Goodbye Nissan Leaf, hello Kia Soul EV

surfingslovak said:

mwalsh said:

ILETRIC said:

Love that car. It's exactly what Leaf '11 was not.

Click to expand...

I think somebody else mentioned this, but Kia spent a LOT of time with LEAF owners, both in paid focus groups and at club gatherings. They clearly put the best suggestions into their product.

Click to expand...

Yes, I was part of such a focus group. I recognized several other LEAF drivers from the area there, and some of them are here on MNL as well. From what I can tell, KIA definitely took the planning and design phase very seriously.

Click to expand...

I did focus groups for the Rav4 EV and Fit EV. I don't think they took and of my input :-(

EVDRIVER said:

TomT said:

Just got back from a two hour test drive. I was very impressed. It just feels like so much more of a car than the 2015 Leaf... My wife commented that the interior (we drove the Plus) was so much nicer and more upscale than the Leaf SL and she liked the infotainment system much better. We both also felt it drove better (I pushed it pretty hard).

Click to expand...

Wow, does the plus have a different dash and shifter because the pics I see of the inside make it look like a rental econobox with a horrible shifter and dash. What am I missing it seems horribly basic and boring inside.

Click to expand...

http://www.kia.com/us/en/vehicle/soul-ev/2015/experience?story=interior&chapter=overview

Based on ILETRIC's feedback, we took the family for a test drive today. The Kia dealer didn't even have a demo vehicle, so we drove one of the new Blue ones off the lot! My wife didn't like it but for me Wow!! It was very impressive. Overall, the experience was a total "upgraded" feel.

Vehicle rode "higher" than the Leaf and the normal D mode drove like a 2011 Leaf in D mode. The B mode had a really strong Regen. The car/steering felt heavier than a Leaf, small rearview window but that's the same as a Leaf. Too bad it didn't have a remote button for the charging port!

The cockpit was .... Wow! As what scottf200 posted in the picture. Their OLED display really had color and nice details. Navigation was way better than the Leaf. Their stock sound system was way better than my 2011 Leaf, can't tell if its better than the Bose in later Leaf models.

The engine bay looked a bit "spartan", and I can't say from a designer's point of view that components were laid out well. My opinion is the Leaf's engine bay looked much more organized. The stock tires were "Nexen" brand and if you know your tires... ugh.

Everything else is as ILETRIC's description in his observations. I am waiting to see what his drive experience would be like for his long commute.

That shifter is as generic as it gets. Looks like something off a econobox rental. Lots of hard plastic and a troff around the shifter with wasted space and a large bowl to collect stuff. I'm really surprised this is what they came up with as a redesign particularly for an EV.

It is not difficult to have a better NAV than the LEAF unit which is about the worst on the market, the LEAF power steering is so over boosted you could steer it with a strong breeze so I would not compare the two EPS units.

EVDRIVER said:

That shifter is as generic as it gets. Looks like something off a econobox rental. Lots of hard plastic and a troff around the shifter with wasted space and a large bowl to collect stuff. I'm really surprised this is what they came up with as a redesign particularly for an EV.

It is not difficult to have a better NAV than the LEAF unit which is about the worst on the market, the LEAF power steering is so over boosted you could steer it with a strong breeze so I would not compare the two EPS units.

Click to expand...

The hard white plastic looks much richer in person. It's like a lucite material and the white is on the back side of it, leaving a thick transparent layer above it for the light to dance around in.



It looks super cool, particularly in twilight. The dash and doors are all squishy and the instrument hood is padded and stitched. The seats have contrasted piping and nice stitching.

The Kia's not a Mercedes-Benz, but it sure feels nicer inside to me than anything else in its price class.

As I said earlier, Soul is currently the Cadillac of EVs with a nice 93-mile baseline range. So far all of my observed range (miles covered + GOM) is above 100 - usually 105. GOM at this point seems on target, like the Spark's, that's super on target.

Btw, Soul lets you turn off the low charge warning. I turned it off first thing as you might imagine, but have not discharged the battery enough to test it yet. Once I do my work commute of 84 miles I'll know more.

Do you two need some privacy?

mtndrew1 said:

The hard white plastic looks much richer in person. It's like a lucite material and the white is on the back side of it, leaving a thick transparent layer above it for the light to dance around in.

Click to expand...

Looked at it at the Huntington Beach show. The center radio console definitely looked cheaper than the Leaf. Too much dash overlapping out of the sides. Also, they say projector headlights, but they look to be halogen?? I love my Led headlights in my Leaf. And the Kia doesn't even come close to the Focus in premium interior and exterior appointments. And of course the MB seems the most premium.

