9:37 am, November 14, 2014
KIA’s new Soul electric vehicle will be available in the new year – but only via 13 dealers.
And the target sale for the first 12 months is between 100 and 200 vehicles.
The Soul EV is Kia’s first foray into the world of electric vehicles, and instead of trying to swamp showrooms with the car, it has decided to appoint 13 ‘specialist’ centres across the country.
The idea is to start small, create a demand for the car, and then grow sales.
The 13 dealers chosen are:
- Hawkins (St Austell)
- Bolton Kia
- Roadside (Coleraine)
- Hummingbird
- Wessex Garages (Newport)
- SG Petch York
- Marsh Exeter
- Triangle of Chesterfield
- Beadles Coulsdon
- TMS Hinckley
- Parks Coatbridge
- Westover Kia Ferndown
- Westdrive (Braintree)
The vehicle has a range of 132 miles on a single charge. It takes between ten and 13 hours to charge through a standard domestic socket, or five hours through a wallbox or public rapid charger.
Through a public rapid charger, the batteries can be topped up to 80 per cent of capacity in 33 minutes.
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