Kia’s Soul is an obvious candidate for electrification. So obvious Kia designed its funky hatchback with that conversion in mind.

The Soul’s raffish vibe is well-suited for the iconoclasts who are the EV tribe. Moreover, its blocky, upright stance seems custom-made to accommodate a boxy battery pack, without disrupting aesthetics, inconveniencing occupants or reducing cargo space.

Its high roofline and tall windows give the Soul an open and airy feel. The EV’s gestalt is modern-verging-on-techie and the EV’s Apple-influenced user interface complements the Soul’s circle-based design theme.

The all-new 2015 Soul EV ($34,000 before incentives and rebates) is a five-passenger hatchback. Its EPA-estimated range of 93 miles tops all EVs not named Tesla. Operating under ideal conditions (temperature, barometric pressure, elevation gain, etc), independent testers have squeezed 104 miles out of a single charge.

The EV easily handled my daily needs, including the 16-mile roundtrip to town. Over the course of a week, the 27 kWh lithium-ion battery pack rarely dipped below 50 percent charge, with a nightly recharge from a 120-volt household outlet. Before spending an afternoon schlepping groceries around the North Side on a volunteer gig, I intentionally ran down the battery to less than half-full. 

When the state of charge approaches 25 percent, the Soul begins urging a visit to a nearby charging station, and offers available options. When I arrived home, in a state of moderate, self-induced range anxiety, 7 miles showed on the range indicator. Restoring a charge from a near-depleted state using a 120v outlet is a 24-hour process. A 240v outlet cuts the required time to five hours. The Soul is also fitted with a CHAdeMo DC fast-charging port (480v) and can be charged to 80 percent in 33 minutes using a 50-Kw fast-charger. 

The Soul EV’s batteries are located low in the body, under the rear seats. This produces a low center of gravity, resulting in minimal body lean and a stable, planted feel at speed. The EV runs the 0-60 mph sprint in the mid-9-second range (about average for EVs not named Tesla), though the immediate, off-the-line rush makes it feel quicker. Freeway merging is quick and painless. Top speed is electronically limited to 90 mph. 

Like all EVs, the Soul accelerates like a scalded rabbit — for the first hundred feet or so. That’s because its 81 kW electric motor is a torque-machine, producing a neck-whipping 210 lb-ft of torque.

With all it has going for it, the Soul could be the exact right car for a shopper intent on an EV. But, for now, they couldn’t get one. The EV was developed primarily to help Kia satisfy California’s air-quality standards, and presently is sold only to Golden Staters. 

So why did Kia go to the trouble of shipping the Soul EV to Eastern Washington for our test? Apparently, strong first-year sales may justify opening new markets, Washington being a prime candidate. 

Perhaps soon, Northwest greenies will have a fresh new face to consider. 

Don Adair is a Spokane-based freelance writer. Contact him at don@dadair.com

2015 Kia Soul EV Exclaim
Vehicle base price: $34,525
Trim level base price: $35,700
As tested: $36,625
Optional equipment: carpeted floor mats
EPA ratings: 105 MPGe/120 city/92 highway