Transporting 2 or more bikes

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dsmking

Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2016
Messages
5
I need to figure out how I can transport bikes on the Soul EV Base before I lease. When we had a 2007 Prius we could transport 2 bikes on the roof and another 2 using a trunk mount. I don't know that I need a full 4 bikes but at least 2 is necessary. Lastly, around once a year in summer I would need to still have a range of ~80 miles to get between two charging stations.

I have seen a few different options:

1) Have a rack company install a rear hitch by removing the plastic cover. Would this be a problem on a leased car?

2) Have a rack company install tracks on the top of the car to put two bikes on top. Would this be a problem on a leased car as well?

3) Use the roof rack by ordering the Thule 1820 fitting kit from Europe. Does anyone know of a retailer with that kit who ships to the US?

4) Use a trunk mounted bike rack. I already have the Yakima KingJoe 3 bike carrier I used with the Prius. Has anyone used this type of carrier with the EV? It is listed as working with the non-EV Soul but I don't know if the rear hatch is similar.

Did I miss any options?

Thanks,
David
 
Mine is a lease, but I do not plan on returning it. I would rather pay another $15k and keep it, than walk away from the $11k I paid over 3 years and have nothing to show for it.

I had a roof rack installed. I had a custom company drill and screw track onto my roof, so it is fully adjustable. The cheaper route was to have the bars mounted at fixed points.

I will probably get a hitch too, but I was worried if I ever used it for anything, like a shelf to carry camping gear, I could not open the trunk area.

My assumption is, as long as it is done in a -professional- manner, and increases the usefulness, it can't hurt. So, even if I do have to return the car, I feel as long as it was done right, I will be ok.
On the other hand, if they think you might have been pulling a trailer, they might say something about additional wear and tear.
 
There are only a few body differences between the ICE and EV versions of the Soul. The only difference on the rear hatch that I am aware of is slightly different tail lights which should not make any difference for the mount.
 
I have not looked under my car personally to check if the mounting holes are there.

Beware what you read online. MANY people said a roof rack was possible because it is the same as the ICE and IT IS NOT. I had to pay a lot of money to get tracks custom added, in spite of people on this forum saying they had added them. (pics or it didn't happen)

I added many pics to this forum about the roof. It does not have the same mounting holes as the ICE.
They dropped the drag coefficient from a 3.8 to a 3.5. Consider every body panel is a little different than the ICE.

If you have not seen actual pics on an EV, assume you are going into uncharted territory.
 
wrickcook said:
If you have not seen actual pics on an EV, assume you are going into uncharted territory.

That is part of what concerns me (plus the relatively few in the US meaning it is hard to find accessories).

Did you see the roof rack on the SoulEV facebook group in a June 7th post (https://www.facebook.com/groups/SoulEV/ )?

There are pictures (not as good as yours) but the person said they used the gas fit kit rather than ordering from Europe.

The dealer said that my trunk rack should work since the backs are the same. However I am not certain how much to trust that since I saw differences between the various gas models (spoilers) on the lot.

This is the main thing I liked about the VW - they had OEM roof racks so you knew that they considered it in the design.
 
Awesome, I didn't know there were any others with a rack.

Mine was $400 for the track, installed, then $400 for the Thule parts. I could have picked cheaper bars, etc but I wanted it to look nice.

Thank you for the link to FB, I didn't know there was a page. Seems pretty active, too.
There should def be an OEM option. I think they were worried about range, but that should be my choice.

If you end up adding a hitch, please post pics. That will prolly be the next big change I make (or paint the white part of the rims).
 
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