From Kia Motors: When it comes to paying for fuel, we know it can be pricey. So imagine our driver’s reactions when we covertly took over a petrol station and only charged them £2.80 – the amount for a full charge of a Kia Soul EV.
Watch what happened when we charged ordinary drivers extraordinary prices for their fuel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qayjUsksu6w
Smooth, refined and responsive, but some way behind the new EV models from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen in nearly all areas
This is Kia’s first production electric vehicle, based on the familiar high-roofed Soul hatchback. Like all other Kia models, the Soul EV will get the same seven-year warranty which is a market first for battery-powered vehicles and should help reassure potential purchasers.
In the conversion to battery power, the core of the Soul – the conventional internal combustion engines, transmission and heating system – have all been dumped, the front and rear styling revamped and the structure reworked.
While the upper body structure is carried over, it has been further beefed up with extra strengthening in the B-pillars and sills. Five extra crossmembers have also been bolted across the floorpan to increasing the rigidity of the bodyshell by 27 per cent.
The Soul EV also gets a restyled front end and a plastic insert in the grille space, which opens up to revealed the twin charging sockets. The rear bumper and tailgate have also been restyled and LED rear lights have been added.
Inside, the dash is all new and built of higher-quality materials than the conventional models. The EV version gets OLED digital instruments, a large centre touch screen, a rather shapely steering wheel and a new shift lever and surround.
The 27kWh lithium ion polymer battery pack is packaged under the floorpan. Charging from a UK domestic socket could take up to 13 hours. Kia UK is, however, suppling owners with a wallbox charger, which should reduce charging time to around five hours. It is also fitted with a Japanese-standard Chademo fast-charging socket, which can deliver an 80 per cent charge in 33 minutes.
Kia engineers created a new low-energy heating and ventilations system based on the heat pump principle which also allows heating and ventilation to be restricted to just the driver, saving energy.
The 109bhp, 210lb ft electric motor drives a single-speed transmission and Kia claims a 0-60mph time of 10.8sec and a top speed of 90mph. The combination of the polymer battery cells and the new heating system will stretch the potential driving range out to 132 miles.
While the Soul EV delivers the typically compelling electric car dynamic of smooth and torquey performance and a quiet cabin, the whole package feels somewhat dated.
Had this car been launched three years ago, it would have been easily class-competitive with the Nissan Leaf. But the world of the EV has moved on rapidly and the new Volkswagen e-Golf and Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive are better cars than the Soul EV.
The two German models feel more refined both in terms of cabin ambience and ride quality, the drivetrains perform better and both cars have far superior handling.
The cartoonish looks might, of course, not matter to many potential buyers, but the clinching argument is that the entry-level VW e-Golf is only just over £1000 more than the Soul EV; the B-Class Electric Drive costs around £2000 more, and the excellent BMW i3 only a few hundred pounds more.
That’s not to say the Soul EV has nothing going for it; quite the opposite, in fact. In addition to its EV driving and performance traits, the lofty driving position and boxy styling make it easy to position in busy city-centre traffic.
If you are going to buy an electric car, it would be hard to find a compelling argument for the Soul over rival models. It does everything pretty well, aside from suffering a somewhat disturbed ride on poor roads, but is short of EV class leadership.
Kia has modest sales targets for the Soul EV, with next year’s sales tipped to be 100-200 units, the cars only being sold through a select 13 dealers who applied. Despite the £24,995 price (including government grant, battery pack, wall charger, Chargemaster account and generous standard spec), Renault’s Zoe and the Nissan Leaf also benefit from buying packages that make EV ownership even more affordable.
As it stands, the Soul EV, as competent as it is, is neither the best to drive nor the best value.
Source: Autocar
An advert from Kia Netherlands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqtO-9vLcBs
Driving the Kia Soul EV round central London made petrol and diesel power seem so yesterday. You actually feel sympathy for people driving around in Bentleys. Kia says it has been working on electric vehicles for 30 years, but only now thinks the time is right to make one available to the public. Kia, which now sells nearly three million cars a year, is starting in a typically small way with intended annual sales expected to be around a couple of hundred.
