Kia e-Soul: With the grumpy electrician from Hamburg to Amsterdam

For almost every car there is the right moment - the Kia e-Soul is a wet cold Monday morning, four o'clock. The narrow LED eyes of Soul grumpily look out of the parking space and thus hit the exact mood of this clammy beginning of the week - the tired driver feels understood.

For Kia's rolling cuboid in the third generation has not only become a pure e-car, he has also filed the happy retro design. Now he should bring me spontaneously from Hamburg to Amsterdam - without a special payment card of a charging provider, only with a car key and smartphone.

Economical in the city, thirsty on the highway

For this route, the car is actually equipped with the larger, 64 kWh battery, with full battery, the car is about 391 kilometers far. With the current charge level but would be the latest after 341 kilometers. The entire 456 kilometers to Amsterdam would not have made the car anyway without a charge break, planned is a quick charge stop after 268 kilometers - if the Soul holds out.

In the city, the Soul is indeed thrifty and was satisfied in the test with 13.7 kWh per 100 kilometers. On the highway, however, the consumption of Kia's designer box increases to almost 19 kWh per 100 kilometers - at 120 km and switched off air conditioning.

Less acceleration would be more

So start the jacket and roll it off gently. However, it does not feel like the rainy Hamburger side street due to the spherical sound of the Soul, but rather after gliding in a spaceport from the Star Wars universe. If you hit the accelerator pedal at the traffic lights, the Soul almost kicks in on the hyperspace jump with a kick in the passenger's cross. This jerky acceleration creates the car even at medium speeds of 40 km / h.

The quite sporty performance come as unexpected as inappropriate: 167 km / h top and 7.9 seconds from zero to 100 km / h somehow do not quite fit this cozy-grumpy car. And retrieving them costs only valuable range, which is on the highway too fast anyway.

In contrast to the Audi e-Tron, the soul does not suddenly lose its 80-kilometer range there - but it is also rapidly declining in this car, at least on the highway. But the Soul turns out to be a well-equipped and surprisingly comfortable touring car, which unwinds the kilometers with equanimity and reaches the Ionity charging station at Rheine just 18 kilometers away.

Fast loading is standard

Although these charging stations are rare, they offer a decisive advantage: charging is almost as simple as refueling there. You do not need a charge card or a special key fob, a smartphone and a credit card or a Paypal account are sufficient. Plug in the plug, scan the QR code, pay the lump sum of eight euros, and a little later the column will charge the Kia quietly with a humming sound. This is amazingly fast, because the Soul is as standard with up to 100 kW quick-charging. From 20 to 80 percent of cargo, just one hour passes, enough time to take a closer look at the car.

Even on the almost empty car park of the car park, the Soul acts powerful and is relatively heavy with 1.8 tons - but actually relatively small. With just under 4.20 meters in length, it is about one centimeter shorter than a Golf 7, but at 1.80 meters, but exactly one centimeter wider than the VW. The height of 1.60 meters makes the Kia almost to the cube.

Interior hui, trunk pfui

As comfortable and spacious as the car is, unfortunately the storage of the charging cable is so poorly thought out. The lie in the relatively large bottom shelf of the 315-liter boot. If you have just invited your luggage, but later you have to go to the charging station, you can empty the trunk there first.

It would even under the front hood, under which the engine sits, even room for a small "Frunk", a front trunk space, had been - in which then ideally the charging cable would be stowed. Then they would also be stowed in the immediate vicinity of the charging socket, which sits in the middle of the soul on the front of the vehicle.

Many charging stations, but no electricity

After about six and a half hours, the journey ends comparatively relaxed in Amsterdam - until the search for a charging station begins. Because there are plenty of them there, but not one where you could easily pay by credit card or smartphone.

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For the 456-kilometer return journey to Hamburg, therefore, it must set up a two-stop strategy on the rare Ionity pillars: drive to Apeldoorn, recharge to 80 percent, and then continue driving almost 110 kilometers to Rheine. There, the car loads in one hour and 15 minutes completely and arrives with stubborn 120 km / h in Hamburg.

Overall, the Soul impresses with its suitability for everyday use: In the city, its battery can easily last several days and even a long-distance trip without a charge card and greater planning was despite occasional thrills no problem. For 44,670 euros there is a lot of electric car for the money - and a design that maybe not everyone likes, but sometimes can save the day.

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