Hyundai Motor UK has reduced its electric car range prices following changes to the government’s Plug-In Car Grant. This includes both the Kona and Ioniq EV adjusted to meet the requirements, excepting only the top-specced version as too expensive.
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In the USA this week Kia confirmed that its fully-electric Soul EV has been delayed and will not make the 2020 model year but will first hit markets in 2021.
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Kia is reportedly considering producing their own electric cars in Europe to reduce delivery times. European customers have been facing delivery delays and have to cope with a waiting period of more than a year for the e-Niro for example.
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Kia has confirmed they will present the new Soul EV at the end of the month at the LA Auto Show and has released a teaser image. The new version of the Kia Soul will only be available as a battery electric vehicle in Europe.
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Kia wants to keep its Soul lineup exclusively electric in Europe. The decision was made against the backdrop of falling sales of the fossil-fuelled versions of their little car. A turbo Soul called the Final Edition marks the change.
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Kia America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI) and Mojo Mobility have completed a three-year project to develop a wireless fast-charging system on a test fleet of Kia Soul EVs. The project claims 85% efficiency when charging with up to 10kW.
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Kia is to launch the third generation of its Soul EV this year, this time riding on the new Kona/Niro platform and boasting more range than ever. An optional bigger battery pack shall bring the electric Korean as far as 500 kilometres on a charge.
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This January saw sales of pure electric cars decrease by almost a quarter in France compared to the beginning of 2017. PHEV however managed to double their numbers and the decline in BEV had one little big reason, Renault’s Zoe.
Read moreVideo tip I: For Fully Charged, Robert Llewellyn got in the driver’s seat of the Mercedes 305e and loved it. “When you get it right in a car, this is what it looks like,” he says, adding that he would have loved for this plug-in hybrid to be all electric. And too bad, it’s not Mercedes who lent Robert the car to drive, but a fan named Phil.
youtube.com via electriccarsreport.com
Video tip II: Dax from Toronto, Canada, has now had his Kia Soul EV for a year and sent in a video review of his ownership. Even in winter time, he gives the car and its range the “thumbs up.”
youtube.com via insideevs.com
Reading tip: Elon Musk once more is asking for advances that are hard to grasp at first when he calls for “machines making machines” and production that could potentially improve by at least the factor 10. Talking about accelerating the future, he also intends to man a mission to Mars by 2024 via SpaceX.
electrek.co (machine with video), spacenews.com (Mars)
Video tip: They are back, Kia’s oversized and humanoid hamsters. Once more they are promoting the Soul EV and this time perform as a big band playing some sort of folk and country music. We stopped wondering ‘why’ a long time ago.
youtube.com
Reading tip: A pizza can mean make or break for a grid at peak times, researchers from Twente University found out when they asked 20 residents of the Dutch town of Lochem to charge their EV and bake a pizza at the same time. Overload.
phys.org
Video tip: The Truth About Cars has tested the Kia Soul EV and truth is that in the electrified version, a Kia suddenly becomes a serious competitor to a BMW i3 or Mercedes B-class ED, the reviewers found.
youtube.com, thetruthaboutcars.com
With 414 electric cars sold, Kia takes the crown in South Korea. Almost one third of all electric car sales in the country in 2014 (1,183 units) were Kia Soul EVs. Second place went to the SM3 ZE by Renault Samsung Motors with 309 units sold.
koreaherald.com, koreatimes.co.kr
Kia got rid of its oversized semi-human hamsters promoting the Soul EV and got some real dogs on the set instead. Well, almost real as the cuties are joined by a not-so-cute but pretty modern robot dog. Pets sell!
youtube.com
Video tips: The Panasonic booth at CES displays a goodie: the Tesla Model X. If this is the production version already is not clear but it is certainly worth taking a look at things to come later this year.
youtube.com, youtube.com, chinanews.com (gallery)
Reading tip: Next Green Car took the Kia Soul EV on UK roads to see if it would deliver the promised range of 132 miles. It did indeed as after 125.3 miles driven it showed a remaining range of nine miles. The range test included driving through Bristol as well as on the M4.
nextgreencar.com (with video)
Click tip: The Tesla Gigafactory is taking shape in Nevada’s desert. Pictures taken by Bob Tregilus on Tuesday show a first two-storey building going up. Tesla intends to finish construction in only a year.
transportevolved.com
Video tip I + II: The new Tesla Model S with all-wheel drive (P85D) is being put to the test – twice. First, it has to prove its power on the dyno before taking on a (semi-) real life challenge in a drag race against the Lamborghini Aventador.
youtube.com (dyno), youtube.com (Tesla vs Lamborghini)
Video tip III: Tom Voelk drove the Kia Soul EV and delivers a review that might not be raving but certainly depicts the core of the Korean EV: It “delivers good vibes” as it is affordable and fun to drive in the city.
nytimes.com
Video tip: In the newest edition of Fully Charged, Robert Llewellyn puts the Kia Soul EV’s range to the test. After having driven about 350 miles, he especially praises the car’s range display and says that the Soul EV has a realistic winter range of about 90 miles.
youtube.com
Click tip: The new season of the “Trophée Andros Electrique” kicks off in France, where EVs are racing in snow and icy conditions. The race cars reach up to 160 km/h and each of the seven races lasts for about 35 minutes.
