Kia Soul EV

[Lump]

I test drove one this morning, overall I was pretty impressed, Sherman Oaks Kia has 2 blue's on the lot but I want to see the grey or black paint, I was told the Soul EV scored 5 star safety rating but they are using the gas versions tests...is that legal?? The cargo space was smaller then I expected, my wife is always team mom & class mom so she is hualing stuff all over, biggest issue is getting her to drive something other then Tesla.

I am recommending it to all of my friends, its a great second car.

 

[Avitt]

I ended up test driving a white Plus at Irvine. Took it up to speed on the freeway, passed some traffic, then back through several traffic lights. I'm impressed. Seems like it will have plenty of pep in town, and didn't feel slow on the freeway. Extra weight gives it a solid feel. Overall, it's a thumbs up from me.

I'm waiting for the Titanium Gray as well...But I have no idea how long that will be. All of the first shipments have been blue or white. (The dealers are trained to sell what they have, so don't even want to talk about the gray or black models.)

 

[RubberToe]

I drove one at Downtown LA Kia yesterday. They had 2 blue and one white, got them in Friday. I'll echo what Lump and Avitt said. I only drove about 2 miles around the local area. Very nice 0-30 acceleration, even in Eco mode. I also put it into B versus D, which is used for one pedal driving. That takes some getting used to, since releasing the accelerator causes serious regen and slowdown. The car does feel very solid, and the leather seats were quite nice too. There is obviously no comparison to a Model S, but for around town driving, with a 90+ mile range, this looks good to go. Per Avitt, the highway performance seems fine too. My miles remaining dropped from 77 to 75 after the drive.

A note on the interior dimensions. I fit fine in the drivers seat, had about 4" headroom, and I'm 6'4". I then tried the back seat, with the front seat left in my position. I also fit in the back seat, slightly less headroom. My knees would not fit directly forward, just barely missed. I had to sit with them in a Y. This would be fine for any reasonable amount of time, not driving to Vegas. I would guess that anyone under 6'2" would be fine in the back seat. There is a small covered cargo area in the back. That is where they had the 110v J-1772 charging cord. Maybe about 36" wide, 18" front to back, and 5" deep. The rest of the back area is pretty small. The rear seats fold down but not completely flat, and the plastic parts on either side that support the cargo cover do not come out and are a bit in the way, check the pictures. The cargo cover itself does come off.

The salesman backed it into a parking space, I wasn't in the car, but looking in from the outside. The rear view camera is a 10x improvement over my 2010 Prius camera. I am also waiting for a black one. The VIN's on the two blue ones were 1925 and 1926. The manager I spoke with said he would honor the $1,999 down and $279 before tax Kia nationwide offer. They get cars every Friday, and will let me know when they have a black one in stock. I would also say that the blue one looks more metallic in person than the web pictures show. I'm leaning toward black.

In general I prefer smaller cars. As much as I love the Model S, I believe a $300/month lease for the Soul EV for 3 years until the Gen 3 comes out will satisfy my desire to get off the gas, and have a practical EV that will cover 95% of my driving needs. The Prius will get us everywhere we need to go when more range is needed. My daily commute is 14 miles round trip, and we have 110v charging at work here, so I really don't even need a home charger. Will likely do that anyway.

RT

 

[Electric700]

Battery Thermal Management Included with the Kia Soul EV

For those of you who were wondering about the battery temperature management in the new Kia Soul EV, I saw that it does have a control system for this:

"The pack incorporates state-of-the-art thermal control technology to maintain individual cells at optimum temperature and structural design to enhance crash worthiness."

From Full Details Released on 2015 Kia Soul EV | Inside EVs

 

[Avitt]

First intelligence I have on the gray and black models is that they will arrive in 45 days.

 

[MartinAustin]

Autoblog Quick Spin, and they seem to like it -

2015 Kia Soul EV Quick Spin - Autoblog

It's good to see a review who actually knows the subject matter he is dealing with. This chap writes about charging times with various supplies, instead of about getting marooned somewhere, or constantly worrying about range. (c.f. Jonny Leibermann)

 

[RubberToe]

A dealer inventory search on the main Kia website shows that the Irvine dealer has 9 Soul EV's in stock. Good tool for finding where they are, not sure how often it is updated though. The Downtown LA salesman said they get cars on Friday, so tomorrow or Saturday we should see updated numbers. And all the current cars are the white or Caribbean Blue.

