My first thoughts on driving away from the dealers was of real peace and quiet and the amount of torque available (note to self watch right foot), after a few minutes of acclimatization I began to enjoy it and appreciate things like the Head Up Display what a useful tool, you are also very concious of the regenerative braking as it is quite noticable and makes you change your driving style to benefit from it. All to soon I was home but those first immpressions have been reinforced every time I get behind the wheel, shopping trips only at the moment because of Covid19 but I can't wait to roam further afield. Stay safe and healthy. CJ
Soul EV who's got one,and your first thoughts
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Hi, i have had mine for a week now and am really enjoying it! Did you find it an issue when using the forward warning sensors? When reversing the sensors sound and the display is clear, but when moving forward to compete parking the sensor does not come on, nor does the display show. It is probably my mis-reading of the manual, but just wondered how you had found it
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22 Posts
Hi Coolardie. Haven't received my Soul yet (jokes aside) so cannot comment on the car 'in the metal', but thought they didn't come with any front parking sensors. I've seem some comments on this in various reviews. I may be wrong here - and would be delighted if that were the case, as I'd quite like front sensors on mine!
Never mind, I get the impression it's good value all the same.
Continue having fun with the car.
Hi Coolgardie2001 It would appear we don't have front parking sensors or mine are silent? not a problem as the front is easy to see and judge. Glad to hear you are enjoying it, me to.
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2 Posts
I just got a 67 plate 30kwh. I was a convert from my test drive. The build quality just blew me away, and all I have ever owned is BMW (when I was younger) and Mercedes since then. My wife has an Outlander Phev so I was kinda used to regen and how to drive reasonably efficiently, but was astonished to 6.3 miles / kwh on my first drive (26 miles) from previous owners to my house.
I have averaging in the 6.x range since then albeit its only been a week. Love apple carplay, especially Waze and Castbox integration. Also turning on AC didn't make a huge difference to the GOM (it would take 40% off in the Outlander)
I drive into London from just inside the M25 so my journey is well suited to this car, but I don't think I would be worried if I had to further.
So far I have always bettered the GOM. Is this always the case? or unlike GOM in other cars, Soul EV GOM a pessimist??
Also has anyone upgrade the software/firmware/maps? Are there any new features other than upto date Maps? My 67 plate hasn't been updated from new (date of firmware and software is 2016).
I have averaging in the 6.x range since then albeit its only been a week. Love apple carplay, especially Waze and Castbox integration. Also turning on AC didn't make a huge difference to the GOM (it would take 40% off in the Outlander)
I drive into London from just inside the M25 so my journey is well suited to this car, but I don't think I would be worried if I had to further.
So far I have always bettered the GOM. Is this always the case? or unlike GOM in other cars, Soul EV GOM a pessimist??
Also has anyone upgrade the software/firmware/maps? Are there any new features other than upto date Maps? My 67 plate hasn't been updated from new (date of firmware and software is 2016).
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5 Posts
Hi I order my soul ev in march when the 2nd day the car became available in Scotland (according to Arnold Clark) my neptune blue and black roof soul arrived in Scotland in June and have driven over 1400 miles since owning the car.
Overall thoughts its an amazing car that I'll never get rid of. I'm getting around 225 to 250 miles per 100% charge in Scotland right now and the car drives smoothly. The stereo and seats are really comfortable. I love the colour of the blue it's much nicer than other two options on my opinion (but it's also more saught after) the car also has some amazing features I love the HUD and the blind spot assist on motorway is amazing. The heated steering wheel and seats are good way to keep warm without using heater and the touch screen and dash is outstandingly good. The car overall is amazing and a massive upgrade from my previous car suzuki jimny.
Things I dislike:
I hate that if I want to turn my front window fan on to defog my window it turns on the air conditing (which takes off range) if turn ac off it turns front window heater off. The navigation's 'fastest' route is a lie it's usually 5 to 10 minutes slower than Google maps (tested multiple times on various journeys with my partner) and usually picks the route with the most range (isn't great for an EV)
The car is very quiet on low speeds on road and the fake noise is barely there I get very nervous if people are on pavements as the car is near silent.
