Hamsters, in case you haven’t noticed, have very small feet. So does the 2015 Soul EV. It’s a battery-electric vehicle, not only is it, well, sorta small, it’s carbon footprint—for those who believe—is downright tiny.

Not only does it have no “point of use” emissions—where the electricity come from is beyond its control—it’s also into eco materials and other “earth-friendly” bits and procedures.

Take the drivetrain. Under the hood of the is a liquid-cooled AC synchronous permanent magnet motor has multi-layer magnets, improving efficiency. The motor produces only 109 horsepower but it’s rated at 210 lb.-ft. of torque, and since that comes at zero rpm, the Soul EV fairly leaps off the line.

Drive is via the front wheels through a single-speed constant-ratio gear reduction unit. The faster it goes, the faster the motor spins. Period. The electric motor requires no shifting, as usual with electric cars.

Kia places the batteries for the Soul EV are under the floor. Only several inches thick, the batteries are stacked to fit under the front seats without raising their h-point, the distance of the occupants’ hips from the floor of the vehicle. The floor behind the front seat, however, is raised to allow the batteries to fit. There’s minimal reduction in rear seat leg room, however, because the seats are moved rearward, Instead of legs hanging down, the rear passengers’ feet ride further forward. The seat is still high enough—the Soul has a high seating position to begin with—and because the boxy Soul has generous head room, that doesn’t change because the rear h-point doesn’t change.

The Soul EV also puts more battery packs in the space otherwise used for the gas-powered Soul’s fuel tank, and all batteries cooled via a fan in the erstwhile spare tire well. A lot of electric conversions lose trunk space because the batteries, but because the Soul EV are under the floor and where the fuel tank would go, the rear cargo space of 18.8 cu.-ft. (with rear seats up) doesn’t change. The 120v charger also fits in the trunk in a special place under the floor.

Charging ports are behind a swing-out panel in the middle of the Soul EV’s grille. Two charging ports are standard, including a SAE J1772 port for Level 1 and Level 2 AC, and a CHAdeMo DC fast-charging port (480v).

A fully depleted battery will take 24 hours to recharge using a standard 120v outlet, but plug it into a 240v outlet and the time drops to less than five. A similarly no-charge battery can be brought up to 80-percent charge in as little as 33 minutes with a 50 kW-output DC fast charger.

Of course, no one runs a battery completely to the bottom of the electric pail, so real life charging times will be less, especially if the electric Soul driver takes advantage of opportunistic charging in mid-trip. For home charging Kia has partnered with Bosch, Leviton and AeroVironment so Soul EV owners can get the best unit for their applications…and so Kia doesn’t have to worry about stocking its own branded charger.

The 2015 Kia Soul EV can be spotted by the closed-off “tiger” grille of the standard Soul, though the outline of the grille is kept both for identity and to point out, hey, that thing ain’t got no radiator grille. Cooling air—even running batteries and the electric motor creates heat—is brought in under the front bumper.

Other cues to the 2015 Kia Soul EV are the color accent trim in the front and rear fascias, projector headlights, LED “positioning lamps”, and LED tail lights, which look like “E 3” when viewed from behind. The Soul EV gets 16-inch alloy wheels unique to the model, with super low rolling resistance (SLRR) tires that have 10 percent less drag than regular tires for better range.

The Soul EV also has “EcoElectric” badges on the front fenders for those who don’t get it otherwise. At first, the Soul EV will come in four color schemes, Caribbean Blue lower body with Clear White roof, Shadow Black lower body with Inferno Red roof, Titanium Gray, and Clear White.

The Soul EV will be offered in two trim levels, the base Soul EV and the upgrade Soul EV +, priced at $33,700 and $35,700 respectively. The EV+ will most easily identified by its standard fog lights.

Changes in the interior go beyond the change in the rear seat. The instrument panel replaces the tachometer of the gas models with a charge/power/recharge dial. The dial also includes “fuel gauge” and a large digital number for the range in miles remaining.

Between that dial and the speedometer, the Soul EV has a 3.5-inch OLED screen that displays data on the vehicle’s energy flow, charging time, ECO driving level and energy economy, which measures how efficiently the battery is operating. It’s also where the Soul EV tells you it’s running out of battery charge, as our test vehicle did when it reached 20 percent remaining.