What's the rear cargo area like? Flat floor with the seats folded down?

http://www.kia.com/us/k3/content/media/mediabin/vehicle/gallery//vehicles/soul-ev/2015/gallery/exterior/gallery_soul_ev_2015_exterior_005--kia-320x-jpg.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; reminds me of a Ford

http://www.kia.com/us/k3/content/media/mediabin/vehicle/gallery//CMS/vehicles/soul-ev/2015/gallery/exterior/gallery_soul_ev_2015_exterior_007--kia-320x-jpg.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; reminds me of a minivan (Ford/Chrysler either way)

http://www.kia.com/us/k3/content/media/mediabin/vehicle/gallery//CMS/vehicles/soul-ev/2015/gallery/exterior/gallery_soul_ev_2015_exterior_012--kia-320x-jpg.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; makes me think they couldn't decide where the roof starts and the body begins. White goes down too far (of course I'd rather it just be blue all over)

I see http://www.kia.com/us/k3/content/media/mediabin/vehicle/gallery//CMS/vehicles/soul-ev/2015/gallery/interior/gallery_soul_ev_2015_interior_036--kia-320x-jpg.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and I go oh my god heated and vented seats! Then I look at the specs and see I can only get them with leather and wonder why can't I get cloth seats with ventilation?


oh and I love how they consider two jacks (J1772 and CHAdeMO) to be "3 ways to charge" like an evseupgrade plugging into that J1772 might as well be called 10 ways to charge since there are so many possible adapters or like they think there is only one type of 120v plug and one type of 240v plug.

The same reason you have to upgrade to a SL or SV in the Leaf to get a number of the desirable options. At least the only upgrade in the Soul is the Plus package which gets you all of it for $2K...

dhanson865 said:

I go oh my god heated and vented seats! Then I look at the specs and see I can only get them with leather and wonder why can't I get cloth seats with ventilation?

Click to expand...

mtndrew1 said:

EVDRIVER said:

That shifter is as generic as it gets. Looks like something off a econobox rental. Lots of hard plastic and a troff around the shifter with wasted space and a large bowl to collect stuff. I'm really surprised this is what they came up with as a redesign particularly for an EV.

It is not difficult to have a better NAV than the LEAF unit which is about the worst on the market, the LEAF power steering is so over boosted you could steer it with a strong breeze so I would not compare the two EPS units.

Click to expand...

The hard white plastic looks much richer in person. It's like a lucite material and the white is on the back side of it, leaving a thick transparent layer above it for the light to dance around in.

It looks super cool, particularly in twilight. The dash and doors are all squishy and the instrument hood is padded and stitched. The seats have contrasted piping and nice stitching.

The Kia's not a Mercedes-Benz, but it sure feels nicer inside to me than anything else in its price class.

Click to expand...

that shifter is so Flintstones :lol:

in today's cars, especially electric ones, I don't see a reason why you couldn't have buttons on the steering wheel for all of the transmission modes. Space occupied by shifter(in leaf as well) could be much better used as storage, cup holder, etc.

LTLFTcomposite said:

What's the rear cargo area like? Flat floor with the seats folded down?

Click to expand...

I assume it is like the standard Soul. I wasn't impressed with how much space was behind the seats with them up. We took a trip and had a standard Soul as a rental. We travelled to the airport in the leaf with 4 of us (Wife, I and two kids) and all luggage. Got it no problem in the leaf. On the other end just barely got the luggage to fit in the back of the Soul and that took some playing around. Didn't use it with the seats down.

Good for you ILETRIC I am glad you are happy with your new EV.

My wife recently said goodbye to her ICE Kia and hello to a new ICE Nissan.

The only difference is she didnt write a post in the internets about it....

To each their own.

well, i am committed to my LEAF at least until late 2016 which is probably about the same time the Kia makes it to my neighborhood if it makes it all (i am thinking it will) so it will be in my book of consideration as will all other EVs around at the time (hoping for more than 4...)

It's both of our losses then...

CMYK4Life said:

The only difference is she didnt write a post in the internets about it....

Click to expand...

Any Soul EV owners with a LEAF in the family? Can you swap these "SLRR" tires out for something more LEAFy, like Ecrapias or MXV4s so we can see what range is like with traditional tires? I'm curious to see how much of the range is dependent on the tires.

LTLFTcomposite said:

What's the rear cargo area like? Flat floor with the seats folded down?

Click to expand...

I wished I took some photos when we did our test drive but here's my take:

Yes, you get a flat rear cargo area with the seat folded down. There is a "tray" that gives it the flat area.

Comparing the cargo space, I think it is similar to the Leaf only after that bottom "tray" is removed. This is a removable styrofoam tray directly under the cargo mat. When this tray is removed, you'll see some exposed components (a black plastic flat funnel - don't know what this is) and the flat tire kit. This area can easily be retrofitted with a stiff cardboard overlay which then gives you some extra "depth".

The Leaf had a similar optional tray accessory but made out of stiff plastic- I can't remember what it is called.

It is not going to be THAT much... Above 50 mph, aero drag becomes the predominate force... And I suspect we are talking a difference in rolling resistance of only a few percent at best compared to the Ecapias... Plus, tires always improve as they wear.

kubel said:

Any Soul EV owners with a LEAF in the family? Can you swap these "SLRR" tires out for something more LEAFy, like Ecrapias or MXV4s so we can see what range is like with traditional tires? I'm curious to see how much of the range is dependent on the tires.

Click to expand...

I did inflate them to 38 psi (44 max) as soon as we brought our Soul home. Hopefully we can bring them bald back to the dealer at 45,000 miles, with my wife following me in Model III