Kia Soul EV review: reliability & safety rating
There’s no Euro NCAP scores for the Soul EV yet, but it comes with a lot of safety kit and should prove reliable
It’s impossible to give a definite verdict on the Kia’s safety without independent Euro NCAP crash-test results; as of March 2023, the second-generation Soul EV has yet to be evaluated. However, with a full suite of active safety aids and driver-assistance systems, it should be a very safe car, while the innate reliability of electric motors and Kia's strong reputation – as shown by the brand’s impressive third place finish out of 29 manufacturers in our 2022 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey – also promises great dependability.
Kia Soul EV reliability & problems
It’s too early to comment confidently on how reliable the Soul EV will be, but the old e-Niro that shared its batteries and much of its architecture proved itself to be a very dependable family EV; due to their inherent simplicity, electric cars should, in theory, be generally reliable, anyway. Kia's seven-year/100,000-mile warranty gives further peace of mind, too.
Safety
Even the entry-level Soul EV gets an impressive array of driver aids and safety kit as standard, including adaptive cruise control, high-beam assist, autonomous emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance. Plus, LED headlights, a reversing camera and parking sensors, six airbags and two sets of ISOFIX child-seat fittings and a passenger airbag that switches off easily. If you upgrade to the 'Explore' trim you also get blind-spot monitoring and Kia’s Safe Exit Warning.
If we’re being picky, it’d be nice to have a driver’s knee airbag (something that’s likely to peg the Soul EV back a bit in a future Euro NCAP test) and a child-lock system on the rear doors that’s easier to switch on and off. There’s no space-saver spare tyre, either – you only get a tyre-inflation kit, which can be found under the cable storage space in the boot.
