Available nationwide?

[mitchell]

When Kia first announced the Soul EV was coming in 2014, I was quite excited. They made some comment about the Soul EV being available worldwide, which essentially means it isn't a California compliance vehicle.

However, now on AutoBlog's first drive review, they say that Kia is still deciding where it will be offered (along with pricing and purchase/lease options).

Kia is still determining things like where it will be offered and whether sales will include purchasing, leasing or both. Officials we spoke with admitted that there's a unique challenge in getting dealers excited about selling EVs, as these models (and customers) tend to have very different sales and service expectations, not to mention limited after-sales $ervice potential.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/13/2015-kia-soul-ev-prototype-review-first-drive/

That to me makes it seem like the Kia Soul EV will not roll out nationwide when it comes to the US in 2014.

What do you think?

 

[himi]

Kia has officially said it will be offered in Oregon,California, and New Jersey, New York and Maryland.
Then they went on to say that they will "look to offer the vehicle in other markets in the near future."

We'll have to see if anyone else on the Soul EV Forum knows what they mean by that? Do they mean international markets, or do they mean other states within the USA?

 

[ivegotsoul]

And now US Kia executives are declining to comment, or say that the Soul EV isn't a compliance vehicle. They say they are very interested in the car succeeding but that doesn't mean they'll provide it nationwide. I am not in one of the 4 initial states, so I could be out of luck.

I guess there could be the option of buying and taking it out of state, like people are doing with the Rav4 EV, but it makes the whole thing much less appealing to me

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I'm in MA, and we should have a rebate program in place when the Soul arrives. You'd think they'd want to sell it here, as well as GA, WV, CO, or any place where incentives will help drive sales. Maybe they're not going to make that many? If it's not here, I'll probably lease a new LEAF. If the VW eGolf gets here, it's bound to be higher priced. Also hoping the 150 mile LEAF is ready before year's end.

I would only buy a car from a certified local dealer, with an EV tech. If something does go wrong with it, you wouldn't have to ship it out of state for repairs.