2015 Kia Soul EV

 

Source: Kia.com

I have to admit that the 2015 Kia Soul EV took me by surprise, big time. I drove a Soul last year and it was cute and fun. The girls liked it more than I did.  Then the EV in ‘Clear White’ arrived and I got a bit of a crush.  First, it has a Star Wars Storm Trooper quality to it inside and out.  That got me excited to drive it right away.  Then, I spent a week with it and didn’t want to give it back.

This car is electric.  It contains a DC Fast Charge port (480V) and a 27kWh Lithium Ion polymer battery.   I used ChargePoint.com to find charging stations that did quick charges (2-3 hours for a full charge) and DC Fast Charge (30-40 minutes for 80% charge). There were more stations near me than I even knew.  Charging it up was easy, but daily, my one issue.  The radius is about 96 miles per full charge. That is just fine for me as I work from home and drive the kids to and from activities in town or run errands. However, the trips into the city and further out would not be as easy.  I found myself plugging the car in each night, just to be safe.  Home charging without an actual charging station (about $499) takes longer; it is called a trickle charge.  That took 12 hours and every morning the car was ready to go.

And did it go!  I was shocked by three things on the Kia Soul EV.  The first being that it had real power.  Some hybrids don’t even accelerate so easily and quickly.  I loved it!  Being the dork that I am, I totally envisioned myself in some little star-craft zipping past my enemies.  Yup, I totally did.

Not only that but the car is quiet. That is completely normal for an electric car but there was so little road noise too, which is far less than you would expect in a car so square. The car has a bubble effect that is quite fun.

Lastly, the most surprising part was the AC in this car was amazing.  It blasted away in every mode without differentiation or sucking up power.  My SUV cannot idle and do that.  The Soul EV sat in a parking lot on a 90 degree day for 30 minutes just blowing cool air on the girls and me as we waited for an appointment.  Such a relief! You can even preheat or precool the car before you drive it, even if it is charging.  That’s a nice touch, Kia.

While driving the Kia Soul EV I drove it both in standard ‘drive’ mode and in ‘B’ mode.  To save power I used the regenerative braking to capture that kinetic energy which then goes back to the battery.  It takes some getting used to as the car goes into a real slow-roll with its resistance tires but after driving it a little while I could anticipate how much the car would slow down and compensate.

In addition, to all the other parts of the Soul EV that just made me fall hard, the car has a really big windshield.  You can see so much and that also translates to the rearview camera.  The dash rear-camera display is large and bright.  I have a tricky driveway that curves a few times and this was the only car that made backing out feel simple and not a chore.

Kia’s aim with this Soul was to make it as technologically advanced as they could while still making it fun to drive. Mission accomplished.  The standard 10-year/100,000-mile warranty also applies making this zero emissions vehicle a great way to travel.  MSRP $35,825, as reviewed with options $36,625.

 

*Vehicle provided by DriveShop.  TMC was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.