An eight-inch capacitive-touch navigation screen is standard on the Soul EV. The navigation system, in addition to the usual nav duties, tracks the closest recharging stations. Introduced for the first time on the Soul EV, UVO EV Services includes downloadable apps that allow EV owners to download Yelp 6, the online urban city guide, along with iHeartRadio digital radio service, and Sound Hound, which listens to what’s playing and displays all related information such as lyrics, the artist, title and album cover art.

Interested in reducing your “carbon footprint”? The 2015 Kia Soul EV helps with what it’s made of. Instead of petroleum based fabrics, the headliner uses stuff made from corn and sugar.

The Kia Soul EV with a heat pump instead of conventional (for electric vehicles) electric resistance heating. Air conditioning and heating are a big drain on battery life, Kia runs the usual a/c compressor “run backwards” to operate as a heat pump. The Soul EV also has a setting for just the driver, directing heated/cooled air at the driver only, for solo driving or when the driver is feeling particularly selfish.

The HVAC system can also be scheduled to pre-heat or cool the passenger compartment while the Soul EV is still plugged into the charger, so you can drive off fully charged, and not have to consume battery charge on heat up/cool down. Air intake control regulates inner and outer air flow to reduce HVAC usage, regulating interior temperature by carefully managing recirculated cabin air. Still, range will be affected by ambient outdoor air temperature.

According to Kia, the 2015 Kia Soul EV has a range of about 93 miles. That’s conservative, per the distance we drove. Unfortunately, we didn’t take note of exactly how far we travelled, but we were approaching that distance when the Soul EV gave us the 20 percent warning.

Otherwise, the 2015 Kia Soul EV impressed us with its transparent operation. Other than being quieter, there was little reason to think that the Soul EV was anything but a regular everyday automobile. Well, the silence and that the Soul was, in a word, slow. Kia says zero-to-sixty takes about 12 seconds. It sucks up battery charge, of course, to do that, so most people won’t. But merging into fast traffic will require planning, even if it’s easy to accidentally cruise at hyper-legal speeds, thanks to the Soul EV being so quiet.

Drivers can extend range with a mode selection, however. The standard drive “D” mode imitates what drivers are used to, with an easy coast-down. ActiveEco, set via pushbutton, increases regenerative braking over standard drive, and slows accelerator tip in. Placing the shift lever in “B,” however, greatly increases regenerative braking, which allows “one-pedal” driving. Lift the pedal and the car slows as if the regular service brakes were used.

That’s probably the way hamsters would drive. Or maybe not. You never know with hamsters. Except that when they drive a Kia Soul EV, they have a very small carbon footprint.

Source: Examiner

Since the Kia Soul EV’s UK launch in October 2014, its official range of 132 miles has been a positive talking point as it brings a new benchmark to its class.

To prove that the Kia really is capable of 132 miles on a single charge, Kia Motors UK set up a real-world range test, independently conducted and verified by Next Green Car. The test was conducted on 18th December 2014, with Dr Ben Lane, Next Green Car’s Managing Editor behind the wheel throughout.

Navigating the highs and lows of Somerset and Wiltshire’s cities, towns, villages and countryside, a specially designed route was planned to ensure all road types and traffic environments were included.

Bristol’s bumper to bumper traffic, A and B roads, hill climbs and descents, plus the high speed demands of the M4 were all part of the route to ensure real world conditions, with the aim of representing the wide variety of motorists’ daily journeys.

Bringing further authenticity to the test, the weather was not particularly favourable. With an average temperature of 8 degrees centigrade throughout the day, coupled with both light and heavy rain, it dampened performance slightly, triggered heavier traffic and used more battery power for on board heating, windscreen wipers and headlights. Throughout the test, satellite navigation and heated seats were used as and when required.

Although initially skeptical that the claimed range would be achieved, we can report that the actual range achieved on the day over the test route was an impressive 125.3 miles; we actually ran out of route to discharge the battery completely with a further nine available miles showing on the display. This implies that the Kia Soul EV does indeed have potential driving range of 134.9 miles, validating the claimed range.

