Allow me to introduce myself...

[spidermonkey]

Howdy, Guy here. Proud owner of a 2016 Kia Soul EV, I call it the "Roller Skate". Outside of a New Holland TN70 tractor, it’s a the nicest thing I own. I traded up from a 1983 BMW 320is no power steering..no power anything, it was like a rubber-band powered car. Super fun to drive, like a big street legal go cart. Anyway, I digress, the Soul is fun to drive too, but its not the same kind of fun. I often refer to the Souls as "The Rabbit" as well, the car has many names, mostly its like piloting a little spacecraft, like a shuttle. That’s what I use it for, I shuttle fresh produce from the farm to drop points in the local area. A range of 100 miles is perfect. Its perfect for that specific use. In the winter the car is a different animal. Too much torque, plenty of power really, more power than the Subaru, more power than the tractor. I disengage the traction control and go for it, its not always pretty. Mud and snow are no fun for the Skate. The car has less than forty thousand miles on it, I bought it about five years ago from a dealership, certified factory fresh, with a mere sixteen thousand miles on it. Good for ten years or 100,000 miles. A range of one hundred miles is great, until it isnt. My current range was 36 miles by the time I was able to get it to the nearest dealership seventy miles away. That was September of 2023 and they have had the car since then. Not a lot of confidence building correspondence with the Kia team. I actually refer to the car in the past tense now. It has not been convenient to have the car gone for so long I will say that. I'm certainly glad I own the car out right and havent been making payments on it. That would be absurd. Its also a little absurd that they are willing to pay for a rental, for months on end while they custom build a battery they no longer manufacture, which sort of begs the question: "Why warranty something you arent going to manufacture for the life of the warranty?" But I'm not in charge of these things and I'm certain they are beyond my understanding. But since its on my mind, rather than custom building a no longer manufactured battery why not figure out a simple way to put the most current battery in all production Kias, all of them, same pack. New software and out the door. When are we going to see that? Foolish thoughts from a foolish farmer.

Other than not having it for months on end I really do or did love the car. It still smells like a new car. In the winter it warms right up, in the summer it cools right down. Its quiet. It doesn’t leak oil and the only thing I have had to replace have been headlamps, windshield wiper blades and license plate tabs. When I finally do get it back I'll replace the cabin filter, I'm sure its full of mice by now…

 

[jray3]

Howdy back, Spidermonkey! Our 2016 got the battery replaced at 83k miles and is doing great at 108k. It does alright with winter traction tires, but is nowhere near the snowy hill-climber that our RWD Mitsubishi I-MiEVs are (two 2012 models). The MiEV has more cargo room and ground clearance as well, but you shouldn’t count on more than 45 miles from a used one today.

 

[Locuturus]

Hello Spidermonkey! My 2016 also got a replacement battery just before the holidays. Getting about 160km/99mi in the winter (though I do note I am driving on winter (EV rated) tires pretty much year round since I kind of hated the idea of absolutely no grip on the original tires (which I pretty much ran through all the tread anyway).

Since spring is coming around and the winters are getting close to dying, i'll probably look around for a pair of good tires and see if the range changes on the GOM.

 

[Kemo]

I installed 205/60R-16 Continental PURECONTACT LS SL @$146.99 each at TireRack
Good grip and quiet. Jun 22,23.

 

[jray3]

I'm running the Bridgestone Ecopia EP 422 Plus, as they're the most efficient tire among LEAF drivers, have good wet traction, and can be had for less than $100, often via WalMart. Not particularly quiet, but better dry traction than our original Nexen tires. Just took 'em out of winter storage this weekend and am already seeing the guessometer rise out of the 90's for the first time since fall.

 

[spidermonkey]

The thing I have found to extend tire life the most is to have the car sit at the dealership for nine months. I bought an extra set of wheels for my snow tires so I can swap them out myself. Thus far sitting in the garage the snow tires are pretty quiet and after not having to use them for a entire season the tread seems to be in really pretty good condition.

I could use a new set of mud and snows for the Subaru.