Kia Electrifies Our Soul

DANA POINT, CA – Kia’s first electric vehicle for the U.S. comes in the form of the Soul, the compact box that already has racked up more than 100,000 deliveries this year.

Not only is it a smart move to electrify a hot seller, but smarter still to put an electric powertrain in a vehicle like the Soul because, despite 11 full or partial EVs on sale in the U.S., no other mass-market entry has the kind of design presence of the C-segment Kia.

The car’s cute-squared styling, which is just slightly tweaked for the EV version, makes it an immediate draw in a segment that sometimes takes itself too seriously.

The Soul’s cargo capacity, barely compromised for the EV, is another arrow in Kia’s quiver.

While it is outdone by the Leaf’s surprisingly roomy seats-up cargo space, which clocks in at 24.0 cu.-ft. (0.7 cu.-m), the Soul can carry 18.8 cu.-ft. (0.5 cu.-m), including the space above and beneath the load floor.

The Fiat 500e, while a blast to drive, holds a mere 7.0 cu.-ft. (0.2 cu.-m). Heck, you’re lucky to get a duffle bag in the backseat.

The Soul EV was developed in conjunction with the internal-combustion-engine Soul, which was all-new for ’14. This allowed Kia to engineer the car’s structure and layout for the electric powertrain and accommodate the Soul EV’s lithium-ion battery pack below the passenger compartment floor.

The pack intrudes just slightly into the second-row floor, resulting in a 3.0-in. (75-mm) hump at the feet of the middle-seat passenger. Kia engineers moved the hip point of that seat back so knees wouldn’t be at chest level.

The Soul EV is powered by a 109-hp, 210-lb.-ft. (285 Nm) 360V AC synchronous magnet motor fueled by a 27-kWh Li-ion pack, giving the car a 93-mile (150-km) EPA-estimated range and 105 MPGe combined.

The range puts the Soul second only to the 208-mile (335-km) Tesla Model S among U.S. EVs. (The Toyota RAV4 EV being discontinued has a 103-mile [166-km] combined range.)

In real-world driving here on a typical sunny, warm California day, we travel 48 miles (77 km) on just 40 miles (64 km) of range – impressive, especially given the hilly topography of Orange County.

A Quiet Soul

Kia engineers use multi-layer magnets to limit the type of motor whine present in the Leaf, so we detect virtually no powertrain noise during our time behind the wheel.

On surface roads, the Soul EV is eerily quiet, a result of Kia’s work with adhesives and insulation to silence the cabin.

A full underbody pan and other aerodynamic tweaks that direct airflow also reduce noise.

However, the ultra-quiet cabin has a downside: Wind noise is more pronounced, especially at higher speeds. This is true on a highway stretch of SR 261 in Irvine on what admittedly is a particularly windy day. Gusts buffet off our Soul EV’s upright pillars, but listening to the radio at even a moderate level drowns out most of the whooshing and whistling.

As is typical of EVs, the Soul’s motor has instant torque for fast, quiet and seemingly endless acceleration.

The car’s braking is linear, with none of the grabby-ness that plagued early green vehicles. The Soul EV uses Kia’s third-generation regenerative braking system, recovering up to 12% more energy in deceleration mode.

Noting Li-ion degradation troubles competitors (i.e. Nissan) have experienced in hot-weather states, Kia engineers made sure the air-cooled battery pack is robust enough to withstand a summer in Phoenix. The key, officials say, is bathing the pack’s carbon-graphite anode and nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode in a gel electrolyte.

This improves not only thermal stability but distance-to-empty, as well, with Kia noting how some competitors’ projected range can fluctuate wildly, especially in extreme temperatures.

To wring the most range out of the Soul EV’s powertrain, Kia uses a heat-pump-based heating and air-conditioning system, which combines those functions into a single circuit, for 27% greater efficiency than a traditional climate-control systems, says Kia Motors America’s Steve Kosowski, manager of long-range planning.

To further limit the HVAC system’s draw on range, a driver-only ventilation-system button shuts down all vents not focused on the driver, and the Soul EV also uses air-induction control to match the interior and exterior temperatures.

A somewhat-rare feature for the Soul EV is the inclusion of a 480V DC “fast” charging port alongside a 120V/240V port. The fast-charge port is located on the car’s front fascia, hidden behind a movable panel on the grille. Up to now only the Leaf, Mitsubishi i-MiEV and more recently the Model S, have been capable of fast-charging.

At the 17 California Kia dealers that will sell the Soul EV, the automaker will install at least one 480V charger, which can re-juice the Soul EV’s battery from empty to 80% in 30 minutes. That should raise the number of fast chargers in the state by 9%, Kia says.

Charging will take roughly 4-4.5 hours on 240V and 24 hours with the standard 120V unit included with the car.

Overall the Soul EV, thanks to its wide-and-low nature, is oodles of fun to drive, although perhaps a smidge less than the smaller Fiat 500e due to its relatively tall stature, which can make the Kia feel tippy in tight corners.

Steering feel leans heavy in all three of the driver-selectable modes: normal, comfort and sport. As with previous Kias with this system, the differences between all three are negligible.

We Hate to Complain But

It’s hard to find any big flaws with the car, but a few minor gripes do come to mind.

The color palette is too narrow, with just blue, silver, white and black available. The internal-combustion-engine Soul comes in some fun, bright colors, like Alien 2 (lime green) and Solar Yellow.

The blue which comes standard with a white roof is the zaniest look, although it reads a tad Mini Cooper.

The design update to the rear taillights, which have a unique array of LEDs, is attractive, but the front charge door on the grille looks unbalanced, with an indentation on the right but not the left.

The interior, although with the type of superb materials and fit-and-finish that won the ’14 Soul a spot on Ward’s 10 Best Interiors list, is blah with rental-car-gray leather.

The cloth seats, however, are super cool, with fabric that is bio-based and resembles the lining of your favorite fleece slippers. Kia says the fabric meets the same durability requirements as the petroleum-based cloth seating in the ICE Soul.

The headliner also uses bio-based materials but looks a lot like the dreaded mouse fur that is almost, finally, dead. But it’s green, so we can give them a pass.

The Soul’s excellent 8-in. (20-cm) touchscreen carries over for the Soul EV, boasting some of the best graphics and resolution in the industry.

Kia’s UVO eServices telematics system is free for five years on the Soul EV and includes all the information an EV driver needs, such as a map showing the nearest charging stations.

The Soul EV, disappointingly, will be a California-only model at launch. But Kia executives swear it is not a compliance car, a la the departing Toyota RAV4 EV, to satisfy California Air Resources Board emissions’ regulations.

Kia wants to launch the car in Oregon and in East Coast states and believes it has the right vehicle.

“The design is so iconic…I think it’s going to be a homerun,” Michael Sprague, Kia’s executive vice president-sales and marketing, tells WardsAuto.

We tend to agree, especially when you add in the Soul EV’s relative affordability. One can lease the car in California starting in early October for just $249 per month for 36 months, with $1,999 due at signing.

Factor in $7,500 in federal tax credits, and the Soul EV can be had for the same price as a conventional model.

The Soul EV starts at $33,700 and the Soul EV Plus, which adds creature comforts such as heated second-row seats, at $35,700. That’s $26,200 and $28,200 after the federal credits.

While most EVs are similarly priced, the Soul EV’s combination of style, range, and cargo- and people-hauling capability charges us, and the EV segment in the U.S., up.

[email protected]

'15 Kia Soul EV Specifications