I just picked up a White Plus in Los Angeles

Hi All, I just picked up my white Electric Soul this morning and have only put 50 miles on it so far. If anyone has any questions I will try my best to answer. So far, I like it a lot, drove the I3, RAV4 EV, Focus Electric, B-Class Electric, 500e, Spark EV and the Leaf before buying...

Hi. Do you have a clear understanding of the "B" mode? Would you drive all the time in that mode. I test drove an i3 and the Mercedes and noted when you took your foot of the gas the car immediately started to slow like I was applying the brakes. I'm thinking this would be the same effect. So back to my original question. Would you routinely drive in "B" mode?

mackgoo said:

Hi. Do you have a clear understanding of the "B" mode? Would you drive all the time in that mode. I test drove an i3 and the Mercedes and noted when you took your foot of the gas the car immediately started to slow like I was applying the brakes. I'm thinking this would be the same effect. So back to my original question. Would you routinely drive in "B" mode?

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I do, so far I have used both "B" and "D". One of the things I did not care for was that the heavy re-gen could not be turned off in the i3 (the B I tested had the paddles so I could change the amount of regen). The B mode in the electric Soul is not as heavy as the i3. Lightly tapping on the brakes increases regen some on the display so I would guess it is not max regen in B. I have used both thus far, it is too early to tell if I would stay in B all the time, I kinda liked using D on the freeway as the foot off regen is fairly mild so a bit more relaxed driving.

I've been driving my Soul EV for four days - just over 100 miles. So far, I've been pretty good at staying on "B' when I'm on surface streets. It's definitely something to get used to. I didn't drive the BMW i3, so I don't have a comparison, but I think "B" is implemented quite well on the Soul. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether my break lights come on. If it doesn't come on, then I'm a little concerned about the guy behind me who may be following a little too close.

GeekGuam said:

I've been driving my Soul EV for four days - just over 100 miles. So far, I've been pretty good at staying on "B' when I'm on surface streets. It's definitely something to get used to. I didn't drive the BMW i3, so I don't have a comparison, but I think "B" is implemented quite well on the Soul. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether my break lights come on. If it doesn't come on, then I'm a little concerned about the guy behind me who may be following a little too close.

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They do come on, I was driving on a dark street and saw the bright red reflection behind me when I lifted up on the accelerator.

GeekGuam said:

I've been driving my Soul EV for four days - just over 100 miles. So far, I've been pretty good at staying on "B' when I'm on surface streets. It's definitely something to get used to. I didn't drive the BMW i3, so I don't have a comparison, but I think "B" is implemented quite well on the Soul. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether my break lights come on. If it doesn't come on, then I'm a little concerned about the guy behind me who may be following a little too close.

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Just over a hundred on the original charge?

mackgoo said:

GeekGuam said:

I've been driving my Soul EV for four days - just over 100 miles. So far, I've been pretty good at staying on "B' when I'm on surface streets. It's definitely something to get used to. I didn't drive the BMW i3, so I don't have a comparison, but I think "B" is implemented quite well on the Soul. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether my break lights come on. If it doesn't come on, then I'm a little concerned about the guy behind me who may be following a little too close.

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Just over a hundred on the original charge?

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Well, I've been trickle charging every night so I can't measure my range directly. But the range indicator on the dash read 113 miles this morning when the battery was 100%. Of course, my average Eco Level was pretty high (4-5) due to the fact that I drove on surface streets more than freeway in the last couple of days.

mackgoo said:

GeekGuam said:

I've been driving my Soul EV for four days - just over 100 miles. So far, I've been pretty good at staying on "B' when I'm on surface streets. It's definitely something to get used to. I didn't drive the BMW i3, so I don't have a comparison, but I think "B" is implemented quite well on the Soul. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether my break lights come on. If it doesn't come on, then I'm a little concerned about the guy behind me who may be following a little too close.

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Just over a hundred on the original charge?

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I haven't had it below below 70% yet as I only have a 30 mile RT. One interesting thing is I only used 2% driving 15 miles from the foothills to downtown LA (mostly downhill). I topped off at work and used 18% for the drive home (mostly uphill). The way back started with the "range-o-meter" saying 157 miles and ended with 126.

Tomlamb said:

"range-o-meter" saying 157 miles and ended with 126.

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Well, at this point the jury's out if Soul's GOM can be called ROM. Can't wait to find out.

I am quite seriously considering getting this car. Lease, of course, got burned on the Leaf and won't be buying EVs until the tech has all its ducks in order, battery range and long-term performance vs. its replacement cost in particular.

iletric said:

Tomlamb said:

"range-o-meter" saying 157 miles and ended with 126.

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Well, at this point the jury's out if Soul's GOM can be called ROM. Can't wait to find out.

I am quite seriously considering getting this car. Lease, of course, got burned on the Leaf and won't be buying EVs until the tech has all its ducks in order, battery range and long-term performance vs. its replacement cost in particular.

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Point taken on the GOM... I'll report more info as I reach for higher ranges, so far, I have less then 150 miles on the car...

Here is an update on driving. I have only taken the battery down to 40% so far but with normal driving behavior (AC when needed, Not in Eco mode, accelerating as I normally would) I average roughly 4mi/KW and it looks like I would have roughly 1 mile for every percentage of battery. I have made a point to drive normally during for the past 100 miles without working to conserve other than "B" mode.

I have been driving more in the "B" mode but still like going to "D" when on the highway at full speed. The regen on "B" is easy to modulate and the more I get use to it, the better I like it. On the highway at speed it is more relaxed in "D" and more closely mirrors driving in ICE (Internal combustion engine) car. The "coasting" mode with foot off appears to slow the car a bit faster than normal ICE cars, but I think the difference is minor.

I just got my L2 charger (Schneider Electric EVLink 30A) installed and last night was the first scheduled charge where I set the car to charge at 12:30AM. I woke to a fully charged car and I plan to use the this function 7 days per week when SCE time of use rates are the least expensive @ $.09/KWH. It should be noted that UVO does not send a email or Txt when charging starts and stops and I don't know if it would send one for a charging error.

Thus far, I have not been able to get the iPhone UVO app working, but I plan to wait until I have to go to the dealer for some reason to address any minor issues.