The Kia Soul EV, the Korean company's first ever mass-market electric vehicle, has been unveiled at the Chicago Motor Show.
Set to go on sale in the US later this year, the Soul EV will arrive in the UK in late 2014 or early 2015.
UK pricing and specification details are yet to be confirmed, but we expect the Soul EV to cost from around £20,000 (including the government's £5,000 plug-in car grant).
On the outside, the Soul EV looks broadly similar to the standard Soul but with the addition of a new, bespoke front grille, which houses the car's recharging ports, and new 16-inch alloy wheels with super low rolling resistance tyres, which offer 10 per cent less resistance than standard low rolling resistance tyres. Projector headlamps are also included as standard, as are LED positioning lamps and LED taillights.
The power comes from a 108bhp electric motor fed by a lithium ion battery pack located underneath the floor. Kia estimates that this setup will give the Soul a 'real world' driving range of between 80 and 100 miles on a full charge.
The range is helped by the fitment of Kia's third-generation regenerative braking system, which can capture up to 12 per cent of the car's kinetic energy and feed it back into the batteries while coasting and braking.
The batteries take around 5 hours to recharge from fully depleted using a standard 240V outlet; however, Kia claims that an 80 per cent recharge can be achieved in as little as 33 minutes using a 50kW charger.
The motor sends its power to the front wheels via a single-speed constant-ratio gear reduction unit. 0-60mph takes 12 seconds and flat out the Soul EV will do around 90mph. Kia also claims that the car's handling benefits from the battery's placement underneath the passenger compartment, giving a low centre of gravity.
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