LeftieBiker said:
Oh well, they lied. Not surprising for a dealership, I guess. We just went for a test drive and they marked up all four of their Kona EV‘s by $5000. No shame.
How about a review?
Not one for detailed write-ups on vehicles. But will briefly share our impressions of the vehicles driven/checked-out.
The lease on my wife's Leaf is up next month, so we are preparing to find a replacement BEV. We (she) test drove the Kona EV, 40 kWh Leaf, and Bolt. There were no Niro or Soul EV's on the Kia lot yet, but checked out the non-EV versions of these cars.
The Kona EV is a decent looking vehicle, range is great, fit/finish ok, but until pent-up demand eases, the price with markup is too much and the vehicle doesn't offer any particular advantages for
us over the competition. Cargo area is small compared to even a Leaf. Details of small things were lacking like the charging port caps which are made of cheap thin plastic hanging on by thin plastic threads that don't look to last long. The wife thought the drive was a little "heavy", but otherwise similar to her experience with her Leaf.
As we don't expect any deals on a Leaf ePlus for several months until demand eases, we looked at the 40 kWh Leaf. Of all the vehicles, this probably had the highest quality fit/finish. Cargo area was among the best. Range of course was the least of all the vehicles we cross shopped, but still above my wife's minimum needs. My wife liked the looks of this vehicle more than the others. We expect a great lease deal next month, so my wife is currently most likely to go with a 40 kWh Leaf, probably SV or SL. The wife thought the drive was very similar to her current Leaf.
The Bolt has good EV range and we expect we might get the best price/kWh if we were to go with one. The Bolt had the lowest quality fit/finish and the small size inside and out was notable. It felt a bit cramped inside, even in the front. The cargo area was among the smallest. The vehicle drove fine, but my wife thought braking was different than she experienced before and felt that it would "glide" when the brake was applied. She says this feels like the brakes had a different grab feel than other vehicles she has driven.
The Niro and Soul seen, as noted above, were not EVs, but we wanted to sit in them and look at the cargo area. They both had the best rear seat room of the vehicles looked at. At 6'2", these were the only vehicles I could sit in the back and not have to bend my head forward due to ceiling height. Not really an issue for me as I would ride front passenger and kids in back. The cargo space on the Soul was relatively small, but the Niro had a nice sized cargo area, maybe the best of all the vehicles looked at. The Soul boxiness was a bit jarring, would take a while to get used to. The fit/finish was about the same quality as Hyundai/Kona. My wife overall liked the Niro almost as much as the Leaf. With both of these, like the Kona EV, we would expect dealer price gouging/inflexibility when they arrive - the dealer volunteered as much. So these vehicles will likely be off consideration due to pricing when we need a new vehicle next month.