According to Dr Ben Lane of Next Green Car: “The Kia Soul EV is an impressive drive with one of the best driving ranges in its class and welcome entrant to the UK electric vehicle line-up. The 27 kWh lithium-ion battery gives the Soul EV an official range of 132 miles beating everything but the Model S. The range test we conducted demonstrates that it is possible to achieve this range in typical UK driving conditions.

“The Soul EV also scores highly on the use of low impact materials including bio-degradable plastic, bio-foam and bio-fabric which are all used in the interior.”

The Soul EV comes with tax as well as emission benefits. Zero tail-pipe emissions mean zero London Congestion Charge and zero car tax (Vehicle Excise Duty). Priced from £24,995 the Soul EV isn’t cheap but it does come with Kia’s class-leading 7-year warranty.

With the test concluded, Next Green Car’s only criticism is that Kia is only making limited numbers available for the UK market in 2015. With the Soul EV as its first EV offering, Kia should have no trouble in taking a good slice of the future EV markey share.

Read more and see video: Next Green Car

It was a cold and rainy day in New York City, a thick fog ominously blanketing Manhattan in a muffling layer of grey. I had made my way into the city to spend an afternoon with the all-new 2015 Kia Soul EV, the company’s first all-electric, zero-emissions vehicle, and I was excited at the opportunity despite the Lovecraftian weather. How would the Soul, a car known as a fun, quirky, and uppity Urban Passenger Vehicle, handle the transition from piston power to electromagnetic locomotion? Would its range estimates hold true, or would anxiety creep in? How would the added battery weight affect its ability to handle Brooklyn’s dilapidated tarmac? I was about to find out.

Range

Let’s start with the #1 concern for electric vehicle buyers: range. Kia proudly proclaims an EPA estimated range rating of 93 miles with an MPGe of 92 miles highway and 120 miles city for a combined mileage of 105 miles. That pride is deserved, as it puts it second in the range department, behind only Tesla, but ahead of other competitors like the Ford Focus Electric or the Nissan Leaf. It’s a decent helping of miles, sure, but still not high enough for a prospective buyer to contemplate venturing very far outside city limits. This is not so much Kia’s fault as it is the reality of current EV technology.

Within the city however, I found that the car’s estimates were pretty much spot on. I drove from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, and back to Carlstadt in New Jersey, for a roughly 45 mile trip. The car had been delivered to me with 89 miles of range, and I returned it with 43 miles left on the dial. This included two or three wide-open-throttle passes, and a fair amount of idling time, so I was impressed at the accuracy. Yes, while 93 miles isn’t as comforting as carrying around a 400 mile tankful of fossil juice, you should at least know that what you see on the dashboard really is what you get in real life.

Performance

The Soul EV carries a highly energy-dense battery that weighs 620 pounds, and is located in the floor, beneath the seats. This both lowers the center of gravity and stabilizes the cabin in potholes, contributing to a more comfortable, planted ride. The 60-volt, 192-cell, lithium-ion polymer, gel-electrolyte battery battery pack has a capacity of 27kWh, and an output of 81kW (109hp) and 210 lb.-ft. of instantaneous torque. And we need to emphasize that “instantaneous”, as this is the saving grace of otherwise seemingly underpowered electric motors. You get all your torque the second you step on the pedal, with no build-up like in a traditional combustion engine. This, coupled with the single-speed constant-ratio gear reduction unit, means you get pushed back into your seat and remain there with zero interruptions until you let off. Sure, the 0-60 times aren’t stellar, hovering around 11 seconds, but you don’t care as much because it feels fast. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe to someone who’s spent their life driving vehicles that need to take tiny breaks between gears. But the point is that although the Soul EV is not a sports car, it definitely doesn’t feel sluggish.

Comfort and Silence

Additionally, the motor is almost completely silent. Kia explains this by saying that the “liquid-cooled AC synchronous permanent magnet motor uses multi-layer magnets to help improve efficiency and reduce the whine common to most electric vehicles.” This is important, because there’s nothing more annoying when you’re flooring it than to make a raucous; on a vehicle that outputs a little over 100hp, it’s great being able to squeeze every drop of power without alerting the entire neighbourhood that your ride is at its limits. Given the motor’s silence, all you’re left with is road noise and wind, which is kept at a minimum thanks to excellent sound-proofing.

Read more: Oh Gizmo