The lane assit is temperamental and struggles at time reading lanes including on motorway at times and when it is 'on' when testing it sometimes fails to kick in.
There are no parking sensors in the front of the car which is a pain as you can't see over the bonnet.
The car is very expensive £34000 is expensive specially when the Scottish government make it near impossible to qualify for the government ev payment scheme and the home charger grant.
The servicing packages offered by kia are extorniate compared to other ev companies Nissan for a service according to salesmen was around 20 to 50 pounds for kia soul it's over £100.
Kia sales experts in Scotland really need training in evs I found out more about evs from the Internet than the sales or technicians in the kia garages they still don't know prices of services and quote same for a petrol / diesel car.
Also Kia isn't as customer friendly to owners of there evs as Nissan seem to be in Scotland. Nissan are allowing leaf owners to use there fast chargers at the Nissan garages for free where kia won't allow soul or Niro owners to do so.
Anything I'd like to have added? Maybe a paranamic roof or atleast a sun roof the car can get dark inside if not driving and the interior lights aren't very bright.
360 cameras on the car would be amazing. Also front parking sensors.
Also the open the boot button on the key of the car doesn't do anything.
Overall I love the car it's a massive investment for money but I feel worth it exspecially when the UK charging network gets a boot up backside and makes it easier to use chargers and can garuntee they work when get to them
Yes I'd like to try one but I never will simply because I can't afford one. I did own a Prius for some years which was an amazing car, it averaged 60-70mpg all the time. It would do 500 miles plus to a tank of petrol and that was the closest I'll ever get to full ev.
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First impressions were great. All the bells and whistles you could want. Only problem is the range. Originally coming up with 270 miles indicated for the first month. Liverpool and back could, in theory be done comfortably on a 3 stop strategy at 170 miles per run driving gently. Then... first ecotricity charging point was down, next was OK until a fault occurred between the car and the ecotricity CCS fast charge unit so only another 40 miles charge was added...and so it went on. What was a 9 hour round trip turned into 18. Multiple chargers just didn't like the Kia. Stress I've never had driving before, OK I was spoilt with a Mazda CX5 diesel but.... And now, despite setting the range to reset after every charge, it maxes out at 229 miles range. Took it into the local dealer/service provider in Cornwall, they ran it through the machines and... 'there seems to be a communication problem with the charger, try it again and come back to us if it doesn't improve'. Guess what. It didn't. Kia dealer is now saying 'it can lose 20% range in cold weather'. This isn't Alaska and...let me guess, if you use the A/C in the summer.....? Final insult was that I need to get my wife to a long delayed hospital appointment which is in the next county. 'We can't get you a courtesy car for another two weeks and, in any case our manager will not allow courtesy cars out of the county.' WHAT????? So now I have the dilemma that I risk not finding a charging point that works for the 250mile round trip to the hospital or go hire a proper car.
Bottom line. Don't get one unless you never, ever, go more than local journeys, or shell out for a Tesla. Serves me right for trying to go green. I miss my Mazda
Bottom line. Don't get one unless you never, ever, go more than local journeys, or shell out for a Tesla. Serves me right for trying to go green. I miss my Mazda
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40 Posts
Renault's website has a very good tool showing the effect of speed and temperature on the range of the Zoe, but this is not an issue that affects only electric cars.
Cold temperatures means that it takes longer for an ICE engine to reach operating temperature, it increases the demand on the heating and electrical systems and tyre pressures decreases slightly. Also as cold air is denser so it increases the aerodynamic drag. None of these issues are EV only issues.
The US Environmental Protection Agency state that on a normal commute, fuel consumption can increase by up to 28% in colder weather.
I think the issue with EV's is that the Range Estimator is a lot more accurate than an ICE car. I have never driven an ICE car where this was even close to guessing the range, and the fuel guages always seemed to slowly drop from full to half and then plummet the last half.
The use of air conditioning in an ICE car increases fuel consumption by up to 10%.
