Kia Is Looking To Hydrogen For Future Cars

Not all automakers are big fans of electrification. Kia is joining the ranks of companies like Toyota that are looking to hydrogen fuel-cell technology as a way we all get around in the future.

During a recent interview with Auto Express, chief engineer Albert Biermann emphasized that Kia will keep supporting the Soul EV, even though it won’t be working on a future “Tesla fighter” model. Instead, look for a fuel cell Kia production car in about two years, which could use the second-gen Hyundai fuel-cell powertrain tech.

This might make electric car fans laugh or shake their heads sadly. The current trends in the market point toward electricity as the future fuel of choice for vehicles. It’s important to note that Toyota isn’t exactly jumping on the EV bandwagon, throwing its support behind hydrogen fuel cells, and that’s a big deal.

Kia does sell some hybrid cars. There’s a hybrid version of the Optima, and the Niro hybrid is set to launch late in 2016. Eventually, Kia plans to develop a new EV, but it wants to focus on a fuel-cell model first as a way of covering bases. So Kia isn’t exactly abandoning electrification, it’s just really pushing forward on hydrogen more for right now.

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Kia Providing 6 Soul EVs To University Of California Irvine For V2G Testing

Kia Motors Inc. and Hyundai Technical Center Inc. are setting up a partnership with the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The partnership will utilize the Kia Soul EV along with the university’s Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP), to test vehicle-to-grid (V2G) advanced smart-charging software and technology.

V2G is a system that some automakers are installing into BEVs and PHEVs. It will communicate with the power grid to allow energy to be transferred back and forth. Vehicles will be able to function as energy storage containers and then send the energy back into the grid.

Power grids deal with many variables when it comes to where the power is initially supplied from. Wind, solar, and water all fluctuate. EVs can either assist the situation or make it worse, depending on how systems are set up.

Will Decker, Program Development and External Relations, Advanced Power and Energy Program Manager at UCI explained:

“To assist, their charging needs to be managed in a ‘smart” manner,’ [such as] smart charging. This project will investigate how smart charging might be deployed and how it might support UCI’s own grid as well as the state grid.”

Kia is granting UCI six Soul EVs for the project. UCI will use the vehicles to create algorithms to begin figuring out the specifics for EV charging coupled with power grid connection.

The Soul EV is Kia’s first BEV in the U.S. Hyundai Motor Group is the parent company of Kia. Both companies main locations are in Seoul, Korea.

Kia’s Vice President of Product Planning, Orth Hedrick, confirmed:

“Kia’s green car road map calls for a dramatic expansion of electrified vehicles over the next five years, and we are proud of the role the Soul EV will play in helping UCI’s students and faculty develop new and better advanced smart-charging technologies.”

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Kia to Provide Electric Vehicles in Smart-Charging Software Project

As the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to gain momentum the need for better, faster, more reliable smart charging is becoming equally important as the vehicles in development.

In order to develop vehicle-to-grid (V2G) advanced smart-charging algorithms for use in EVs, Kia Motors America (KMA) is providing the Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), with six of its Soul cars. Their shared goals are to create these software algorithms for use in plug-in electric vehicles to support grid resource operation.

V2G allows EVs and plug-in hybrids to communicate to the power grid for bi-directional power flow while the cars are connected to the grid. Doing so turns vehicles into a platform for energy storage to help manage energy demand.

“Grid-connected electric vehicles offer tremendous potential in terms of energy storage and dispersion during high-demand periods,” says Orth Hedrick, Vice President of Product Planning at KMA. Kia says it is expanding its electrified vehicle roadmap over the next five years and the V2G project will help in its endeavors to become a greener car company.

The goal of the UCI project is to not only demonstrate V2G with working EVs, but also to evaluate the challenges and solutions for V2G deployment, as well as understand how vehicles work on the electric grid. Furthermore the project aims to predict the charging behavior of EVs and plug-in hybrids and their effect on the grid.

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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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