Kia Soul - It's Electric! - Vehicle Review

So apparently Kia likes me. They really like me ! Right after my Sedona test drive I received another Kia vehicle to test drive. As always my opinions are my own.

I was blessed to try a different type of vehicle, this time it was the 2015 Kia Soul EV. That EV stands for electric vehicle. I thought " Hmmm, no visit's to the gas station this week. I could go for that!"

If I were to purchase this vehicle I would save $8,000 in fuel costs over 5 years. The calculations were from fueleconomy.gov. I was curious about this experience.

At first I panicked, where am I going to charge this car! What if I run out of electricity! No danger, I discovered the DMV (DC, MD, Northern Virginia) area has lots of different charging stations. Also as an emergency option, the vehicle comes with a cord that you can plug into your house, it fits a regular electric socket. Many people have these on the outside of their homes. If you're in a townhouse, it might be a bit more difficult to access if your socket is on the outside but in the back of the home.

Luckily, I didn't have to use this option and my panic was brief. I found plugshare.com . LIFESAVER. Plug share (yes its available as an app) lists vehicle chargers in your area. It tells you if they are currently in use and even has reviews! It's like the yelp of charging stations. This really helped me to locate some of the Free charging stations and ones nearest me. It also let you know if the station was public or private. I even found Maryland's only solar powered charging stations.

You don't have to use plugshare. The Kia has an EV charger station locator that you can access on the vehicle. Only the screen doesn't tell you if the EV charger stations is private or not.

Just like gas stations there are many different charging stations. Unlike gas stations some of the charging stations require you to have a card or membership. However, some places like Mom's Organic Market provided free charging.

My Kia Soul was an adorable Caribbean blue color, lots of oohs and ahhs as I showed this car off to my friends. Although this was smaller than my normal vehicle the interior offered lots of safety and comfort, like dual front airbags, anti - lock brakes, a backup camera, Sirius XM radio, navigation and 60/40 split folding rear seats.

You get 100 miles with a full charge (think full tank). It takes me about 18.5 miles to get to work.

I live in a townhouse and I always say my area is Urban Suburban, one of my best friends is like, no you live in the suburbs, period. With Kia Soul I felt totally suburban. I need a car to get just about anywhere so found myself charging the vehicle every day. However, if I lived in city proper and only occasionally needed a car, this would be ideal, I'd have to charge maybe once a week, if I wasn't making a long trek to and from work. The Kia Soul EV is a great little, environmentally friendly vehicle for urban city dwellers. Learn more.