Kia is one of the most successful manufacturers of electrical vehicles. The e-Niro already is sold out for the rest of the year...
just like it was in January. And that has a reason, because in the comparison test with the Hyundai Kona Electric,
I concluded that the e-Niro was the best electric car available if you look at the price versus range versus the quality as a whole.
A lot of people seemed to agree with me, because it was already sold out. So if you want one, you should wait until 2020.
If you don't have a lot of patience however, this might be an option: the Kia e-Soul.
It's been around as long as the e-Niro, but Kia decided to focus on the e-Niro first. After that, they brought the e-Soul to the Netherlands.
It'll arrive in the second half of this year. A lot of specs are exactly the same, because it has 35 kWh-battery packs as well.
Dutch people can't have those though, because they only sell us 64 kWh-packs. Kia knew it would sell very well,
they only made the most powerful version available. That's why it has 450 km of range from an 204 horsepower electric motor.
So the question is: should you wait for the e-Niro, or should you just go for this one?
The regular Kia Soul, with combustion engine, isn't available in the Netherlands. The same went for the previous generation.
Only the electric versions are available. When it comes to size, the Soul is inbetween the Kia Stonic and Kia Niro.
You'll notice that the most in the back. Even though my legs have enough room back here, it's still more cramped than the Niro.
The same goes for the headroom and boot.
With those big waiting lists for electric cars, it's always nice to see the launch of new vehicles, including this e-Soul.
With a paper WLTP-range of 450 km, you should count on about 400 kilometres in the real world.
That's very decent. But the big question however, is where to position the e-Soul relative to the e-Niro?
Well, it's actually pretty simple. The e-Soul is a B-segment SUV whilst the e-Niro is a C-segment SUV.
That means this is closer to the Hyundai Kona Electric than to the e-Niro. All of that despite the fact it's one big Kia/Hyundai-family.
And you notice that in the size. The space on the rear seat is more cramped and you don't have as much luggage space.
That's a noticeable difference, so you can say it's just one segment lower. But that's when we get to the price.
That's kind of hard for me, because we don't have prices yet in the Netherlands. Those'll come in June,
and it's available to order in July. But if we look at Germany, the prices are actually known. The difference between a similarly...
equipped e-Soul and an e-Niro, is only €1.000 to €1.500. That's not a lot of money on a total of €40.000.
That said, what's the added value of the e-Soul relative to the e-Niro. Well, it's still available in 2019, so that's good.
Other than that, it's slightly more modern. It has an updated multimedia system, which the regular facelifted Niro already has.
The e-Niro won't get that however. The Soul comes with another advantage as well: an app which improves the connectivity.
You can control the climate control with that app, you can check on the batteries, on the charging. For some manufacturers that's normal,
but Kia and Hyundai didn't offer that before.
When I asked Kia what the added value of the Soul was relative to the e-Niro, because the prices are very similar.
Again, €1.500 is a small portion of a total of €40.000. Well, Kia says, is that the Soul appeals to a whole different public.
A public who wants a 'cooler' car, a more compact car which still looks very 'hip'.
An e-Niro however is more of a tamed down EV for families and such. So it's a matter of taste.
As an independant test driver, I must admit that I don't see the added value of this e-Soul.
That sounds very negative, but I don't mean it like that. In its class, it's a very pleasant EV.
If you compare it with the Kona, a rival in the same segment, this looks a lot better on the inside.
Much more moern, less plastic, better materials. The drive is also a lot sportier. That's because it has harder dampers...
than the Kona and Niro. That makes it a little bit more dynamic, but you shouldn't expect it to be a GTI-SUV or anything.
When I corner very hard, you notice the anti-roll bars are pretty long. It has better traction.
But it's clear that they've positioned it sportier than the e-Niro.
We already know the drivetrain, because it's the same as the drivetrain in the e-Niro and Kona Electric.
The front wheels are being powered by a 204 horsepower electric motor, together with a 64 kWh-battery pack.
The drive is nice, the response is good, it does 0-100 km/h in under 8.0 seconds and you control the amount of regenerative braking with...
the flappy paddles behind the steering wheel. If you hold down the left paddle, the regenerative braking will be at its peak.
You can reach a full stop with it even. It won't be as powerful as normal brakes, but in a jam, it's just a tad nicer to use than your brake pedal.
50... 60... 70... 80... It's pretty quick this.
The charging possibilities are exactly the same as other cars. It doesn't have three-phase charging,
but you can use single-phase charging with 32 ampère, if that's available to you.
You can quickcharge it however, up to 80 kW. As long as we don't know any more about the prices, delivery dates...
and the amount of cars that'll come to the Netherlands, it's still a surprise what this car is going to do.
A lot of people will have to wait so incredibly long for their e-Niro, they might want to just go for the Soul.
And I understand that decision. It's a decent car, so there's nothing wrong with that.
Besides that, it's interesting to note that this e-Soul is available with a smaller battery pack abroad
32 to 35 kWh-battery packs to be exact. And they're a lot cheaper, Kia has put a higher price on this because of the bigger battery pack.
But Kia says that the cars are so successful, so they just sell the more expensive version. Some people can't afford that,
but as long as Kia sells out all of their cars... I can't blame them, but I still think it's too bad.
If they didn't, an electric car would become available to a much bigger public...