Item: Used Kia Soul EV 2020-present review
Rating: 4
Author: What Car? Team

Compared with&nbsp;the Soul EV, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/kia/e-niro/estate/used-review/n22663">Kia e-Niro</a>&nbsp;is much more common on the used market, but year-old examples of that car can set you back up to&nbsp;£4,000 more. Mind you, the e-Niro has&nbsp;more boot space, so&nbsp;its the way to go if you're not swayed by the Soul EV's funky looks and have some extra cash to spend.&nbsp;

A used, year-old <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/hyundai/kona-electric/hatchback/used-review/n22559">Hyundai Kona Electric </a>can be bought for close to what you'll pay for a Soul EVs. It uses the same 201bhp 64kWh battery but has an even longer official&nbsp;electric range – 300 miles, to be exact. It's not exactly generous on rear passenger space or&nbsp;boot capacity, though.&nbsp;

If you're interested in finding a <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars/kia/soul?used=true&amp;nearlynew=true">used Kia Soul</a>, or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to the<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars"> Used Car Buying</a> pages to find lots of cars listed for sale at a great price.

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the <a href="http://pages.haymarket.com/whatcar/wcar-form.html">What Car? Newsletter here</a>

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What is it like?

Ownership cost

Advice for buyers

Our recommendations

Alternatives

As of writing, the current Soul EV has yet to experience any recalls, though it is rather new.&nbsp;

The latest Soul EV was too new to feature in our <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2021-what-car-reliability-survey/n23397">2021 What Car? Reliability Survey</a>. However, Kia as a brand featured and placed ninth out of 30 manufacturers, which is impressive and a good sign when looking to how well the&nbsp;Soul EV should hold up over time.&nbsp;

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Hatchback

Buyers seeking value for money should have Kia towards the top of their shopping list.

Although once a niche brand in the UK, today Kia outsells many more established brands, helped by its market-leading seven-year warranty and a strong reputation for reliability; in fact, Kia regularly finishes towards the top of our reliability surveys.

There are plenty of models to choose from, too, ranging from the small Picanto city car to the Ceed family hatchback and the Sorento large SUV. The Picanto was the first Kia to win its class at the What Car? Car of the Year awards.

SOUL EV

For what the Soul EV lacks in boot space and ride refinement, it more than makes up for it with&nbsp;incredible electric range,&nbsp;impressive performance and an extensive kit list.&nbsp;

Used Kia Soul EV 2020-present review

<h3>Electric range</h3>

The Soul EV has an impressive official range of 280 miles, which is&nbsp;around the same distance that the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/kia/e-niro/estate/used-review/n22663">Kia e-Niro </a>can manage between charges.&nbsp;

As with any electric car,&nbsp;Soul EV&nbsp;owners benefit from zero-rate Vehicle Excise Duty and free entrance to the London Congestion Charge zone, plus – in many boroughs – free parking, too. Charging the battery will cost you a lot less than refilling a regular car with petrol or diesel, and, from a 7.2kW home wall box, will take nine hours 35 minutes to go from zero to 100 per cent. You can also charge from 0 to 80 per cent in 54 minutes at a service station equipped with a 100kW DCC fast charger, or in an hour and 15 minutes if it’s a 50kW unit.

<h3>Road tax</h3>

You will currently not have to pay anything in road tax, due to the Soul EV being an all-electric vehicle. <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/car-tax-changes-in-2021-what-do-i-need-to-know/n1153">Find out more about road tax costs here</a>.&nbsp;

<h3>Insurance and servicing</h3>

In terms of insurance groups, the Soul EV sits in the middle, meaning it shouldn't be overly pricy to insure, though it won't be particularly&nbsp;cheap either. All Soul EVs will come with a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty from new, which will carry on after the car's been sold used.&nbsp;

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For what the Soul EV lacks in boot space and ride refinement, it more than makes up for it with incredible electric range, impressive performance and an extensive kit list. 

As of writing, the Soul EV has yet to gain much of a presence on the used market. With this in mind, prices are still quite high, though reasonable. For a 2020 First Edition example, expect to pay around £28,000 at the least.&nbsp;

Check the value of a used Kia Soul EV&nbsp;with <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/car-valuation/">What Car? Valuations</a>

Find a used Kia Soul for sale <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars/kia/soul?used=true&amp;nearlynew=true">here</a>

With First Edition and Maxx being essentially the same, it doesn't really matter which version you pick. That being said, as First Edition cars came out sooner, these will likely outnumber Maxx cars for a while on the used market. And with just the one battery size&nbsp;available, there isn't any more choice there either.

However, with all versions&nbsp;very well&nbsp;equipped, and having great performance and range capabilities, that lack of choice really isn't an issue.

Our favourite Kia Soul EV:&nbsp;64kWh First Edition

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<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Sufficient range between charges to fit in with most people’s lifestyles – and in the real world, not on some far-fetched official test </li> <li>Quick charging times and compatibility with the most ubiquitous types of public charging points </li> <li>Priced to be within the grasp of more than just the privileged few </li> <li>As with any car, ride comfort, practicality and ownership costs can’t be ignored</li></ul>

We define an electric car as one that runs purely on battery power and has no tailpipe to puff out nasty chemicals. These cars qualify for the maximum plug-in car grant (PICG) of £3500.

The Renault Zoe is one of the most affordable options and has a surprisingly long range of between 120 and 180 miles (depending on the weather and the road type). However, the Nissan Leaf and Volkswagen e-Golf are more practical and more accomplished to drive, even if the latter doesn't have a particularly long range between charges.

