I thought the Soul EV was going to be 100 miles plus?!

Perhaps it was wishful thinking on my part, but Kia had been announcing for quite a while that the Soul EV would have 120 miles of electric range, and that was supposed to be real world attainable.

Now we get the announcement for sure today at the Chicago Auto Show that Kia is targeting the 80-100 mile range. Boo.

Of course, I'm of the mindset that any EV is good, and depending on the Soul EV's price it could sell quite. I was hoping that this would be the first of the next gen of long range electric vehicles, not just a vehicle to keep up with the Leaf, Spark EV, Focus Electric etc etc etc

If you can rely on 70-80 miles from a new LEAF in 70F weather with 24kW, then 85-95 miles from a 27kW Soul seems reasonable. Is a Soul heavier? Seems less aerodynamic too.

I think the 100 mile plus has been changed to 100 mile plus on the NEDC test cycle, which means the US EPA test cycle will be less by a significant amount. On the NEDC isn't the LEAF even over 100 miles range?

No clue, sorry. In ideal weather, at 30 mph, no hills, you could probably get over 100 miles, but That's not "real world", not here anyway.

True enough - and on the other hand, there are plenty of people getting higher than advertised ranges out of their LEAFs, Spark EVs etc because they know how to drive them and watch their regen etc. So, chances are the Soul EV will be able to break 100 miles without too much trouble!

mitchev said:

True enough - and on the other hand, there are plenty of people getting higher than advertised ranges out of their LEAFs, Spark EVs etc because they know how to drive them and watch their regen etc. So, chances are the Soul EV will be able to break 100 miles without too much trouble!

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I agree. In optimal conditions I can get 100 miles on a charge in my Fit EV, which has only a 20 kWh pack.

My Spark EV is rated at 82 miles, but if I drive between 57-62 MPH on the freeway, on relatively level grounds, I can easily get over 100 miles range on a 21 kWh battery back (about 19 of which is actually useable). With a much larger battery pack, I would expect if you drive with cruise control at around ~60MPH you could easily pull off 120 miles in the Soul.

Well to be fair the car gets 103 miles on the EPA city cycle...

bakedpatato said:

Well to be fair the car gets 103 miles on the EPA city cycle...

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After a full charge my range display said 102. I will never go more then 30 miles away from home with this so it is no big deal. I will take the gas car if I need to get to Vegas for a weekend.

Real world range test shows the Kia Soul EV to go over 100 miles on a single charge, driving on the freeway @ 62mph: http://insideevs.com/kia-soul-ev-range-autonomy-demonstration-nets-100-miles/

Well, Now lets just see IF they WILL sell it on the East coast.

My dealer in Schenectady, NY said they will be here in January.

That gives me hope !

Are you the same tigger that frequented the Fit EV forums? I take it that you never got one?

Mike

No sorry, I am on the Spark Ev forum but since I can't get it to MASS from CA I think I am all done with the dealers in CA.

Plus I should be able to get a Kia here, or maybe a E-golf if it can get the same miles (104) as the Kia does.

tigger19687 said:

No sorry, I am on the Spark Ev forum but since I can't get it to MASS from CA I think I am all done with the dealers in CA.

Plus I should be able to get a Kia here, or maybe a E-golf if it can get the same miles (104) as the Kia does.

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Ah, that's where I saw your username. There was a Soul EV behind my local Kia dealer today in Albany, NY. It was not available to be opened or driven though. They said they wouldn't be getting them here in until April. Not to get too far off topic for this thread, but I drove my area's first E-Golf today as well.

Sorry for pinging an old thread, but I've been getting 114 miles on my recently purchased Soul EV. Averaging 4.9mkWh.

h8n01 said:

Sorry for pinging an old thread, but I've been getting 114 miles on my recently purchased Soul EV. Averaging 4.9mkWh.

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I'm impressed. How do you do that ? I have 1,500 miles on my Soul EV and the best I can do is 4.1 m/kWh. When I leave home with 100% batt., my GOM shows about 98-mi. I do a mix of slow street and freeway driving; (Long Beach and L.A.). I keep the freeway speeds at or below 64 mph.

edzee3 said:

h8n01 said:

Sorry for pinging an old thread, but I've been getting 114 miles on my recently purchased Soul EV. Averaging 4.9mkWh.

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I'm impressed. How do you do that ? I have 1,500 miles on my Soul EV and the best I can do is 4.1 m/kWh. When I leave home with 100% batt., my GOM shows about 98-mi. I do a mix of slow street and freeway driving; (Long Beach and L.A.). I keep the freeway speeds at or below 64 mph.

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Unless you're consistently below 62 MPH (100 KPH) you're not gonna see much more than 4.1 mi/kWh. As your speed increases make note of the hash marks around the circumference of the speedometer and you'll see that they grow non-linearly in size as a function of speed to represent the amount of energy being burned to maintain that speed. Keep the speeds in the "green" band of the speedometer hashes and you'll see well over 4.5 mi/kWh. Maintain momentum, slow gradually and only when necessary, use minimal HVAC, keep the proper tire pressure, and the Soul has no problem exceeding 5 mi/kWh.

I get 3.8 at <60F weather and 4.2-4.3 in sunny weather. All freeway.

The 5 mpkWh and up folks drive old folks roads. Bay Area freeways won't let you do 50-55 mph. Not even in the slow lane, unless one wants to cause accidents. Gotta swim with the sharks.