Range Is Not Guaranteed - Soul EV exposed after a full charge

Rangeis not guaranteed. In freezing temperatures, it is safe to expect at least a 10 percent degradation of battery power. The battery cells are all huddled together, like train passengers waiting on the platform. In extreme subzero temps, as was the case with Soul EVtesting in Swedish Lapland, near the Arctic Circle, cold weather degradation can be up to 50 percent.

We left the Soul EV exposed after a full charge for 12 hours in freezing weather on the top of a parking garage to wind chills in the single digits and temps in the teens. It had 91 miles of range when we left; it was down to 74-mile range when we got back in. Remarkably, after two minutes of driving, the range went back up to 90 miles. All the heat generated from the butt warmers and steering wheel and climate control heated the cabin, which heats the battery in the floor. While it may be problematic to leave the Soul EV exposed in such cold with only a quarter battery left, most plug-in owners wouldn't do that anyway.

The Soul EV can be programmed to heat itself for 15 minutes before you get in, as long as it's plugged into the grid. Remote programming is available through a smartphone app.

Kia's UVO infotainment system is customized to the EV, providing a list of the nearest chargers on a real-time basis, from nearby dealerships to public chargers to Charge Point stations. We had no idea how many chargers were available to us in the Chicago area.

While the interior of the Soul EV is not nearly as striking as the Soul ! (top-of-the-line Soul Exclaim), it is in line with Kia's holistic design philosophy. Many plug-ins get higher-grade trim levels standard to support the EV premium, but instead of the exclamation point, Kia used the symbolic equivalent of recycling arrows. More

Kia Pumps Up The K900 For SEMA

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Kia’s K900 flagship sedan is still fresh on the market, having gone on sale here only in March. However, the car hasn’t managed to gain traction yet, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise as it can't be easy convincing shoppers to drop $60k on a vehicle from a brand mostly known for its affordability. Sales of the K900 peaked at 260 units in April, its first full month on the market, but have declined since then, reaching just 56 units in September. By comparison, Mercedes-Benz sold 4,883 units of its E-Class in September and 1,909 units of its S-Class.

That doesn’t mean the K900 is a bad car, because it isn't, and Kia is out to show the tuning potential of its flagship with a wild concept at next month’s SEMA show. The concept is called the High-Performance K900 and it looks to have been fitted with a forced induction kit, as evidenced by the huge front-mount intercooler.

Kia hasn’t released all the details on the High-Performance K900 yet but has revealed that a custom body kit with carbon fiber inserts has been installed. The car also wears 23-inch wheels with a black gloss finish and is finished in matte gray paint.

We’ll have all the details once the SEMA show gets underway in Las Vegas on November 4.

The K900 has been launched in V-8 guise and costs $60,400, including a $900 destination charge. The engine is a 5.0-liter unit and is rated at 420 horsepower. A less expensive V-6 model fitted with a 311-horsepower 3.8-liter V-6 is also planned. For more on the K900, read the full review of the 2015 model at our sister the site The Car Connection.