At the other end of the scale, Tesla’s ground-up EV philosophy – and the American brand’s own network of super-fast chargers – makes the Model S a tempting choice. It has seating for up to seven, an classy interior and a long enough real-world range to make inter-city travel a real possibility.

Electric

On the whole, the Soul EV is a solid and sensible electric car, but with many examples having lived an urban existence, it's worth carefully checking its condition inside and out. Check the interior for signs of wear and tear, and that slab-sided body for parking dings. Also, check&nbsp;the tyres and alloy wheels for any kerb damage.&nbsp;

Is the hit 1967 single “Soul Man” by Sam &amp; Dave really about one man’s ownership of a Kia Soul? Well, of course it isn’t – the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/kia/soul/hatchback/used-review/n777">original model</a> didn’t arrive until 2009. That being said, it might have been the focal point of the song if it were recorded today. Especially in this <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews/category/electric">electric</a> (EV) form, the car has many endearing features, such as impressive range, good equipment levels, reasonable used prices and funky styling. Be prepared to sing its praises – perhaps literally.

Following on from its <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/kia/soul-ev/hatchback/used-review/n18179">all-electric predecessor</a>, the latest Soul EV gets a much bigger battery – a 64kWh one – and a lot more power. With 201bhp and a 0-62mph&nbsp;time of 7.6sec, it’s brisk. The model feels urgent from the moment you put your foot down and continues to pull consistently up to motorway speeds.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Unlike some electric cars, there's no sparsely equipped entry-level Soul EV.&nbsp;In fact, they're all groaning with standard kit. On top of must-haves such as sat-nav,&nbsp;DAB radio, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, early cars, which went by the name of First Edition, gave you a Harman Kardon premium sound system, 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with online connectivity for up-to-date traffic and parking information, plus leather trim with heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, and automatic air conditioning.

You also got&nbsp;LED headlights, electrically folding and adjustable heated door mirrors and automatic wipers. And the great news is that, when First Edition trim was replaced with Maxx, that&nbsp;long standard kit list was unchanged.

On the road, the Soul EV controls its body movements well over undulating B roads and takes the sting out of potholes. That said, it’s still choppier than some more premium rivals. It fidgets slightly at all times, even on smooth roads.

Naturally, being electric, its punchy performance is cloaked in serenity. Its motor emits nothing more than a faint murmur when pushed and the Soul EV is a far more tranquil travelling companion than any equivalent diesel SUV. You’ll notice some road and wind noise at 70mph, but the suspension thudding noticeably over bumps is the most prevalent audible intrusion around town.&nbsp;

The Kia Soul EV is a good example of how designers can make a car easy to use. The model has a supportive driver’s seat that feels high enough, without leaving you feeling unnaturally perched. The seat isn’t heavily bolstered, but still holds you in place well enough around corners and is electrically adjustable as standard, including for height and lumbar adjustment. There’s a fully rake and reach-adjustable steering wheel with plenty of range.

The standard 7.0in digital instrument screen doesn’t offer any greater functionality over a set of regular analogue dials. You unfortunately cannot configure the screen to show a full-screen navigation map, for instance, but it’s easy to read, with clear graphics.

The Soul EV’s sharply defined 10.3in touchscreen is mounted high for easy viewing, and its graphics are ace, especially the 3D sat-nav maps, which render cityscapes accurately. It’s also responsive and most of the menus are intuitive enough that you won’t need to break out the manual every time you use it.

Interior-quality-wise, there are some hard plastics dotted around, but because the whole is spruced up by enough soft-finish surfaces in the places that you will be pawing regularly, you won’t be left feeling short changed.

In the front that means more than enough leg and head room even for those well over six feet tall, and there’s enough width to prevent you or your passenger feeling squished. Rear space is better than you’ll find in the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/kia/e-niro/estate/used-review/n22663">Kia e-Niro</a>; there’s marginally more leg room and much more head room — two six-footers can sit happily behind two more in the front seats without struggling for space, but the seating position is more upright than the e-Niro’s.

The boot is one area of weakness for the Soul EV. At 315 litres, it’s not much bigger than a <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ford/fiesta/hatchback/used-review/n952">Ford Fiesta</a>’s. That said, it’s a tall and usable shape, and big enough to easily accommodate a week’s worth of shopping.&nbsp;

If you're interested in finding a <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars/kia/soul?used=true&amp;nearlynew=true">used Kia Soul</a>, or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to the<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-cars"> Used Car Buying</a> pages to find lots of cars listed for sale at a great price.

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Used Kia Soul EV 2020-present review review

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What to look for when buying a Kia Soul EV 2020 - present, covering common problems to check for and overall vehicle reliability.

On the whole, the Soul EV is a solid and sensible electric car, but with many examples having lived an urban existence, it's worth carefully checking its condition inside and out. Check the interior for signs of wear and tear, and that slab-sided body for parking dings. Also, check the tyres and alloy wheels for any kerb damage. ,,As of writing, the current Soul EV has yet to experience any recalls, though it is rather new. ,,The latest Soul EV was too new to feature in our 2021 What Car? Reliability Survey. However, Kia as a brand featured and placed ninth out of 30 manufacturers, which is impressive and a good sign when looking to how well the Soul EV should hold up over time. Page 3 of 5

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Used Kia Soul EV 2020-present review review

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