Kia Soul EV review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The latest Kia Soul EV is larger than its predecessor, but it remains smaller than the e-Niro. It’s certainly less practical than non-electric rivals, but the Soul EV is spacious enough when judged in the context of compact SUVs.

It's worth remembering that, if you're after enough room for a growing family, then you may want to consider the extra space provided by the similarly-priced Volkswagen ID.3, or the Nissan Leaf, while the bigger, cheaper MG ZS EV could prove to be a compelling, practical package - albeit one that can't match the range of Kia's boxy, small SUV.

Size

The Kia Soul EV is 4,195mm long and 1,565mm wide. This width increases to 1,800mm including the door mirrors. In comparison, a Kia e-Niro is 4,375mm long and 1,805mm wide (including mirrors), so the Soul EV makes good use of its available space.

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Leg room, head room & passenger space

There’s plenty of legroom and headroom throughout the cabin, although the middle seat of the rear bench is best suited to children or for occasional use. That said, the fact that the Soul EV can seat four tall adults in comfort is impressive for a car of this size.

Boot 

The boot offers 315 litres of luggage capacity, which is 34 litres more than the old Soul EV. With the 60/40-split rear seat folded down, space extends to 1,339 litres, which is less than that of the e-Niro, but you have the option of lowering the boot floor.