Official Kia Soul EV thread

[RonDawg]

In bold ...

Soul EV expected Fall 2014; initially available in certain California markets only with limited availability. Actual limited time lease offer terms and further details to be announced around vehicle launch

This is beginning to look like FCEV. Not even available all over CA - but only selected areas within CA.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program of how well this competes with Leaf. :lol:

Until we know for certain what those "certain California markets" are, that could mean anything from "we'll only sell them within 10 miles of Kia Motors America HQ in Irvine" to "we'll sell them where EVs are currently popular and/or where there is sufficient public charging infrastructure."

Even today, there are parts of California where hours of driving separate Leaf-certified Nissan dealers. For example, along I-5 there are no Leaf-certified Nissan dealers between Redding, CA and Medford, OR, a distance of 150 miles. It's even worse along the Highway 395 corridor, where over 400 miles separate Leaf-certified Nissan dealers (if not all Nissan dealers) in Victorville and Reno.

 

[DanCar]

Because of its boxy shape, highway range might be disappointing compared to the leaf. Will be interesting when comparisons are done.

 

[GRA]

Because of its boxy shape, highway range might be disappointing compared to the leaf. Will be interesting when comparisons are done.

It's now up on the EPA website, and the hwy MPGe of 92 versus 101 for the LEAF indicates that. Most of us expect the 3 extra kWh will pretty much balance out the bigger CdA, but it remains to be seen. It did get 1 mile better EPA range than Kia was previously claiming, 93 instead of 92, for a 9 mile advantage over the LEAF. City MPGe is 120 (Soul) versus 126 (LEAF), and a claimed 32 kWh to go 100 miles, versus 30 for the LEAF.

 

[GRA]

In bold ...

Soul EV expected Fall 2014; initially available in certain California markets only with limited availability. Actual limited time lease offer terms and further details to be announced around vehicle launch

This is beginning to look like FCEV. Not even available all over CA - but only selected areas within CA.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program of how well this competes with Leaf. :lol:

Until we know for certain what those "certain California markets" are, that could mean anything from "we'll only sell them within 10 miles of Kia Motors America HQ in Irvine" to "we'll sell them where EVs are currently popular and/or where there is sufficient public charging infrastructure."

Even today, there are parts of California where hours of driving separate Leaf-certified Nissan dealers. For example, along I-5 there are no Leaf-certified Nissan dealers between Redding, CA and Medford, OR, a distance of 150 miles. It's even worse along the Highway 395 corridor, where over 400 miles separate Leaf-certified Nissan dealers (if not all Nissan dealers) in Victorville and Reno.

At a minimum, I think we can assume the usual suspects for the initial rollout: SF Bay Area/Monterey Bay/LA & IE/Sacramento/San Diego. Given the relatively wide familiarity with BEVs and the infrastructure, that's enough to work out most of the initial bugs and kinks before going to a wider release.

 

[evnow]

At a minimum, I think we can assume the usual suspects for the initial rollout: SF Bay Area/Monterey Bay/LA & IE/Sacramento/San Diego. Given the relatively wide familiarity with BEVs and the infrastructure, that's enough to work out most of the initial bugs and kinks before going to a wider release.

"Infrastructure", "Initial" etc are code words for compliance.

Is it available in Seattle ? No ... then it is a compliance car.

 

[gsleaf]

Is it available in Seattle ? No ... then it is a compliance car.

I don't think that's fair. Give them some time to roll it out. If it's not available in Seattle a year after the initial US launch then I'll agree with you.

 

[BestPal]

They will be offering a $249/month lease. With 27 Kwh vs Leaf's 24 Kwh battery. I'm interested I still have another 1.5 years left on me lease and I love my Leaf but I'm glad to see more and more options popping up.

navigation system, rear-view camera, Bluetooth connectivity and a smartphone app that lets drivers remotely control the charging timers and pre-heat or cool the car when it’s plugged in - are all standard equipment.

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-kia-pricing-soul-ev-20140911-story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[mtndrew1]

navigation system, rear-view camera, Bluetooth connectivity and a smartphone app that lets drivers remotely control the charging timers and pre-heat or cool the car when it’s plugged in - are all standard equipment.

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-kia-pricing-soul-ev-20140911-story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The only drag for me on the Soul's equipment is the lack of high intensity lighting and no larger wheel options. The Soul looks slightly goofy(er) on 16" rims as opposed to the high-end model's larger rims.

I've missed high intensity lighting in the Volt. Many of my former cars had this and I'm hoping for it in my next car.

 

[evnow]

I don't think that's fair. Give them some time to roll it out. If it's not available in Seattle a year after the initial US launch then I'll agree with you.

