Considering a Soul EV - in Toronto Canada

Hi All,

I am considering buying a Soul EV as a daily commuter (75km each way) and was wondering how the souls have been holding up so far, especially in the cold.

My commute is mostly Highway (407) and I fear that the 150km full range might be a little too close for comfort.

I am interested in hearing how the range varies highway vs. City, and Hot and cold climate.

Thanks!

I would say you're going to be cutting it close. Since you're primarily on the highway, you're gonna have to take it very easy.

When driving on city streets, I'd say you can expect to get something like 10-20% of your commute back from regen. I take the 401/404 to work in the morning, and pretty much use up the same amount I travel (about 30km). On the way home, I take Leslie down to the 401 (404 is just nasty and I'm still waiting on the green plates so I can use the HOV lane). Coming home I find I use maybe 5 km less.

The only way I could see it working for you is if you were able to charge at work; that would likely make it feasible. Especially if you can pull off Level 2 charging. But off a regular plug I think we've noticed about 6 km/hr as a charging rate.

No winter driving experience here though, sorry.

I agree, you would absolutely need charging at work to make it feasible. I have a 50km commute one way and I hear from another owner who went through the winter and said on really cold days you can start the day with 120km full charge so i figure i still have a 20% worst case buffer but will have to be stingy with the heat, and the heated seats those days - and if I get into a snow induced traffic jam, those days would need a "near work" charge top up.

After only a few drives I have noticed the impact of the AC and if you start doing 110/120Km it drops the range more than the actual KM, so there is definitely a speed, and climate control impact.

kunundrum said:

Hi All,

I am considering buying a Soul EV as a daily commuter (75km each way) and was wondering how the souls have been holding up so far, especially in the cold.

My commute is mostly Highway (407) and I fear that the 150km full range might be a little too close for comfort.

I am interested in hearing how the range varies highway vs. City, and Hot and cold climate.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

My daily commute is similar to yours with 70km each way mostly on 407. I've had the car for just over a month and noticed that on average it takes 40% of the battery charge to cover 70kms (100-110 km/h, AC off in the morning and AC on in the afternoon). In your case it would be around 85% at this time of the year.

I have 30Amp level 2 changing at work so I only top it off to 80% both at work and home, keeping the SOC between 40% to 80% most of the time to prolong the battery life.

I agree with Beachman and DarthNick, you would absolutely need charging at work to make it feasible, specially in the winter.

I've got a 100km round trip (all non-highway) ... during the summer I've been using approx 55% of charge for the round trip ... I've learned it takes 25% to go to work and 30% to come home - there is an elevation difference of approx 100' ... so I now know coming home from Markham I have to allow for the higher power requirement to climb the 100'!

I had my EV in early March. In March I was hitting the 25% charge remaining warning as I approached my driveway ... so approx 75% of charge for the 100km trip.

I would concur with others - charging at work would be necessary. I used to find I could charge approx 20% at work over 8 hrs (for the short time I was allowed to charge...my employer has now forbidden me from using the 120v outlet I found in the parking lot!!)

Hmm, this was my conclusion.

My office is not setup for Level 2 charging, best I could hope for is Level 1, but even at 6kph after 8 hours it's 48km of extra range.

There is a level 2 charge station down the block, but it's at a business and I don't want to take it for granted and not be able to use it one day and get stranded.

If there was a level 3 charger I could use daily for 5-10 minutes nearby, it would make this so much simpler.

Maybe I can convince my boss to invest in a L2 charging station...

You should strongly consider EV+ with the more efficient HVAC system for heat for ON. I live in Vancouver with basic EV, even with outside temp. 16C with HVAC set to 21C, heat will kick in and energy consumption is higher.