spidermonkey
New member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2019
- Messages
- 3
Howdy, Guy here. Proud owner of a 2016 Kia Soul EV, I call it the "Roller Skate". Outside of a New Holland TN70 tractor, it’s a the nicest thing I own. I traded up from a 1983 BMW 320is no power steering..no power anything, it was like a rubber-band powered car. Super fun to drive, like a big street legal go cart. Anyway, I digress, the Soul is fun to drive too, but its not the same kind of fun. I often refer to the Souls as "The Rabbit" as well, the car has many names, mostly its like piloting a little spacecraft, like a shuttle. That’s what I use it for, I shuttle fresh produce from the farm to drop points in the local area. A range of 100 miles is perfect. Its perfect for that specific use. In the winter the car is a different animal. Too much torque, plenty of power really, more power than the Subaru, more power than the tractor. I disengage the traction control and go for it, its not always pretty. Mud and snow are no fun for the Skate. The car has less than forty thousand miles on it, I bought it about five years ago from a dealership, certified factory fresh, with a mere sixteen thousand miles on it. Good for ten years or 100,000 miles. A range of one hundred miles is great, until it isnt. My current range was 36 miles by the time I was able to get it to the nearest dealership seventy miles away. That was September of 2023 and they have had the car since then. Not a lot of confidence building correspondence with the Kia team. I actually refer to the car in the past tense now. It has not been convenient to have the car gone for so long I will say that. I'm certainly glad I own the car out right and havent been making payments on it. That would be absurd. Its also a little absurd that they are willing to pay for a rental, for months on end while they custom build a battery they no longer manufacture, which sort of begs the question: "Why warranty something you arent going to manufacture for the life of the warranty?" But I'm not in charge of these things and I'm certain they are beyond my understanding. But since its on my mind, rather than custom building a no longer manufactured battery why not figure out a simple way to put the most current battery in all production Kias, all of them, same pack. New software and out the door. When are we going to see that? Foolish thoughts from a foolish farmer.
Other than not having it for months on end I really do or did love the car. It still smells like a new car. In the winter it warms right up, in the summer it cools right down. Its quiet. It doesn’t leak oil and the only thing I have had to replace have been headlamps, windshield wiper blades and license plate tabs. When I finally do get it back I'll replace the cabin filter, I'm sure its full of mice by now…
Other than not having it for months on end I really do or did love the car. It still smells like a new car. In the winter it warms right up, in the summer it cools right down. Its quiet. It doesn’t leak oil and the only thing I have had to replace have been headlamps, windshield wiper blades and license plate tabs. When I finally do get it back I'll replace the cabin filter, I'm sure its full of mice by now…
