Kia Soul EV overview, comparing against other electric cars. The Soul EV is brand new to the market, facing entrenched competition from the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S as well as newcomers like the BMW i3. It stacks up well against the Leaf, and is much more affordable than the i3, Toyota RAV4 EV, Model S, etc.

1. 2015 Kia Soul EV
A journey from driving a DIY EV Conversion
to a modern, brand new, manufactured EV.

2. Where I’m coming from

3. Where I’ve gone

4. Soul EV vs. Leaf vs. others
● MUST HAVE: Fast Charging, Affordable, not a compliance car
● Others:
o Tesla too expensive … even RAV4 EV too expensive, no fast
charging
o Chevy Spark EV has 3.3kw charger and is compliance car
o BMW i3 interesting, but too expensive
o Leaf is the best of the lot
● Kia Soul EV beats Leaf on range & that CHAdeMO is standard feature
o EPA rated 95 mile range
o dashboard routinely indicates 110+ miles range
o CHAdeMO allows for charging to 94%
● Soul EV might not be a compliance car
● MSRP: $33,700 base model or $35,700 for plus trim (leather seats)

5. Autonomy
● Don’t focus just on the range
● Range + Fast Charging is the key to autonomy
● I believe 150 miles range plus fast charging gives enough freedom to
travel wherever you want
● Terry Hershner’s motorcycle is an example
o Latest version: 200 miles range and recharging in an hour
o Earlier versions had about 150 miles range
o Repeated cross country trips
● On a long trip the effective speed is dominated by charging
● Level 2 charging rule of thumb - 20-25 miles range per hour of charging
● CHAdeMO on Kia Soul EV is 90ish miles range in 40+ minutes
o Requires 2 CHADEMO sessions .. first to 80% second to 94%

6. Soul EV compliance car?
● Limited sales (600-700) in first year - in California only
o That’s the definition of a compliance car, right?
● Here’s why I think it’s not a compliance car
o Kia deployed dual protocol (CCS and CHADEMO) charging stations to
dealerships
o Kia is selling this car in several countries. I found a news article from
Belarus, another from South Africa, and of course Norway and other
European countries
o Sales are supposed to ramp up considerably next year
o Kia did a thorough study of electric cars on the market, and the Soul
EV is getting extremely positive reviews as a result

7. Real World Tests by Owners
● Tony WIlliams determined the Kia Soul EV has 101-105 miles of range at
constant 62 miles per hour on level ground
● I’ve taken it up to Skyline Blvd twice now
o Los Gatos - 82% in pack
o 17 & Skyline: 66% in pack, climb is 334ft altitude to 1800 ft in 8 miles
o After coasting downhill to Los Gatos in ‘D’ - 67% in pack

8. Driving
Off-the-line it’ll chirp the tires
Official 0-60mph is 11 seconds
Top speed above 90 mph
It can climb a steep grade at 80 mph (I-280 near hwy 92 / San Mateo)
ECO Mode - more efficient driving
B mode - aggressive regen, almost good enough for one-pedal-driving

9. Owner groups
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SoulEV/
https://plus.google.com/communities/113783233242372360509
http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/
Coming soon: http://evsoul.com/

10. Questions?
David Herron
http://LongTailPipe.com