Kia Soul EV

Soarer

Morning guys.

Thinking about maybe picking up one of these in the UK. Reasoning?
Leaf 2 - no scrappage means prices are too high.
Ioniq - supply issues and strong secondhand prices.
Leaf - I'm reluctant to drop ~€15k on the "same" car I already have.

So the Soul.
Always liked the look of them if I'm honest, but they are a bit Marmite.
27kWh battery.
6.6kW Type 1 and Chademo, so don't have to change my home charger.
Remainder of the 7 year warranty.
High-ish driving position.
Oodles of cabin space.

Anyone have any experience of them?

thierry14

Why are you getting rid of your Leaf

Soul looks pretty decent for price

Didn't know had such a big battery, thought they were like 16Kwh, not 27Kwh

Soarer

When I bought the Leaf, the plan was to get into EVs for as cheap as possible to see if they suited. If they did, I'd upgrade in the new year and give the Leaf to the ol' fella.
So I'm rolling with that.

Yeah, the Soul seems like decent value. Don't know where the 16kWh figure came from. I was talking to a Kia dealer in the UK yesterday, and he told me it was 27kWh and 6.6kW charger.

Ubbquittious

Good Lordy Pie that KIA is ugly

cros13

They have quick rapid charging support up to about 65kW on the efacec QC45 rapids

No app support for remote control in UK/Ireland.

Little more range than the 24kWh Leaf, higher seating position, slightly worse handling and slightly lower torque.
The nagging notifications every minute or so when the SoC drops below 25% are a bit of a pain.
Warranty term is good.

If you can get one cheap go for it... though at around the same price a used 30kWh Leaf might be a better buy.
On the other hand the Soul EV is a bit different and it's alway nice to have a bit of variety.

KCross

FYI: 3 imported this year, none last year, so there are only a couple around. Small chance someone on here actually has one and can give you first hand feedback.

You'd really need to get an extended test drive in one before putting your money up and be willing to drive it into the ground in case its hard to sell on. It is marmite, as you said.

Shefwedfan

I know Electric Autos had one for ages and sold it so at least one owner in Ireland

I think there is another guy on one of the facebook groups who has one as well....don't want to mention names on here but you can find easily

gally74

Soarer wrote: »

Morning guys.

Thinking about maybe picking up one of these in the UK. Reasoning?
Leaf 2 - no scrappage means prices are too high.
Ioniq - supply issues and strong secondhand prices.
Leaf - I'm reluctant to drop ~€15k on the "same" car I already have.

So the Soul.
Always liked the look of them if I'm honest, but they are a bit Marmite.
27kWh battery.
6.6kW Type 1 and Chademo, so don't have to change my home charger.
Remainder of the 7 year warranty.
High-ish driving position.
Oodles of cabin space.

Anyone have any experience of them?

Did you ever buy one Soarer?

goz83

gally74 wrote: »

Did you ever buy one Soarer?

It's not the new year yet

gally74

goz83 wrote: »

It's not the new year yet

I have one for a few months now

goz83

gally74 wrote: »

I have one for a few months now

That's good. There aren't many around and Kia Ireland don't want to acknowledge their existence. How do you find the Soul?

My response to you was in relation to you asking if the OP had ever bought one.....usually something seen when in a zombie thread....nut the OP only posted about this last month and said he was thinking about picking one up in the new year....which hasn't yet arrived.

gally74

goz83 wrote: »

That's good. There aren't many around and Kia Ireland don't want to acknowledge their existence. How do you find the Soul?

My response to you was in relation to you asking if the OP had ever bought one.....usually something seen when in a zombie thread....nut the OP only posted about this last month and said he was thinking about picking one up in the new year....which hasn't yet arrived.

I really like it. It's well put together. Nice range etch. It's hard to drive a manual after an ev. They are selling in the UK at good money. Optimal looks an optio too

la ultima guagua

Maybe I wasnt doing it right but couldnt find these listed on the VRT calcullator

With the various grants and rebates that seem to go with buying a new ev in RoI I'm lost as to what VRT might be demanded ( and why) if bringing a S/H one of these in.

Also would it qualify for a charger installation subsidy ?

cros13

la ultima guagua wrote: »

Maybe I wasnt doing it right but couldnt find these listed on the VRT calcullator

It's not on there but it should be €0. Maybe someone who imported can confirm?

la ultima guagua wrote: »

Also would it qualify for a charger installation subsidy ?

Yes, the new €600 subsidy.

la ultima guagua

Thanks Cros13, thats very helpful ( and hopeful)

Do you know at what level of OMSP VRT would kick in ?

cros13

la ultima guagua wrote: »

Thanks Cros13, thats very helpful ( and hopeful)

Do you know at what level of OMSP VRT would kick in ?

Around €35,700

peaceboi

The only difficulty would be is with annual servicing and repairs, if something
goes wrong. Think there is only 1 Kia dealer (Kia Roadside Coleraine) for the whole of island Ireland, who does kia ev sales & servicing.

liamog

cros13 wrote: »

They have quick rapid charging support up to about 65kW on the efacec QC45 rapids

Probably better to set expectations realistically.
The Kia Soul will receive 50kW from the QC45, for unknown reasons the charger will use 65kW to do it.

Soarer

cros13 wrote: »

Yes, the new €600 subsidy.

Is that definite?

So the ol' fella's UK Outlander that's being VRT'd this week will qualify?

cros13

Soarer wrote: »

Is that definite?

So the ol' fella's UK Outlander that's being VRT'd this week will qualify?

Yes

Soarer

cros13 wrote: »

Yes

Excellent.

You wouldn't happen to know how one goes about applying?

KCross

Soarer wrote: »

Excellent.

You wouldn't happen to know how one goes about applying?

Details here....
https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/electric-vehicle-home-charger-grant/

Just email them until they get their online system up and running.