The Kia EV3 is only available as an EV, just like the larger EV6 and EV9. However, within the older Kia range, we see a predecessor: the e-Soul. How does an e-Soul driver judge our EV3 81.4 kWh long-term test car?
Our colleague, cameraman Jeroen Elbertse, imported his fluorescent green (Space Cadet Green) Kia e-Soul from Germany last year. It is his first electric car, after having driven a hybrid Toyota Prius before. Switching from a full hybrid to a full electric car is a step that many motorists will be taking in the future. Jeroen charges the car at a public charging station or in the parking garage of AutoWeek. For this story, we mainly want to know what he thinks of the orange EV3, which forms a truly striking color combination with his Soul.
‘The Kia EV3 is mainly an evolution’
“What is particularly striking is how good Kia already was in the EV field a few years ago. As a result, this is mainly evolution and not revolution. The consumption of the EV3 is not better, but due to the larger battery (and therefore higher weight), it is even less economical on paper. That matches my experience.”
Jeroen certainly has a point there, because we are not impressed by the consumption of the EV3. On beautiful summer days, we regularly see less than 16 kWh/100 km on the consumption display, but when we started in February, it was difficult to get it below 18 kWh/100 km.
Jeroen is thorough when buying a car
Before Jeroen buys a car, he is thorough. A car must be reliable and not cause any hassle. He mainly looks in the Japanese corner, but he read such good stories about Kia’s electric powertrain, and he also filmed enough electric Kias himself, that he decided to go for a used Kia e-Soul. After all, it has not been available new for some time. “It has the same powertrain as the Kia e-Niro and it turns out to be very good in several battery degradation tests that we as AutoWeek have done. You hardly see any cell degradation. I started looking in Germany because used EVs are still much cheaper there than here. It also looks nicer.”
The EV3 certainly does things better than his e-Soul. “The chassis of the EV3 is slightly more comfortable, especially over bumps, and you hardly notice the extra weight of 275 kilos. The trunk is noticeably larger, which is impressive in combination with the larger battery. The EV3 also has a frunk, which can be useful. However, it is so small that you spend too long folding the cable into it. The charging port has been moved to the side, which is much more convenient. Still, it would have been even more convenient to place it a little further back.”
Electric Soul already in 2014
The Soul has been a compact crossover from Kia since the end of the first decade of this century. In 2014, you could only get the Soul EV in our country, which was replaced by a new Soul in 2019. Again, purely electric and with the powertrains of the e-Niro. The electric Soul was therefore called e-Soul. This meant that you could get it as an EV with a 39-kWh battery pack and with a 64-kWh battery. The fluorescent e-Soul has the smallest. This means that it is already a car that had its affairs in order under the e-Niro. Jeroen: “The interiors are difficult to compare, as the Soul is the most stripped-down version and the EV3 is the most luxurious, but the EV3 looks absolutely nicely finished inside. The Soul is from before the ISA era and in the EV3 I have to switch off more things before driving off. I also miss the normal cruise control. In the Soul I can switch off the adaptive one, in the EV3 I can’t anymore. Furthermore, it is a very nice car and, due to the larger luggage space and larger battery, it is much better to use than the Soul. And a color is great, of course.”