Soul EV? Pros & Cons; good choice for first EV owner?

[apctjb]

Looking to purchase my first EV (used). Primary use is trips around town and hauling toys (bikes, wing boards, backpack) and dog to local recreation spots. Reliability, cargo space (seats folded down) and hassle free ownership are my main criteria. Range of 100 miles is fine.

I am total newbie just coming up to speed on EV's. Would love to hear from Soul EV owners if the Soul should be an EV I should consider. How does it compare to the Toyota RAV4 EV and Nissan Leaf which I am also considering? Thanks

 

[ksoul2084]

Unfortunately the KIA Soul EVs have been somewhat plaqued by failing batteries, and more recently the possibility of a battery fire requiring a recall to replace the BMS and harnesses. The result of the recall for many people has been disabled cars (after the BMS detects a potential problem with their battery) and many folks cars are sitting at KIA dealerships for months waiting for new batteries or something to happen at KIA.

Due to these ongoing issues, at this time I could not recommend you join the KIA EV club. Too bad, it's a great little car otherwise.

 

[apctjb]

Due to these ongoing issues, at this time I could not recommend you join the KIA EV club. Too bad, it's a great little car otherwise.

Thanks! That probably explains the number and low prices I am seeing online for used Soul EV's. Too bad

 

[apctjb]

There is a very low mileage (<10K) Soul EV for sale that I am interested in. Is the recall/fire safety issue for all SoulEV's or specific models/years. Is there any way to check a VIN to see if a recall applies?

Thanks?

 

[apctjb]

Found a website where I could check VIN. No open safety recalls for this specific vehicle. Would you still advise steering clear of Kia Soul EV's in general?

 

[ksoul2084]

What year and model are you considering? My understanding is these battery issues are restricted to the 1st generation models so up to and including 2018. I'm not aware of any issues like that with the 2nd gen (2019+), however, I don't pay much attention to those as I don't have one.

I have heard some people having recurring issues with warnings related to the cooling system that KIA doesn't seem to have figured out. There's another forum here for 2nd gen you can review yourself for more information.

In general, having owned Toyotas and Hondas most of my adult life, I personally would avoid having to deal with KIA dealerships in the future if possible. But obviously, that's a personal preference.

 

[uspurs]

Found a website where I could check VIN. No open safety recalls for this specific vehicle. Would you still advise steering clear of Kia Soul EV's in general?

2017 was the last year for the E375 battery cells, 2018-9 used the E400 cells - the latter are I believe those subject to the recall; those E400 cells have also been used in some earlier cars when their batteries have been replaced, thus making those cars subject to the recall.
The Kia battery warranty in the US is 10 years / 100K miles - the problem is that the wait time for batteries can be long and, as far as we can see, Kia do not have a solution for the E400 problem (and those would be the cells used for E375 replacement).

I suspect we have the twin of the car you may be looking at - bought new from the same dealership, a week earlier - same colour. We are at 58K miles on our '17, battery replaced with E400 last summer and BMS recall completed ~7 weeks ago.

The Soul is a great package, but this was Kia's gen 1 BEV; anyone who buys one is, imo, rolling the battery / Kia support / warranty dice.