Kia Soul EV Sales Kick Off on East coast

When the Kia Soul EV first launched it was only offered in California. Later Kia expanded availability for the car to Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Kia has now announced that it is adding four additional states to the list of availability bringing the total area where you can purchase the Soul EV to ten states.

The four new states are all located on the East Coast of the US and include New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. There are 19 dealers in those four new states that are certified to sell and service the Soul EV. If you are unfamiliar with the Kia Soul EV, it has a driving range of 93 miles per charge.

The lithium-ion battery pack has 27 kWh of power and can fully charge in five hours from a Level 2 charger. Kia will over the base and Plus version of the EV with pricing starting at $34,775 including the $825 destination charge. The car is eligible for a $7,500 federal tax rebate. A lease of the Soul EV starts at $249 per month.

“Kia’s sales strategy for the Soul EV has been progressive and pragmatic since its launch late last year,” said Orth Hedrick, Kia Motors America’s vice president of product planning, in a release. “California customers created a high level of demand, and the state’s large infrastructure made it a natural place to start. Between consumer reaction to the Soul EV and growing infrastructure programs in states such as these in the Northeast, there is a logical-and exciting-next step in our roll out plan.”

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2011 Kia Sportage Recalled For Electrical Flaw Affecting Brake Lights, Cruise Control

Kia Motors America is recalling select Sportage vehicles from the 2011 model year. According to a bulletin from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some of those vehicles may suffer from an electrical flaw that could affect the crossover's brake lights and cruise control.

The flaw is rooted in a stop lamp switch manufactured by INFAC, a supplier based in South Korea. As NHTSA reports:

"The stop lamp switch may experience interruption in the electrical flow in the switch contact. This condition could potentially result in intermittent operation of the cruise control feature, the intermittent illumination of the ESC indicator lamp or interfere with the brake light illumination."

The most serious of those problems would appear to be the brake lights. Without them, other drivers may not notice when the Sportage slows down, increasing the risk of the vehicle being rear-ended.

The recall is limited to 2011 Sportage models built between March 7, 2011 and June 8, 2011. All told, Kia believes that 7,722 vehicles in the U.S. are affected.

If you own one of those vehicles, you'll receive a recall notice from Kia via first class mail. Afterward, you'll be able to take your Sportage to a Kia dealer, who will replace the stop lamp switch. (If you've already had your vehicle repaired for this problem, Kia will reimburse you.)

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