Isn’t it a little odd we haven’t heard anything about the popular Kia Soul hatchback in awhile? Sure, the Kia Soul has the best of everything, and when it comes to the “Coolest Cars Under $20K”, the Kia Soul makes the list. Maybe it’s because Kia Motors is focused on the new Kia GT Line, starting with the Kia Rio GT, Kia Forte GT, and eventually the Kia Optima GT and Kia Soul GT. The 2019 Kia Soul is out, but Kia Motors clearly has plans to already knock it off its pedestal, because the all-new 2020 Kia Soul and Kia Soul EV are already set to debut during the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Los Angeles Auto Show
Known as “The City of Angels”, Los Angeles is a large auto show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center every year. Endorsed by the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association, the LA Auto Show usually begins in late November/early December, and lasts for a little over a week. Last year, the 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL popped up in LA, so we wonder what we’ll see this year, including the new Kia Soul and Kia Soul EV.
New Kia Soul and Kia Soul EV
According to The Korean Car Blog, the new Kia Soul and Kia Soul EV will make their global debut at the LA Auto Show. It makes sense – LA and the west coast are known for being fans of crossovers and electric vehicles. And seeing as how both models are already slated to go on sale in North America as early as the second quarter of 2019, may as well make some noise now.
So what’s new about the Kia Soul or its electric variant? Well, like most automakers, Kia Motors is actually keeping these details a little more hush. Spy shots have shown us a new design for the third generation, rightly so with every new car generation, to align the new look with the current Kia Motors style – a sporty coupe, inspired by the Kia Stinger.
The exterior is hard to dissect, aside from slender headlights that match the new style. Some special agents in the paparazzi industry managed to find their way into the interior of the new Kia Soul. There, we can see a newly redesigned steering wheel and switch gear, and even an improved infotainment system. Like other crossovers, the Kia Soul is also getting rid of the transmission gear stick and replacing it with a rotary knob shifter dial installed into the center console.
Powertrain specs are anyone’s guess at the moment. We have learned that all-wheel drive will finally be available on the Kia Soul. There’s also talk the Kia Soul EV will have an impressive 250-mile range on a single charge. With the Kia Niro EV (an electric crossover) sporting 280 miles, a hatchback should be able to go farther than that! We’ll know more once the 2018 LA Auto Show is underway.
Stay tuned with Miami Lakes Kia social media for news on the next auto show, and all things Kia Motors. Find out what makes the Kia Soul so popular by taking a test drive today.