Kia Debuts Soul-Based Trail’ster Hybrid Concept
The latest in a line of funky Soul concepts has a 2-tone color scheme, canvas rollback roof and uses an e-AWD system.
February 12, 2015
Kia uses its 2015 Chicago auto show stage to debut another in a line of concepts based on its Soul compact car.
The all-wheel-drive Trail’ster marries an urban and outdoor vehicle for, in Kia’s words, the “city-dweller-turned-outdoor-adventurer.”
“The Trail’ster concept is a near-future look at how the production Kia Soul would logically evolve into an AWD-capable version that’s built to escape the city streets and roam into the mountain wilderness,” Tom Kearns, chief designer-Kia Design Center of America (KDCA) in Irvine, CA, says in a statement.
The Trail’ster has a 2-tone paint scheme of Polar Pearl Snowdrift and Terra Bronze Metallic, in a nod to the springtime snow and mud the vehicle might encounter. High-tech outdoor sporting gear inspired the anodized fire-red wheel accents and polished billet aluminum sections.
A full-length rollback canvas roof and aluminum skid plates are both fun and functional, with the former lowering vehicle weight and center of gravity, and the latter protecting the undercarriage from jagged rocks, Kia says.
Interior materials, including brown leather and aluminum trim, were inspired by high-end snow sports equipment such as gloves, boots and helmets, says Kearns. Seats trimmed in brown leather include inserts of pillow-embossed textile and floor mats boast aluminum inlays.
Kia calls the center console the focal point of the Trail’ster’s interior, thanks to a sturdy shifter and bright-red ignition button.
The Trail’ster uses Hyundai/Kia’s 185-hp 1.6L turbocharged 4-cyl. and 6-speed automatic transmission, paired to an electric AWD system on the vehicle’s rear axle. Kia say e-AWD is intended for low-speed assist, enhanced launch acceleration and improved traction during bad weather or off-roading. E-AWD also provides instant torque and improves fuel economy more than a traditional AWD system by operating on an as-needed basis.
A 270V AC synchronous permanent magnet electric motor placed in the rear, rather than inside the transmission and using a common driveline connection, makes the Trail’ster a through-the-road hybrid, Kia says. The rear motor is powered by a 1.2 kWh lithium-ion battery.
The 27-kW (35-hp) motor brings total system output to 220 hp. Torque goes to 285 lb.-ft. (386 Nm) from 185 lb.-ft. (251 Nm) with the 4-cyl. alone.
A hybrid starter/generator starts and stops the engine as needed.
If the Trail’ster reached production, Kia says it would expect a 25%-30% improvement in city fuel economy and a 5%-10% improvement in highway mileage over the ’15 Soul with its 164-hp 2.0L gas engine.
The ’15 2.0L Soul with a 6AT is rated at 23 mpg (10.2 L/100 km) city and 31 mpg (7.6 L/100 km) highway.
If Kia officials’ comments regarding similar prior concepts are any indication, a production model of the Trail’ster isn’t likely in the cards.
Kia officials told WardsAuto in 2010 that a production version of the open-air 2009 Soul’ster concept was cost prohibitive, due to the amount of structural re-engineering of the Soul it would require.
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