Topic: All-Electric Kia Soul To Be Sold In Canada Next Year

[Autos_Editor]

Soul EV will be first electric Kia to be sold outside of S. Korea

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[JohnM]

Another really good electric vehicle choice.  Good news!

Maybe in the fall of '14 the Editor will organize The Great Canadian Spark Off - a comparo of all electric vehicles available for sale in Canada.   

Cheers,
John M.

[Guy]

200 km range. Now they are talking..

[mixmanmash]

200 km range. Now they are talking..

Agreed.  Now, they just need to get the fast charging to be 5-10 mins.

I'm really interested to see where the electric car thing goes in the next 5-6 years.  It could see in our household having only 2 vehicles - one commuter electric vehicle which my wife could take to work since she has the longer commute, and one family vehicle (minivan) which I would daily drive since I have a short 8 km commute.

On the other hand, if the train get built close to our neighbourhood, she may just take the train, in which case I would use the electric commuter and the wife could either take the bus to the train station, or take the short drive to the park & ride.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

That sounds very positive. With electrics, it always boils down to price. It'll be interesting to see if they get aggressive with that.

[MarkStevenson]

That sounds very positive. With electrics, it always boils down to price. It'll be interesting to see if they get aggressive with that.

If Kia can get the price below $30k, I think they'll have a hit. The closer to $25k they can get, the more attractive it will be. FYI: the Nissan LEAF retails for over $31k for the base model.

[Noto]

I think the Soul is a really good contestant to receive an electrified powertrain...but those charging times will be problematic, as will the leisurely 12s 0-60 time.  5 hrs on 240v means that on a household plug, the thing will likely take over 10 hours.

I'd like to see battery tech match what's commercially available rather than what other auto manufacturers are using.

Toyota's Yaris Hybrid-R concept is what I'd like to see be more widely used, as well as the new Accord Plug-in Hybrid's.  As far as fully electric, I wonder if you could do an electric-electric hybrid: slow-drain battery supplemented by a capacitor "boost"...means you could use a weaker electric motor (75hp/150lb ft) but with up to 10s of electric capacitor boost, the car would be spritely but very, very efficient.

Then again, I'm not engineer.  Still, I'd have to think there's better tech out there than just throwing in a giant battery.

I loved BMW's idea to put capacitors in the vehicle's exterior panels...let's keep that kind of momentum going!

[Sir Osis of Liver]

You can get a 240V/30A Schneider home charging station for $800 at Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/30-amp-indoor-electric-vehicle-charging-station-2nd-gen-enhanced-model/989931

I hope advancements in materials can get us to a properly durable ultra-capacitors. That would solve the weight and charging speed issues. Might even help with the cost aspect as well.

[rrocket]

You can get a 240V/30A Schneider home charging station for $800 at Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/30-amp-indoor-electric-vehicle-charging-station-2nd-gen-enhanced-model/989931

I hope advancements in materials can get us to a properly durable ultra-capacitors. That would solve the weight and charging speed issues. Might even help with the cost aspect as well.

It's not the charger price that worries me.  It's the electrician price to install it!!   

[Sir Osis of Liver]

You can get a 240V/30A Schneider home charging station for $800 at Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/30-amp-indoor-electric-vehicle-charging-station-2nd-gen-enhanced-model/989931

I hope advancements in materials can get us to a properly durable ultra-capacitors. That would solve the weight and charging speed issues. Might even help with the cost aspect as well.

It's not the charger price that worries me.  It's the electrician price to install it!!   

If you have a 200A entrance and natural gas or oil heat, it may end up being just the cost of a run of wire and a 30A breaker. If you only have a 100A entrance though, and/or have electric heat, yeah, that could run up the bill substantially: new entrance, panel, wire rework etc.

[mixmanmash]

You can get a 240V/30A Schneider home charging station for $800 at Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/30-amp-indoor-electric-vehicle-charging-station-2nd-gen-enhanced-model/989931

I hope advancements in materials can get us to a properly durable ultra-capacitors. That would solve the weight and charging speed issues. Might even help with the cost aspect as well.

It's not the charger price that worries me.  It's the electrician price to install it!!   

It's really not that hard or expensive to install the charger.  You're talking adding in a 2 pole 30A or 40A breaker and a run of 2 conductor #8AWG into the garage.  I couldn't see an electrician charging more than $500 parts and labour.

[Noto]

You can get a 240V/30A Schneider home charging station for $800 at Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/30-amp-indoor-electric-vehicle-charging-station-2nd-gen-enhanced-model/989931

I hope advancements in materials can get us to a properly durable ultra-capacitors. That would solve the weight and charging speed issues. Might even help with the cost aspect as well.

It's not the charger price that worries me.  It's the electrician price to install it!!   

My thoughts exactly, and for 2 reasons: 
1) to avoid voiding your home insurance, you have to have a certified electrician install it. I'd be amazed to hear your insurer would accept personal installation (unless you are certified).
2) well, what if you have 1 electric car, and then your next is a hybrid or diesel or back to ICE?  Got yourself one expensive add-on to your garage...