With the arrival of the EV3, the KIA Soul EV disappears from the South Korean manufacturer's catalogue in Europe

The Soul EV, one of the first electric vehicles from the South Korean brand to arrive in Europe and a notable success over all these years, has just been dropped from KIA’s catalogue in this market. The company has also withdrawn this model with barely any fuss, and it has been some users and fans of the brand who have noticed.

Some recent reports indicate that this model disappeared overnight from the brand’s website in some European markets, such as Germany. And we ourselves have been able to verify that it doesn’t appear on KIA’s website for Spain either.

Everything points to the reason for the removal of this model from the manufacturer’s catalogue being the introduction of the new Kia EV3, a vehicle that not only brings the latest technology in the electric field, but is also more affordable in terms of price. In this way, and despite the fan base the Soul EV had built up, the EV3 has a significant competitive advantage.

There is no longer a market for the Soul EV

The only reality is that both the Soul EV and the e-Niro can no longer compete with the new EV3 in terms of technical specifications, although the e-Niro is still in the manufacturer’s catalogue for the time being. The differences in a comparison are notable: the EV3 also has a 400-volt architecture -in this case based on the E-GMP platform-, but some technical specifications, such as its charging capacity, are much superior.

Thus, while the EV3 is able to raise the charge level from 10 to 80 percent in just 30 minutes at a DC fast-charging point, using the same charger the KIA Soul EV requires around 54 minutes. But that’s not all, because the EV3 is also cheaper, by some 7,000 euros. Given these figures… who in their right mind would go to a KIA dealership and leave with a Soul EV instead of the EV3?

The first generation of the Soul EV arrived on the market in 2014, so we can consider this model a veteran. Originally, however, the Soul was launched in 2008 as a combustion model, and in its second generation, which lasted until 2019, an electric version was introduced. The third generation of the Soul, or the second of the Soul EV, was offered exclusively with an electric motor in Europe.

The United Kingdom is the exception

It is important to note that to this day the Soul EV has not been discontinued in all European markets, since in the United Kingdom it can still be found on KIA’s website. A situation that perhaps reflects the fact that the company still has some stock of vehicles of this model with right-hand drive.

In the United States, on the other hand, the Soul remains in production but only in its combustion version, thus marking a change of focus in KIA’s strategy in the different markets where it is present.