2015 Kia Soul EV Spotted Testing In California, Testing (CHAdeMO) Rapid Charge Technology

With Rav4 ev out, Kia Soul ev has best range yet! Compare Side-by-Side

Kia Soul EV named AJAC’s Green Car of the Year | Driving

 

Yay Texas ... Now - all ya gotta do is get your dinosaur dealerships to let Tesla Sell their products there - and then Texas can officially say they've moved into the 21st century !! ok, I know the Kia dealerships already sell there . . . but you know what I mean . . .

Yes . . . those S/Korea folk are a real Cinderella story. One of our local EV club folk, a Rav4-EV owner, Tony Williams owns his rav 4EV & has test driven the Soul. After comparing it to his Gen II RAV-4 EV - he say's it's right on par with the RAV's range. What a pitty that Toyota has slaughtered their RAV4-ev while still in the cradle - in favor of hydrogen. It's almost a EV1 deja-vu.

You're forgetting home brew - DIY folk. One of our EV group/people made his own chademo charging device (then promptly sold it, since he's since moved over to Tesla ownership). The other issue/hurdle (besides price per use) for Chademo folk using the SuperCharger network is that Tesla most likely has their subscriber's VIN attached to their car's use - and the car likely 'talks' to the charger/network. ie; a security scheme to prevent unscrupulous users. Then again, some folk have regularly changed IMEI numbers on portable communication devices ... so who knows how difficult hurdles will be - beyond price.

 

I wonder where the SoulEV is on par with the Rav4EV. I like the SoulEV with the fast charger and all. But from a range perspective, when did Tony say they are on par?

I thought Tony got 105 miles out of his test run. Tony normally gets 140+ miles on 100% on his Rav4EV.

 

140 IIRC was rav4 best case scenario ... but I'll check back with the older threads
EDIT:
I see Tony did get 140 miles of range ... on the flat/no hills freeway loop, no heat/AC, Windows up constant 65mph. However that's utilizing the rav's 'extended range' mode (not recommended for regular use although ok for warranty purposes) - traveling down into turtle mode.
It's the rav's Regular mode where EPA shows 103miles. According to the RAV's wiki article - its extended range gets you an extra 20% or so more miles.
"On Par"; taken into account both will do over 100 miles range at a constant speed ... and, Mr Williams believes the Soul EV would do above the Rav in city driving.

Kia Soul EV Range Autonomy Demonstration Nets More Than 100 Miles

Not beating the soul in city driving is likely - because the larger RAV has to expend a whole lot more of its kWh/energy getting up to speed from zero (red lights - stop signs - etc) mph. My understanding of Tony's notion of the Soul likely besting the RAV in city/blended driving - & both EV's being capable of 100+ miles range was where my "on par" words came from. Didn't mean to put 'em in Tony's mouth as being his exact words. my bad
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Trust me. I know the SoulEV will run circles around my Rav4EV in terms of efficiency. Kia really done a great job. They went into details to even allow passenger side HVAC to be off. Seat A/C. Steering Wheel heater. Even thinner tires. Next gen battery pack. Now, if Kia put a few more kwh of batteries, this thing would have been even hotter product than it is now.

The Rav4EV was really a Rav conversion with Tesla internals (same Model S motor). Don't forget, it is a lot larger vehicle as well. As far as the 103 range rating. This is the difference between 80% and 100% charge. My wife commutes with the Rav4EV. 80 miles commutes with 80% charge still result in 1/3 of the 80% battery range still available. That is 3.4 miles/kwh. As you can see, she can get more than 103 miles even with 80% charge. Toyota rated at 2.7 miles/kwh. She drives like any other car. No care to turn off HVAC. Toyota really did not want to hype their range, as most of us owners get decent range above what is rated... unlike the Nissan Leaf marketing. I think Kia did decent job of not over hyping their range too.

 

windshield heater?

 

Kia Dealer Anti-Sells Soul EV, Bad Mouths Product – Manager Writes “Apology” Letter

 

wow, bad email, and worse apology! i expected better from vancouver.

 

too bad the soul is such an ugly vehicle.

 

Yeah! but the creatures are cute!

 

i find michelle wie attractive.

 

I remember reading about someone coming out with one soon, but a a quick search shows that Ford had such a system in the mid 1980's.
Quickclear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

It's not a Vancouver thing ..... it's a scumbag dealership thing. If your dishonest dealership doesn't sell a model - are you going to send a customer off to the competition? ...... or are you going to dishonestly badmouth your EV choice, hoping you can stick the stupid customer with a gas burner that you do sell.
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Even if they sell a plug-in many car salespeople are not knowledgeable or honest about them. Still when we find one that is particularly bad, a public shaming is in order.

Dealership Survey | Electric Cars - Consumer Reports News

 

Dealer is only looking at tire rotations, no oil changes as far as service.

 

i've had plenty of sales weasels talk down hybrids, but to put that kind of nonsense in writing and follow it up with worse nonsense is despicable.

 

True. When I went in to buy my prius the both dealerships I went to tried to sell me a camry instead. They didn't put down the prius, but were really trying to switch me. It makes you understand why tesla wants to go around the dealers.

 

absolutely.

 

In my Rav4EV group, some of the people get the 5000 miles oil change written up on their service visit. We laughed about it to ask the service advisor to help locate the engine oil dip stick, oil filter, and oil drain plug.