Kia Soul EV (2018)
2014 to 2019
The Soul EV was one of the cars that were shortlisted as possible options for my girlfriend's first car. Gai had moved to the UK in 2010 to work in a restaurant in Fleet. After ten years she became a British citizen and later that year we met.
A year later, she moved to Andover to be with me and took a job in a restaurant nearby, with me acting as her personal chauffeur.
Whilst I was happy to drive her to and from the restaurant, she did decide that she might finally like to learn to drive. Her first trips behind the wheel were in my old 2009 Audi A6 Allroad, which wasn't exactly a great learner car with its three litre turbo diesel engine and rather large proportions. After a while, I swapped the Audi for a 2012 Nissan Leaf and this became Gai's practice car, whilst she had formal lessons from a local instructor in a Volkswagen eUp. After six months however, the Leaf went in favour of my MG5 and she was unable to legally drive that car as it became a licensed private hire vehicle.
So, we started looking at second hand EVs and the Kia Soul was the one that quickly stole Gai's heart.
On the Road
I should state from the start that the Soul EV is not a performance car. It can feel nippy, especially away from the lights or hunting a gap on the entrance to a roundabout, but it isn't really quick.
However, it is a pleasant drive and I find it far more comfortable to drive than my own MG. You sit up quite straight in the Soul EV and quite high too, giving you a reasonable view of the road ahead. Sitting on quite high profile tyres, it has a comfortable ride and wafts along nicely and doesn't feel too troubled by uneven road surfaces, although you still need to watch out for the potholes that have infested our roads.
The Soul is quite easy to drive, whether that's in the towns and cities, on country roads or on the major trunk roads.
The car has a decent reversing camera as well as front and rear parking sensors, which definitely help when parking the car. The door mirrors are a really good size and also help when reversing into tight spaces.
Range and Charging
The 2018 Soul, with a slightly larger battery than the previous year's model, has a stated range of 155 miles, although ours rarely shows a predicted range of higher than 115. During the winter months this drops and if you are going to be driving swiftly on the motorways and dual carriageways you should expect less. That said, we did choose to use the Soul when we had a short break in Cornwall in May 2022, leaving my MG, with twice the battery size and range, on the driveway. We used ABRP (a better route planner) to plan our journeys to and from Cornwall, using its clever technology to ensure that we found suitable charging locations along the way. This worked well.
When you reach the charger, in the original Mk 1 Soul EV, you will need to select the CHAdeMO connector and can expect charging speed to be limited to just 50kW. This means you will be spending more time charging than you might with some of the more modern EVs, but the battery size is just 30kWh and you'll probably be at 80% charge within half an hour or so.
Interior
The 2018 Soul EV interior is quite dated, but isn't a bad place to be. It does have a tall gear stick, allowing you to select between P for park, R for reverse, N for neutral, D for drive and B for brake regeneration. This last option increases the level of energy recuperated into the batteries when slowing down.
The car benefits from keyless entry and keyless start, so as long as you have your keys with you in the car you can just push the Power button to get going. Push it without your foot on the brake pedal and you will just turn on the stereo and information systems, so (just as with many cars) apply the brakes and push the button to get to the ready to move point.
The stereo and screen are fine, but not brilliant. The car has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, although I do need to plug my iPhone in to access the those features.
As well as having heated front seats, the Soul EV has a heated steering wheel. I rarely use the heated seats, unless my back is playing up, but do welcome the heated steering wheel on a cold winter's morning.
Rear seat passengers should be comfortable enough with plenty of headroom and ample leg room.
Boot space isn't great, but we coped without difficult when we took Gai's Soul on the Cornwall break and it will cope with most shopping trips with some ease.
Verdict
I'm a big fan of the Soul EV. I like its looks, although I know that many people don't, and I enjoy driving it. That enjoyment isn't derived from its spirited handling or speed (it doesn't have those), but from it's decent driving position and simple sense of comfort. I will admit to looking with envy at the newer models, especially with the larger 64kWh (useable) battery. For most people, the original Soul EV would prove to be an excellent purchase.
The ranges stated in the above table are approximations based upon the combined cycles (city and main roads) in the cold and in warmer weather. These are not guarantees and they are not based upon the experience from my test drive.
You can find lots of information about electric vehicles, past and current, at http://www.ev-database.org
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