Kia takes the Soul EV off the market in Germany

InsideEVs reports that the Soul EV can no longer be found on the German website. This happened quietly a few days ago, as Kia Germany stated when asked by the portal. “The EV3 offers the latest technology at a more attractive price, which would have made it difficult for the Soul EV despite its fan base,” it says.

Kia already had two crossovers on offer in the compact and mid-size class with the rather extravagantly styled Soul EV and the somewhat more practical Niro EV. However, both are inferior to the new EV3 based on the E-GMP in terms of technical data – even though the EV3 ‘only’ uses the 400-volt version of the platform. One example: the EV3 can charge from ten to 80 per cent in 30 minutes at a fast-charging station. With the Soul EV, it takes 54 minutes according to the factory specification (i.e. under optimum conditions). Moreover, the EV3 is cheaper than the Soul EV. The latter starts at £39,075 in the UK, while the EV3 costs a minimum of £32,995. With the large battery, the EV3 sells from £35,995 – still less than the entry-level Soul EV and that even though the former has a 81- kWh battery and thus offers significantly more range than the Soul EV with 64 kWh.

The first generation of the Soul EV came onto the market in 2014. Strictly speaking, this was the second generation of the Soul, as a combustion model was offered under this name from 2008 to 2014. In the generation offered until 2019, there was also an electric version for the first time alongside the combustion engines – with 81 kWh of power and a 27 or 30 kWh battery (depending on the year). The third Soul generation (or the second generation of the Soul EV) was only offered with an electric motor in Europe.

However, the Soul EV has not yet disappeared from all markets. Kia UK still lists the model on its website. However, it does not list the EV3, even though the electric vehicle can be ordered there since the beginning of the month. The 2025 model year Soul is still sold in the US – but only as a combustion engine.

insideevs.de (in German), kia.com(UK), kia.com (USA)