RT

 

[dhanson865]

I just wish the darn thing didn't look like a retro cardboard box.

retro in that they seem to be doing the 50s two tone look. I prefer my roof to match the body color. I'd rather have tinted glass panoramic roof instead of a 2nd color paint. But I'd rather have the same blue on top than the pano roof (I don't want to have to pay extra for a pano roof on an econobox).

cardboard box in that it reminds be of the first gen scion xD or Nissan cube like someone 3d scanned a cardboard box the size it would take to cover the seats and drive train and turned that into the design for the metal/glass they needed to make a car.

but don't mind me, I actually think the Gen 2/3 Prius (either one) is better looking.

 

[Electroman]

I just wish the darn thing is sold in Texas.

 

[ggies07]

I just wish the darn thing is sold in Texas.

Yes!

 

[RubberToe]

The total within 50 miles dropped from 22 yesterday to 19 today. So, at least we know the counter is getting updated, still unsure how often. There are 81 within 50 miles of San Francisco, and thats the + model.

RT

 

[dhanson865]

Some good data from My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Official Kia Soul EV thread (pages 55-56) follow the link to see the screenshots

mtndew1- The highest regen I've seen is 76 kW during hard braking, leading me to believe that under the correct circumstances the motor would be able to use its full 81 kW for regen.

In B mode the brake lights come on during moderately strong regen, which is strong enough to nearly bring the car to a stop. Not quite i3/Tesla one-pedal driving, but very close. Brake blending is flawless, with none of the clunkiness of the Volt or the unevenness of the Leaf. You can totally drive the Soul one-pedal right up until the last few MPH, when the car tapers the regen greatly. It may actually come to a complete stop but I've been working the brake pedal for the last 5 MPH or so. I'll have to play with it and see if I can get it to stop entirely without the brake. On the freeway, however, I virtually never use the brake pedal because of the strong regen (in B). The 76 kW was when I was on the brake pedal AND off-throttle regen in B mode, coming down an onramp from the freeway. Just wanted to make it clear that the car will not generate this kind of negative torque just from letting off the accelerator pedal.

I began the day at 93% SOC and ended at 65%, so I used 28% to drive 32.74 miles.

billg - Those stats indicate that you used 7.116 kWh. Divide that by 0.28 and you get 25.4 kWh usable capacity.

 

[miimura]

Saw a blue Soul EV in the wild today near Costco in Mountain View.

 

[gene]

I called my local Kia dealer here in Ventura, Ca. I wanted to try the Soul as I'm thinking about one for my girlfriend. The salesman was apologetic that they will not have any as the owner of the dealership feels putting in the required charger and training a tech is not worth it. The salesman told me that the owner does not believe there is interest in EV's. I left my name with them in case the owner changes his mind. If you are in Ventura County, you might call Ventura Kia and let them know of your interest in EV's.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Saw a blue Soul EV in the wild today near Costco in Mountain View.

Saw a white one Sat night in Palo Alto on Charleston.

I like the look of it but, my wife and son find it too boxy. We are waiting for the e-Golf instead; although CHAdeMO is more prevalent than CCS around here, we'll probably never need DC charging for this commuter car.

 

[FreeOfPge]

Saw a blue one in Roseville CA, Sunrise Blvd. and I-80. Immediately called Kia of Roseville thinking they had received inventory, only to find out they will not be selling them. Last month they said they'd have them, not sure what changed.

- - - Updated - - -

Saturday evening 10/25

 

[gene]

Saw a blue one in Roseville CA, Sunrise Blvd. and I-80. Immediately called Kia of Roseville thinking they had received inventory, only to find out they will not be selling them. Last month they said they'd have them, not sure what changed.

- - - Updated - - -

Saturday evening 10/25

If it is like my local dealer, they do not want to invest in a charger install and a tech training session as required by Kia. Further evidence that Tesla's sales model is what works. A dealer who sells ice cars does not want to sell EV's.

 

[FreeOfPge]

If it is like my local dealer, they do not want to invest in a charger install and a tech training session as required by Kia. Further evidence that Tesla's sales model is what works. A dealer who sells ice cars does not want to sell EV's.

It's possible, however it feels like something else is at work here. Perhaps Kia is super-regulating inventory because of the limited supply. Roseville Kia is part of a huge Auto Mall and EVs are selling fast at other dealers in the mall. It seems like they'd want EV inventory on their lot to compete with Chevy, Nissan and Fiat's EVs.

 

[Dave EV]

Tony Williams got 106 miles of range out of a new Soul EV at 62 mph.

My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Official Kia Soul EV thread

A LEAF gets around 84 miles on similar tests.

 

[Electroman]

.. and it has 27kWh of usable capacity exactly like what Kia claims in its website. The only automaker who is truthful in advertising the capacity that really matters to the customer.