2015 Kia Soul EV Review

This isn’t to say I’ve never driven an electric vehicle, but in the instances where I have driven one, my seat time is generally limited and takes place along a pre-planned drive routes set up by an automaker, which are obviously chosen to maximize the particular EV’s strengths. The sole exception being the full day I got to spend with a Tesla Roadster a few years ago in Miami, FL – where you’re going to run out of patience well before you run out of battery charge. Range anxiety – real leave-you-on-the-side-of-the-road range anxiety – here I come.

My time with the 2015 Kia Soul EV started off on the right foot with the car arriving in my driveway (on a trailer) with a fully charged battery showing a 95-mile (153 km) range, which was already two more miles than the EPA rates it at. For the first couple of days, my driving was limited to runs to the daycare or the grocery store most in the moderate traffic for which the Tampa area is known. Within a few days, I had put 34 miles (55 km) on the Soul EV, and I still had about a 90-percent charge (or an estimated 85 miles).

More importantly, I did so without resorting to annoying hypermiling techniques. I can’t stand drivers who take off from a light at a snail’s pace or start slowing down for a red light a half mile away – nor do I have the patience to drive in such a manner.

I can definitely see why some people would think such driving tactics are acceptable, though, since the Soul EV (along with all electric vehicles and hybrids) are at their best in stop-and-go city driving. In city driving, I did find myself driving more conservative than I normally would even in a plug-in hybrid, but I was still testing the EV’s acceleration as often as possible. If anything, the best way I found to improve my mileage was shifting the gear selector to “B” enabling maximum regenerative braking allowing the Soul EV to recover about 9 to 12 percent of the kinetic energy normally lost during braking, according to Kia.

My bout with range anxiety didn’t actually happen until several days after I had received the car as I needed to get from my house to downtown St Petersburg, FL to meet up with some friends, and although I had that 85 miles (137 km) of range with which to make the roughly 70 miles (113 km) round trip, it didn’t really leave me with too much wiggle room if there was a detour or some unexpected change of plans.

After spending most of the week in city traffic, it was nice to get the Kia Soul EV out on the open road, but getting to my destination in St. Pete, I was pretty easy on the car making sure to keep my speed in check and not being too heavy on the accelerator as I drove the 34.73 miles. I arrived at my destination with 54 miles of range remaining (a drop of 31) having traveled 4.3 miles per kWh.

But the good news is that I didn’t even need to worry about range since downtown St. Pete is very forward thinking and offers plenty of EV charging stations. Hooking up to public charger was a surprisingly simple ordeal. Although most EV owners will probably get a card that can be swiped at the charger to begin a session, I had to call the toll-free phone number located on the unit.

After about seven minutes on the phone confirming the charger’s location and unit number as well as the car type, my name and my email address, the operator started my session allowing me to hook up to the 240-volt charger. Better yet, this particular ChargePoint station was free. Score!

When I got back to the Soul EV about three hours later, the battery was fully charged, so I took the opportunity to have a little more fun with the car. This turned out to be the true test for how impressed/disappointed I would be with the electric Soul without having to baby the throttle and really learn how the car handled. Even with my heavy-footed acceleration, my results didn’t vary all that much from my initial trip. On my way home, the car said that I had traveled 34.73 miles at a rate of 3.7 miles per kWh. This either proves that the Kia Soul EV is that good, or my best attempts at driving efficiently are that bad.

Living near such an EV-friendly area made driving the Soul EV much more enjoyable, but for buyers not close to public chargers, the car’s standard UVO EV services picks up the slack. Before you even start a trip, the navigation system shows a map with circles around the car’s location showing two possible ranges – one that is conservative and one that is a worst-case, run-the-battery-dead scenario.

Recharging the battery depends on your power source: a 24-hour recharge time using the supplied 110-volt cord and 4-5 hours on a 240-volt, which most EV buyers will probably have at their house, but the Kia Soul EV also has a standard 480-volt DC Fast Charge port that allows for an 80-percent charge in just 33 minutes.

