separate part. Other cars have it built into the fob.
• have a charged 12V battery booster with you. If you can physically get in to the car and open the frunk, the 12V is very accessible and the car will come alive with the booster operating.
• leaving the main battery on for about 30mins should recharge the 12V sufficiently (NB: you don't have to drive the car like an ICE as there is no altenator charging the 12V battery, it's a direct feed)

Whilst this is an inconvenience and annoying, especailly in a brand new vehicle, it's not the end of the world if you're prepared for it.

How do you 'pop the frunk manually' please.

 

[JSN]

On the front passenger side in the footwell near the hinge there is a plastic pop-out panel covering the manual release for the frunk. You need to pull it twice (sometimes three times) to release the bonnet.

 

[Waj]

How do you 'pop the frunk manually' please.

How do you 'pop the frunk manually' please.

Similar problem - frustratingly when about to attend hospital appointment waited 7 months for ! Worth considering purchase of battery monitor bluetooth BM6 ( under £10 at Amazon ) . Also now keep routinely battery charger NOCO GENIUS -in Frunk and use when parked up at home ( is behind locked gate )

 

[Soula]

Over the 3.5 years we have had our Soul there has never been a problem with our 12V battery. After seeing reports of others experiencing the flat 12V problem, I purchased a booster to keep in the car, just in case, but it has never been used. I also have a Ctec battery charger/conditioner, but again this has never been used on the Soul. My strategy has been.

Never use accessory mode.
Never leave car unlocked for more than a few minutes.
Do not have accessories, such as dashcam, on permanently.
Do not pole the car api regularly with Kia Connect etc.
Always have car on, or in utility mode, while in the car. Usually just on as it is more convenient.
Keep main traction battery above 20% so that 12V charging routine is active at all times.

If I ever had a flat 12V battery, I would ensure that it had several hours of charging, preferably with battery conditioner, as soon as possible. Lead acid batteries do not like deep discharge and can be permanently damaged.

 

[GaryL]

Soula, it is great to hear of someone that has not experienced these issues. I should say in regard to the original post, that using the physical key when locked out will not work, as it is a solonoid switch and will not work when the car has shut itself down. I have posted several times about this on here, we have a soul, also 3.5 years old and this has happened 7 times now. The traction battery is rarely allowed to drop below 40% in normal day to day use, for one of our events it may have been below 40%, I cannot recal, but generally we would be between 40 and 80%. It has made no difference whether the car is locked or not, twice it has happened when locked, which of course is massively frustrating and on both occasions resulted in having to break in to the car (by AA technician), I have no accessories and do not use the Octopus charging app. I often leave the car unlocked, in fact I try to do this as much as possible as it is much easier to deal with if you can get in, most of the time the car is unlocked outside my home I have never had a problem here, the only two locations where I have had the problem is Hillend campsite on the Gower (twice) and outside my office in the Cotswolds (five times) the common thread between these locations is a complete lack of mobile phone signal. As I have said several times before, the AA technician that resued me from outside the office the last time I was locked out said that it is their view that this is caused by system updates trying and repeatedly failing whilst the car is parked in a place with poor signal strength, he said that this in his experience (and he said he had been called out to many) was the common thread between all his incidents. My car spends most of its life outside my home, I have it locked, unlocked, doors open, doors closed, just about every status you can acheive and it has never drained the 12v battery. Good luck all. It is very dissapointing that this is still an issue, will be replacing the car in a couple of months, I would have liked to stick with Kia, but I fear from the fact that this has still not been resolved that I will be looking elsewhere - any suggestions?

 

[Soula]

Be careful, I have seen similar problems reported with other makes of BEVs. I believe that the 12V and electronics is activated when the doors are unlocked regardless of whether they are open and also that poling the car via Kia Connect wakes up the whole 12V electronic system and was the reason Kia and some other makes were removed from the Octopus Intelligent Go tariff compatibility list. (Although my Soul works fine with IOG via integration with my Zappi)

A bit worrying if the mechanical key relies on 12V. I am sure I had seen reports from other people and YouTube that they had used the key to open the drivers door to access the bonnet release and a jump start device to wake up their cars. So long as it has not suffered permanent damage, it does then need several hours to recharge the 12V after it has gone flat.

 

[Ben M]

I've also had the 12v dead issue three times on my EV9 now. The final time I decided not to plug in the charger (I use Octopus IG interfacing with a Zappi charger) and all phones on airplane mode, but it still died.

 

[iooi]

I've also had the 12v dead issue three times on my EV9 now. The final time I decided not to plug in the charger (I use Octopus IG interfacing with a Zappi charger) and all phones on airplane mode, but it still died.

Possible drain on battery while parked up?

Confused as to Airplane mode on phones & what this has to do with issue?
As phone will only interact with car if you keep physically opening & refreshing the Connect app.

Do you spend a lot of time sat in car? Do you have the car turned on while doing this, in utility mode or just in ACC mode?

 

[Ben M]

Thanks for the reply. Airplane mode is to stop the Kia Connect app making a call to the car in the background (don't know whether it would do this, but Kia have recommended uninstalling the app).

We don't spend any time sat in the car - no usage pattern I can think of that could account for the drain. It's happening sporadically overnight when the car is unused.