Kia Soul (2015-2019) review | An EV pioneer

What is the Kia Soul?

This second-generation Kia Soul takes the hatchback idea and adds sharper styling with a bit of SUV ambition. It’s front-wheel drive and doesn’t have the high ride height associated with SUVs, so don’t expect the 4x4 ruggedness you’d get with some versions of the Skoda Yeti, and it doesn’t even have the clever mud and snow traction settings of front-wheel drive crossovers such as the Peugeot 2008. Basically, despite the styling, it really is a straightforward hatchback.

At launch, there were two 1.6-litre engines: a 130bhp petrol, and a 134bhp diesel. From late 2016, these were joined by a 1.6-litre petrol turbo with 201bhp in the Soul Sport, which brought with it some real pep.

Unusually for a car of this age, there’s also the option of a pure electric version – though don’t expect great shakes in the range stakes. Early models had a 27kWh usable battery capacity, and while 2017 saw an upgrade to 30kWh, that’s still a far cry from the sort of capacity you’d expect to see in a more modern EV.

Charging takes around five hours from a home wallbox, or a 50kW rapid charger will deliver a 10 to 80 per cent charge in around half an hour. Also worth noting is that the Soul EV uses a CHAdeMO charging socket, which is different to the Type 2/CCS sockets that are fitted to most newer public charging points. As a result, you won’t benefit from quite such a wide choice of charging points as newer EV owners will, unless you invest in a costly CHAdeMO to CCS adapter.

The Soul was pitched against fashion-forward crossovers like the Nissan Juke and Fiat 500X, though its boxy profile made it more practical than those offerings – so it could also compete with more pragmatic small SUVs like the Skoda Yeti and Renault Captur. It’ll therefore appeal to buyers who want something that looks a little different to the norm, but still has plenty of space in the back seats.

How practical is it?

Practicality was never the Soul’s forte, but it is roomy and comfortable in the front, and has some of the most spacious rear seats of any car in its class, with plenty of legroom and masses of headroom thanks to that high, boxy roofline. The big rear doors mean access is easy, too.

The downside is that there isn’t much space for small knick knacks in the front – the tray in the centre console is tiny, and while the door bins are wide at the front to offer space for a bottle, they taper to a slender compartment further back. At least there’s a good-sized glovebox and a small central cubby under the arm rest to make up for it.

It falls short on boot space too, which, at 354 litres, is below average for a family hatchback or a small SUV. It’s less the outright space and more the layout that’s problematic; the boot is tall and slim, so you often find you have to remove the parcel shelf to accommodate lengthy items – or anything more than a few shopping bags.

What’s it like to drive?

Most used buyers will be considering the petrol or diesel options, which are far more numerous than the EV – and cheaper.

The 130bhp petrol engine gives a fairly average 0-62mph time of 10.6 seconds, but it needs working hard to achieve that, so it never feels even as fast as that. The 201bhp version is much better to drive, and can hit 62mph in just 7.5 seconds – but isn’t great on fuel economy.

The diesel is the best option, because although its 0-62mph time is actually slower than the petrol car’s by 0.2 seconds, it offers much more mid-range torque, which means it feels punchy – and it doesn’t cost the earth to run.

Ride comfort is good enough, particularly on the smaller wheels that came with lower end trims, but bigger alloy wheels make things fidgety and bumpy, particularly in town. While the Soul was never remotely sporty to drive, the light steering is good for winding through traffic, and it always feels stable and predictable whether you’re on a fast country road or on the motorway.

The 109bhp EV drives well for a relatively early electric car, hitting 62mph in the same time as the diesel model, although lots of that acceleration happens below 40mph – which means at higher speeds, it can feel a bit gutless.

The 27kWh model gives an official range of 155 miles, but you should remember that that figure was obtained under the old (and rather unrealistic) NEDC test regime.

In reality, this version of the Soul EV should do around 90 miles on a full charge, but always ask to see the car with a full battery and check what the car’s range readout is suggesting as a maximum range.

The 30kWh model does give an increase in the available range, but not by much; expect to get 10 to 15 more miles of charge out of it, depending on the conditions.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

When first launched, the Soul range kicked off with the Start model, which was rather basic, with air conditioning and a digital radio the only real highlights; you didn’t even get heated door mirrors.

The rest of the range, however, was pretty well equipped. Connect models, the next rung up, got alloy wheels, a reversing camera, cruise control and Bluetooth connectivity; Connect Plus added satnav, a premium sound system, and climate control.

Mixx models offered a two-tone paint job as standard, along with heated front seats, and there were some neat touches in the boot, too, like a boot light you could remove and use as a torch, an under-floor storage compartment, and an extra power outlet for a cool box.