The main EV screen shows range, nearby stations and the current charge status of the battery, and there are also separate pages that make driving an EV easier including an easy-to-use list showing nearby charging stations and real-time energy usage.

This latter aspect is actually pretty interesting to see where you can save power in the car: those LED parking lights look cool, but they tack on a few tenths of a kW; the heated seats are awesome when the temperature drops, but heating your rump draws plenty of current; and getting hard on the throttle draws a lot of kWs in short order.

The accelerator pedal might be the easiest way to conserve battery power, but it’s also the most entertaining part of the 2015 Kia Soul EV. On paper, the electric Soul doesn’t seem all that impressive with a 21-hp drop and 500-pound weight gain compared to a base 2015 Soul not to mention a 0-60 time of 11.2 seconds and a top speed limited to 90 mph (145 kph), but boy is it ever fun to drive especially in the city. As long as it takes to get this car up to 60 mph, acceleration from to 0-30 mph is brisk.

That’s thanks to the Soul EV’s 109-hp (81-kW) AC synchronous permanent magnet electric motor fed by a 27-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery. The best part of driving an EV, though, is the instantaneous torque, which in this case is 210 lb-ft (285 Nm) of torque. Not only is that 59 lb-ft (80 Nm) of torque more than the optional 2.0-liter direct-injected engine in the Soul (where the 151 lb-ft/205 Nm of torque peaks at 4,000 rpm), but it’s all available right off the line.

In terms of overall range, the EPA says that the 2015 Kia Soul EV can drive 93 miles (150 km) on a full charge, which is superior to class rivals such as the Chevrolet Spark EV, Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen e-Golf, Fiat 500e, Ford Focus Electric and 2014 Honda Fit EV. I found that even being moderately aggressive on the throttle still returns the EPA-rated range; in other words, unlike a gasoline-powered car or a hybrid, you don’t have to baby the Soul EV to get actual mileage figures to match up with the car’s official numbers.

As for the MPGe, the Soul EV has lower EPA ratings than its smaller rivals with MPGe estimates of 120 city, 92 highway and 105 in combined driving. Perhaps the closest to the Soul EV’s range and size, though, is the Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive. Talk about two unlikely rivals competing in an even more unlikely segment.

This is mostly thanks to a brake pedal that isn’t soft and spongy like most EVs and hybrids. There is a slight delay at first, but the responsiveness and stopping distance of the Soul EV isn’t unlike many economy cars – you’re not going to stop on a dime, but it doesn’t feel like a safety hazard either. Likewise, the steering feels just like any other compact hatchback these days especially as electric power steering is now available across the auto industry.

Kia says that the second-generation Soul was designed with the EV model in mind, so the body and chassis were developed for the battery pack to sit below the passenger compartment rather than stuffing it into the cargo area. While the Soul EV is much heavier than the Soul, all of the added weight is low and in between the wheels, which makes for some pretty impressive handling maneuvers but it still comes with the kicking and screaming of the Nexen N’blue EV super low rolling resistance tires (these 16-inch tires are designed specifically for use with EVs, and they even have a cool little circuit board pattern printed on the sidewall).

A pucker-worthy lesson I learned while driving the Soul EV over a set of train tracks is that the lack of an engine makes the nose of the car extremely light and going, so it doesn’t take much to unload the suspension and lighten the steering when going over a raised up train crossing or speed hump at about 30 mph. Let’s just say that I’m glad there wasn’t an immediate turn after the crossing or I would have been in real trouble.

On the road (especially older asphalt roads), there is noticeably more road noise that makes its way into the Soul EV compared to the standard Soul, but maybe that’s just due to the fact that you can simply hear more road noise since there is no engine noise. Speaking of noise, the Soul EV also emits an audible sound at low speeds and in reverse to warn nearby pedestrians.