electricautosport.com
Video tip: Kia wanted to show drivers, how cheap driving the Soul EV could be. At a UK petrol station, they charged drivers only 2.80 pounds, no matter how much fuel they poured into their tanks. Cameras were hidden throughout the station to capture consumers’ reactions.
youtube.com via eventmagazine.co.uk
Reading tip: Freedom Won electrified a Land Rover to be used by the Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana for tourist safaris. On her trip there, CNN reporter Erin Conway-Smith got to go on such a safari, enjoying it and calling it the best way to do something for the environment.
edition.cnn.com
NASA to fly electrically: The American space agency is working on what it calls the ‘distributed electric propulsion’ system which could eventually make the dream of flying electric cars come true. The technology is based on multiple small electrically driven propellers and said to be highly efficient. Testing is to start within two weeks and more details are to follow in less than a year.
dailypress.com, chinatopix.com
Tripled capacity? Japanese battery manufacturer GS Yuasa claims to have developed a Li-ion battery that bears three times the capacity of existing products thanks to a sulfur-based cathode. GS Yuasa plans to commercialise its new battery technology by 2020.
electric-vehiclenews.com, plugintoday.net
New anode material: Researchers at the Australian University of Wollongong have identified lead germanate-graphene nanosheets composites to make suitable anodes for Li-ion batteries. The composite anode prove superior in terms of capacity, cycling stability and rate capability.
greencarcongress.com
Kia Soul EV battery: The Korean carmaker issued a video explaining the inner workings of the Soul EV battery. It uses cells by SK Innovation which will soon be implemented in the Chevrolet Volt as well, according to Steve Kosowski, National Manager Kia Motors America.
youtube.com (video) via insideevs.com
Most clicked link on Monday was the BMW 2-series Active Tourer, which is said to become available as an all-wheel driven plug-in hybrid variant next year.
carmagazine.co.uk
Click tip 1: Inside EVs put the Kia Soul EV to the test. In a very detailed driving report and video they explain how they got the South Korean car to go 101.5 miles (162.4 kilometres) on one charge. Official EPA range is 93 miles (150 kilometres).
insideevs.com
Click tip 2: This driver of the Renault Zoe says, he has even made 142 miles (228 kilometres) on one charge. But as you can imagine, it took him a while to reach his destination.
myrenaultzoe.com
The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, Kia must have thought. For the SEMA show in Las Vegas, the Soul EV was transformed into an ice cream support vehicle. That just begs the question: Do they serve Rocky Road?
cleantechnica.com
The Kia Soul EV can go 150 kilometres on one charge (93 miles), according to official EPA ratings. While that is not much more than competitors, the EV shines at city-only range. It can go up to 167 km per charge, while i.e the Nissan Leaf or Chevy Spark are rated at 148 and 141 km, respectively. The Kia will be available starting at 33,700 dollars in the U.S.
transportevolved.com, green.autoblog.com
You can watch Kia’s commercial for its new electric vehicle over and over. What the relation between the Soul EV and sexified (and dancing) hamsters is, remains a bit vague. But the sparks are flying!
youtube.com via nytimes.com
Video tip I: Nigel Abbott had the chance to drive the Kia Soul EV in Korea and delivers a video review from Seoul. He believes that the range of 125 miles Kia claims for its first EV is actually realistic.
youtube.com
Video tip II: What happens when a Leaf battery is utterly drained, wondered Robert Llewellyn and simply tried to run out of power for a new episode of Fully Charged. While others might be thrilled, Llewellyn discovered “range annoyance.”
youtube.com
Video tip 1: Kia’s new promotional video ‘Recharge Your Soul’ highlights the fast charging process for its new EV, showing positively charged people. The Motto – ‘everyone needs time to be recharged.’
youtube.com via green-motors.de (in German)
Video tip 2: In the newest edition of ‘Fully Charged,’ Robert Llewellyn watches the Drayson B12/69EV Le Mans prototype set a new record, as the electric racing car hits 219 miles per hour (352 kph).
youtube.com via green.autoblog.com
Pictures and video of Golf GTE released: The plug in hybrid’s engine – including the 75 kW electric motor – has a combined power output of 150 kW, allowing it to reach a top speed of 217 kph (135 mph). The 8.8 kWh battery adds a 120 kilogram of weight, accounting for around 8% of the total car weight of 1,524 kg.
indianautosblog.com, technologicvehicles.com (video)
Video tip: Kia kicks off the marketing campaign for its first EV under the motto “Recharge your Soul.” And the advertising spot is just as much of an eye-catcher, as the vehicle itself.
youtube.com
Video tip: The Fully Charged show reviewed the second generation Nissan Leaf and explains the main improvements over the first generation. As it is built in British Sunderland they took the chance to look at its production as well.
youtube.com (video)
Study tip: Navigant Research predicts worldwide sales of wireless EV charging equipment for light-duty vehicles to grow by 108%, thus amounting to annual sales of more than 300,000 units in 2022.
navigantresearch.com, greencarcongress.com
Video tip: Before the introduction of its Kia Soul EV later this year, the Korean engineers wanted to make sure it would withstand the Europes’s harshest conditions, namely the Swedish winter with freezing temperatures around -35°C. A truly cool video.
youtube.com (video)
