Kia has introduced the new e-Soul Cargo in the Netherlands, which is essentially a modified version of the carmaker’s boxy compact car that was designed to transport small- and medium-sized packages. Seeing how Kia’s new generation of electric commercial vehicles won’t arrive until much later, the e-Soul Cargo is meant to fill that gap in the company’s line-up.
The conversion to a commercial vehicle involves removing the rear seats to allow for additional storage space up to 1,000 litres, with a metal load floor being added after. The storage area also gets six tie-down anchors and a metal rack to ensure items don’t slide around or shoot forward into the passenger cabin while being transported.
Other changes include panelled rear side windows and a hatch, the latter providing easy access to the charging cable that is hidden beneath the load floor. As the car is based on the Executive Line variant of the e-Soul sold in the country, occupants will benefit from heated and ventilated seats, a heated steering wheel and adaptive cruise control.
The delivery “van” also gets some rather nice luxuries, including 17-inch wheels a Harman Kardon premium audio system and a 10.25-inch infotainment system with TomTom Live Services as well as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support.
The electric powertrain is also the same, with a 64-kWh battery powering an electric motor that provides 204 PS (201 hp) and 395 Nm of torque. It takes about 7.9 seconds to get from zero to 100 km/h and a full charge offers up to 452 km of range.
Charging-wise, the e-Soul Cargo is equipped with a 7.2-kW onboard AC charger, which when plugged (via a Type 2 connection) into a single-phase, 32-amp station, takes about 10 hours and 30 minutes for a full charge. There’s also DC fast charging via a CCS connection, where a 10% to 60% state of charge can be reached in 42 minutes with a 50-kW charger, or 31 minutes using an 80-kW charger.
The e-Soul Cargo is priced from 39,077 euros (RM188,298) in the Netherlands, but existing customers can also purchase the conversion kit for 2,680 euros (RM12,914). Should you have a change of heart, the company says the e-Soul Cargo can be converted back to its regular five-seat passenger car configuration with ease.
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