The charging network is still somewhat hit and miss, although it is now very much more hit than miss. Unfortuately, Ecotricity chargers are renown for been a very weak link. I have only tried to use one once and I learnt my lesson. But new providers are starting to place chargers at motorway service stations or very near to many junctions. Zapmap is your friend in planning longer journeys.
The main problem is still range anxiety isn't it. The chances of pulling up in a petrol station that is broken or non compatible is near enough zero and then there's probably another one around the corner. I think there is still a lot of work to be done on the infrastructure to improve things.
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40 Posts
No, range anxiety isn't an issue with the current Soul EV. Why should it when you can do 280 miles in the summer. You will drive past many rapid chargers in that distance, so one of them is bound to be working.
Range anxiety was more of an issue when EV's had a small range, the first Leaf had a range of about 75 miles and there was a sparse charging network. Some older cars also lacked the ability to rapid charge, making longer journey's a bit of a lottery.
The charging network is far from perfect, but it is getting better virtually every single day
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Hi Richard. I've had my 2020 Soul for just over 6 months now and done about 5.5K - obviously would have been more if not for Lockdown. Of those miles about 2.5K have been on journeys of 400+ miles. My observation is that I am not suffering at all from "Range Anxiety" but when the opportunity for one of these longer journeys does present itself I do suffer from "Range Regret"!
Let me explain: over the last couple of decades I have owned several ice cars - from an old AMG that never did more than about 240 miles 'on a tank', to a diesel that did 700+ (with others that did about 350 and 400 miles respectively). Of these, the AMG's range was always an irritation - even though filling-up was a matter of minutes. All the other cars, even the one that did about 350 miles on a tank of fuel, never had the same effect.
Well, love the Soul as I do (just as much as the AMG interestingly - albeit for different reasons), I have 'flash-backs' to just the same sort of range irritation when I travel on these longer journeys.
My point is that I think each one of us has a sort of inbuilt minimum range requirement to be entirely happy with a specific car. I don't think you come to this via some sort of 'mathematical formula', rather it's something that makes itself apparent over time based on mileage and habits. It isn't to do with loo breaks or having something to eat, for me at least, it's more a feeling in the back of my mind that "the car should be more self-sufficient than this".
The Soul is excellent in so many ways, but for me it does fall down on this test - as would nearly every other EV on the market at the moment. Of course, things will improve - and I don't regret the overall ownership experience with Kia and the Soul. It's just a niggle - and will continue to be so until the next generation of EVs.
In the meantime all I can do is plan long journeys in advance, use Zap Map, have back-up chargers in the plan if there happens to be a problem 'on the day' (and NEVER use Ecotricity - if only for the sake of my mental health!).
Let me explain: over the last couple of decades I have owned several ice cars - from an old AMG that never did more than about 240 miles 'on a tank', to a diesel that did 700+ (with others that did about 350 and 400 miles respectively). Of these, the AMG's range was always an irritation - even though filling-up was a matter of minutes. All the other cars, even the one that did about 350 miles on a tank of fuel, never had the same effect.
Well, love the Soul as I do (just as much as the AMG interestingly - albeit for different reasons), I have 'flash-backs' to just the same sort of range irritation when I travel on these longer journeys.
My point is that I think each one of us has a sort of inbuilt minimum range requirement to be entirely happy with a specific car. I don't think you come to this via some sort of 'mathematical formula', rather it's something that makes itself apparent over time based on mileage and habits. It isn't to do with loo breaks or having something to eat, for me at least, it's more a feeling in the back of my mind that "the car should be more self-sufficient than this".
The Soul is excellent in so many ways, but for me it does fall down on this test - as would nearly every other EV on the market at the moment. Of course, things will improve - and I don't regret the overall ownership experience with Kia and the Soul. It's just a niggle - and will continue to be so until the next generation of EVs.
In the meantime all I can do is plan long journeys in advance, use Zap Map, have back-up chargers in the plan if there happens to be a problem 'on the day' (and NEVER use Ecotricity - if only for the sake of my mental health!).
