Kia’s quirky all-electric newbie is a different kind of party animal
Maggie Barry
Open the door and switch on for the music of the soul. The Kia Soul in this case – the latest generation of the Korean company’s funky all-electric vehicle.
It starts with a tinkling welcome from the car and moves into the light display, as the instrument cluster and the 10.25in colour touchscreen light up ready to go.
This is Kia’s electric offering, which delivers a stunning 280-mile real-life range, thanks to a 64kWh battery driving a 150kW motor.
This power tops out at 201bhp, meaning that sitting behind the wheel you have your hands on a lively and pert car with bags of character and the ability to deliver performance with some panache.
Its quirky looks have alwaysways made it stand out from the crowdowd but, in this latest version, it is going to leave the crowd standing.
It comes in three two-tone colour combos, with a skid plate and lots of LED lighting.
The Soul is honest, wil l ing, dynamic andd well- balanced – thankss in part to the positioningg of the battery, which giveses it a low sense of gravity.
The previous model wasn’tn’t
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bad but this one has raised the bar, not just with its amazing range but it’s more powerful and incorporates a raft of recuperation devices. Paddles behind the steering wheel will give you different levels of braking and power regeneration, while driving modes such as Eco, Normal and Sport will all give you the kind of fun you hanker for – at the same time offering ways to maintain the charge. There is even a cleverver feature that grabs waste heat from the cooling system to re-use. The new Soulul comecomes with its own 100kW DC charger, which gets thet battery from 0- 80 per ccent in just 54 minutes – timetim for a bite of lunch or a quiquick visit to the gym. FoFor its launch, Kia has equiequipped the Soul with a raft of features and drivers’ aidsaid designed to make l ifeife easier and more comfortable.com
SafetyS features include bliblind spot detectors, rear cross traffic alert, forward collision avoidance and hill start control. There’s also black leather upholstery, piano black gloss, satin-finished door handles and heated seats.
The touchscreen on the centre console houses the satnav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with Bluetooth, wireless phone charging DAB and a reversing camera to complement the sensors.
Music has always marked out the Soul aas a car with, well, soul, sou and in this car the designers des have turned up the volume on that t heheme . Dr aw i n g inspiinspirationr from the visualisation ofo sound, they have created an interior with acousticinspired shapes and textures.
The signature “tweeter “speakers are at each end of the dashboard and the car comes with a premium Harman/Kardon sound system.
This whole car stimulates the senses – whether it is the cool runnings of its silent drive, the performance of the electric motor, the feeling as you run your hand along the door or the marvellous sound that comes out of the speakers – definitely sweet Soul music.