IMO, it is too soon to make any decision on the Kia Soul EV which is based on one of their ice-model platforms, as it has not been released into buyers hands yet to get driver feedback on the EV. If you like that EV, I would wait until it is available and then join a Soul EV discussion forum https://www.google.com/search?q=Soul+EV+forum to obtain that actual owner feedback.
Here is a post I made about how Leaf drivers provided such feedback http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Critical-Mass-Leaf-community-shares-their-experiences-tp4668627.html The wording or your previous question, and now this question (using the word blacklisted), leaves me to feel you may still have the wrong/inaccurate idea about compliance cars. First, a compliance car speaks of the automaker's EV-commitment (how well their EV is designed and supported, or either how long they will continue making EVs, before they jump onto the fcv bandwagon, or just go all phev/pih, etc.). This is also where how much of a marketing effort they make comes in (whether the automaker spends the $ to advertize in the same way that they do with their vehicles that have an ice, etc.). Second, a compliance car may, or may-not have a following (buyers wanting it) based on whether the EV has the abilities and features today's EV buyer wants (fits the customer's needs, has a L3 ability, several driving modes, at an affordable price, etc.). Lets take the Honda Fit EV as an example. Honda did pay for a few newswires to promote Fit EV sales, see http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Fit-EV-an-all-electric-Swiss-Army-knife-td4667925.html A Fit EV driver loved-the-heck out of his, see http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Kamm-racing-his-Fit-EV-on-frozen-ice-surfaces-tp4667953.html Yet, Honda limited its production to save money (showing their non-EV-commitment), see http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Why-you-can-t-buy-Honda-s-2014-Fit-EV-in-North-America-td4667842.html Then Honda met their quota, and stopped producing them, see http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Honda-will-end-Fit-EV-production-in-2014-Deja-vu-tp4668204.html I could go on and on with other examples, but this automaker showed their hand as not being committed to producing EVs. Loss of support after production has stopped is a threat with an uncommitted automaker. Yet, some drivers like their compliance EV. They like the way it looks (does not look odd like an egg or Jetson's car, etc.). Some people are OK, with its price and limitations. I am seeing more and more Fiat 500e EVs on the road or in parking lots now. I posted how their CEO whined that he does not like EVs http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Their-CEO-sez-Don-t-buy-the-Fiat-500e-EV-tp4669611.html , yet people like their compliance EV On the other hand, like the really sharp gal I talked who was a new Leaf EV owner http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVangel-About-Ford-still-pushing-their-pih-One-smart-new-Leaf-driver-tp4669625.html she had done her (research) homework and felt the Leaf EV (had the highest trim with 6kW-L2 and L3 options) was the best choice and deal for her. Nissan is one of the automakers that has shown their EV-commitment and she can bank on having long-term support for her EV. As well as a good resale value if she every wants to trade-in or sell her Leaf EV. You see it is not that the EV is necessarily blacklisted. It depends on the buyer to decide if it fits their needs. As one of many EVangels, it is up to us to cut through all the media hype and give the buying public the straight facts and leads for more information (links, forums, etc.) so the buyer can make an informed choice to buy, or not-buy a compliance car EV. {brucedp.150m.com} - On Wed, Jun 11, 2014, at 04:57 PM, Peri Hartman via EV wrote: > Bruce, any opinion on the Soul EV? It looks too well designed to be a > compliance car but, then, so did some of the other blacklisted models. - -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-2015-Kia-Soul-EV-will-be-sold-in-CA-OR-NY-NJ-MD-video-tp4669915p4669926.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
