Should I but a LEAF or Soul EV?

[ivegotsoul]

Depending on price in North America, the Kia Soul EV could be a serious Nissan LEAF challenger.

Here are some of the pros and cons, versus a Nissan Leaf

1. The Soul EV has a heated battery pack, so it should handle cold climates better than the Leaf

2. 0-60mph time in the Soul is 'less than 12 seconds', and the Leaf is 7.9 seconds

3. Electric range of the Kia Soul EV is currently listed as 92 miles, which is higher than the 84 mile range listed for the 2014 Nissan Leaf. It's hard to say at this point if the Soul's range will carry to the US EPA test cycle or if it will drop...

 

[KeiJidosha]

Depending on price in North America, the Kia Soul EV could be a serious Nissan LEAF challenger.

Here are some of the pros and cons, versus a Nissan Leaf

1. The Soul EV has a heated battery pack, so it should handle cold climates better than the Leaf

2. 0-60mph time in the Soul is 'less than 12 seconds', and the Leaf is 7.9 seconds

3. Electric range of the Kia Soul EV is currently listed as 92 miles, which is higher than the 84 mile range listed for the 2014 Nissan Leaf. It's hard to say at this point if the Soul's range will carry to the US EPA test cycle or if it will drop...

LEAF also has heated pack. Soul has air cooling (LEAF is sealed). Car and Driver shows LEAF 0-60 as 10.2 seconds. Soul EPA range has not been released yet, but speculation is ~90 miles.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

LEAF does not have a heated pack. It has six small battery warmer units that come on at -14F (IIRR) and shut off when the pack gets back up to 4F. They're only to keep the pack from freeze damage, you can't control them to keep the pack warm, not rated for that kind of duty cycle, but a pack heater would be a good idea here in the great frozen north. You can warm the pack a little by QCing, but the SoulEV could do that too. The Soul's ability to wam the pack is a definite advantage. The whole heating system seems more efficient.