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22 Posts
You're probably right. On the face of it my journeys don't make me an ideal candidate for an EV. But the Soul has so many other compensations that I am more than happy to live with the compromises.
Had my car 2 weeks, Makes the Nissan Leaf I ran for 3 months after my 5 series got squashed look like a noddy car.
Everything is good, hoofing it about on the motorway I am getting 220-230 miles from a charge. The best bit zero BIK tax as a company car, the BMW cost £400/mnth. A bit of tax to pay on EV from April but it is buttons, about £12/mnth and the year after £24/mnth. EO mini home charger installed, which is also zero BIK rated if you can get your employer to pony up for it if its a company car.
However, it does have some annoying bits
1) High beam assist has to be engaged every time you switch on, same as Sport mode - why can't this be default?
2) I assume the very latest firmware has been changed as you can no longer change the colour of the different items displayed on the HUD
3) Charge lead releases when fully charged so the cable is not secure until you return to the vehicle can it be locked.
4) Needs footwear lighting but kia want £140 for a dealer fit option! just for the front footwells too
12 miles on the clock, took it to the closest sh*t works I could find to see a client so it can get a feel for the abuse it will suffer for the next 3 years
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Everything is good, hoofing it about on the motorway I am getting 220-230 miles from a charge. The best bit zero BIK tax as a company car, the BMW cost £400/mnth. A bit of tax to pay on EV from April but it is buttons, about £12/mnth and the year after £24/mnth. EO mini home charger installed, which is also zero BIK rated if you can get your employer to pony up for it if its a company car.
However, it does have some annoying bits
1) High beam assist has to be engaged every time you switch on, same as Sport mode - why can't this be default?
2) I assume the very latest firmware has been changed as you can no longer change the colour of the different items displayed on the HUD
3) Charge lead releases when fully charged so the cable is not secure until you return to the vehicle can it be locked.
4) Needs footwear lighting but kia want £140 for a dealer fit option! just for the front footwells too
12 miles on the clock, took it to the closest sh*t works I could find to see a client so it can get a feel for the abuse it will suffer for the next 3 years
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1 Posts
Hi, I'm new to this forum, and got my Soul EV last Saturday.
Bought on PCP with the intention to buy.
First impressions...
Quiet!
After 9 days and 80 miles, I'm loving it.
Likes:
The braking regen. Driving and rarely using the brake pedal, just moving up and down the modes works for 80% of the time. Fab
Head up display. Thought it was a bit of a gimmick... for about 10 minutes!
Interior space
Love the looks... comments from people at work... "the rear looks like a baboons bottom" and "the front reminds me of an imperial stormtrooper". Although most liked it, or so they said!
Safety features. Blind spot warning in particular
Range estimate. When I picked up the car, range said 281 and at 90 miles on the clock it still reckons there's 210 mile range. It has mostly been around town and my relatively short commute, so not really that much of a surprise.
Dislikes
The start and stop music. Can it really not be turned off?
Boot space. Not really that concerned though.
We're going to Scotland later on in the year, Covid permitting, so I will be interested to see how the car performs.
I'll update with more later.
Jon
Bought on PCP with the intention to buy.
First impressions...
Quiet!
After 9 days and 80 miles, I'm loving it.
Likes:
The braking regen. Driving and rarely using the brake pedal, just moving up and down the modes works for 80% of the time. Fab
Head up display. Thought it was a bit of a gimmick... for about 10 minutes!
Interior space
Love the looks... comments from people at work... "the rear looks like a baboons bottom" and "the front reminds me of an imperial stormtrooper". Although most liked it, or so they said!
Safety features. Blind spot warning in particular
Range estimate. When I picked up the car, range said 281 and at 90 miles on the clock it still reckons there's 210 mile range. It has mostly been around town and my relatively short commute, so not really that much of a surprise.
Dislikes
The start and stop music. Can it really not be turned off?
Boot space. Not really that concerned though.
We're going to Scotland later on in the year, Covid permitting, so I will be interested to see how the car performs.
I'll update with more later.
Jon
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40 Posts
You can change this in Settings menu on the dashboard so the cable is locked until the car is unlocked
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