In a similar fashion as its all-electric powertrain, the 2015 Kia Soul EV receives a unique interior comprised of eco-friendly materials. The white trim found on the center console and around the gear selector is actually an environmentally friendly BTX-free paint, while plastics developed from organic materials such as cellulose and sugar cane (rather than petroleum) are used throughout the interior such as the door panels, headliner and carpet.

The headliner has a hard, plasticky feel to it, but it’s hard to complain about the look and feel of other interior components. Standard equipment for Soul EV seats is the eco-friendly cloth with a soft feel almost like t-shirt material. This cloth comes only in a light grey color with light blue stitching, but for a more upscale look and feel, leather seats are available as an option.

The packaging of the battery pack low and central under the Soul is done in a way that it has minimal effects on interior space. Overall, the cabin of the Soul EV is four cubic feet (113 liters) smaller than the gas-powered Soul and rear seat legroom has been reduced by three inches (7.5 cm), but with the Soul already having one of the most spacious cabins in this class of small cars, rear-passenger comfort is still plentiful.

Copious amounts of headroom and legroom are available for all passengers, and there’s plenty of room for cargo, too. While many EVs sacrifice cargo room to make room for the battery, the Soul EV’s cargo capacity is the same as the Soul with 18.8 cubic feet (532 liters) behind the rear seats and a total of 49.5 cubic feet (1,400 liters) with the rear seats folded and includes the tray hidden under the rear cargo floor.

To the trained eye, it is fairly easy to spot the 2015 Kia Soul EV thanks to its unique front end styling that includes a new hood, LED-accented headlights and a closed-off, aero-tuned front fascia that also includes a larger version of Kia’s Tiger Nose grille that hides a lighted compartment for both charging ports.

There’s also the aero-improving aluminum wheels and the EV-specific taillights, and even the actual badging that distinguishes this car as an electric vehicle are surprisingly toned down with an “Eco electric” badge on each fender and one on the liftgate. The Kia Soul EV is available with four EV-specific color combinations, but this tester’s two-tone scheme with Caribbean Blue accented with a white roof and door mirrors is arguably the best choice.

This was demonstrated by the fact that it got little attention when driven or parked. One person even questioned if the car was really electric… as I was plugging in the aforementioned charging cable. The Soul EV is far less flashy than Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf and the only electric car that might be more low-key than the Soul EV is the VW e-Golf. More importantly, this is a Kia Soul, so good looks come standard.

There’s still a price premium to pay for electric vehicles, and the 2015 Kia Soul EV’s base MSRP of $33,700 (€35,290) is a fine example of that. On its own, this price is more than double ($18,510/€17,450) what it would cost to buy a gasoline-power 2015 Kia Soul, but factor in the available $7,500 federal tax credit and that would knock the price down to $27,025 – or about the same as a 2015 Soul fully loaded with all the bells and whistles.

That price and this car make complete sense even with gasoline prices currently being at their record lows. The Soul EV I spent a week with had an as-tested price of $34,525 (€30,437), which only tacked on the required destination charge, giving it almost the exact same price as a 2015 Chevy Volt. Opting for the better-equipped Soul EV + will tack on an additional $2,000.

It’s good to see that automakers are venturing deeper into the realm of electric vehicles, but these cars are still in the early adapter phase when it comes to the current automotive industry climate. Aside from the diehard EV enthusiasts or buyers who are inside the limited sales areas of these cars, there really isn’t too much motivation for the general public to wean off gasoline and plug in. That being said, I can definitely see how these cars will benefit mankind and the planet we share, but until the day comes where EVs have a range of around 200 or 300 miles and the infrastructure brings more fast charging capability, it’s hard to envision a world where electric vehicles are mainstream.

For now, though, the 2015 Kia Soul EV is about as mainstream as an EV can get in terms of price, size, practicality and range. Of course, it all comes down to the area in which you live as to whether an EV is a wise purchase decision, but it is easy to say that the Soul EV is the best family- and budget-friendly EV currently on the market. For now, the Soul EV is only on sale in select areas of California, but Kia says that additional markets will be added this year.