If you need a compact electric SUV crossover hatchback, the Kia Soul is it. As with all Kias, the Soul EV has a seven year warranty which should give confidence about the life of the battery pack.
With acceleration to 60 mph taking 10.8 seconds the Kia Soul EV has adequate performance for a town car especially with town planners’ mania for traffic lights. Performance is smooth and serene and in mode B the regenerative braking is strong. Drive and Brake modes can also be operated in Eco mode to help maximise the car’s range. Maximum speed is claimed to be 90 mph but there was no opportunity to verify this.
The permanent magnet synchronous AC electric motor produces 109 bhp from 2,730 rpm to 8,000 rpm, while maximum torque of 211 lbs ft arrives instantly and continues until 2,730 rpm. Claimed class-leading energy density of 200 Wh/kg gives the car a projected range approaching 132 miles.
The rack and pinion power steering is quick and light and the car’s shape (and reversing camera) makes it easy to manoeuvre into parking spaces. A button push makes the steering even lighter for parking. The 275 kg battery pack has actually improved the handling of the Soul. Not only has it lowered its centre of gravity but the weight distribution of the Soul EV has been altered slightly too.
It is several percentage points less front heavy though you don’t really notice a difference on a slow speed town drive. The suspension settings felt stiffer which helped cornering precision. Braking, with large discs front and rear, was predictable and progressive.
Read more: Next Green Car
A US-centric review by The Fast Lane.
The 2015 KIA Soul EV is the all electric version of the new KIA Soul. With a range of 94 miles and a 105 MPGe this new electric car is KIA first crack at an EV. Like many other manufacturers KIA plans to sell the 2015 KIA Soul EV only in California which of course begs the question: Are electric cars the wave of the future? You find out by checking out Roman’s first drive review of the new 2015 KIA Soul EV.
Are electric cars the future? It’s a subject that’s very much open to debate. Some drivers are absolutely sold on the idea, while others question their limited range and how green they really are.
The same is true with manufacturers. A few are jumping head first into the electric car revolution, while others are avoiding it in favour of small capacity, turbocharged petrol engines, or even hydrogen power. Some, like Kia, are being cautious, dipping their toes in the water and seeing what happens.
This explains why the Korean carmaker has electrified its Soul mini-SUV, but plans to sell it in very small numbers. There’s no fancy new production line – all Soul EVs are made on the same line as the regular Soul, in an attempt to keep costs down, and just 5,000 a year are expected to be built. And here’s the clincher: no more than 200 are expected to come to the UK in the first year of production.
The reason for this? “Some manufacturers are flooding the market,” says Kia. “They’re selling electric cars to people whose lifestyles aren’t suited to electric cars, and it’s damaging their reputation.” This leads to tales of range-anxiety, and poor residual values, which Kia wants to avoid.
Central London isn’t an obvious place for a car launch, but it really flatters the Soul EV. Threading it through traffic, instant torque available whenever you press the accelerator, it’s hard to deny an electric car is second only to a jetpack in conditions like this.
While adapting a ‘regular’ car might seem an easy way of offering an electric vehicle, it does present some challenges. For a start, there are the big, heavy batteries that need putting somewhere. In this case, they’re hidden under the floor. And then refinement can be tricky. A combustion engine does a great job of drowning out noises – remove that, and even the slightest noise can prove irritating.
But Kia’s done a commendable job. There are no battery whines sometimes associated with electric cars, and road noise is minimal (although, as hard as we tried, we couldn’t get near to the Soul’s 90mph top speed in central London). What’s really impressive is how well the Kia Soul EV rides. The extra 274.5kg from its batteries could easily result in a crashy ride, but Kia’s tweaked the springs to take the extra weight into account, and it deals with bumps and potholes exceptionally well.
