We reported last year that Kia was developing its first all-electric production car based on the All-New Soul. The Soul’s electric powertrain would be an improved version used in the Kia Ray EV (the South Korean Keycar) with a 50-kW electric engine and a 16.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, delivering a total range about 86 miles.
Only 2500 units of the Ray EV were produced, and they were all for Korean market fleets. Rumored specs for the Soul EV will be sold globally and feature a battery that will enable it to travel up to 200 km (124 miles) on a single charge. There’s no word on how much power the electric motor will produce, but it will reportedly be enough to allow the car to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in less than 12 seconds and hit a top speed of 140 km/h (87 mph).
The 2014 Kia Soul goes on sale in the third quarter of this year. The EV version is expected to go on sale in the first half of 2014.
