Kia Soul EV review - Reliability and safety

An electric car should be more reliable than a car with a petrol or diesel engine, not least because there are fewer moving parts. Tyres and brakes are likely to be the most expensive consumables.

In our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, Kia finished in an impressive 2nd place out of 30 manufacturers. Customers were impressed by levels of practicality, strong reliability and well-designed cabins across the range.

Although the Soul EV hasn’t been tested by safety experts Euro NCAP, the car gets an impressive array of driver aids and safety kit as standard. The list includes forward collision-avoidance assist, lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot detection with rear-cross traffic alert, high beam assist, multiple airbags and ISOFIX points in the back.

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Warranty 

The Soul EV is covered by the same seven-year/100,000-mile warranty enjoyed by the rest of the Kia range.

Servicing 

The Soul EV requires a service every year or 10,000 miles, whichever comes sooner.

Kia offers a number of different service plans for the Soul EV. For cars up to a year old, the most expensive plan covers the first five services during the first 60 months or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. It costs £760, but MOTs can be added to the plan for £35 each. A three-service plan costs £530, while a two-service plan will set you back £240.