Maxx models then lost the two-tone paint job, but got a panoramic sunroof instead, as well as leather upholstery and front and rear parking sensors.

Both Mixx and Maxx models came as standard with an ‘Urban styling pack’, which brought with it gloss black bumpers with chrome inserts, LED rear lights, LED daytime running lights at the front.

This pack was also made available on the short-lived Urban model, which came out in early 2016, and was ditched when the range was reshuffled later that year.

As part of this range update, Kia tweaked the names of the trim levels: Start became 1, and now came with alloy wheels and Bluetooth connectivity. Connect was ditched altogether, and Connect Plus became 2. Meanwhile, Mixx and Maxx models were combined into the new 3 version, which had the Maxx’s leather upholstery and could be specified with the Mixx’s two-tone paint.

A panoramic sunroof was now the preserve of the new range-topping Sport, which also brought with it heated front and outer rear seats, a heated steering wheel, orange contrast stitching on the part-leather seats, and of course, that more potent 1.6-litre turbocharged engine.

Where a touchscreen is fitted, it’s Kia’s 8.0-inch system, which is one of the best you’ll get in a compact SUV of this era, short of more expensive premium brands such as Audi and BMW.

Kia Soul running costs

Go for the Kia Soul diesel and running costs will be fairly low. You can expect to achieve some 50mpg in normal everyday driving, although the automatic gearbox will see that drop a bit. The 1.6 GDi petrol is a lot less efficient, not least because it feels slow so you’re tempted to rev it hard to keep up with free-flowing traffic. Expect around 30 to 35 mpg from this engine, and the turbocharged Kia Soul Sport actually won’t be much less than that in varied driving.

The Kia Soul EV will be very cheap to run if you can charge it up at home. Even on a normal electricity tariff you’ll only pay around £7 for a full charge at home, and you can reduce that to less than £2 on an EV-specific tariff. That’ll get you around 70 miles, which works out to around 3p per mile. Of course, if you’re reliant on public charging, that figure rises drastically – in fact you’ll probably find a Soul EV run exclusively on public chargers won’t be all that much cheaper to run than the diesel equivalent.

It will at least be much more affordable to buy, as EVs don’t hold their value as well. So if you can live with the limited range and can charge it up at home, an electric Soul will make for an incredibly wallet-friendly way of getting around.

Insurance groups of all Souls are low, and are comparable with those of rivals such as the Nissan Juke, as well as conventional hatches like the Ford Fiesta or bigger alternatives like Kia’s own Cee’d.

Tax costs will depend on when your Soul was registered. Models dating from before 1 April 2017 were taxed based on their CO2 emissions; those registered after that date are taxed according to the current flat rate system, and so will all cost the same.

What does that mean for you? Well, if you’re after a diesel, you’ll pay marginally less tax if you buy an example registered under the old regime; for petrol models, you’ll pay less if you buy one registered after the system changed, as the flat rate works out more affordable.

Servicing should be reasonable since Kia regularly offers fixed price and low cost deals, so do check with the dealer if you can get your servicing costs cheaper if you bundle them in with the purchase cost of the car when you buy it.

Mind you, you’ll need to get the petrol or electric Soul serviced every year or 10,000 miles, which is disappointing since electric cars typically need much less frequent servicing. Diesel Soul models need servicing every 12 months or 20,000 miles.

Kia Soul reliability

When it was new, the Kia Soul benefited from a class-leading seven-year warranty with a 100,000-mile limit. That means almost every Soul’s warranty will have expired by now, but that long warranty is still worth remembering because it speaks to Kia’s excellent reputation for reliability. Indeed, What Car? rated it the most reliable used small SUV to own in its 2019 reliability survey, which is based on owners’ experience.

Kia as an overall brand is rated highly for reliability. It came 8th out of 30 manufacturers tested in the latest running of the What Car? survey, and consistently rates in similar positions in other reliability surveys too.

Petrol-engined Souls can suffer from high oil consumption, which is hard to detect on a test drive, but it’s always worth checking the dipstick. If the car was serviced recently and the oil is low, it could be a telltale sign. Some owners report that the problem was solved by replacing the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve; others say that sticking piston rings caused the issues, and that these were freed off with an engine cleaner. In the worst-case scenario, this problem can require an engine rebuild, with new piston rings required – and that can end up being costly.

Depending on the trim level, certain Soul alloy wheels have been found to be prone to premature corrosion. It’s a cosmetic problem, but budget for refurbishment of all four wheels if you want to get it sorted out.