Kia Soul EV 2020 UK first drive

If the Kia e-Niro is to be thought of as Kia's 'normal' electric vehicle, you get the sense the Korean firm might want you to think of the new Soul EV as its cool older cousin. You know, the one who vapes and listens to bands you’ve never heard of.

Its looks are key to that. The third-generation Soul retains the unabashedly boxy profile and boosted ride height of its predecessors. To this tester’s eyes, it’s not quite as energetically styled as it once was; perhaps that’s got something to do with the sort of sleepy look the new headlight design lends the front end. Nevertheless, it's quite appealing; there’s still a healthy amount of quirk appeal about the design, which is an increasingly rare phenomenon. 

In Europe, Kia will be selling the Soul only as a battery electric vehicle (BEV), while petrol models will still make their way to the US. Here in the UK, the decked-out First Edition model, which costs £33,795 post-Government grant, is for now the sole offering (sorry). 

Despite the initial lack of choice, however, Kia UK seems pretty confident in the Soul EV's potential. It already has some 2000 units on order, along with 8000 e-Niros. Given that just under 38,000 BEVs were sold here throughout the entirety of last year, it looks like Kia is gearing up to claim a fairly sizable chunk of the market for itself between now and December.

Along with its reasonable price and strong level of standard equipment, the Soul EV’s 280-mile WLTP range is a key part of its appeal. This is enabled by its 64kWh battery pack (the same as you'll find in the e-Niro and Hyundai Kona Electric), which drives a 201bhp permanent magnet synchronous motor mounted at the front axle.

Plugged into a 100kW charger, that battery is able to reach 80% capacity in just under an hour, while a regular 7.2kW home wallbox is capable of completely replenishing its power reserve in 9.5 hours. 

Performance is strong without being wild; 291lb ft of toruqe endows the boxy Kia with spritely acceleration between 30 and 50mph. Past that point, the urgency with which it accumulates pace begins to tail off, but there’s more than enough shove to get you up to motorway speeds on slip roads plenty quick enough.

Compared with petrol-engined crossovers, the Soul's throttle response is usefully sharpened too. But as we observed when we road tested the e-Niro last year, Kia seems to have engineered in a very slight delay when you accelerate away from a standstill - likely to help prevent fresh EV converts from inadvertently spinning the front wheels at step-off.