Why ? Which serious EV maker took a year to roll an EV in Seattle ? I saw a Tesla in Seattle (and talked to the owner at whole foods) within days of them starting to ship. If Tesla can do it why can't a huge company like Kia.

It is a question of aspiration. Starting with a very small production volume shows they don't even have the aspiration to be competitive.

 

[TomT]

Remember that Leaf availability was very limited the first year too...

This is beginning to look like FCEV. Not even available all over CA - but only selected areas within CA.

 

[GRA]

At a minimum, I think we can assume the usual suspects for the initial rollout: SF Bay Area/Monterey Bay/LA & IE/Sacramento/San Diego. Given the relatively wide familiarity with BEVs and the infrastructure, that's enough to work out most of the initial bugs and kinks before going to a wider release.

"Infrastructure", "Initial" etc are code words for compliance.

Is it available in Seattle ? No ... then it is a compliance car.

We know that it will be offered in the ZEV states, so the fact that it will initially be available in selected Ca. areas initially is no big deal. Whether or not it's a compliance car is immaterial to me, as I live in California. I'm guaranteed to have the widest possible # of choices at the earliest opportunity. If people are worried about 'compliance cars' not being available in their state, they should be lobbying their state legislatures to join the other ZEV states so they too can buy compliance cars.

 

[Berlino]

Whether or not it's a compliance car is immaterial to me, as I live in California.

Well, if the intention of a manufacturer is to make the minimum effort to meet requirements, there's more potential for quality issues down the road. Obviously, there will always exceptions, but I'd feel more comfortable buying from a manufacturer that is committed to the technology.

 

[evnow]

Remember that Leaf availability was very limited the first year too...

This is beginning to look like FCEV. Not even available all over CA - but only selected areas within CA.

Yes, we talked about it a couple of pages back.

Nissan didn't select the areas based on compliance.

The recent history shows companies starting to sell only in zev states and talk about small numbers to start with, stay small , like FFE, Spark, MB.

 

[Berlino]

For Canada, Kia has announced four dealers in Quebec and four in Ontario. Not sure about other provinces, but if I'd have to guess, I'd say also a couple of dealers in British Colombia and none anywhere else. The Quebec EV site, AVEQ, expects 70 Soul EV's to be delivered to its province in the first year.

Note that KIA/Hyundai's overall share of the car market is about 50% higher in Canada than in the USA, so this seems even more so like a disproportionally low number.

 

[jhm614]

Remember that Leaf availability was very limited the first year too...

Limited but Nissan still rolled out to non-CARB states quickly. I'm fairly certain that by the time they got to sale number 500 in the first year, they were already outside of the CARB states.

 

[evnow]

Someone writing on TMC from Norway ...

The Soul EV is doing quite well here in Norway. They're planning on making 5000 Soul EV by the end of next year, and 2550 of these have been allocated to the Norwegian market (according to the importer), 550 of them by the end of 2014. I believe they are sold out for 2014.

I'd say CA only until 2016.

 

[mkjayakumar]

If people are worried about 'compliance cars' not being available in their state, they should be lobbying their state legislatures to join the other ZEV states so they too can buy compliance cars

No, thank you. I don't recall any of us lobbying the legislators to bring Leaf into TX.

For now there is Leaf which is a really fine EV. I don't care for the other me-toos. Except I was really hoping Rav4 with an SUV style and pretty good range would be available, but now I don't think I would want to touch a Toyota anyway with their push to obfuscate the zero emissions landscape with HEVs.


'

 

[tuanies]

I'm driving one in two weeks. Looking forward to it.

 

[JeremyW]

I'm driving one in two weeks. Looking forward to it.

Aw man, I wanna drive one.

 

[GRA]

For Canada, Kia has announced four dealers in Quebec and four in Ontario. Not sure about other provinces, but if I'd have to guess, I'd say also a couple of dealers in British Colombia and none anywhere else. The Quebec EV site, AVEQ, expects 70 Soul EV's to be delivered to its province in the first year.

Note that KIA/Hyundai's overall share of the car market is about 50% higher in Canada than in the USA, so this seems even more so like a disproportionally low number.

I'd expect the Soul EV to be a very strong competitor to the LEAF in colder climates, with its battery heating system and driver-only heating option. It still makes absolutely no sense why Nissan has limited their battery heating to 'protection-only'. So, Canada, Norway, New England, maybe California in the Lake Tahoe area. Of course, the continuing lack of any well-located CHAdeMO QCs between Lake Tahoe and anywhere is a handicap (the ones near Sacramento are too far down the hill).