2023 Kia Soul EV review: the cheap electric car Australia missed out on
The Kia Soul was the one that got away for Australians.
And it was our own stupid damn fault.
Delightfully and quirkily styled, good value and with excellent passenger space, it stood out like a shining, extrovert beacon next to the sea of homogenised, vanilla small SUVs.
We bleated away like blind sheep, buying Ford EcoSports at twice the rate we did Souls in 2019, the last year it was sold in Australia.
With that horror show of a Blue Oval mini SUV trouncing the Soul’s 485 sales that year, no wonder Kia Australia pulled it after a decade of trying.
Glacial uptake ensured we never got the Kia Soul EV, which had been on sale in RHD UK since 2015.
It could have – and should have – been Kia’s electric entry into Australia, rather than the (already dated) first generation Niro in 2021.
Driving the Kia Soul EV
So what did we miss out on?
On a recent UK trip, I snared keys to an electric Soul.
Each to their own, but I reckon this boxy Kia’s a delight to behold. Its two-tone colour scheme wins quirky points, even if my family called it the Clown Car with its red and white panels.
It’s a fun-sized hatchback/SUV, similar to a Hyundai Kona EV, albeit 35mm taller.
Clamber inside and there’s mighty head and leg room for up to five adults, and that’s despite the Soul not being an EV-only platform, like, say, the EV6.
Build quality’s excellent, and you score LED lights everywhere (boomerang-shaped at rear), leather heated seats, 10.25-inch infotainment, digital driver display, radar cruise control and ample safety gear, although it’s no match style and functionality-wise next to the latest Kia EVs.
The boot’s surprisingly small – at 315L it’s less than the titchy Kia Rio hatchback – but for a city / school run car this matters little: suitcases and golf clubs won’t be typical cargo.
Its EV credentials are solid. Our ‘Explore’ grade has 451km range (WLTP) – matching that of a basic Tesla Model Y. Charge speed’s only up to 77kW, but about 300km range can be added at a public fast charger in 45 minutes.
There’s a 64kWh battery and single 150kW/395Nm motor driving the front wheels. That means pleasingly zippy acceleration, feeling faster than its on-paper 7.9-second time to 100km/h.
The UK also sells an entry level Soul with 39.2kWh battery, 100kW/395Nm motor and range of 275km.
The drive itself is simply damn good fun.
Visibility’s solid from a fairly lofty driving position, and its sports car-like independent rear suspension and low centre of gravity – the battery pack weighs 457kg – gives stability and poised handling when chucking it through fast turns. Bit of body roll due to its loftiness, mind.
The handling vs comfort balance has been well applied by Kia’s chassis techs, so highway cruising’s quite cushy, aside from some marked road noise.
Really, it’s at its best in town. That’s despite challenging conditions in the Motherland. God knows what the Brit government does with all those pennies and pounds, but they sure as hell don’t throw enough cash at the road system.
Despite England’s wartime-like craters in the bitumen, endless speed humps and corrugated corners, the boxy Soul soaked most things up without spinal damage to we occupants. It feels safe, capable and a bit of a laugh to steer, not dissimilar to a Kona EV.
And parking? The Poms devised parking space sizes when the Austin A30 was deemed normal, so the Soul just about proved manageable. Dual cab utes wouldn’t be fun here.
Energy use was a very efficient 15.5kWh/100km over 1000km, testing across city, highway and country. That bettered Kia’s official figure of 15.7kWh/100km.
The Soul EV’s a joyous little all-rounder, but good grief it’s too expensive. Our higher grade one costs £39,045 ($76,500) – the entry-level is £32,845 ($64,400) – but the UK does get better electric car subsidies than us.
Kia Australia would have had to bring it in a fair bit less than that to compete with the current crop of Chinese electric cheapies. That said, it wouldn’t have been far off the Hyundai Kona EV’s tag.
But Australian appetite for small, cheaper EVs is obvious right now, and that’s why what comes next from Kia is key.
The updated Soul won’t be available as an electric car, because there are fancier plans afoot…
Kia’s EV3 – the Soul replacement
The Soul – funky as it is – is the past, and the expected EV3 small electric SUV is very much the future.
The Kia Concept EV3 was revealed in October at the brand’s EV Day, and this boxy, miniature EV9-like SUV is a logical replacement for the Soul, likely to debut late in 2024.
It will go on sale sooner than the larger Kia EV5, which was revealed in production form at the same event.
It appears slightly larger and but not as top-heavy as the Soul, although shares its sloping rear roof and healthy dose of design character.
The Concept’s interior appears to be all eco materials, with a single-piece panoramic driver screen and not a knob or button to be seen.
It will be built on the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric-only E-GMP architecture, and is likely to be offered as a single (front) and twin motor SUV and with a variety of battery sizes.
However, we can expect 400v rather than 800v electrical systems to keep costs down. Wouldn’t it be a cracking little offering if priced between $50-60,000?
Rather wonderfully, we can expect a GT version to follow, ensuring stonking performance from this edgily-styled small SUV.
Of course it’ll be a far more advanced, accomplished and polished EV than the old Soul EV.
But wouldn’t the old high-roof Kia have looked superb as an electric entry into Australia all those years ago?
