Cars on show: Soul EV (pictured above), GT4 Stinger concept
Soul EV
Making its European debut is the Kia Soul EV, which stands for electric vehicle. It’s Kia’s first electric car to be sold around the world and will enter production later this year.
Its front wheels are driven by an electric motor with the equivalent of 109bhp and 285 Nm of torque – for context, the latter figure is a bit more than that of a 1.6-litre diesel VW Golf.
With a range of around 124 miles from the battery pack when charged fully, Kia says the Soul EV is designed with city commuters in mind.
The batteries haven’t eaten into the boot and cabin too much, so the Soul EV is still a practical car. What’s particularly impressive is that it still comes under the umbrella of Kia’s seven-year/100,000 mile warranty.
From the show floor
“Its been a good few years for Kia with sales volumes up every year since 2008. The soul EV is Kia’s first electric foray into the mass market car, late to the party maybe but Kia have used the time well. A distinct looking grillen hiding the charging socket is one of the highlights plus a fast charge will take only 25 minutes creating a 200km range – impressive stuff.” – Debbie Wood, Senior Staff Writer
You can read all about the regular, non-electric Kia Soul in our full review here and the upcoming facelifted version in our preview here.
GT4 Stinger
Also on the stand is the alluring Kia GT4 Stinger sports car concept.
It’s already been on show at the North American International motor show in Detroit but this is its European premiere.
A front-engined 2+2 coupe, its powered by a 311bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine driving the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. Racing car-style double wishbone suspension and a ground-hugging stance suggest this is one Kia that would actually be genuinely fun to drive.
Kia isn’t a brand you’d normally associate with sports cars, but the Stinger, created by Kia’s California design team, looks to sprinkle a bit of extra desirability over the brand. Sadly there are no plans to put the Stinger into production but we can expect to see some of the concept’s styling cues on future production models.
From the show floor
“Pictures don’t do the Stinger justice – it’s a seriously good looking car with beautiful surfaces and some great details.” – James Taylor, Staff Writer
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