Kia e-Soul to reach Europe post its debut at Geneva Motor Show

KUALA LUMPUR: Kia announced the third-gen Soul along with an electric variant in November last year. The automaker has now revealed more details of the EV, badged as e-Soul, and announced that it will soon go on sale in the European market first. Kia also claims that the quirky and boxy e-Soul now provides a better driving range and torque than the previous model.

The base variant of e-Soul can produce around 136 PS of maximum power and is packed with a 39.2 kWh battery. It can provide an overall driving range of around 277 km. While on the other hand, the top spec Kia e-Soul EV’s electric motor belts out 204 PS of power along with a peak torque of 395 Nm. It can speed up from 0 to 100 kmph in just 7.6 seconds. The top-spec unit gets its power from a 64 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery, which can provide a driving range up to 452 km.

The CCS (Combined Charging System) DC fast charger has been provided to both the variants. It takes just 42 minutes to refill the battery from 20 to 80% by using the 100 kW DC fast charging station. The car also has a Drive Mode Select system with the following options - Eco, Eco+, Sport, and Normal.

Coming to the design, the e-Soul looks similar to the standard Kia Soul. It gets all-LED headlights and fog lights. The pillars get a black paint job to match with the roofline. At the rear, the L-shaped large taillights complement the eye-catchy design. The car rolls on 17-inch alloy wheels.

Inside the cabin, there’s UVO Connect infotainment and telematics system, which will also make its debut in Europe. The US people are familiar with the system, which consists of a 10.25-inch touchscreen and an inbuilt SIM card. This system supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The SIM card offers on- and off-street parking information, weather forecasts, and live traffic information. Also, the driver will get to know about the nearest charging station locations and charger availability.

After the Kia e-Soul premiere at the Geneva Motor Show 2019, it will soon hit the European market, probably from the last week of March 2019. However, there’s no word on the pricing yet.