Though
it may have been a late entrant to the electric car market, Kia came out swinging with the
well-received Soul EV. After
the initial limited rollout produced higher-than-expected sales, Kia has decided to accelerate a
nationwide rollout by expanding Soul EV sales to five additional states where
EV sales are booming.
The Kia Soul EV initially launched last
year in California, and soon buyers in Oregon, Washington, Texas, Georgia, and
Hawaii will be able to go to select Kia dealers to get a
Soul EV of their own. The expansion is set to happen in the coming months with
June tapped as the unofficial rollout, and additional markets will come online
to get Kia’s first electric car in 2016. Executives previously said the Soul EV
has been a “huge hit”, and it’s little wonder why the automaker would want to
get its first electric car in front of more buyers.
“From
the inception of the Soul EV program, Kia’s sales strategy
has been progressive and pragmatic,” said Orth Hedrick, vice president of
product planning, KMA. “With the level of demand and supporting infrastructure
in the state, California was a natural place to start, but we’ve been carefully
studying other markets. Between consumer reaction to the Soul EV and growing
infrastructure programs in these five states, this is a logical – and exciting
– next step in our rollout plan.”
The Soul EV offers an EPA-rated
105 miles of electric driving range, and drivers could recharge 80% of the
Soul’s lithium-ion battery in just 30 minutes using a 50 kW DC fast charger.
Soul EV buyers also have the option of choosing from three different home
charging stations from Bosch, Aerovironment, and Leviton. The Kia Soul EV has a base price of
$33,700 before federal or state tax incentives, as well as a $249 a month
lease.
Would
you do the electric slide with the Kia Soul EV?
Because this writer would.
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