Kia powertrain engineers are going to great lengths to
ensure that the all-new Soul EV has the capacity to perform to very high
standards in all conditions.
The Soul EV made
its debut at the Chicago Auto Show un February, with the major claim being that
it can run 148 km on a full charge.
It’s generally accepted that electric cars and very cold
weather are not a happy combination. No matter what the application, or which
company developed the technology, a battery pack’s output tumbles – and with it
the vehicle’s range – when conditions freeze over. The situation is made even
worse by the need to heat the cabin and light the road. Even recharging takes
longer than usual – and that’s saying something given how long it already takes
to charge an EV! But if electric cars are to be realistic fully viable
transport options, they need to work well enough in such harsh conditions for
potential buyers not to dismiss them out of hand.
This is why Kia, poised to launch a new range of Soul
crossovers, has spent much time testing at Hyundai’s facility in Arjeplog,
northern Sweden, and well inside the Arctic Circle. The new Soul range, which
looks much like the last one but is based on an all-new platform, includes that
novel variant, a crossover EV. It makes use of a crossover’s high stance to
position the lithiumion polymer battery pack – eight modules of two batteries
each, with a total capacity of 27kWh running at 75Ah and 360V and a total
weight of 282kg – under the floor.
Using its J1772
standard charging port, Kia notes that it will take 5 hours to charge the
battery from a 240 volt source. For fast charging, the Soul EV also sports a
CHAdeMo standard port, requiring only 33 minutes to bring the battery up to 80
percent charge.
That means the Soul EV has exactly the same passenger and
luggage accommodation as a regular Soul. And Kia claims an industry-leading energy
density for its battery pack of 200Wh/kg, while the complete car weighs about
1,500kg – a rise of 200kg over a typical IC-engined Soul.
Reduce Range Anxiety
The basic electrical architecture is conventional enough,
with a front-mounted motor, charger unit, control unit, inverter and
single-speed transmission sending power to the front wheels. The motor, made by
Hyundai’s in-house components operation Mobis, produces 81.4kW and 285Nm of
torque, which is claimed to be sufficient for a 145km/h (90mph) top speed and
an 11.4 second acceleration time to 100km/h (62mph). As for range, Kia’s
engineers predict 145km (90 miles) in city driving and over 190km (118 miles)
on the open road on a warm summer day. Recharging takes five hours on a regular
European domestic electricity supply; an 80% refresh takes as little as 25
minutes at a 100kW fast-charging point.
Engineering benchmarks during the three year development
program included the obvious Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe models, although the
program actually began before those cars were released. Soul EV product
engineer S J Kim is keen to underscore Kia’s efforts to reduce the range
anxiety felt by electric car owners, and is confident the Soul EV will better
its rivals in this area. The battery supplier is undisclosed at the time of
writing, but will be revealed by the time the EV is launched in the
third-quarter of this year.
The Soul EV
differs itself from the rest of the 2014 Soul range with a two-tone colour
scheme with contrasting 'floating roof’, unique 16-inch alloy wheel design and
LED taillights, as well as a new ‘eco electric’ badge on the wing at the base
of the A-pillar.
Beyond the powertrain, points of difference between the EV
and the regular Soul include the electric car’s deeper front grille, which
incorporates sockets for regular and fast charge, two-tone paintwork and
detailing, projector front lights and LED tail-lights, unique wheels, and
satin-chrome and gloss-white finishes on the dashboard and center console.
There’s extra heat insulation inside the roof, and much use of recycled or
renewable-resource fabrics.