Charging using a domestic power supply takes 10 – 13 hours from empty to full, but this can be reduced to five hours using a public fast-charge point. Alternatively, using a public rapid charger, it can be boosted to 80 per cent charge in just over half an hour. From a full charge, expect to get a range of around 132 miles – less than a petrol or diesel car, obviously, but enough for most urban journeys.
Read more: Motoring Research
Kia’s new electric Soul has gone on sale in the UK, priced from £24,995 after a government grant of £5,000.
That places it £3,445 above the price of the range-topping model of the existing combustion Soul range, with the Soul 1.6 CRDi Maxx priced at £21,550.
Despite being one of the least aerodynamic electric cars we’ve yet seen, Kia says its new battery-powered crossover can deliver a range of 132 miles per charge – 8 miles more than the official range of rival model, the Nissan LEAF.
Developed in co-operation with SK Innovations, the Soul EV’s 27kWh lithium-ion polymer batteries are a high energy density solution, delivering 200 watt-hours per kilogram of weight, helping it to deliver that outstanding range.
The Soul EV is also spritely for its vehicle class, with its electric motor developing 81.4 kilowatts – the equivalent of 109bhp in a combustion-engined model – with 285 Nm of torque available immediately upon drive-away.
That gives the car a 0-60mph time of 10.8 seconds and a top speed of 90mph, comparable with the rest of the Soul range.
Recharging takes 10-13 hours for a full charge from a standard UK domestic supply although this can be reduced using a branded wallbox which comes with the Soul EV as standard.
The Soul EV can also be rapid charged in 30 minutes to 80 per cent battery capacity.
To fit in a new battery drivetrain beneath the floor, Kia has slightly compromised the rear-seat legroom by 80mm and lost 31 litres of boot space, bringing its total luggage capacity to 281 litres.
The Soul EV is well equipped though with standard equipment including eight-inch touch-screen with European mapping, reversing camera and charging point locator, automatic air conditioning with the driver-only function, heated front seats, a smart key with a motor start-stop button, projection headlights with LED daytime running lamps, privacy glass on the rear windows and tailgate and 16-inch lightweight alloy wheels.
In-car entertainment includes a DAB RDS radio with MP3 compatibility, steering wheel-mounted controls, USB and AUX ports and Bluetooth with voice recognition and music streaming. Safety is taken care of by Anti-lock Brakes with Emergency Brake Assist, Electronic Stability Control, Vehicle Stability Management, Hill-start Assist, Emergency Stop Signalling, a Tyre Pressure Monitoring system and six airbags.
Kia is likely to supply no more than 200 Soul EVs in the UK, already reporting that supply from its factory in Korea will be ‘extremely limited’.
A network of 13 specially trained UK dealers will sell the Soul EV.
Source: Green Car Website
BERKELEY, CALIF. — Laggards rarely garner praise. But the foot-dragging way that Kia went about producing the 2015 Soul EV, the company’s first all-electric model in the United States, was a stroke of slacker genius.
The battery-powered Soul went on sale in California last week, its arrival trailing more than 20 other electric and plug-in hybrid cars that have been offered to American customers.
Unlike Nissan, for example, which made a multibillion-dollar all-in gamble on E.V.s, Kia held back, watching and carefully tallying the progress. More important, perhaps, Kia took note of the missteps of major automakers and the many stumbling E.V. start-ups as it readied battery-powered cars for the road.
Kia’s good decisions started with the choice of the Soul as a platform. It’s not only that the trademark groovy design of the gas-powered Soul is a proven success, on track for some 150,000 sales in 2014. And it’s not just that the hamsters in the ads are so cute, or that the Soul served as an appropriately modest limo for Pope Francis on his visit to South Korea in August.
What’s important is that for a relatively small car, the Soul can carry a hefty 27 kilowatt-hour load of batteries.
“We actually would have preferred a little bit more,” said Steve Kosowski, manager for long-range strategy at Kia Motors America. “But there’s no more room under there.”
Read more: NY Times